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Halfway through her day, Aubrey readied herself for the next class to pour through her doors. She knew she wasn’t supposed to have favorites, but this group of students had quickly risen to the top within the first three weeks of the new school year.
As the students filed in, a few left behind cards or small mementos to welcome their teacher back. Her heart lifted. She was infinitely grateful to be here and focusing her attention on something other than her eroding personal life.
“Thank you for the gifts. It’s good to be back.” Cheers erupted, and she held her hands out to quiet her class. “I haven’t done this with every class, but you’re special. I know you have questions. So ask them.”
“Anything?” Brennon McCreedy asked, his thick eyebrows lifting impishly.
“Anything you would ask your mom,” she retorted to much of the class’s approval.
“I have a question,” Jamaica Barnard, one of her star students, said.
“I’m all ears.”
“Did you miss us?” She grinned.
“More than any of my other students,” Aubrey mock-whispered. “Come on. I know you are curious about my amnesia.”
“Is it true? Is that really why you were gone?” asked Anderson Phillips. “Sounds like bullshit.”
“I agree,” Aubrey said. “Amnesia happens more often than you think, but it’s not common. And it wasn’t something I fully understood before going through it. In my case, there were gaps in my memory, while I remembered other parts of my life vividly.”
“Did your memory return all at once?” Jamaica asked.
“It was a bit of a trickle until a friend intervened. He shared the parts that had been missing. With my doctor’s permission, of course.”
“He?”Madison Black waggled her eyebrows, and Aubrey’s hormone-riddled class made oooh sounds, hinting that they thought this “he” might be romantically linked to Aubrey. “Ms. Collins, we were not aware you had a boyfriend.”
“He’s an old boyfriend,” Aubrey admitted in spite of herself.
“Old as in geriatric?”
“No, Jacob. Old as in from my past.”
“You know, like you and Ava,” Madison put in.
“Burn!” Anderson pointed at Jacob, who turned a bright shade of pink.
“Did it work out?” The blunt question came from quiet, polite Mia Stoker.
“No. We see life differently. Then and now.”
“Isn’t that what you always tell us makes our writing strong?” Mia pressed. “Remember to—”
“‘See the scene from the other person’s eyes,’” the rest of the class quoted in unison.
Aubrey was both peeved and proud. “You’re using my words against me.”
“Have you seen things through his eyes?” Jamaica asked. “Or is he a lowly dog, like Caleb?”
“Hey!” Caleb, arguably the sweetest guy in their grade, protested. Aubrey noticed Jamaica sending him a flirty smile. Ah, teenagers.
“A story for another day, perhaps. We’re running out of time, and I know you’re anxious to discuss your reading assignment, yes?”
“We don’t get a pass because you were gone?” Jacob asked.
“Sorry. Your substitute teacher told me that she kept you on course while I was away.”
A few groans rippled through the classroom.
