Page 56 of Apparently, I’m Trouble

“Hm? Oh. Yep. They’re pulled high and tight.” I patted my skirt as we stopped in front of the meeting room.

Lilly turned to face me. “Good. Because I need you stay calm in there, okay?”

I tried to look offended, but I really couldn’t blame Lilly for assuming the worst of me. The last time I was involved in a meeting like this, I took my teacher filter off and said some things I probably shouldn’t have.

“That parent was a wanker, and we expelled his kid anyway.”

Lilly wasn’t impressed.

“Mia, Mrs Myers doesn’t want to pull Amber out of the school, and you know what she’s like. She’s going to defend her daughter no matter what we show her. You have to be okay with that.”

I sighed and rubbed my arm. These damn goosebumps wouldn’t go away.

“I’ll be fine, Lilly. I’ve handled this kind of thing before.”

She gave me a loaded look. “I know. But Kira is different. She’s a grieving teen with anxiety. She has panic attacks.”

My shoulders drooped a little. “Lilly, I know she isn’t you.”

“But she reminds you of me, doesn’t she?”

I pressed my lips together, but there was no point denying it. Lilly saw right through me.

“And you know I love you,” she said, “but when someone you care about is upset, you can get a little… bulldozey.”

I had to laugh. She was on the money with that one.

“Amber is our student too, and we don’t know what she might be going through.”

Well, she had a point. “Having a mother like Ashley must be punishment enough for that girl.”

Lilly gave me a smile, and I had to admit, I ate it up. “And remember what else is at stake here. You’ve been working on this program for weeks. Don’t let something like this throw you off, okay?”

“Okay,” I agreed. “I know you’re right, I just–”

A tall, broad figure stepped into view, and my eyes fixed on him like a magnet.

“–Uh… I get, um, it’s the whole unfairness of it.”

Lilly’s brows knitted together in confusion. She followed my gaze and noticed the brooding male behind her.

“Mr Hudson,” she greeted, unwrapping her arm from mine. “You’re right on time.”

Chapter 24

Theo

SOUTH BRONX CLASSICAL

Miss Fares called Mia a bulldozer, and it made me smile.

It suited her.

I remembered the way she plowed through that fundraiser, confident and protective. How she felt about the band didn’t matter–Miss Fares needed Mia to do her job, and she did it well. It was easy to picture her bringing that same dedication to her students.

But my smile slipped the second she noticed me. Her wide, dark stare met mine over Miss Fares’s shoulder, and a flush spread across her cheekbones as her lips parted.

So fucking stunning.