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“Oh, you’rethatIndy.” Jenni, with her flaming red pixie cut and turquoise blouse, beamed across the desk. “Ethan can’t stop talking about you.”
Indy swallowed around nothing. “Oh?”
Whatever her face was doing, it only made Jenni smile wider. “He needs someone to look out for him. I’m glad to see he might have found it.”
“Right.”
Once all the t’s were crossed, Jenni pointed her in the direction of Ethan’s classroom.
It had been decades since she’d walked these halls, and in that time, the building had shrunk. There was no other explanation for how giant the place was in Indy’s memories of passing notes in class, whispered gossip in hallways, and hiding in the music room. She hadn’t even taken music, but the soundproofing was perfect for keeping out the outside world while she read (unlike the library, which was the least quiet spot in the whole school).
She’d never had a reason to return before. What would young Indy think of her now? She’d had so many hopes for her future, back when it was big and bright and possible.
Now, a deadline loomed. Potential was meant for the young, for fledglings granted permission to stumble. To fall. By thirty-one, she should be wiser, bolder, a fully formed being. Formed of what, Indy didn’t know. And she wasn’t sure she ever would.
Kids gawked as she walked past. And why, oh why had she not changed before she left? The roomy overalls and bralette combo was all well and good when she was sprawled out on her sofa, but she had to be violating some sort of school dress code.
“Cool tats,” praised a girl propped up against the wall outside the girls’ restroom, a lanyard around her neck that readbathroom pass.
“Uh, thanks.”
Indy pushed through the door before she could embarrass herself. She’d survived elementary school decades ago. She didn’t need a repeat.
“I had planned on telling you off, but that smells delicious, and I’m starving.”
She looked up to where Ethan was settled at his desk and stopped, frozen.
And… oh, no. No. No, no, no, no.
Indy turned away, making a beeline for the window across from the door, resolutely refusing what was happening. It just wasn’t fair. The observable rules of the universe couldn’t possibly be broken like this.
Ethan woreglasses?Really?
How was it even physically possible for this man to get any hotter?
The sun had passed over the building, leaving the windowpane cool under her palm. She couldn’t rest her head against it, but oh, how she wanted to.
The Fates were laughing at her. How else could they have fashioned someone who so completely embodied every bullet point on her wish list?
“Sure,” she replied, her voice cracking. She’d tuck her reaction away and overanalyze it later. All Indy knew was she was flushed from head to toe, and the combination of Ethan plus glasses plus telling her off was now on her kinks list. Nope. Nothing to see here. “Let’s eat.”
“Someone’s eager,” he chuckled, because life was cruel and Ethan was set on adding to her fantasies today.
He soon shut up as they dug in, side by side, at his desk. Indy took advantage of the silence to get a good look at the room.
“What’s with the weird chicken?” Indy nodded at the monstrosity hanging on the far wall.
“Not you too,” he grumbled. “It’s a turkey.”
“Then why does it look like that?”
“It’s made out of fire-retardant material. A buddy of mine is a firefighter and donated it.”
“Okay.” Odd choice. “Was paper too expensive?”
He chuckled. “The fire warden is always on our asses about safety when we decorate. Everything’s a hazard with him. So… I found a loophole.” He gestured to the chicken-turkey. Poor thing looked like it was hoping for a fire to put it out of its misery.
“Clever.”
