Page 12 of Dare You to See Me
“Just about three months. We thought it would be a nice change, and my best friend only lives about thirty minutes away. Plus,” she looks at Dahlia with excitement in her eyes. “Isn’t it great living so close to the beach?”
Dahlia’s head pops up and the happy girl I met this morning returns with an emphatic nod. “It’s the best. Mr. Dare,” she turns to me. “You should come to the beach with us. It’s so much fun and we build sand castles, and look for shells, and bring a picnic. Have you ever been to the beach?”
I laugh and Soleil mouthssorry. I wave her off and tell this curious little girl, “I have. In fact, I live really close to the beach. Just about a block away.”
“Wow! Really? Can we go to your house?”
“Dahlia Rose. I’m sorry. She doesn’t know boundaries.” Soleil passes her a side eye and Dahlia only lifts her head higher and squares her shoulders.
I place my hand on Soleil’s shoulder and a jolt of electricity runs up my arm, landing at the base of my neck with a spark. It’s a feeling so new but somehow it feels so right. Like it’s exactly what my life has been longing for.
“It’s okay. Don’t worry. Most of my students ask the same thing when they find out I live so close.” Her eyes tremble –yes, her eyes– and she swallows something thick. I feel like I’ve made her uncomfortable and remove my hand. “Well, I better get some ice cream and head over to my brother’s house. I’ll see you tomorrow Dahlia.”
Ice cream drips from the sides of her mouth and she mumbles, “I’ll make sure to bring brownies.”
I laugh and tap her little nose before dipping my chin and saying goodbye to Soleil.
The rest of the evening I feel like I walk around in a daze. Not even Kinsley with all of her wild comments can pull me from it. There is only one person who could clear my mind, yet she’s the one causing the chaos.
SIX
SOLEIL
Four daysof dropping off and picking up Dahlia from school, and four days of shameless staring at her teacher from beneath my sunglasses. How is it possible that Malik Dare gets more handsome each day? Is he such a good human that God blesses him with an extra dose of gorgeous when he wakes each morning? It’s truly unfair to the rest of the world for this man to be walking around, putting many others to shame.
Now it’s Friday afternoon and I stand with the rest of the parents –mostly gawking mothers– as Malik says goodbye to each kid in their own unique way. Today, Dahlia stands in the back of the line and I see her giggle as she draws near. When it’s finally her turn, she hops up to him and they begin their handshake. They both laugh as they move through it and at the end, instead of walking away like she normally does, Dahlia throws her arms around Malik’s neck. The look on his face is one of pleasant surprise and he pats her back gently.
“Bye Mr. Dare. I hope you have a good weekend. And if you get lonely, I’m sure Mommy will let you come over. We’re having a movie night in the backyard. It’s gonna be real fun.”
He laughs, standing to his full height, and passes me a smile. “That sounds like a lot of fun. But maybe it’s just a mommy-daughter weekend. Another time, yeah?”
I smile and shake my head. My daughter is one thing for sure and it is not shy. She skips over to me and I hug her.
“Hi my little dove.” I kiss her cheek and take her hand in mine. “I’m sorry. We don’t have a lot of friends in town, so I think she has latched onto you.”
He takes a few steps closer and I see the unique swirls of gray that light up his eyes. “It sounds like a pretty fun weekend to me. I haven’t had a backyard movie night…ever,” he admits.
“What?” Dahlia’s jaw falls open. “Mommy. Can Mr. Dare please come to our movie night? Please please please?”
I look nervously at Malik and he sees the worry in my eyes.
“I already have plans this weekend. But thank you for inviting me.”
There was a small sliver of hope that Malik might take Dahlia up on the offer to join us, but the rational part of me knew he wouldn’t.
We wave goodbye and I gently pull Dahlia out to our car.
“Sweetheart. You can’t just go inviting random people over to our house. What if they’re dangerous?” I buckle her into her booster seat and slip into the driver’s seat.
“But Mommy. Mr. Dare isn’t a stranger or dangerous. He’s my teacher and he’s the best. I want him to come over. Then we can watch movies and play games and we can make him brownies.”
That man is plenty dangerous. At least he is to my system. I was extremely accurate in my assumption that my vibrator would be getting a workout this week. Every day brought a new outfit, which brought a new set of fantasies of being the teacher's pet.
“Well next time, why don’t you check with me before you send out invites. Got it?”
I look at her in the rearview mirror and her little face falls.
“Got it.”
