Chapter 79
The cafeteria was so loud with kids laughing and carrying on, it was hard to hear the pop music station the teachers allowed us to listen to as it played in the background. I couldn’t help but glance at the stage off in the distance and remember it wasn’t too long ago my sister was standing up there giving a speech about Jack Cook’s life and untimely death. Though I couldn’t see the doors that led outside at the moment because the partition to the gym was closed, I remembered glancing behind me and seeing Cadence’s new friends sitting in a row, seeing Aaron walking in like he couldn’t get to my sister fast enough, only to dump her on Christmas Eve for some irritating woman with purple hair. I was sure my pleasant disposition was beginning to melt off of my face.
“You okay, Cass?” Emma asked, unwrapping her ham and cheese sandwich.
I surveyed her lunch before answering, happy to see some things never change. Ham and cheese sandwich, apple, cheese stick, Cheetos, bottle of water. “I’m fine,” I insisted. “Just thinking about… my sister.” She was only part of what I was thinking about, but it wasn’t a lie.
“How is she?” Lucy asked, carefully picking up her cafeteria-made burrito. “Is she back in Kansas City?”
“Yeah. She’s fine.” There was no point in telling them details about people I wasn’t supposed to mention. I’d chosen the chef salad and turned my attention to the food in front of me, hoping to forget about my sister and LIGHTS and all of that for a few moments.
That would be impossible, however, considering the circumstances. “Man, Dr. Sanderson is so cool,” Lucy said between bites. “I wish he could be our teacher every day.”
“No kidding,” Emma agreed. “It’s like he’s put everybody in the whole building in a good mood.”
I looked over to where the teachers with lunchroom duty were monitoring us. They were all laughing and talking, big smiles on their faces. That was never the case. It seemed Elliott had even gotten to them.
“Maybe we should go ask Principal Bell if he can take over for Mr. Horton full-time,” Lucy suggested as she wiped at sauce dripping down her chin. “The worst he could say is no.”
“Uh, I don’t think that Dr. Sanderson… can do that.” So many reasons why filled my head. For one thing, he’s definitely not a teacher—and I’m not completely convinced he’s even a doctor, though I’ve seen badges and registries that claim he is. He doesn’t even live in Iowa. He’s old enough to have been retired for, like, ten years, and he didn’t actually teach us anything. Instead of any of those obvious reasons, I went with, “I don’t think he lives nearby. I think he’s just visiting… for the holidays.”
“Really?” Emma asked. “How did he get to be a sub then? Don’t you have to take some sort of classes or something?”
She may have caught my mistake, but then I had no idea how one typically went about becoming a sub. I just knew how Elliott had done it. And I couldn’t explain that. “I think he knows the superintendent,” I lied.
“Oh.” That seemed like a good enough reason for Em, who popped a Cheeto in her mouth.
I was glad that had worked and began to understand what it must feel like to make up stories and have people bend beneath the weight of them. That sort of power could go to a person’s head if you let it. I wondered if my sister had that power or if she was capable of developing it.
“Look, there he is!” Lucy proclaimed, pointing across the room. A flurry of other kids began to shout his name, and the next few minutes were filled with the sound of hands slapping, cheering, and fist bumps blowing up like it was World War III. I could only shake my head. As much as I liked seeing everyone so nice to each other and happy, this wasn’t reality. We were all going to have face aches by the time we went to bed.
He was headed for our table. I wasn’t surprised, but I was a little nervous, wondering what was up. “Hey, ladies!” Elliott proclaimed, pulling out the empty chair between Emma and I, the one across from Lucy. “How’s it going?”
“Great,” Lucy proclaimed. “Your class was so much fun.”
“Thanks,” he gushed. I wondered what in the world was fun about it. All we’d done was work on our project, but I kept my mouth closed. “How you doin, Emma-Bo-Bemma?”
Emma O’Sullivan actually blushed and giggled. Never have I ever…. “I’m good,” she nodded. “How are you?”
