Page 28 of Guys Can't Write Romance
“Oh, come on, Fields. You act like you’ve never been banned from anywhere before.”
“I haven’t. And even my first-graders haven’t gotten banned from the library. Six-year-olds, Chad, and they behaved better than you just did.”
“To be fair, your first-graders probably haven’t discovered the soul-crushing qualities of library silence yet,” Chad said, still examining their banned poster with what appeared to be pride. “Think Mrs. Finch would give me a copy of this? It would look great on my fridge.”
“I am never working with you in public again,” Daisy growled, starting down the library steps. “Ever. From now on, we meet only in places where your volume level won’t result in my public humiliation.”
Chad jogged to catch up with her. “Okay, Fields. Would it help if I said I’m sorry?”
“No!”
“Then look at the bright side.”
“What bright side?”
“At least it’s only the library.”
“How is that a bright side?”
“Nobody’s gonna see it.”
Chapter seven
Paybacks Are a Beach
It was the morning after Daisy’s ban from the library, and her anger had continued to boil overnight. She was definitely adding this to the payback she already owed Chad over her Post-Its.
As she hurried down the school’s hallway toward her classroom, she passed the teacher’s lounge. Through the open door, she saw Ms. Hernandez and Mr. Patel look up from their phones. Their eyes widened when they saw her, and Ms. Hernandez covered her mouth to suppress a giggle.
“Good morning,” Daisy said brightly, pretending not to notice.
“Morning, Miss Fields,” Mr. Patel replied with unusual emphasis on her name. “Doing anything... literary today?”
Ms. Hernandez snorted into her coffee.
What was that about? Daisy wondered as she continued down the hallway. Two more teachers glanced up from their phones as she passed, exchanging meaningful looks.
Daisy quickened her pace. Whatever was happening, she didn’t have time for it. She had a roomful of kids to teach about butterflies, and likely gum to extract from at least one girl’s hair.
When she entered her first-grade classroom, she was surprised to find several of her students gathered around Tommy Miller’s desk, giggling in that conspiratorial way only six-year-olds could manage.
“Good morning, everyone!” Daisy called cheerfully as she set her bag on her desk. “Let’s get to our morning stations, please!”
The giggling intensified, but nobody moved.
Daisy’s phone buzzed with an incoming text. She glanced down at it, seeing Chloe’s name on the screen. She opened the text:
‘Buckle up, roomie. You’re trending.’
Beneath that was a link.
With a growing sense of dread, Daisy tapped it. Her phone’s browser opened to Instagram, where a photo filled the screen.
It was the flyer from the library door, the one with her and Chad’s faces on it, emblazoned with the word ‘BANNED’ in bold letters. The caption read:‘Local teacher gets herself BANNED from public library with mystery man! #BadTeacher #LibraryRebels #WhosTheDude’
The post already had 10,347 likes, and several thousand shares.
“Miss Fields?” came little Cindy’s voice.
