Page 8 of Substitute for Love

Visions of dirt and shovels and brushes and ancient artifacts danced in his head. His dreams were so close, he could feel it.

Doreen rolled back toward Gabe. “Well, we’d sure miss you. Come back anytime. You’ll always have a substitute job waiting. You’re our own Indiana Jones, you know.”

He smiled. Okay, so Indiana Jones had been a big reason he got into archeology in the first place. Every single class in college had confirmed it was his calling. He couldn’t get enough of studying ancient civilizations. He’d even do unrequired reading. And Egypt documentaries? Forget about it. Gabe had watched them all multiple times.

The office phone rang and Doreen picked it up. “Oh. I see. Uh, yes. I’ll send someone right away.” She hung up and looked around the office area behind her, which was empty. Then her eyes landed back on Gabe, and her eyes twinkled again.

“Can you go help out in room 110? The new sub is having a bit of a… crisis.” Doreen smiled.

The new sub. Avery. He swallowed. Part of him was excited for the thrill of a new adventure of helping someone, but his heart leapt at the thought of Miss Williams.

“Suuure,” he drew out his answer. “Why are you smiling?” He paused, wagging a finger at her. “Like you’re hiding something?”

The phone rang again. “Go. Off with you.” Doreen put the phone to her ear. “Hello, Desert Scorpion High School.”

Gabe reluctantly turned and headed down the hall. He didn’t mind a good crisis—he thrived on the excitement—but he had suspicions Doreen had ulterior motives. Too many people in his life were trying to play matchmaker, but of course nobody knew who his type was.

Because clearly Gabe didn’t know. Even with how good he was at reading most people, he had no idea what he wanted in the opposite sex. Clearly, he hadn’t been good at picking the right girl so far, because every relationship had crashed and burned. And since he pretty much liked every person he met, Gabe knew he had no filter. How could he trust himself?

Which was why swearing off women altogether was flat out easier. Besides, he was going to leave the country in a month. Hopefully.

As he reached room 110, the door jerked open and Avery rushed out, shut the door, kicked off her shoes, put her hands over her eyes and shook her head, and let out a muted scream, probably so the students wouldn’t hear.

Gabe smirked and stopped a few feet away from her. Despite her panic, the way she moved transfixed him. Her purple top tucked professionally into black pants that hugged her hips, her long dark hair falling around her shoulders.

“You got through two class periods before having your first breakdown? Pretty good for your first day.”

Avery jerked her hands away from her eyes, her face scrunched. “You? What are you doing here? Don’t you have a class to teach?” she huffed.

Gabe glanced between the little window on the classroom door and her. “Prep period. What happened?”

She folded her arms. “I don’t… they just… gah!” He knew how teenagers could be, but Gabe always had a playful attitude. Maybe he could help her approach the situation less seriously.

He peered through the window to see students talking and wandering around. “Looks like a bunch of teenagers to me.”

“They’re awful! I can’t even repeat… I don’t even know…” Her shoulders finally relaxed. “What does rizz even mean?”

His eyebrows furrowed. “What?” He laughed so hard he could barely breathe.

Avery stared, her face getting redder by the second. Bad move to laugh at her. Avery was madder than a cobra staring Indiana Jones in the face.

He stopped laughing. “I’ll be right back.” Gabe opened the door of the classroom and went inside.

Time to lay down the law. He was always happy to help, especially a woman in distress. Although he tended to overdo it. Well, right now he would be helpful. Because she needed it, and Doreen specifically asked him to help. But he would make sure to not go over the top.

He closed the door to take care of business without Avery watching him. Now it was only him and a classroom full of students.

“Excuse me? Are there some Desert Scorpion Scorpions being disrespectful to a fellow substitute teacher?” He used his best authoritative voice. His time in the drama club helped.

He stalked to the front of the room. “Anyone I point to has only thirty seconds to explain what happened, and it better be good.” Looking for a likely suspect, or better yet, a willing snitch. “You.” He pointed at Davis, a student who had acted up in several classes he’d subbed for in the past.

“Uhhh. I uh,” Davis shook his head.

Next, Gabe picked Hailey, a student who was usually well behaved.

“The three boys in the back started telling dirty jokes while Miss Williams was talking about some book and then everyone was laughing and those girls over there started making fun of the boys but Miss Williams thought they were making fun of her and—”

Gabe closed his hand in the air. “Thank you. Next!” He pointed at one of the accused girls.

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