Page 63 of Substitute for Love

Finally he shut the front door and removed Emmett’s harness, going through the motions of filling the dog food dishand water dish. Had he imagined their connection? Avery’s invitation to kiss her?

When he had blabbered to her about his self-doubt, and she had put her hands on his shoulders, then said, “I’m proud of you,” he melted. It made sense to kiss her right then.

He was falling in love with Avery. Or did he simply like how he felt around her? How she took care of him? He craved her outright acceptance and her willingness to be there for him at a moment’s notice. But was it love?

Maybe he needed therapy. Or a guy friend or two. He sat at the kitchen table in front of his laptop, sending the email to his parents. As soon as they read his email and sent the money, it would be official. He’d be Egypt-bound.

He picked up his phone, avoiding the latest text from Claire, and opened a new window to text his old professor. “Talked to sponsor. Money coming soon.” But he couldn’t make himself push send.

Was he excited to go? Of course. But did he also want to stay? Yes. Well, he wasn’t sure about that. He didn’t want to stay if he and Avery weren’t going to work out. And her mind was on someone else. That was clear enough.

An alert popped up from the Substitute App. Science class job available for the next day. Sure, why not? He clicked “accept.” He already knew Avery would be subbing tomorrow, too. Normally he’d look forward to seeing her. But now things were… awkward. He wondered if they could even just be friends after the kiss—make that four kisses, not that he was counting—they had shared.

The first kiss had been mutual, as far as he remembered. The second kiss was all Avery. The third kiss was Avery at the school. And the fourth kiss… This last kiss was all Gabe. He sighed. Thinking about her was driving him crazy.

He wandered to the living room, plopped on the couch and turned on the TV, clicking through to the streaming service forRaiders of the Lost Ark. The opening credits started and he nestled into the couch further, Emmett laying his nose next to Gabe’s hand.

“If only life turned out like it did in the movies,” Gabe said, petting Emmett.

Wednesday September 3, 7:35 AM

Gabe pulled into the parking lot of Desert Scorpion High School, trying not to search for Avery’s car. It was nowhere in sight. He parked and entered the school, trying to act like his normal happy self. Except he wasn’t very happy. Heshouldbe happy. His dream of becoming a real-life Indiana Jones was coming true.

“Hello Mr. Gabe,” Doreen said as he walked through the door. “How are you this morning?”

He leaned against the counter, smiling. “Better now that I’ve seen you.”

She giggled. “Always the charmer.” She turned, grabbed a sub binder, then picked up a muffin from her desk and placed it on top. “Here you go. One muffin and one sub binder, coming up.”

Gabe sniffed. “Mmm, you’re the best!” He licked his lips and his stomach growled as anticipated another Doreen muffin. Instinctively, he searched the remaining pile of sub binders still sitting behind her while he stuffed the poppy seed muffin into his mouth.

“She’snot on the sub schedule for today, Mr. Gabe,” Doreen said as she went through some paperwork on her desk.

“What?” Gabe let out a muffled response, a few crumbs falling from his mouth. He quickly wiped his face.

Doreen looked up. “My dear.” She shook her head and sighed. “Not to worry. She’s subbing Thursday and Friday in freshman drama. And I have it on good authority her class will be combining with the Literature class.”

Gabe furrowed his brow. “Really? Wait, why?”

She waved her hand as the phone rang. “Something about Shakespeare. Anyway. Literature is gonna need a sub, too. It should hit the app this morning. In case you’re interested.” Doreen picked up the ringing phone. “Good morning, Desert Scorpion High School….”

A smile formed at the edge of Gabe’s mouth. She was always looking out for him in one way or another. He’d have to tell her about the funding going through for the expedition, and the fact he was leaving soon. Probably. Most likely. More like ninety-nine percent the trip was happening. He’d need to think of a goodbye gift for Doreen.

Gabe dodged students as he made his way to his classroom for the day. He unlocked the door and students started coming in.

“Yo! Manwaring! You subbing today?” a senior student named Kit yelled as he headed to the back row.

“You know it,” Gabe said, a spark of excitement igniting in his chest. Something about interacting with the students gave him a different type of joy than he got from literally anything else in his life. A pang of sadness hit him. He would miss this. Teaching.

He flipped through the sub binder and got the gist of what was expected for the day, his mind already running with ways to make it more fun and interactive. Forensics lesson on true crime—shouldn’t be too hard to jazz it up. If he enjoyed that aspect of teaching so much, Gabe wondered if he’d be any good at being a real life teacher instead of only a sub? Like making the lesson plans himself and grading and all that stuff.

“Hey Kit,” Gabe yelled back. “What are you doing after graduation?”

“You know I’m gonna be a YouTuber,” he said, the other students laughing and shaking their heads.

“No, but seriously, what are all of you seniors planning on doing after you’re done with high school?” Gabe was genuinely interested in their responses, but he also wanted to reflect on what he should do with his own life. Had he made the right choices so far? Was it too late to make a course correction?

“Air Force.”

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