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Grace
“Close the door, Grace.”
A strange tingling sensation crawled over my skin. Something about the energy here in my boss’s office felt…
Off.
Was I in trouble?
Was he going to fire me?
Sure, I wasn’t the best math teacher in the world, but I hadn’t made any horrible mistakes.
That you know about yet,my anxiety whispered.He’s probably about to tell you that he saw the security footage. He knows.
My throat tightened.
My spine stiffened.
I didn’t know what my inner voice was talking about, but I knew it was probably right. The thing about having your very own pet anxiety demon trapped in your mind was that its favorite hobby was reminding you of everything that could—andwould—go wrong.
Dr. Farris peered down at the papers on his desk, scratching things off with a cherry-red pen.
I couldn’t read his expression.
What did you do? What did you do? What the hell did you do?!?
I began flipping through everything I’d done in the last week, the memories and examples fanning before my mind’s eye.
If he hadn’t asked me to close the door, I would’ve thought Dr. Sawyer Farris, the superintendent of Sycamore High—myboss—didn’t even notice me come in. His eyes were locked onto the papers before him as if they were the most important things in the world, and I was nothing but an annoying gnat that drifted into his space.
I could almost smell the vinegar...
Sawyer looked up as if surprised to see me, and then I saw it:
His eyes flicked down, then returned to my face.
Was he… was hechecking me out?
So, of course, it was impossible to resist checking him out in return. I’d never considered him as anything but a boss before, but in light of my newly naked ring finger, I noticed, for perhaps the first time, that he was also a man.
And for the first time, I noticed that he waskindahot.
It was the type of hotness that you could only notice from certain angles, from the transitions between movements. From really looking at him up close and taking in the details of his face: the stubborn stubble, the strong nose, the thick eyebrows, the thin lines at the corners of his eyes…
He gestured for me to sit.
I sank into the chair across his desk, feeling the familiar trembling begin in my gut. It always started like this; an annoying flickering that threatened to send my mind spinning into an anxiety attack.
Though this time, it wasn’t all just fear.
A seed of excitement germinated in the mix.
Dr. Farris spoke, and his slight British accent added a rare element of luxury to his voice. “You wanted to meet about the math club?”
My internal flickering subsided, and I relaxed.
