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“Yes.” Piper’s face lit up. “I’m going as Maleficent.”
Sabine’s lips twitched. “You’re going to rock that.”
Piper smiled, pleased with the compliment.
“See? Costume parties are cool. I’d love to do that part. But you can’t just do that. You have to suffer through the gross and drunk, and I’d just rather not.” Sabine shuddered. “It’s not like I haven’t tried. I had a childhood. I did the things. I’ve just had too many bad experiences to make it worth it.”
Dave’s indigo eyes regarded her carefully. He sat back on the sofa and rubbed a hand along his jaw.
Shawn entered the lounge at that moment and Sabine breathed a sigh of relief. Usually, she didn’t mind defending her dislike of Halloween. But for some reason, this time felt different.
Uncomfortable different.
Shawn created a small disruption by stealing the basketball and claiming he could dribble better than Piper. Who immediately got out of her chair and tried to steal it from him to prove him wrong.
Sabine spun Piper’s laptop around so she could read through her essay.
It was good.
A lot better than she gave herself credit for.
But that was pretty common with the athletes she tutored. They had zero interest in academic work, saw it as a waste. Which was fine. It wasn’t Sabine’s job to convince them they were wrong. It was her job to get them to a place where their grades didn’t interfere with their passions. And if they learned a little something at the same time then that was a beautiful bonus.
Shawn dropped into Piper’s chair, breathing heavily.
“How’s she doing, teach? Failing miserably? Ow!” Shawn held the side of his head where Piper had pulled his hair.
Sabine shook her head and clucked at him. “What have I told you about teasing her?”
Shawn stuck his tongue out but didn’t reply.
“Did you tutor Shawn, too?” Dave asked.
“I helped him prep for the SATs.”
“You took the SATs, Shawn?”
Shawn narrowed his eyes at Sabine, upset she’d told. “Yes.”
“How’d you do?” Dave asked.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“He got a 1500,” Piper informed the room.
“That sounds really high. Is that high?” Dave asked Sabine.
Sabine arched an eyebrow. She hadn’t known Shawn’s score before now. “It’s high.”
“Then what’s the problem?” Dave asked, his attention back on Shawn.
“I said I don’t want to talk about it.” Shawn dove for the basketball and stole it. Piper chased him around the lounge.
Dave shot a curious look to Sabine who just shrugged. Shawn was very bright. But he was not happy about it.
“What if… and just hear me out before you shoot me down…” Dave leaned forward and braced his elbows on his knees. “What if you had one good experience?”
Sabine blinked, her mind scrambling to track down what Dave was talking about. This was not the first time he’d interrupted a thought with another thought and just expected her to be on the same page.
