Page 38 of Make It Without You

I reached out to Dylan’s dad about scheduling a parent-teacher conference. He’s the only parent of my students that I have yet to meet. Not only that, but Dylan is having a hard time focusing and I’m wondering if it’s something at home that’s occupying him. Dylan is still young so it’s possible his brain is taking in the environment at a faster pace.

Out in the main hallway, we both look left and right before deciding to wait by the front door. I stand off to the side as Dylan runs his finger through the grooves in the cinder block walls as I thumb through the mail I’ve gotten.

Junk. Junk. Maybe important. Junk.I decide.

“Ms. Bailey, is this really necessary?” I look down to see Dylan still running his finger in the grooves of the wall.

Tucking my mail under my arm I turn my attention to him. “Do you even know what necessary means?”

His eyebrows scrunch together as he thinks and I have to stop the laugh that wants to be freed. “Um…no. But I heard it from my dad and I really wanted to use it.”

At that, I can’t stop the small laugh that comes out of me. “Well, it’s the right word, buddy. But maybe you should look it up before you throw it into a conversation.”

He shrugs his small shoulders in response.

“Is that my big guy?” A voice sounds from the door.

“Dad!” Dylan shouts.

My eyes follow Dylan as he runs towards…Adam. And I do my best to swallow down my shock when our eyes meet.

It’s been three months since I met him and as much as I hate to admit it to myself, I’ve thought about that night too many times to count.

Now that I’m seeing Dylan in Adam’s arms, the resemblance is uncanny. How did I not catch that? How did I not memorize how good-looking Adam is? Eyes as green as the forest, dark brown hair that looks like he’s run his fingers through it all day, and colorful tattoos swirling up to his neck and peeking out from the cuff of his flannel. Seeing him in the light of day knocks the metaphorical pants off of me. And the well-kept beard that has me fantasizing about running my fingers through it.

He puts Dylan back on two feet and we stand in the foyer of the school. Adam shoves his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. My arms crossed over the mail in front of my chest.

But we both say nothing. Staring at each other.

Silent.

And a little awkward.

Okay, a lot awkward.

A noise from the front office breaks me out of the haze. “Hey, Dylan, why don’t you head back to my classroom and look up the word ‘necessary’? I just want to have a quick word with your Dad before we get started.”

Dylan starts to run, but I stop him before he can get any further. Although I know once he turns the corner nothing can stop him.

I drop my arms from their crossed position and hold my mail in front of my body as I slowly turn my attention back to the not-so-stranger. “So you’re a dad,” I state like him being here isn’t obvious.

“It appears that way. And you’re my son's teacher. It’s a small world.”

He holds his hand out to me to lead the way and we slowly make our way to my classroom. I might be crossing so many lines right now, but it’s completely innocent. We’re just talking.

“Is that why you weren’t at the open house that Tuesday?”

He tucks his hands back into his front pockets. “My Assistant General Manager went into early labor. So I’m covering my restaurant without her help for the foreseeable future.”

“And you were kind enough to talk to the crying girl at your bar?” I attempt to make a joke. We turn the corner of the empty hallway and only the sound of my chunky heels echo around us.

His hand on my arm halts my steps. “That’s not the only reason. I just felt you needed someone to talk to.”

“You’re right. I did,” I get lost in his eyes for a second, before stepping back and reminding myself that he’s a parent of one of my students. “Shall we?”

Adam looks as if he’s about to say something but closes his mouth and falls back in step with me.

“Dylan is incredibly smart,quick on his feet, and helps me out when I get stumped on something. But sometimes it’s too much. I have a class full of twenty-five first graders and I need involvement from them just as much from him.”

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