1. Leah

CHAPTER 1

LEAH

"Ms. Gates. What are you going to be for Halloween?" Liliana asks from her desk. I've taught kindergarten since I graduated college and I have loved every sticky, slimy, chaotic moment of it. However, after five years of teaching I am convinced all six-year-olds are the same—unfiltered little humans who lose their ever loving shit over some fruit snacks.

"Well, I thought about going as a teacher, what do you think?" I bend to her level, smirking at her playfully.

"That's definitely a scary costume," Deaton yells from a few seats over.

" Scary? You guys think I'm scary?" I gasp, letting my jaw hang open as I scan the entire classroom.

"Only when Rocco brings in frogs from outside," Liliana assures me, giving Rocco a very sassy look. When I look his way Rocco just smiles up at me, showing off his missing two front teeth.

"That's fair. I do get pretty scary when Rocco brings in frogs, but that's just because I'm scared of frogs." I shudder at the thought, making the whole room burst into a fit of giggles.

"What about you, Liliana. What are you going to be?" I turn my attention back to her and she folds her hands on top of the table.

"I'm going as an angel." She smiles sweetly, "My daddy said my sister should go as a devil because she's bad as…" she leans forward and whispers, "H-E-L…"

" Okay! " I clap my hands together, cutting her off. "I think we got it."

Lord have mercy, these kids. Filterless, all of them.

"You know, that's funny. My best friend and I went as an angel and devil one year when we were younger." I tilt my head as I look at Liliana, remembering the Halloween Lauren and I went as angel/devil opposites while Shane and Taylor went as cat/mouse opposites. We had the best time picking out and putting together our costumes that year.

Fall has always been my favorite season. The leaves changing colors, the temperature dropping making the air a little crisper, and the fact that I can finally pull out all my favorite sweaters are all the reasons I fell in love with the season. October was my favorite month in particular when I was in grade school simply because of Halloween. My friends and I always loved dressing up and going to the haunted trail before grabbing food from a drive-thru and riding around town blasting our music way louder than necessary. Then we would go home, snuggle up on the couch and watch scary movies. Well, they would watch, I would shield my eyes for almost the whole thing.

Funny how things change so much when you grow up.

"Which one were you?" I'm pulled from my thoughts by Liliana's voice. She narrows her eyes waiting for my response.

"The angel, definitely." I wink and she nods her head in approval.

"Good." She winks back at me, making me laugh just as someone knocks on my door.

"Knock, knock." My heart stops momentarily when I see Jackson standing in the doorway.

"Hey, Jackson—uh, Mr. Morris. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Everything's fine. Do you have a minute?" I nod and glance at my assistant, making my way towards the door.

"Go ahead and grab the sensory bins, I'll just be a minute." I step out of my classroom with Jackson and shove my hands into the pockets of my jumper anxiously.

"What's up?" I take a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to not make it noticeable how nervous I am. Jackson is one of the other kindergarten teachers in this hall, and one of very few guys I've ever dated.

Tried dating? Went on a date with? Whatever.

We went out once on Taylor's birthday, only talked about work, and after that it was just…awkward. We never really talked about going out again and kept things strictly professional between us.

I will admit I was a little bummed that things didn't go any further than they did. Jackson is handsome in a… scholarly way. He has light brown hair, green eyes much like my own, he's only a few inches taller than me—probably five foot eight if I were to guess—and stays in good shape, though he's not super muscular like the other guys I'm used to being around.

He wears khakis almost every day to work—that I pray he has multiple matching pairs of—and different prints and colors of button-down dress shirts, with the same square-framed glasses that are set on the bridge of his nose. But good looks aside, he always seems to be happy, and his students love him, so I've always gotten a good vibe about his personality too—which is what I'd hoped to learn more about on our date that flopped.

"Listen…" He peeks into my classroom before looking back down at me. "I know it's been ages since we first went out, and I don't know if you've been seeing anyone else?" He pauses for a moment, so I shake my head to answer.

"Ok. Good. Well, I was wondering if you'd like to go out with me sometime? Again." The smirk on his face as he nervously adjusts his glasses causes me to blush. "I realize that we didn't talk about much outside of things related to work, and that was probably the worst possible thing to do on a first date."

Was he just crawling around in my brain or something?

"No matter how out of sorts I may have been that night, I don't love the way we left things. So, I would love a second chance to take you out. Maybe just the two of us, this time?" I bite down on my lip as I contemplate his offer. Maybe the group setting wasn't the best idea for a first date. Before I can stop myself, I'm overanalyzing every interaction of ours from that night. The clearing of his throat is what snaps my attention back to him.

"Um…yeah. I just uh… Sure, yes." The words tumble out of my mouth most ungraciously and his left brow shoots up towards his hairline.

"Don't let me twist your arm or anything, you can say no," he laughs.

Oh my gosh, could I be any more awkward?

"You're not twisting my arm. I would love to go out sometime." I meet his gaze to reassure him of my decision.

"Okay then." His smile grows wider. "Can I call you later with a more concrete plan?"

"Of course. That sounds great." He begins backing away and I hear a high pitch scream come from my classroom, causing me to nearly jump out of my skin.

"Okay, well I'll let you deal with that." He points to my classroom. "But I'll call you." I barely catch him winking at me before I nod and head back into my classroom. When I walk in my assistant is frozen in place and Rocco has a lizard dangling over Liliana's head.

Why is there always one reptile obsessed child in my class?

Me

Breaking news. Jackson asked me out again. hiding emoji

Tay

Wait, The same guy you brought to my birthday?

Shane

Ohhh. He was cute, Le! But didn't you say he was like, hella boring though? nervous emoji

Me

Nooo. eye roll emoji I SAID all we talked about was work. But I don't think that will happen again. But what if it's awful? Maybe I should tell him no. I can say something came up.

Ruby

If it's awful then you know you're not compatible and you move on. shrug emoji It'll be fine babe. hand heart emoji

Lauren

Honestly, Le. Go. You're 28 years old. You should put yourself out there. At this point, what do you have to lose? And if he's still boring I'll just come proclaim my love for you in the middle of your date and get you out of it.

Me

Again, I didn't say he was boring! And I've put myself out there plenty…

Lauren

Oh, baby cakes. No… You haven't.

Me

Fine, I'll go. But I'll have you on speed dial.

Tay

Sorry to change the subject, but is everyone still making it to Sawyers party tomorrow?

Shane

We'll be there!

Lauren

I might be late, but I'll be there.

Ruby

Yes ma'am! Hendrix is so excited to meet a real hockey player.

Me

Yep. See you tomorrow.

I adore my best friends, and I admire how much time and effort Taylor has put into throwing this Welcome back to Nashville/Congratulations on getting traded party, but I'd be lying if I said I haven't been thinking of a way to get out of it since she told me it was happening. Sawyer used to be one of my best friends and I held him in such high regard that no one could say an ill word about him to me. Until he lost every bit of my affection and loyalty when he stood me up my senior year of high school and continued to pretend like I didn't exist every day after that without even a hint of a reason why.

I lock my phone and toss it into my bag just as class is dismissed for the day. I think I'll go home, curl up on the couch and watch 10 Things I Hate About You.

For no particular reason whatsoever.