part0023

Several students snickered and Delilah’s face turned bright red. Class had barely started, and by the looks of it, things were off to a smashing start. The end of summer school was definitely nearing.

“I’m not,” she mumbled, but it was too late, the damage had already been done.

Brendan smiled, enjoying the attention.

The truth of the matter was that Brendan loved the attention Delilah showered on him. Unfortunately, he liked the power of what he could do with it more. I recognized the signs from my own relationship with Tanner. The fact that I’m seeing it in high school speaks volumes as to the state of Tanner’s mind.

Apparently my little chat with Delilah hadn’t really swayed her from focusing on Brendan, but I understood. At that age, it felt like the end of the world if the person you liked didn’t feel the same way. Actually, at any age that feeling was horrible.

“Brendan, why don’t you kick off the class for last night’s reading about Susan B. Anthony and her successful fight to end suffrage. What does the term suffrage mean and what happened in 1920?”

He shrugged his shoulders and replied, “Susan B. Anthony helped people suffering in 1920.”

My brow rose and the class erupted into laughter, and this time it was Brendan’s turn to light up.

Delilah’s hand shot up, and I was grateful that at least that part of our talk had gotten through. She no longer acted as if history wasn’t important to her. I nodded and Delilah began.

“She helped pave the way for women’s voting rights. She died in 1906, but she’s definitely one of the women who helped contribute to the passing of our nineteenth amendment to the constitution in 1920.”

I knew Brendan hadn’t done the reading. He was the only one who hadn’t turned in his homework. It wasn’t that I’d wanted to target him, but seeing him do that to Delilah didn’t sit well.

“I wanted to talk to you guys about a little challenge. As a class, your average grade is a B-, which means that a few students are struggling a little more than others. I’d love to see every single student get a B or higher so I wanted to provide an incentive. If we can lift the class average to a solid B, I’ll treat everyone to pizza and ice cream at Marina Park on our last day of school and you won’t have any assignments to turn in the last two days prior.”

There was an immediate charge in the room as the students rallied behind this goal.

“In order to achieve this, I’ve divided everyone into groups, and once a week, we’ll split off into our small groups and work on the topics that were more challenging for that week, whether it’s memorization or terminology, this will hopefully get everyone on the same page.”

I caught Brendan giving Delilah a glance when she wasn’t looking, and I realized there was far more at work than Delilah liking Brendan. It wasn’t one-sided, but the way Brendan was going about it wasn’t healthy in the slightest.

“We should go outside and study. It’s too stuffy in here,” Adam shouted from the back of the room. He was excelling in this class. His exuberance for baseball somehow spilled over into his studies once we managed to focus on baseball for an entire class session, specifically the civil rights movement and Adam’s hero, Jackie Robinson. It was thrilling to see the students’ excitement over issues they were passionate about mixed with relevant historical movements in the United States. This was what made teaching so much fun.

“You know I would love nothing more, but if you remember, the storm we had last night and through the morning turned the ground to mush. Okay, everyone, let’s open up that book and turn the page to three fifty-seven. Who would like to read paragraph one?”

“I’ll do it,” Adam replied.

Adam began reading the passage about space exploration, and my mind wandered to my earlier encounter with my long-lost aunt. I’d managed to look up some information and what I’d turned up was nothing. Adam stopped reading and I snapped to again, feeling bad I’d zoned out.

“How many of you have seen Apollo 13 ?” I asked.

Only one hand sprang to the ceiling. I really was getting old.

“Okay. Great. We’ve only got one person who’s seen it. We’ll be watching the first half on Monday and the second on Tuesday. Hopefully, it’ll get us in the mood for writing about space exploration, the challenges, the risks, and the rewards.”

“Like finding aliens?” Sarah joked.

“That could be a potential risk or reward, depending on whether they’re friendly.” I smiled.

“We should watch E.T. ,” she offered.

“A classic.” I nodded. “We’ll see. Okay, so I’d like to see the rough draft of your two-page paper on Wednesday. As usual, I’m free to stay after on Tuesday, if any of you’d like feedback. The final paper will be due the following week.”

The discussion was lively and stayed mostly on track as we discussed NASA and space exploration. It wasn’t until I saw the clock that I realized class was almost over. I began handing back corrected papers from the day before, along with which group they’d be in moving forward.

