Page 78 of Surrender
“Sometimes, parents don’t realize that’s what they’re doing when trying to make sure you’re happy,” Dallis stated.
He only knew what Colbie told him about it, and while he was confused as to why she’d want Colbie with Will when he hadn’t been worth shit, Dallis figured she was doing what she thought was best for Colbie, or maybe she saw something in Will that she found redeemable. He wouldn’t pretend to comprehend it, but he’d say and do what he needed to if it eased some of Colbie’s stress about the situation.
“You’re right. I know my mother loves me, and she isn’t a bad parent. For some reason, she just can’t let this whole Will situation go, and it’s annoying. It’s like he put some spell on her, and she believes he can do no wrong.”
“Have you told her what happened between the two of you?”
Dallis thought that maybe Colbie hadn’t outright told her. Though she hadn’t told him either at first, it wasn’t hard to figure out. Perhaps her mother hadn’t been able to do that, and it was why she was still holding on to hope.
“I have. I hadn’t initially because I guess at first I was embarrassed that he cheated on me with someone almost twice my age. But I told her at Thanksgiving, and she told me I needed to make sure I didn’t do whatever it was I did this time around.”
Dallis couldn’t help but snort at that because if her mother knew and was still pushing the subject, that blew his earlier thought out of the water.
“You in no way should have been embarrassed by what he chose to do just because he didn’t know what he had.” He paused for a moment, finally getting the piece he’d been working on to weave correctly. “So, who was she?”
“She was a teacher at Apollo High in Glendale. She became like a mentor since it was my first year teaching. I’d finished my student teaching the previous year in Colorado, where I’d moved to finish my classes to be closer to Will when he got his first job. When he was transferred from there, I’d just gotten my certification, so I went with him, and we moved in together. Anyway, to make a long, irritating story short, I caught them together on a day she’d called in sick to work. I’d run home during my lunch break because I’d forgotten some finals I’d graded. I saw them, but they didn’t see me.”
Dallis already despised Will and thought he was a complete idiot for cheating on Colbie in the first place, but to do so in the home they shared was beyond foul, in his opinion.
“The school year was almost over, so I looked for teaching positions in the state and found the history position at Hamilton. There were others, but I didn’t want to return to big cities. I took the day of my interview off and drove down. I got offered the job a week later, and while Will was on a business trip, I packed all of my things, hooked a Uhaul trailer to the back of my car, and left.”
“So, the entire time you were looking for a new job, you never said anything to him about him cheating?”
“Nope,” Colbie responded, shaking her head. “It only took me three weeks to get the job, and by that point, school was over. Besides, he was so focused on work and doing his dirt that he didn’t realize I was no longer sleeping in bed with him, being affectionate with him, or even speaking to him for the most part. It wasn’t until he got home, noticed my things were gone and called that I told him. After that, I blocked his number and focused on finding a place to stay.”
“Wait, you moved with nowhere to stay when you made it to Chandler?” Dallis asked.
“Yep. It didn’t take long until I found the house I’m in now. My landlord is the best, and even helped me unload the Uhaul and move in.”
Colbie held up the bracelet she’d just finished and gestured for his arm. Dallis gave it to her, and she slipped it on. He thanked her with a kiss, and she began to help him with the crown he was attempting to make.
“So, until you told her, your mother thought you just left Will.”
“I honestly think she thought he left me, and I was just too embarrassed to admit it. She didn’t comment on it for a while, but then it was like a switch flipped, and she had to meddle in all of our lives. Drew thinks it’s because she and our father separated around that time, and she needed to have her hands in whatever we did since she no longer could with our dad.”
That was definitely a possibility. Maybe she had nothing else to do, or she was lonely and didn’t want to see her children in the same boat she found herself in. Dallis could understand that, but she was going about it the wrong way. He wasn’t a parent yet, but he knew that she would get better results by being there for them when they needed to talk, offering her advice when they asked for it, and reeling it in when they didn’t.
After a few minutes, they finished the crown he was making, and Dallis gently placed it on her head. Colbie smiled at him, and Dallis took out his phone, taking a picture of her. He locked it in his private folder, not that anyone who didn’t know about them had access to his phone, but better safe than sorry.
When he put his phone away, she reached for the backpack with their lunch in it and began to pull things out, handing a few to him. They ate while she made him laugh with corny jokes, and he teased her about knowing more dad jokes than any actual dad would. Dallis made a mental note to bring towels and their bathing suits the next time they came so that they could go under the waterfall.
25
Colbie sat at her desk, glad the first week of the summer classes was almost over. The teachers worked out a block schedule that allowed the students who needed to attend classes to take three a day for two hours and have an hour’s lunch. Colbie only had to be on campus for eight days, and she only needed to be there when her students would be with her, but for her past three classes, she’d stayed all day.
Colbie was not only giving them a chance to make up class assignments, homework, and tests. She also allowed them to make up the two projects and four papers she’d assigned. So, she wanted them to have as much time as possible to work on them with her.
Once she reviewed the lessons she had planned for the day, she went around the classroom taking down her decorations and packing them away. While Max needed to retake his four core classes and one elective. Jenna, the young lady that had been out often due to medical issues, only had to take three core classes. She’d been able to catch up on her others, so she stayed with Colbie on Monday and Wednesday to work on one of her projects.
She hadn’t stayed over that day; instead, she went to her last class of the day to take a test. Max, however, did stay in order to finish his outline for one of his papers. Silence sat between them for the past ten minutes, and Colbie erased the notes she’d written on the board for them when Max spoke.
“Ms. Morris, can you look at my outline?”
“Of course, Max.”
Colbie placed the eraser down and made her way to his desk. Standing beside it, she looked over the outline he’d come up with for his paper. He’d been doing good work throughout the week, and it showed Colbie that he was capable of doing so, but since Coach Porter had taken to strong-arming his teachers into giving him passing grades, Max decided he didn’t have to put in the effort.
“This looks good, Max. If you do your other outlines like this and stick to them when writing your paper, you shouldn’t have any problems,” she informed him.
