Page 13 of Call You Mine
Ava reaches for the fallen bags, setting them upright as she says, “Speaking of angsty middle-schoolers, I’m going to swing by the apartment, pick Georgie up, and take her to school. You good here alone? Brooke should be here in about an hour for her shift, and then?—”
“Golden,” Emerson replies as she opens one of the bags of espresso beans, pouring it into the machine and cutting off Ava with a smirk.
She rolls her eyes, looking at Jack. “Thanks for the valentines. It saved me some time.”
Jack shrugs his shoulders. “Thank Anderson. He’s the one who knew where to go.”
Ava turns to look at me, scanning my face as if looking at me for the first time, and I feel my cheeks heat when she lifts a brow, a small smirk on her face. “You knew where to go for a last-minute class set of valentines?”
I clear my throat, coughing into my fist before shoving my hands in my pockets. “Um, yeah,” I manage, “having three younger brothers does warrant that kind of knowledge.” My mind wanders to all the late-night runs for poster board for Archie’s school projects or early-morning trips to the store fororanges before rushing back home to slice them up for Auggie and Alex’s Saturday soccer game.
Ava’s lips part, a look of understanding crossing her features.
The sunlight coming through the window of the coffee shop highlights the outer ring of green in her hazel eyes, and I wish I had all the time in the world to count the flecks of amber.
“Well,” she says, wiping her hands down the front of her apron, tearing her eyes from mine. “I have a seventh-grade Valentine’s Day party to get to.” She reaches behind her back to untie the knot, looping the apron off over her head, and it causes more pieces of her red hair to come loose.
She heads to the Employees Only door, and I watch her until it closes behind her.
“Could you be more into her?” Emerson snickers before she finishes filling the espresso machines.
“You have no idea,” I retort, the crack in my voice giving me away evenmore. I know I’m too far gone to even be embarrassed about Emerson catching me watching Ava walk away like a lost puppy she left behind.
There’s no point in trying to deny it.
I am completelygonewhen it comes to Ava—and she couldn’t care less.
CHAPTER 5
AVA
Teachers are a fucking godsend.
Especially middle school teachers—they are out here doing work that I would only expect to be done in the nine circles of Hell.
I can’t say I’ve thought much about what it would be like to be in a seventh-grade classroom for a Valentine’s Day party, and I could have gone my whole life without knowing.
The amount of hormones and awkwardness that has been circling in the air since I walked Georgie to her reading class has me regretting my call to her teacher asking if I could tag along to the party and chat with her after school.
I was actually surprised that Ms. Mullins said yes; I can’t imagine that any teacher wants to stay after school to talk to a student’s caregiver on a Friday, but maybe Georgie’s mentioned something to her—something that might help me figure out where things went so wrong.
“I can’t believe you deal with this. Every day,” I whisper to Ms. Mullins—Callie. She’s about my age with dark brown hair twisted back in a claw clip, an oversized white sweater with red hearts hanging on her petite body. It’s a few minutes before the last bell is going to ring, and the two of us arestanding by her desk, watching the truly horrifying scene in front of us.
Looking past the pods of girls whispering and laughing while subtly pointing at a group of boys pretending not to notice them, I spot Georgie on the outskirts of the rest of the class with two of her friends as they look at something on one of the girls’ phones.
The room is loud and animated, the voice cracks and high-pitched shouting even louder than when I got here, all the candy and sugar from their party finally taking effect.
“Me either,” Callie replies with a huff of laughter. One that perfectly depicts her own disbelief at what she does all day. She glances at the clock above the door. “Did you want Georgie here for our conversation?”
I shake my head. “I’d rather not. She’s dealt with enough in the last twenty-four hours,” I answer.
The bell rings, and Callie announces to the class to have a good weekend and not to forget to do their assignment as the kids file out. Georgie waves to her friends as they follow the crowd out before coming up to me.
“Hey, kiddo.” I brush a piece of her dirty blonde hair behind her ear, noticing how much the sleep she got this morning helped that glow return to her face, some of the shine coming back to the smile she gives me. “I’m going to chat with Ms. Mullins. I’ll meet you up front, by the carpool line?”
Georgie nods, looking at her teacher. “Bye, Ms. M. See you Monday.”
“See you Monday, sweetheart,” Callie answers as she bends down to pick up a paper plate that just missed the garbage near her desk.
