Page 52 of Shelter for Morgan

And looking at Benji, she had to wonder if he had parents like she did, or if he'd gotten worse after he'd been dropped off.

Thank goodness they had a reading assignment at the beginning of class.

"Okay, everyone. We have a reading assignment to begin class. The pages and comprehension questions are on the board. You'll have twenty minutes to read and consider your answers before we start discussion. I-"

She saw Maribel's hand shoot up, so Morgan stopped speaking and nodded at her student. "Yes, Maribel?"

"Could we ask questions of each other if we do it quietly?"

Morgan saw the sidelong glance Maribel made in Benji's direction and the way that Benji turned his head toward the wall.

She didn't want to say it, but she felt she had to. "Sorry," she shook her head, "we'll have ample time to talk about the text when the twenty minutes is done, and I really want to hear your individual answers to the study guide."

Maribel wasn't happy with the answer, but she was still very polite. "Thank you, Miss Rafferty."

She offered the young girl a smile. "Please begin your reading."

Benji's reaction was slow, but she knew that he saw her walking toward his desk and that's why he flung the cover of his text open, slapping it against the top of the desk.

That turned a few heads, but she was now standing between his desk and most of the class.

She tapped her fingers on the desk. A silent gesture, but it made him lift his gaze to her face. "Hey, Benji. Welcome back. I hope you're feeling better.'

If it was possible, his complexion turned even more grey. "You have a question for me, Miss?"

She replayed her words to him in her head and his in reply to hers.

It was hard to see that she might have hurt his feelings or offended him, but it seemed as if he didn't want to talk to her at all.

Morgan wanted to fight him on this, but she had a feeling that she would do better in the long run by giving him some space.

Maybe he was having second thoughts about talking with her. If that was the case, then pushing him within earshot of other students might just obliterate her chance to reach him.

She just couldn't let that happen.

"No. No question." She was sure that the look on his face was relief, telling her that she might have made the right decision. "I just wanted to tell you that I was happy you were back in class."

His eyes moved over the top of his desk and then settled on the textbook in front of him.

He folded his good arm on the desk and hunched over the textbook. His arm was still confined in a sling, but it looked like he was holding it closer to his body than he had before.

There was something... something inside her head that was telling her that he was worse instead of better. It might not be an illness, but it could be pain that was causing his strange behavior.

On a whim, or perhaps it was divine inspiration, or somewhere in between, but she moved to her desk and used an app on her computer to send a message to Palmer. He might not get it until later, but she just had to send him a message.

MORGAN: Hey... sorry to bother, but I'm wondering if you could stop by the school after your shift. I have a student who might be hurting. He's had his arm in a sling. I think he might have hurt himself more, but he's not saying.

She was about to step away from her computer when a soft BLIP turned her head.

PALMER: Was just on my way out. I can stop by. Is he in class?

MORGAN: Yes. He's here. Do you think I can have you field some questions on Civics while you're here?

She had a feeling that he was chuckling or at least smiling.

PALMER: Of course. See you soon.

Morgan looked over at Benji and saw that he was still bent over his textbook. He actually looked like he was into the reading.

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