I saw Brendan give Delilah another sideways glance as I handed him his paper and that was when it hit me. I needed to distract her, show her options in life. Brendan was definitely messing with her psychologically, giving her false hope. It wasn’t healthy. With only five minutes left in class, I instructed the students to find their group members, and I dashed into the hall, calling Delilah’s mother to divulge my plan. After explaining my observations to Marcy, she wholeheartedly agreed with my idea and promised to pick her daughter up from the marina after school.

I walked back into class as the bell rang. Delilah got a text from her mom and she looked up at me.

“If you’re game, I wanted to show you the museum and this cute little marina next to it. They restore old boats in the summer.”

Delilah placed her book in her bag and glanced back up at me. “Sure. I guess.”

“Perfect. Maybe you can give me some ideas about what the students might like if we go there on a field trip.”

It only took us about fifteen minutes to get down to the waterfront. I parked my car along the side of the road and hopped out. Delilah grabbed her bag out of the backseat and looked over at the pier and then at me.

“Who are all those guys?” she asked, pointing at a group of six or seven teenage boys.

“They’re interns. They’re getting credit for helping to restore that old boat over there.” I pointed at a large sailboat, which had seen better days.

“The Sailing Society restores one boat each summer and they depend on volunteer help for most of the work.”

“Hmm.” Her eyes were glued to the group of guys and I had to hide my laugh. “I don’t recognize any of them from school.”

“That’s because I doubt any of them are from your school. They come from all over the state. Many of them are in Running Start too.”

She eyed me and shook her head. “What’s that?”

“You can get high school and college credit while taking college classes and they’re paid for.”

I nodded. “Yep. It’s a pretty great thing for those students who are up for the challenge.”

We walked across the street and over to the pier to check out the boat that several of the guys had gone back to work on.

“How do you qualify?” she asked .

I knew Delilah would be an awesome candidate for Running Start, and if she started next year, she could get almost two years of college paid for.

“There are forms to fill out and you have to test into classes to make sure you’re ready for the coursework, but I can promise you, you’re ready. It’d be a piece of cake for you.”

A really cute guy jogged over to us. He looked to be around seventeen. He’d obviously been working a lot outside because his skin was deeply tanned, and his hair bleached from the sun.

“Anything I can help with?” he asked, his eyes falling on Delilah.

“We wanted to check out the project and, if we had time, tour the museum.”

“Awesome. This was a good day to come. The museum is closed.”

“But I can give you guys a private tour. Mr. Thomas wouldn’t mind.”

“Are you sure? We don’t want to be a bother.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to get anyone in trouble,” Delilah seconded, but I noticed she was completely entranced with the boy in front of her.

“He’s my grandfather. It’ll be fine. I’m Josh, named after Joshua Slocum—”

“Captain of the “Spray” and author of Sailing Alone Around the World .” Delilah gave a wicked grin. She was completely in her element.

“No one knows that, especially not a chick,” Josh said, shaking his head. His green eyes brightened as they locked on Delilah’s. I felt like the perfect little matchmaker from above.

“And I’m Miss Aickens,” I said, sticking out my hand for a handshake. Josh barely shook my hand as he stayed transfixed on Delilah, who ate up every moment of his attention.

“Want me to show you around?” Josh asked Delilah.

Realizing I was the third wheel, I slowed down my pace and watched the two wander down the pier as Josh explained the history of the boat and why it was important to our town. When I’d imagined this mini-field trip, I certainly hadn’t planned for this type of success. Goodbye, Brendan, and hello, Josh.

My phone buzzed and it was a text from Mason. We’d planned on leaving the school together, but I couldn’t find him when it was time to leave, and I didn’t want to bother him in case he was on the roof or something. With my luck, he’d fall off reaching for his cell.

I watched Josh and Delilah staring and pointing at the boat while the other boys worked away. They didn’t seem too bothered by Josh’s departure from the work that needed to be done. Maybe it was guy code for when a pretty girl came around. Delilah started giggling, and I couldn’t help the elation that flowed through me. No need to focus on a boy who played games when there was one who knew what he wanted.

