26. Ivy

26

IVY

Preston Eberhart looked exactly like his name sounded. He wore a pinstripe suit, had a mustache big enough to twirl and his blood was bluer than the paint I had spilled this morning trying to draw Uranus. He stood out amongst the sea of students and occasional bored staff members in the assembly crowd.

I bored my eyes into the back of that perfectly coiffed head, willing him to stand up and give the grant to me.

Annoyingly, he leaned over to whisper something to Jeff and then laughed uproariously at his own joke.

The choir had shuffled their way to the front of the stage, made up of a mix of students from middle and high school. Rome’s expression was calm as he murmured a quick word of encouragement before he turned his back to the audience, preparing to lead.

I didn’t get to see him in his element nearly often enough, I decided.

The performance was lovely, but knowing he had arranged it and rehearsed it with them in such a short time made me admire him even more. I hadn’t been the only one sacrificing my lunch times this week to work.

“God, that’s a good view, isn’t it?”

I bristled, my head swinging sharply in the direction of the voices, immediately going on high alert. My alpha . My vision went red, infuriated that the whole assembly could see what was mine.

Robyn was being elbowed hard by Francine. A lot of furious whispers were exchanged before both their gazes caught on mine for a brief second and skittered away immediately.

I overheard Robyn’s indignant hiss. “Why did no one tell me? How was I supposed to know? I’ve been out of town the entire winter break!”

What would she have done if she did know?

I conjured a million terrible scenarios all at once. And a million more equal and justifiable retaliations for each.

The sound of applause cut through my thoughts of eyeball scooping. I couldn’t believe I’d zoned out for nearly the entire performance. I felt terrible watching the children file back to their seats.

I caught Rome’s eye from across the hall.

Need you.

We didn’t have a bond, yet I felt the tether between us light up. My anxiety zigzagged to him, all my insecurities crackling in the air between us.

Rome strode purposefully towards me, down the narrow gap next to rows of seated students. I didn’t even notice Jeff going on stage. Barely heard him introduce Preston. All I could focus on was my alpha.

It took everything not to leap into his arms and bite down on that hard muscle between his neck and shoulder in front of everyone.

He knew just the right thing to do though. Rome slipped behind me and wound his arm around my waist, his palm flat against my stomach.

“Are you alright?” he said it so quietly I could barely hear him.

“I heard…” Saying it out loud felt stupid. “Robyn said you looked good.”

He didn’t laugh. He could have and I would have wholly agreed with him. Instead he used his nose to push the round neck of my sweater to the side so he could place a kiss directly on my skin.

Oh. That was wonderful.

“Settle, baby. I’m yours.” His scent enveloped me, the warm reassurance detaching me from all my problems. My racing heart slowed. The sound of blood in my ears quieted.

I couldn’t believe such a tiny thing had set me off.

It’s because you didn’t get enough time with your pack this week.

Fix that and things will be better.

I turned my attention back to the stage where Preston had taken over the mic to the sound of polite applause.

“Guess we’re going to find out who gets the PEEEEG. Oink.”

“ Shh .”

Preston grasped the lectern and squared his shoulders. “I have made my fortune in the big wide world. But let me tell you…I am a Starlight Grove boy at heart.”

Oh boy. I didn’t realize we were here for Preston Eberhart’s life story.

“And all I want is for people to recognize the greatness” — He gestured grandly — “that lies hidden here. We are sleeping giants and our future is bright.”

I had no idea what Preston was talking about. I glanced around and found a mixture of confusion and boredom amongst the students.

Preston was undeterred and continued orating like an emperor addressing his subjects.

“Some may ask why the Preston Eberhart Educator Empowerment and Excellence Grant only gets awarded to one teacher. Why just one, Preston? Surely everyone deserves it? They sure do. That’s why I also fund grants specifically for STEM. Literacy. Even professional development if your superstar teachers wish to pursue that!” He placed his hand on his chest magnanimously. “But this one, this one’s special.”

Special how?

“Because I am the sole decider of the recipient of this grant, and I choose the ones who wake the sleeping giant.”

Maybe I shouldn’t have bothered outlining my specific plans for the grant money in my application. Needn’t have researched and provided the far reaching educational impacts of each initiative. Maybe I should’ve drawn a picture of a giant bell if Preston was going to ride this stupid metaphor to the bitter end.

“This grant is for someone who has brought more eyes to this school and what we are capable of. I cannot even tell you how thrilled I was to see Starlight Grove’s own Robbie O’Hara make the news for his wonderful piano covers. Such talent! I couldn’t believe it.”

Wait, what? Surely the basis of Preston’s grant rewarding wasn’t hinging on Robbie’s lightning in a bottle fame.

“As soon as I saw that, I knew. I said to myself…what better use of the money than to make sure our future Robbie O’Haras have the chance to shine? Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure, nay , my honor! To award the Preston Eberhart Educator Empowerment and Excellence Grant to Rome Chandrasinghe, your wonderful music teacher. Rome, where are you?” he called out, scanning the crowd.

My heart plummeted to the floor.

“What?” Rome sounded dumbfounded. “But I had nothing to do with Robbie going viral.”

I barely heard him.

I didn’t get the grant.

I had been so desperate to get Rome close to me earlier. Yet I let my hand slip out of his easily as he was pushed forward to the waiting stage.

I wasn’t good enough.