Normally, I would think she was just asking because she’d been trained to do so, but she genuinely seemed to care about how another person was doing, which was enormous. Elliott’s response was enthusiastic. “Dynamite!” he replied, banging his hands down on the table. “I’m doin’ just dynamite.”
“Are you going to be here tomorrow?” Lucy asked. “You should ask the principal to let you stay full-time. You’re the best teacher ever.”
“’Fraid not,” he said with a heavy sigh. “This is just a side hustle for me. I got real work to do. Not that this hasn’t been fun. But, hey, hopefully I can come back every few weeks and check in on y’all.”
My friends’ faces fell with disappointment, but it didn’t last long before he was back to convincing them of how happy they are. “The world is a wonderful place, ladies. And it is yours for the taking. Just keep smilin’, and everything will turn out great.”
Their smiles were back, and they nodded along. I cleared my throat. “I told my friends that you know my parents.” He raised an eyebrow. “They wanted to know why you wanted to talk to me in the hallway.” He nodded, as if saying he understood I hadn’t given too much away. “Will you be coming by my house this afternoon before you head home?”
“Absolutely,” he replied, nodding his head. “I can’t wait to see your folks.”
“Great.” I exhaled hard enough to blow my paper napkin. I didn’t care if he saw my parents or not, but I did want the opportunity to talk to him alone. I wanted to see how my sister was doing and talk to him about Cabo.
“Can we come over?” Lucy asked, literally clapping her hands together. “Pretty please?”
“Uh, I don’t think my mom….”
“Lucy, you need to go home after school and tell your parents what a great day you’ve had.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Lucy acknowledged. “I need to go home after school and tell my parents what a great day I’ve been having.”
“I need to do that also,” Emma agreed.
I rolled my eyes, thankful that Elliott saw me but the other two didn’t. But before I could open my mouth to say more, I saw Liam approaching our table. My face must’ve drained of color because Elliott turned and looked over his shoulder, and once my eyes fell back to his face, I could tell by his expression he got me. He knew there was something going on with me and Liam—or that I wanted there to be.
“Hey, Dr. Sanderson,” Liam said, stopping by his chair, “great lesson today!”
“Thanks,” Elliott replied, taking the hand Liam offered and doing some weird shake I’d never seen before and imagined Liam had made up and taught him. He had Mr. Horton for chemistry, so I figured Elliott had been his sub, too. “How’s it goin’ Liam? You know my friends here?”
“I do.” Liam seemed to notice us for the first time. “Hi, girls.”
Emma mumbled a greeting but didn’t turn to look at him, Lucy glared, and I said, “Hi, Liam,” in such a sappily sweet voice I hated the sound of it coming out of my mouth. I still hadn’t figured out what was going on with Lucy, but now wasn’t the time to ask.
“It was great talking to you, Liam,” Elliott said, looking him in the eye, “but you have to go back to your table and finishing eating lunch now.”
“It was great seeing all of you,” Liam began, “but I have to go back to my table and finish eating my lunch now.”
“Bye, Liam,” I said as Em mumbled something else, and Lucy continued to glare. I assumed Elliott was getting rid of him because of Lucy’s reaction. Her unhappiness didn’t go with his theme.
“You okay, Lucy?” He was staring at her now.
As soon as Liam was gone and Lucy’s eyes caught Elliott’s, she let go a sigh and said, “I’m fine. I’m great.”
“Good,” he nodded. “You are great. And it’s a great day.”
“It’s a great day!” my blonde-headed friend proclaimed.
“Now, if y’all will excuse me, I have some copies to run.”
“I hope there’s not a line,” Emma said, her way of wishing him luck with the other teachers. Something told me, even if there was, he’d find a way to get to the head of the line, if there even were any copies.
“See you later,” I said.
In as cheesy a voice as I’ve ever heard, he replied, “Not if I see you first,” and winked at me. All three of us began to giggle like idiots as he stood and walked across the cafeteria.
“He’s just the best,” Lucy gushed.
“He really is,” Emma agreed.
“You have no idea,” I said before taking a swig of my chocolate milk. I wished they did, though. I wished I could tell them. But for now, all these secrets would have to stay with me.
