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“I knew you’d say that,” Ryan said, clapping my back.
16
KRISTEN
Iclosed the laptop for the final time of the day—I hoped—and rubbed the bridge of my nose for a second while I rested my eyes. The virtual program was going extremely well, but it did involve a bit of extra work I hadn’t really considered. All things considered, I didn’t really have to edit the footage from the class together, but I figured if everyone was giving me such a special opportunity, I should make it worth their while and put the effort into it.
So, after every class that I recorded, I went into my office and loaded the footage onto the new media desktop computer the school had bought for me. Then I loaded it up, edited it, and posted it to the forum for the students at Van Hope. It meant a couple extra hours at Slater Community, but it was worth it to know that I could be proud of my work and wasn’t just phoning it in.
Plus, the response from the students had been great. Some of the Van Hope students had started a study group where they could watch the video together and field questions as a group that I could answer, rather than responding to dozens of emails about the same thing over and over. Their self-motivation led to me creating a better structure for the next semester, making sure that things went the same way when I did this again. As time would go on, I was sure I would refine it and tweak it until it was like second nature for me and the students who were learning remotely.
To say I was pleased with how things were going was an understatement, and I wanted to share some of the success with Camden at lunch. He had been pestering me about going out to this little sandwich shop that had opened up on campus for a few days and now seemed like the perfect chance to give it a shot. I told him that as soon as I was done with the editing of the lesson from this morning, I would text him and meet him down there.
My text was responded to with a series of emojis, none of which I believed made any sense.
It was still really cute, though.
I packed up the rest of my things and set the alarm on my phone for fifteen minutes. Doing editing work made my eyes tired, and I found that I was able to get through the day without a headache if I took a little siesta in the afternoons. Anything more than fifteen minutes, though, and I felt like I was swimming upstream against the pink sludge from the second Ghostbuster movie. Which apparently was required viewing and had been last night’s film pick by Camden.
The alarm snapped me out of the dozing dream I didn’t even realize I had fallen into. I woke up feeling much more awake and refreshed.
And late.
Shit. Somehow, during the nap, I had hit a snooze alarm on the phone. Twice.
Rushing out of the office, I locked up and booked it to my car, checking to make sure Camden hadn’t messaged or called yet. He should have just gotten there, if he had come from home, so I probably was going to only be a few minutes late. I hated being late to anything.
Sure enough, as I pulled into the little sandwich shop, Camden’s truck was there, and I could see him sitting in a booth by the window. He noticed me and gave a little wave. I waved back, embarrassed, and went inside.
It smelled like fresh baked bread in the shop, and I immediately felt some of the tension roll off me. There was something so calming about fresh bread. It just made you feel good. And hungry.
“Hey,” Camden said, standing and offering his arms for an embrace as I reached the table. “I was getting worried about you.”
“Sorry,” I said.
“I was about to text, but I figured I’d give you a few more minutes first,” he said, releasing me and letting me take a seat across from him before he sat down too.
“Yeah, I took my fifteen-minute nap today and somehow ended up taking twenty-five. I didn’t even realize I hit the snooze button,” I said.
Camden laughed and shook his head. “I’ve done that,” he said.
“I’m sure you had a better reason than editing a lesson together and sleep-snooze buttoning your phone.”
He shrugged.
“Speaking of editing,” he said, changing the subject, “how is it all going? You’ve been pretty quiet about your grand experiment.”
“Actually, I was excited to talk to you about it,” I said. “I just wanted to make sure things really were going like they seemed to be before I got cocky about it.”
“Ooh, getting cocky? That must mean it’s going well,” he said.
“It really is,” I replied, sighing a little. “The kids are really taking to it and using it kind of like a challenge. Some of them really enjoy being able to do the lesson whenever they want to. Some of them like to gather in little groups and do the class together. It’s so interesting and fun to teach in a way that I never have before. And the adult students here are getting so much more out of it than they would if I had stayed gone.”
“Tell me about it,” he said. “So you think there’s promise for the program?”
“Tons,” I said. “I can see it expanding a lot too. Maybe offering private lessons? I don’t know, there just seems to be so many ways I can go with this now. So many different ideas are coming at me, and I don’t know how to filter them out. I need a little time to think and plan.”
“I’m happy for you,” he said genuinely. “This means a lot to you, and you should be able to stop for a second and take a minute to appreciate how well it’s all coming together.”
