Page 2 of Beneficial Misfortune

Small mercies.

He follows me all the way to my classroom, letting himself in as he continues to talk about the summer program and who else will be teaching it.

I pause, letting my eyes fall closed and taking a deep breath when he tells me he will be as well. I’d known it was comingwhen he started the damn conversation, but I’d hoped I was wrong.

Of course, I couldn’t get that lucky.

Peeling my eyes open, I continue making my way to each window and pulling the shades back, determined not to let him ruin this for me.

He goes on and on, but I’m hardly listening. It doesn’t take much—a hum or a nod—and he just keeps going, none the wiser.

It’s not until about twenty minutes before the bell rings that he finally scurries off to get to his own classroom, and I sigh in relief.

I don’t think he means any harm. He’s just a guy with a crush and hopes to change my mind. It won’t happen. I’m so far from interested, it’s not even funny. But he doesn’t seem to understand that. It’s exhausting, but not the worst thing that could happen, so I let him go and hope that one day he’ll get it.

Any damn day now.

The rest of the day passes in a blur from one activity to the next, and before I know it, the day is ending.

“Ms. Kat!”

Addison’s voice rings out as the rest of the class hurries to get ready to leave, more than done with the day, but not Addy.

She’s always the last one to leave. Her mother has to all but pull her from the room at the end of each day.

I know teachers aren’t supposed to have favorites, the same way parents aren't, but I’ll be damned if she isn’t impossible to love. Her hair is light brown and long, falling in curls down her back. A splattering of freckles runs along her nose and cheeks,and she has the brightest blue eyes. Every day she begs me to let her stay with me, and of course, I can’t, but I’ll be damned if it’s still not the hardest thing to tell her no with her big blue, puppy dog eyes.

Addy is smaller than most of the other students in my class, but what she lacks in size, she makes up for in sass and wit. I wouldn’t be surprised if she skips a grade or two in the future.

“Yes, Addy?” I answer, crouching down next to her desk with a smile.

I already know what she’s going to say. Every day, she asks me if she can just stay here for the day. It’s adorable, but it also breaks my heart because she knows as well as I do that she can’t.

“I forgot to give you this.” She holds out a paper for me with a frown. “I’m sorry.”

Well, that’s strange.

“What’s this?” I ask as I take it, flipping it open to read it.

“My brother is picking me up today,” she says, the frown melting off her face at the mention of him.

“Oh, I didn’t know you had an older brother.”

“Yeah, he’s the bestest big brother ever! He has a cool motorcycle, and he does great cannonballs in the pool!”

Her eyes light up as she talks about him, and she bounces around talking with her hands, showing how excited she is.

“He sounds like a really cool older brother,” I tell her, tucking the note into my pocket and pushing to stand again. “I’ll be back in a moment after all our friends have been picked up, and you can tell me all about him.”

She smiles up at me and nods happily before I move back toward the other students, who are now all packed up and ready to go.

Thankfully, most of my kids' parents are really good about being on time. I know a few classes have parents who are known for being late or forgetting their children altogether. It hurts myheart to hear them cry when they fear their mom or dad isn’t coming for them, and I’m grateful that I’ve yet to have to deal with that.

When the last of them has been picked up, I go back into the class to find Addy with her coat and backpack already on and stop short.

She never wants to leave.

She smiles at me when she spots me, and I do the same, happy to see her happy.

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