Page 10 of Substitute for Love

“Sorry, Miss Williams,” the class said in unison.

She smiled. It was a nice gesture at least. They sounded sincere, but her annoyance toward Gabe was still strong. “Apology accepted.”

One girl raised her hand. “Is Mr. Manwaring, you know, like, your boyfriend?”

Avery blurted out a hard laugh. “Uh, no. I only met him today. He’s my co-worker. He was helping out.”

He was doing what any available teacher would do. Right? Except it was more than her former boyfriend would have done for her. And Gabe didn’t make her feel bad for any of it.

“You should go out with him,” one of the boys said. “He likes you.”

“Oooooh! Yes! Go out with him!”

Heat traveled up Avery’s neck and her face flushed. “Hush, all of you. I don’t need you to set me up.” And she didn’t need to be distracted by some guy at work.

Thankfully, the students behaved for the rest of the class, and by the time they all left and the bell for fourth period rang, she had settled in her seat at the teacher’s desk. Now it was her turn for prep period. She pulled her phone out of her purse and responded to a missed text from Claire.

CLAIRE: How’s it going? You run away screaming yet?

AVERY: Still here. Barely.

CLAIRE: Meet any cute janitors yet?

AVERY: Ha! No. But I’ll keep my eye out.

She started typing another text, talking about a “hot sub down the hall” but she deleted it. It would only make Claire bother her about him incessantly. Avery was not going down that road. She was still processing her failed relationship with Marshall. Being Marshall’s sister and all, Claire had been way too invested in their relationship.

Huh. Avery wondered if she had initially followed Marshall to Flagstaff at Claire’s promptings, but she shook the thought away. Her best friend wouldn’t encourage Avery in the wrong direction, even if it was because Claire wanted to matchmake her own brother and best friend.

Avery wandered around the classroom, inspecting everything more closely. The books on the shelves were indisarray. She organized them by title and straightened them up. Some of the posters needed more tape or push pins. After searching the teacher’s desk, she couldn’t find either.

“Well, that won’t do.” Avery walked to the front office to ask for more supplies.

On her way, she passed by room 101.Don’t look in. Don’t look in.

She looked in. She couldn’t help it. Without turning her head, Avery peered through the door window where Gabe was doing his thing. Whatever he was saying, the students were totally engaged and laughing.

She shook her head. Okay, she was seriously jealous of him. Her stomach hardened. Not only was he good at subbing, but he made it look easy. Did anything bother him?

Office Lady greeted her as she approached. She smiled. “You’re not leaving already, are you?”

Avery smiled in return. “No, nothing like that.” She noticed the name plate off to the side. “So, Doreen, right? Thanks for sending, uh, someone to help with the class. I totally lost control of the students.”

“Mr. Manwaring saved the day, eh?” Doreen smiled.

Avery gave her a suspicious side-eye. Had Doreen specifically sent Gabe as a way of getting them together? “Uh, yeah. I guess. Anyway, Mrs. Strong is out of tape and push pins. Do you have any extra I could have?”

Doreen loaded her up with supplies and she headed back to the classroom. Without thinking, her gaze again veered into room 101. Gabe was right by the door this time. When he saw her, he flashed her a grin and waved.

Avery tripped in the hallway and almost dropped the supplies.Dumb wedges.

She spent the rest of prep period pinning and taping things until the room was better than she had originally found it. The bell rang and she realized it was time for lunch.

Where did teachers go for lunch? She assumed there was a teacher’s lounge, but she wasn’t sure where. She sat at the teacher’s desk and rubbed her sore feet. Of course, she could phone the front office. She shook her head. Honestly, the solitude was a welcome break. The classroom was a nice place to be when there were no students.

“Where’s my lunch?” Avery looked around. She had packed one, that was for sure.Dang it, you didn’t pick it up off the counter. Duh, Avery.She winced. Somehow, she had to break herself of the habit of chiding herself with Marshall’s catch phrase.

She didn’t have time to leave the building and grab lunch anywhere, and she wasn’t even sure if it was okay to leave campus. Should she try to eat in the cafeteria with the students? No way. Not today.

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