Page 56 of When You Left Me Speechless

“Oh, hey Beth, if you are heading that way, could you hang this in the break room for me?” He hands her a brightyellow piece of paper. She agrees, taking the piece of paper and then heading out the door.

“Alright, five minutes. Please start cleaning up and put your posters on my desk. We will finish these tomorrow,” he instructs the class. The classroom becomes noisy as the kids move about the room, moving their desks back to their proper places and cleaning up the aftermath of the poster projects. He reaches over and grabs a small pack of sour worms and throws them in my direction with a smile.

“Catch, chatterbox.”

I snatch the packet out of the air and turn to collect my belongings. His eyes catch mine before I head out. I walk the short distance to the speech room when I feel my phone vibrate.

Logan: Stop looking so fucking sexy, Ms. Collins. You’re killing me.

I feel my cheeks blush as I tuck my phone back into my pocket. I open the packet and pop a yellow and red gummy worm into my mouth.

CHAPTER 35: CUCUMBER, EGGPLANT, BANA-

LOGAN

Monday was torture. Poppy looked incredible when I saw her. She was wearing a blue dress that brought out her eyes, and it took everything in me not to kiss her when she walked into my classroom. If day one was any indication of how difficult the next three weeks will be, then I’m screwed.

Last night, she met up with one of her classmates to study, so we didn’t get to hang out. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed, but I know I can’t get in the way of her finishing school.

My night was pretty low-key, and when I woke up this morning, I couldn’t wait to get to work to get to see her. I’m helping a kindergartner through the breakfast line when she walks into the cafeteria. She is holding a box of donuts, and Beth is nowhere to be found. She casually walks over to one of the tables and begins setting up for the Tuesday Talkers Club. I finish helping the little girl to a table and head over to see her.

“Is there room for one more player?” I gesture at the game sitting on the table. Henry nods, and I don’t give Poppy timeto argue before I sit across the table from her. “Okay, so how do we play?”

She looks at me, grins, and goes back to passing out donuts.

“You pick up one of these cards, and then you have five seconds to name three things,” Amaya explains. “So, like, if the card says sports, you would say three sports.” She gives me a toothy grin, and I nod to tell her I understand her.

“How do you win?” I ask.

“If you can name three, then you keep the card. The first one to five cards wins,” Poppy explains.

The game starts, and I’m surprised at how good the kids are at naming three objects in five seconds. Even Jett, who struggles to get words out most of the time, earns a card on every turn.

I draw a card that reads:Fruit.I smile and look directly at Poppy.

I make sure to give her a look that says I want to fuck her, but only for a second before I let a smile spread across my face. I hear the timer start. “Cucumber, Eggplant, Bana—” Her cheeks turn bright red, and I feel her kick me under the table.

“I don’t think an eggplant is a fruit, Mr. Peterson.” Henry cuts me off before I can finish my three words.

She can’t even look me in the eye, which makes me laugh. “Something wrong?”

“No, I’m fine,” she manages to choke out. A group of boys to our left begin throwing food.

“I guess that’s my cue,” I nod my head toward the troublemakers. “See you later, Ms. Collins.” I wink.

CHAPTER 36: THREE QUESTIONS

POPPY

Logan: Let me know if you’re hungry later.

My cheeks blush as I read the text he sent me this morning. I stare at the cucumber, banana, and eggplant emojis. He knows exactly what he’s doing and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like it.

I’m sitting at the desk in my room, trying to study my notes for my voice class. It was a tricky class with a demanding professor, and I barely skated by with a B. I imagine any question I get regarding this class on my exams will be incredibly difficult, and that stresses me out. I pick up my phone and click on his name.

Poppy: Hi!

Logan: Texting to tell me you're hungry? >

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