“What the hell were you and my brother thinking, throwing me into the ring like that?”
“He tried to call us,” Elora said. “I have a bunch of missed calls on my phone. Apparently, he decided at the last second that we should tell you.”
“And who decided in the first place that you shouldn’t?”
“We thought it might be a nice surprise,” she started, but I didn’t hear the rest because a flood of noisy teenagers passed, their racket bouncing off the bricks and mortar. I ducked into a doorway and hid my phone in the shadows, since they were apparently not allowed out during school hours. I hated being a teenager again.
“Well, thanks to you two, my wife won’t even give me the time of day. I made a shitty first impression!”
“She doesn’t know you, okay?” Lors said. “So, yes, she might be a bit cold, but give her time. She’s new—to everything.”
“But she’s usually so sweet to everyone—”
“And she’s not herself, Dad. She’s not the girl you married. She doesn’t have any past to have built herself on—”
“Which is why you should have told me she was here,” I said through my teeth, “I could have prepared myself.”
“And yes, in hindsight, seeing the way you handled yourself this morning, you’re right. I’m sorry. But I really thought you were a lot cooler than that, Dad.” She laughed. “Turns out you’re actually a bit of a dork when it comes to girls.”
“Fuck!” I buried my face in my hand. “I’m too old for this bullshit, Elora.”
“It’ll be okay,” she promised. “We’ll formulate a plan tonight. Maybe I’ll organize a chance meeting with her so we can become friends and I can encourage her to like you.”
“I’m not sure that’ll help.”
“Dad, stop worrying,” she sung in the same way her mother used to—that soft, flowing voice that seemed to make me believe everything would be all right. “You are in her blood, her soul; she will fall for you again. Just take your time and don’t force things.”
I sighed, leaning against the wall, a headache forming in my very human brain. “I don’t think I can do this, Lors.”
“You can. I promise you can. You just need to get off the phone and get back out there. And I have to get back to work before I get my ass handed to me.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to you tonight.”
“Bye, Dad. And good luck.”
I hung up the phone without a farewell. Elora was not in my good books right now.
Across from me, tucked against the wall by our classroom, Ara stood watching the kids in the yard, trying to look passive but coming off as ultimately scared and shy. Her eyes followed Cal as he joined a busy group of testosterone-hyped monkeys, clearly wondering if she should join him.
For a moment, my mind flashed back to her first day of school the year we met. Back then, I finished my class and ran at the speed of a vampire to her side before another could befriend her. This time, I wasn’t sure she’d receive me so well. I creeped her out this morning and she wouldn’t easily forget that, first impressions and all.
Just as I worked up the nerve to walk over to her, a stick thin girl that looked remarkably like a muddy brown pencil came to Ara’s rescue. I stood watching for a moment, my heart thumping so rapidly in my chest for the lost opportunity that I didn’t notice Cal walking toward me.
“David,” he called, waving me over with a jerk of his head.
“What’s up?” I said, hiding my phone.
“Come on. I’ll introduce you to the guys.”
I smiled, accepting his offer. He was clearly one of the well-liked morons in this school, and if I could establish a relationship with his group, I might have a half a chance of being noticed by Ara.