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“It gets a little warm in the afternoon. The previous teacher left one of her fans.”
I nodded, seeing it in the corner. It definitely wouldn’t be enough for the room, so I’d have to get a couple more.
“Do you have any questions?” Susie asked, and I shook my head. Honestly, I was feeling pretty overwhelmed. Mostly in a good way—the best way. This was my dream, but there were also a million things I needed to do, to have, and I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to do it all.
“It looks great,” I said, turning toward her. “I’m really excited to be here. Thank you for giving me a chance.” Because while all that other shit was stressful as fuck—probably not the type of language I needed to be using to think about things anymore—I still felt like I’d made it.
I finished carrying the rest of my things inside, then got to work, putting away what I could, decorating, and making a list of what I would still need. Some of those plastic drawer sets would be good. I could keep supplies and things the students might need inside.
A few people stopped by to say hello and introduce themselves. Most everyone I’d come across had been nice and accepting, though there were a few I could tell looked at me like I was a dumb kid who had no idea what he was getting into. I couldn’t be mad at them because they were likely right, plus I was too damn excited to be mad at anyone ever in the world.
I refused to let myself worry. By the next day and maybe even that very evening, I might change my mind, but right then, I was going to take a page out of the night-before-graduation-Zander’s book and live in the moment…only without sleeping with Harrison. What was Harrison up to, I wondered, before shoving that thought straight out of my head.
I finished up everything I could do that day, said goodbye to Leticia, then was on my way.
I went back to Ross’s condo, showered, then paced, nervous energy buzzing around inside me. I had a few hours before I had to be at the coffeehouse for my evening shift. Maybe I should hit up some secondhand stores for any new finds. As soon as my mind went there, worry crept in, but I shoved it down deep, as far as it could go, and reminded myself I was going to work on a class syllabus later. If that wasn’t exciting, what was?
I frowned when there was a knock at the door. No one ever just showed up because you had to call through the intercom unless you had a code to get in. Maybe Ross had his hands full and couldn’t open the door? But he’d told me he would be late tonight. After work he was meeting up with some friends for dinner and drinks. He’d invited me, of course, but I didn’t have the cash for that.
I looked through the peephole and grinned, tugging the door open. “This is getting rather embarrassing, Harrison, don’t you think? Following me this way?”
He cocked a brow, leaning against the doorjamb. “Maybe I’m here to see my son.” I noticed he had a package in his hand.
“Oh. Ross is at work. Then he’s going out. Is that for him? You can leave it.”
“No, um…actually, this is for you. I was in the neighborhood and wanted to bring it by.”
My pulse took off on a sprint. “Oh…okay. Why did you get me something?” I wasn’t used to that—people getting me things for no reason. Or for a reason either. That could possibly be my fault because I was weird about things.
“Because it was your first day of work. I know you don’t have students yet, but I thought it was a nice thing to do.”
“Edward…”
“Edward?” he asked.
“Cullen.”
“Who?”
Had the guy never heard of Twilight? “Never mind. You shouldn’t have done this. You know I don’t do well with—”
“Gifts? That’s all it is. Friends are allowed to do something nice for each other. I promise it’s nothing big. I just thought…” He ran a hand through his hair, seeming unsure. I’d never seen Harrison do that before. “Hell, I know how excited you are for this. You worked so hard, and I just thought I would give you something. To celebrate. If it makes you feel better, I quite like accepting gifts. You can give me one back anytime you want.”
I chuckled, shaking my head. He kept me on my toes. I didn’t know what to make of him, that was for sure. “Come in.” I closed the door behind him. It was actually really cool that he’d remembered this was my first day. The thing was, I didn’t feel like I was anything special. I was just me, so to have me in his thoughts when we weren’t together, to remember what day I told him I’d be at the school…
