Page 9 of The ABCs of You & Me

He looks at me skeptically. “Never gonna happen. Mom gave up trying.”

“Well, now that sounds like a challenge, and ya know what?”

“What?” he asks, his eyes narrowed.

“I love a challenge.” I wink before going to hang up my coat and stash the cookies at the top of the closet.

“Any Oreos today?” Jessica asks as we walk our class to the gym for an assembly.

“I think I saw some crumbs, but nothing whole. He did have six peppermint LifeSavers, though.”

“Wrapped?”

“Surprisingly, yes.” We laugh, remembering the mess that a couple vegan caramel candies had made back in October.

“Well, I guess if I need to freshen my breath at some point today I know who to go to,” she says as we file into the gym.

The assembly is not overly interesting, and Jess and I spend most of the time giving kids the stink eye for talking. The best part is when Principal Wong introduces Sophie and asks the kids to give her a warm Dundurn Elementary welcome. She looks nervous until the kids erupt. I think everyone in the gym falls a little in love with her when she smiles out at us. I whistle, and when her eyes find mine, I swear her smile gets bigger while my palms definitely get wetter.

“Miss Hore, he made you cookies.” Pete points at me when he sees Sophie in the hall on our way back to class. Her eyes go wide.

“Me?” she asks, slowing to walk beside us.

“Yeah!”

“Just as a thank-you for yesterday,” I say quickly.

“Oh, you didn’t have to do that.”

“Are you saying you don’t want them?”

“You can give them to me.” Pete looks over hopefully.

“Pete, stop being nosy,” I scold. “Scoot!”

“I’m going as fast as I can.” He pouts.

“You’re moving at half your normal speed, buddy.”

“Fine,” he grumbles and picks up his pace. He’s still not going as fast as he can, and he’s not overly subtle about continuing to eavesdrop.

“So, sheep eat grain, and frogs like rain, and I hate poison ivy,” I say and watch as Pete stops and turns, looking confused. “See!” I exclaim. “Nosy!”

When I glance over at Sophie, she’s looking at me like I’ve hung the moon. “What?”

“You’re really good at this.” She gestures between me and Pete.

“I hope so, or else I’m in the wrong profession.”

“True.” She reaches out like she’s going to touch me and my skin preemptively tingles, but then she seems to think better of it and slips her hands into her pockets.

“I’m winning, Mr. Walsh,” Pete cackles as he swings his crutches faster, starting to move at a decent clip.

I look at Sophie one last time, let my eyes roam over the side of her face as she looks down the hall at Pete. “I think he may just win this one.” She peers over at me with a tiny smirk on her face. I don’t know if it’s a challenge, but that’s how I take it.

“I’ll stop by at lunch. Now, you’ll have to excuse me, I’ve got a race to win.” I wink at her before walking quickly after Pete who immediately speeds up.

“No way, Mr. Walsh,” he shouts.

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