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First on the agenda was to choose two rides. After some heavy debate—and a few people going off on tangents about the fall festivals of their youth—the group ultimately decided on a Ferris wheel and merry-go-round. The classics.
I picked up my stylus and immediately went to work on my new design as they carried on, talking about tickets, concessions, a book drive, and parking. Someone asked about t-shirts, and Kendall’s eyes found mine as she said, “We’ve got a parent working on the design right now, actually.”
I lifted my left hand in a casual wave, keeping my stylus on the screen as I worked on the intricate details of the horses on the merry-go-round. A few people around me leaned in closer to see what I had so far, and they seemed to exchange impressed glances in my peripheral vision.
Halfway through the meeting, Sarah announced she needed to go, which left Kendall fully in charge. There was a shift in Kendall’s demeanor once Sarah was gone, her discomfort apparent in the way she crossed and uncrossed her legs repeatedly. She could no longer look at Sarah to answer questions for her—this was all her.
I stopped drawing for a while so I could pay closer attention. From several feet away, Kendall’s eyes found mine as she spoke, and though her words were directed at the woman who’d just asked her a question, her gaze remained fixed on me. I didn’t pick up my stylus again for the rest of the meeting. I got the sense she was pretending she was speaking only to me as a way to calm her nerves, so I gave her my full attention.
When it came time to discuss advertising, the redhead seated across from me—if I recalled correctly, she was the librarian—spoke up. “My friend Xander works for the paper, and I bet he could do a little write-up about it.”
“That would be great, Abigail,” Kendall said, jotting down something in her notebook.
Just behind me, someone cleared their throat. “Actually,” Lori, the school receptionist, said, “Meghan Dobson is our contact at the Woodvale Times. She always covers school events. And they gave us a half-page last year. Not just a ‘write-up.’”
Kendall looked up at her and blinked. “Oh, okay. I’ll reach out to her, then.” I watched her closely as she fidgeted with the charms on her bracelet, momentarily distracted by Lori’s interruption. Her eyes scanned the notebook on her lap, and I could tell she’d lost her train of thought. And her confidence.
“Want me to work on an ad design?” I asked.
Her eyes found mine. “Yes, that would be perfect, Mason—thank you.” We exchanged subtle smiles before she sat up a little straighter and addressed the whole crowd, saying, “So, moving on, we should form sub-committees…”
Atta girl.
Sub-committees were formed. Tasks were assigned. Follow-up meetings were planned. After an hour and fifteen minutes, the meeting adjourned, and everyone scattered to engage in separate conversations. I got up from the table so we could push it back into the wall. People began filtering out to get home for dinner or pick their kids up from practice, but Kendall was talking to Abigail, Heath, and another teacher in the corner.
I remained a few feet away, leaning over my iPad on the edge of the stage at the front of the gym. I was half-listening to Kendall assure Heath she didn’t need more help from him as I fine-tuned some more details on the t-shirt design. It was getting late—I’d need to get home to get Finley’s bath and bedtime routine started soon, but I couldn’t fight the urge to stay, hoping I’d have the chance to talk to Kendall alone.
After what seemed like an eternity, Heath finally left, with Abigail not far behind. And Kendall made her way over to the stage toward a Pete the Cat tote bag and slipped her notebook inside it. She zipped the bag but didn’t reach for it, instead bringing both of her hands to her temples to rub them.
I slid the iPad down the stage closer to her and sidled up beside her. “So who do you hate more, Lori or Heath?”
“Right now? That’s a toss-up.”
I tucked the stylus into my iPad cover and closed it, crossing my arms against my chest. “I’m dying to know what Heath did to you to get stuck with porta-potty duty.”
She turned around, facing the gym with her back against the stage. “I’d rather not talk about him.”
“Then I’ve got some questions about Owen Gardner...”
Kendall shook her head, but she was smiling from one corner of her mouth. “I think it’s time we talk about some of your exes instead.”
I tilted my head backward with a groan. “How much time do you got?”
“I take it you’ve dated a lot of women?”
“No, I could count on one hand the number of women I’ve dated in the last three years. What I mean is I’ve got some interesting stories. Some humorous, some traumatic. Depends on what you want to hear.”
Kendall pivoted to fully face me. “Would you think I’m weird if I said I’d rather hear the traumatic stories than the funny ones?”
“No. I think that’s only natural.”
“How did you meet Finley’s mom?” Kendall asked, pressing her hip against the edge of the stage. It wasn’t a story I usually disclosed, but something about the innocence in Kendall’s big, brown eyes encouraged me to open up.
“Whitney was a one-night stand.”
Kendall’s eyebrows lifted. “Oh.”
“I was home from college for the summer. It was my twenty-first birthday, and I was I-don’t-know-how-many birthday shots deep. Whitney was just—I don’t know—there. And my dumbass friends invited her and her friends to bar-hop with us a little bit. She ended up coming home with me, and...” I stopped to swallow, the details of that night blurring together like a supercut from a movie. “Well, anyway, I didn’t hear from her again for eleven months.”