I’d managed to call my uncle before class had started and had spoken with him about the new developments. He was as surprised as I was, but he also verified that my dad hadn’t ever mentioned any money issues, which was comforting and matched what I saw after my dad’s passing. There weren’t any outstanding utility bills, medical bills, nothing that I could find. I also quickly went through my dad’s deposit statements using my iPhone, and I didn’t see any deposits that matched the amounts my aunt claimed to have given.

I glanced up to see Delilah walking over slowly in an almost euphoric state, and I knew my mission had been accomplished. Brendan would no longer have that twisted hold over her.

“You won’t believe it,” Delilah whispered.

“What?” I asked, feeling her excitement level raising to the clouds at an unstoppable rate.

“His dad is a history professor at the University of Washington.”

“You don’t say.” I squeezed her shoulder.

She nodded, “And he asked me out. I’m waiting for my mom to text me an answer.”

I laughed. “You waste no time.”

“Time should never be wasted, especially when it comes to matters of the heart.” Her eyes widened as she looked over my shoulder.

How in the world could a high schooler know these things?

She didn’t take her eyes off of whatever was behind me so I turned around and sure enough, Mason was walking toward us. He looked as sensational as he had this morning, and I wanted to consume every part of him, but I was a responsible adult and would maintain control until all young people were out of sight.

Mason strode up next to me and smiled. “Impromptu field trip?”

“For one student, yes.”

Mason’s eyes focused on the group of guys covering the boat and he chuckled. “I see.”

Delilah’s face reddened as her phone buzzed. “My mom said probably, but she’d have to meet him first and it could only be in the daylight.”

I laughed and nodded. “Seems reasonable. Did you tell her he was the grandson of Mr. Thomas?”

Mr. Thomas was a fixture around town. His family was the first to build a marina in the 1800 s and bring much needed commerce to the area.

Delilah shook her head. “I’ll tell her that right now.”

“Are you up for the museum tour?” I asked her.

She shook her head. “I don’t want to blow it and my mom will be here soon. I don’t think there’s enough time.”

I slid my hands into my back pockets and watched the guys working away on the boat. Each of them had an area they were focusing on and held to it. I saw Josh sanding the deck, but he stopped suddenly and stood up, stretching. Mason followed my gaze and we both started silently laughing as Josh stripped off his shirt and tossed it to the deck, hoping to catch Delilah’s attention.

“You won’t blow it,” Mason assured her.

“How do you know?” Delilah asked.

“He’s interested.”

“That’s a change,” she muttered under her breath.

Marcy hollered a faint hello from behind us, and I glanced over my shoulder and did a quick wave before returning my attention to the workers in front of us.

“Mom,” Delilah called, waving frantically.

Josh must’ve caught her shout because he began quickly pulling his shirt back over his head while the other guys gave him a hard time. To be in high school again...

Nah. Who was I kidding ?

“I remember those days,” Mason nudged my side and I laughed. “Trying to impress a girl, showing off…”

“Wasn’t it only yesterday you were showing off?” I teased.

“Try this morning. Blueberry muffins, remember?”

Mason wrapped his arm around my waist, and I felt a flurry of bliss run through me.

“How about you go on a date with me tonight, and I’ll fill you in on what my mom dug up…that way it’ll be a working date and you can’t imply that I’m getting too serious.”

“You’re a real trickster,” I muttered, right before Marcy arrived. “But yes, since it’s work related, I think that’s a great idea.”

Marcy looked relieved the moment she saw her daughter’s expression. The carefree Delilah was staring back at her, no longer caught up in boy drama.

“Josh is the one in the red shirt,” I told Marcy.

She glanced his way, and he was staring at us all, holding a towel. He said something to the rest of the guys and hopped off the deck, making his way over to Delilah and Marcy.

“My work here is done,” I laughed.

“Yes. Thank you,” Marcy said, winking. Followed by her lips moving to the words “No. More. Brendan.”

I smiled and nodded as Mason and I walked toward a different pier.

“So how about it? A dinner date tonight, only casual…work related. ”

I nodded and looked out over the marina. The sailboats bobbed slowly up and down as I wondered if I’d truly be able to pull this casual thing off with Mason. I didn’t want to fool myself about the feelings that were already rearing their annoying head. Couldn’t I be one of those people who had a summer fling?

Yes. Of course, I could.

But as Mason circled his arms around my waist and pulled me into him, I knew my plight was going to be a difficult one, especially when his lips touched down on mine.