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19
Taylor
My teaching schedule was frontloaded in the week, which meant Mondays and Tuesdays were jam-packed with classes and office hours. That kept me occupied in the aftermath of the Patriots game.
But I still couldn’t stop thinking about Brody, and the smile he had given me during the game. It may not have actually been for me, but that’s how I was choosing to remember it. Because it was better than the alternative: that he was smiling at Isabella. That meant they might be getting back together.
And I refused to accept that possibility.
Speaking of relationships, Eric called me twice: once on Sunday night, and again on Monday afternoon. I ignored both calls, and he didn’t leave a voicemail. He could have easily visited me during one of my classes, or during office hours. But he hadn’t done that.
Because he’s a coward, I thought. He doesn’t want to face me. He would rather discuss what happened on the phone.
It was just another reason to dislike the man. I was beginning to realize how much happier I was without him in my life.
On Tuesday, I was sitting behind the desk in my Evolutionary Paleobiology class. The first exam of the semester was taking place, and the twenty students in the classroom were busy scribbling away on their Blue Books. I was just as nervous as them. The exam wasn’t just a measurement of how intelligent the students were: it was a barometer of how well I had explained the subject material. And I wanted them to all do well.
I normally kept my phone on silent during class, but today I was distracting myself from the exam by doing the New York Times Spelling Bee on my phone. A text message appeared on the screen.
Brody: Howdy, my favorite redheaded cheerleader named Taylor. What time do you get out of class today?
I almost dropped the phone as I read the text. First came the excitement of getting a message from Brody. Then the pure elation of reading what he said.
Why was he asking when I got off work?
Was he going to ask me out?
I gasped. It’s Tuesday. Maybe he wanted to do trivia night with me again!
I put the phone down on the desk and smoothed out my skirt out of nervousness. This was it. Our chance to pick up where we left off this summer. No more roadblocks in the way. I forced myself to wait exactly two minutes—because a girl could never look too eager—and then told him that I got off at four.
Brody took a long time responding. The three dots appeared on the message stream, disappeared, then popped up again. I was on pins and needles as I waited for his reply.
“Are you okay, Professor Fox?” asked one of my students as she turned in her exam.
“I’m perfectly fine,” I replied.
My phone vibrated with a new message.
Brody: Hope this isn’t too last-minute, but I’m taking you up on your offer. Any chance you can let my dog out when your last class ends? I won’t be home until late tonight, and my regular dog walker is out of town.
My stomach tightened. He wasn’t asking me out. And I started wondering why he was going to be out so late…
Taylor: I can definitely do that! Why are you going to be out late? Is everything okay?
Brody: I’m stuck at a photo shoot with Adidas. We should’ve been done an hour ago, but this place is as crazy as a stockyard where all the cattle have gotten loose. They’re saying we might not wrap up until midnight.
Brody: You sure you don’t mind? Stevie Cooper owes me a favor, so I can always ask him to swing by.
Taylor: I don’t mind at all! I was serious when I said I loved playing with dogs more than I love chocolate :-)
Brody: You’re awesome. Have I mentioned how awesome you are? I’ll send you the door code and info so you can get in.
I breathed a sigh of relief. When he said he was going to be out late, my immediate fear was that he was going out with Isabella. Finding out that wasn’t the case was as soothing as putting ice on a burn.
As the day went on, I was still disappointed that Brody wasn’t asking me out. It felt like rejection, even if it was indirect. And I felt stupid for assuming he was even asking me out. As far as he knew, Eric and I were still together.
Are we still together? I wondered. We hadn’t officially broken up, but the more things dragged on since our fight, the more it felt like things were over.
