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Ron had been crushed the day Kylee had started dating Jason. Ron Kidd and Kylee Bauer had been best friends since elementary school when he’d loaned her a Number 2 pencil and she’d loaned him a pencil top eraser. He’d been in love since that day.
The two had been inseparable during middle school, and high school. Except for the second half of senior year when Jason had set his sights on her.
At the start of Senior year, Ron had finally drummed up the courage to ask Kylee out. But on the very day he’d planned to make his move, he’d found Kylee standing next to Jason who was sitting on his motorcycle. She’d leaned in and kissed him, and Ron’s entire world came to a crashing halt.
It was so cliché. Good girl and bad boy. It was something out of a John Hughes movie.
Ron hated John Hughes movies. The good girl always got the guy, but it was always the wrong guy. Everyone knew Ducky was the better choice. And the Geek in Sixteen Candles would grow up to be a better provider. Same for The Breakfast Club.
In fact, wasn’t the geek the same actor in both of those films? In any case, all Ron knew was that both the jock and the delinquent were likely working dead-end jobs, but the geek had likely built an empire now.
Kylee had agreed with him in his reviews of John Hughes’ films, though she made him watch them all at least twice a year since middle school. At least she’d said she had agreed with him back then. But most girls he knew wanted the jock, the delinquent, the bad boy. No one ever dated the principal.
“Hey, Ronnie.”
The sultry voice was out of place in an elementary school filled with energetic adolescent voices and enthused educators. Ron looked up to see Iman Hilson. Iman was another throwback to his high school days. But back then he was beneath the notice of the Head Cheerleader, Prom Queen, Most Popular Girl in School. But after her glory days, Iman divorced the quarterback, who didn’t turn pro after college. Now she was hot for a teacher.
“Little Ricky is having problems with math,” Iman said, siding up to Ron in her low-cut blouse and high slit skirt. “I was wondering if you could come over and tutor him tonight. I remember you used to tutor me in high school.”
“We have a number of great tutors in the after-school program,” said Ron stepping around her. But he didn’t get far. Even though she was wearing six-inch heels.
“I think a little one-on-one would be best for my kid. You always say you want to do what’s best for the kids.”
“I do say that,” Ron agreed as he maneuvered them towards the main entrance. Most days his focus was on the inner workings of the school, but today he was focused on what was coming into the school. “I will do what’s best for Ricky, Jr. I’ll arrange that after-school tutor and I’ll be sure and check on his progress myself.”
Ron knew for a fact that, despite the dysfunction in his home, Ricky, Jr. was an excellent student. The fourth grader was attentive, eager to please, though hopelessly un-athletic.
“I just stopped in to drop off the new pitch packet from Here 2 Learn. I know it’s a formality as Barton Elementary has been a loyal customer for the last five years.”
“I’ve told your boss that we are looking at other options.”
“Can’t we talk about this over a glass of wine later tonight?”
“I’m allergic.”
Not to the wine. He was allergic to any woman who’d try to use her feminine wiles to seduce him into making a decision, especially one where his job and the children in his care were of concern. And anyone who would think he would even consider it was not someone he would ever want to be associated with.
“Would you excuse me?” Ron ducked out of that trap and took a step towards the main entrance, but he halted in his tracks.
It was something out of a John Hughes movie, complete with an anxiety-filled eighties track. The sun acted as a backlight as the doors parted and let her through. She moved in slow motion and Ron’s heart stopped beating, stars twinkled in his eyes, the whole scene went foggy and dream-like from a montage that would later be cut together and remixed just before the final scene of the movie where the two lovers realize they belong together.
Coming into the double doors and back into his life was the only woman Ron had ever loved. Kylee Bauer was back in town.
Chapter Three
Kylee’s car came to a sputtering stop as she approached the school zone. She put the car in park and prayed that it would start up again. The last thing she needed was another mechanic bill.
Jason had sworn that he’d had the car looked at on its regular maintenance schedule. But like so many things in their relationship, she doubted that was entirely true.
They’d sold Kylee’s first car one year into their marriage. It had been Kylee’s graduation present from her parents. But Jason said they could ride his bike most of the time or take the bus when it rained. So, she agreed. And then she got pregnant.
This current model car was a far cry from the new model her father had proudly handed her the keys to nearly ten years ago. Kylee could ask her parents for another car, she knew she could ask them for anything, but she was determined to get back on her feet on her own.
She stepped out of the car with a squeak of the door hinges. The sun was high in the sky, shining brightly off her old elementary school. Visions of her first day here at Barton flashed in her head.
She’d been so excited to come to school, but also scared. It had seemed huge. Most elementary schools were single or two-story buildings on a few acres of land. Not so in the city of Saint Judith.
Beyond the elementary school, Kylee spied the middle school and high school. St. Jude’s had a cluster model. The thinking was that it made transitioning for the kids easier. All Kylee remembered was feeling intimidated that first day.
