Page 16 of Substitute for Love

He quickly got his hopes up, then his heart would get stomped on. So he had promised himself to be more careful. Yet, all day he had no trouble flirting with Avery every chance he got.

He ran his fingers through his hair and headed in the opposite direction of the pasta aisle. Deli time. Rotisserie chicken and potato salad. His go-to. Nothing lonelier than eating a whole chicken by yourself. At least he wouldn’t have to cook.

Oh, and he really needed dog food, which happened to be in the direction Avery went. So he could head her direction and maybe bump into her. Then they could talk, and he could flirt more with her, like he had at school, even though he shouldn’t have because he already couldn’t stop thinking about her.You gotta slow down, Gabe.

He casually went the long way around, skirting the back of the store. No sign of her. He peeked around the corner of the dog food aisle. The coast was clear.What in the world are you doing? Are you a grown man sneaking around avoiding a woman you met this morning?

He shook his head, then threw a bag of dog food over his shoulder. Oh yeah, he forgot his own human food. No need for a shopping cart, he could grab all he needed with his one free hand. From the dog food aisle to the deli, he glanced down each aisle as he went. Purely for purposes of avoiding her. Then across the store, he noticed Avery with her grocery bags heading toward the exit.

Usually the best parts of his day at school were making the kids laugh. But today had been different. He liked making Avery smile, too. If he were being honest, he liked it more than teaching the students. What did that say about him as the eternal sub? Or as a man who had promised himself not to get involved with someone?

A fraud, that’s what. Who was in control here, anyway? He paid for his food, left, and got in his truck.

Back at his apartment, his best friend met him at the front door. “Emmett!” Gabe maneuvered around while his spaniel mix jumped everywhere, throwing the dog food plus his own dinner down on the counter. He pulled open the bag of dog food and poured some into Emmett’s bowl.

Then Gabe made himself a plate, and in between bites, he scrolled his favorite apps, his For You Page showing videos ofpeople traveling around Egypt, recent discoveries in the region, museum displays, and pretty much anything having to do with ancient Egypt. No recent emails from his former professor. Darn.

Another ding from his phone. Dang, his ex was pushy. He closed his email app and the social media apps. Wait, it wasn’t a text ding, but a notification from the Substitute Assignments app.

“High school band, eh? Haven’t done that in a while.” Last time he subbed in band was a kick. Noisy, but fun. The day moved fast because the kids played songs for him and he listened. Music had always been a way for him to escape. Every time they moved or his parents left him alone all weekend, he’d spend hours listening to every kind of music, singing and feeling like he wasn’t alone.

He clicked “accept.”

After dark when the pavement was cool enough, he took Emmett out for a walk. As much as he tried not to, he thought of Avery. Would she return to sub again tomorrow? He had tried to help her, but not be overly helpful. Was it not enough? Too much?

He doubted she would come back. Most substitute teachers didn’t last long. It was for the best, really. Gabe didn’t need any other distractions. He was supposed to hear by Friday if his professor had secured funding for the Egypt dig, which would start three weeks after. If he was lucky, he would finally say goodbye to substitute teaching forever.

As he went to bed that night, he couldn’t figure out if that was a good thing or a bad thing. He’d been subbing for a few years now, and he loved every minute of it. Turns out his goofy personality was whole-heartedly welcomed by teenagers. But shouldn’t he be grown up by now? He had obviously let his parents down by not being serious and getting a “real” job or a“real” relationship. Still, every time he had a sub job—which was pretty much every day, it was a big high school without a big pool of substitutes—he looked forward to going into work. And now a cute sub also worked there. He tried not to think about Avery as he fell asleep.

Tuesday August 26, 7:35 AM

Don’t look for Avery’s car. Don’t look for Avery’s car. Oh, will you look at that? There’s Avery’s car. With an open parking spot right next to it.Gabe considered moving to another spot, but there weren’t any so he pulled in.

His stomach rumbled as he sprinted to the front office. Time for his daily Doreen breakfast muffin.

“Good morning, Mr. Gabe. How are you this morning?” Doreen asked.

“Better now I’ve seen you,” he said.

As she smiled, he once again pondered on what it would have been like to have a doting mother. He’d never know. That’s what made these morning moments with Doreen all the more dear.

She slid over his sub binder with a napkin and muffin on top. He nodded, shoved the whole muffin in his mouth, and said a muffled “thank you!” and headed to the band room.

“Hey Mr. Manwaring.” Students greeted him in the hall and he waved. “What are you teaching today?”

“Band.” His voice was still muffled from the muffin.

“Aww, man. I don’t have band.”

“When are you going to sub in science?”

“Yay, see you after lunch.”

“Oh? Miss Williams is subbing in choir.”

Gabe stopped and took a drink at the water fountain. He already knew Avery was here–he had seen her car in theparking lot. But that tidbit of which class she was covering was interesting. Well, good for her. With her in choir, which was down a tiny hallway from the band room, he might see her. If he timed it right, he could catch her in the connecting hallway. Should he though? His extroverted nature wanted to befriend her immediately, but when it came to women he was a disaster. He shook his head at himself. No doubt if he spent any time with her, he wouldn’t be able to control himself. Even though he had tried to be straight up friendly as they both left the school the day before, he had chided himself for being too flirty. Maybe avoiding her altogether was the best plan.

Gabe exited the main building, heading toward the band and choir building, the hot desert sun blinding him. He bumped his shoulder into someone, causing him to fall back a few steps and drop his sub binder. “Oooof!” He got on balanced footing and rubbed his eyes.

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