Page 20 of Bring me Back

“Absolutely not. I want you to date. I want you to date nice, fun women, not mistresses of darkness from the PTA.”

I shook my head and skipped the awkwardness of reminding her Kelly was nice and fun. My last girlfriend as well. Nevertheless, I sat alone in the house.

“Who wronged you in the PTA, Abby?” I asked, keeping the subject light.

“Shush, I’m warning you. It doesn’t come from personal experience or anything like that.”

My lips twitched. “Sure.” I glanced at my watch, wondering if I had time to drop a visit to the gym.

“Give me an update when you talk to the drama teacher?” she asked.

“Will do.”

“Oh, that’s marvelous, Daniel. Maybe next year…”

After carefully printing the three brochures Abby sent, Helen managed to dismiss it with a flourish of her hand.

She stood by the stage, looking over the script like it was suddenly different from yesterday’s. I looked at the brochures, then to Helen, with a frown on my face. I thought Helen would be all over that. Not much for the money or sticking it to Anderson, but a chance to make the kids shine. She was that type of teacher.

Hallie sat on stage with her long legs dangling off the edge. All of the kids were gone now, and Hallie finally appeared from backstage. She was a little thing, almost a foot smaller than me, but her legs seemed to go forever. Creamy white skin, shaped calves, delicate knees. Everything about her looked smooth to the touch. My eyes snapped to her face. She was watching me watch her.

I shook myself, cleared my throat, and turned to Helen once more. “We can enternow. For this year.”

Helen waved me off. “It’s too late for something like that.”

I opened my mouth and closed it again. I wasn’t prepared to convince Helen of anything. I actually imagined I’d need to stop her from entering all the three competitions.

“Helen…” I tried. “If we are in a competition, we can ask the help of the PTA for fundraising.”

I knew if all failed, I was going to pay from my own pocket. But if we had a way to do things like they should’ve been done, I couldn’t understand why she, of all people, was against it.

“We can do with what we have,” Helen assured me. Which was a lie, and a tall order from someone with big dreams, while Hallie and I were supposed to make them happen. I turned to Hallie, practically begging for help.

“It would really help with the budget,” Hallie started. “The play can be amazing. Daniel and I can work around many things but…”

Hallie said more, but I stopped paying attention. It was the first time she called me Daniel. It sounded perfect coming from her lips. I loved that she finally stopped calling me Mr. Miller like a student.

I threw a thankful smile her way. “We need money and this…” I waved the brochures in front of Helen, “is the way to get it. Anderson would get some publicity for the school. The PTA will get involved and if we win…” regretfully, I took the camp brochure to put on the top, “this one comes with a money prize at the end. We can save it for next year.”

Helen looked at my offering like it was evil.

“I do think the kids will enjoy it, Mrs. Carr,” Hallie insisted.

Hesitating, Helen took the brochures, her eyes glued to the one right on the top of the pile. I regretted the way things went; I felt the chill down my spine telling me the camp was what Helen was going to choose.

“We’ll ask the kids,” Helen accepted. “We’ll see what they think.” Turning on her heels, she left, closing the double doors behind her.

I dared to glance at Hallie, who was still dangling her legs off the stage edge like it was a swing.

“Doyouknow who’s the head of the PTA?” she asked in a strange way.

“I don’t exactly know her. But I’ll deal with her soon.”

Hallie arched an eyebrow and curled her lip. “You’re in for a treat.”

And even though I was dying to ask what she meant by that, I just stood there with a stupid smile on my face and didn’t dare to break eye contact.

Isat down at the sewing machine and moved the peddle absently, drained after a long day of human interaction. Taking a sheet of paper and charcoal pencil, I started to sketch the dress of my dreams.

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