Page 17 of When You Left Me Speechless

Beth and I walk into the school cafeteria. Tables line the center of the room in uniform rows. Each one is full of students eating breakfast. A handful of teachers are placed around the room, monitoring the kids and ensuring everyone behaves.

A small group of kids sit off to the side. A couple jump up and wave, big toothless grins spread across their faces, as Beth and I walk in their direction. “Hey friends. Y’all hungry?” Beth sings, as she sets down a box of donuts. The kids immediately dig in, leaving only one glazed donut behind.

“This is Ms. Collins,” Beth explains to the group of kiddos sitting in front of me. “She is going to school to be a speech therapist like me and will be helping me out for the next eight weeks. I thought I would invite her to join our club. Ms. Collins, these are the Tuesday Talkers.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” I say. A couple of the girls smile, but most of the kids are too busy eating their donuts.

We sit down, and Beth pulls out a game.

“Okay, friends, so on your turn, you're going to ask someone at the table a question, and then you can stick one ofthese little worms into the nest,” Beth explains while I set up the game. “If your worm makes the bird fly, you lose. Everybody got it?”

The kids nod and smile. Icing covers most of their mouths.

“Who wants to go first?” I ask. Three kids shoot their arms into the air. “Oh goodness, okay, what about you?” I point to a little girl with pigtails. “What’s your name?”

“Sasha.” Her eyes light up behind her glasses.

“Okay, Sasha, you’re up.”

“Okay, um,” she surveys the table, looking for someone to ask a question. Her eyes land on me. “Ms. Collins. What’s in your nose?”

“Oh.” My fingers find my nose ring. “Um.” I glance over at Beth who gives me a reassuring nod and smile.

She mouths, “It’s fine.”

“It’s a nose ring. It’s like an earring, but for your nose.”

“Weird.” She sticks in a worm before I respond, and the bird flies across the cafeteria.

Everyone stands up to see where it flies, too. “Hey, I wanted a turn,” a boy with red hair whines at the end of the table.

“Don’t worry, Henry, we will play again. I didn’t expect it to fly on the first turn,” Beth assures him. “Now help me find it.”

A couple of kids duck under the table and begin to search the floor. I turn around to survey the cafeteria. My eyes immediately land onhim. Logan is standing up against the wall behind me, and damn does he look good. He bends down, picks up the plastic bird we are all looking for, and starts to walk towards our table.

My heart rate skyrockets, and my stomach flips. He stops at the edge of the table, leans over me, and hands the bird to Beth. His body is inches from mine. He smells like teakwood and something else. Paper, maybe? I hold my breath as he stands.

“Thanks, Mr. Peterson,” Sasha squeaks out. “Did you see how far it flew?”

“Sure did,” he says, offering her a high five.

Poppy: Just saw Logan again.

Lacey: Oh yeahhh, what was he wearing?

Poppy: Stop it. He walked right up to where I was sitting and didn’t acknowledge I was there.

Lacey: Maybe he didn’t see you?

Poppy: Or maybe he doesn’t know who I am, and I dreamed he winked at me yesterday? Or maybe he wants nothing to do with me. Either way, that’s good, right? Like if we don’t communicate, then we can both focus on our jobs and forget the other night ever happened.

Lacey: Booo! Where is the fun in that?

CHAPTER 9: YOU DON’T BITE

LOGAN

Poppy looked gorgeous in the cafeteria this morning. Her dress was green and her hair was pulled away from her face. I almost handed her that little blue bird, but at the last minute decided I better not. I reached over to hand it to Beth and immediately inhaled her citrusy scent. I had to hold my breath to maintain my composure.What am I going to do?

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