by ID Johnson
If Cutter found her inability to speak amusing, he didn’t let on. “It’s wonderful to meet you, too.”
“Where did you teach before?” Ru asked, realizing she hadn’t asked earlier.
“In New York City,” he replied, nodding his head so that his blue tie bobbed up and down a bit in front of his white button down shirt. Ru noticed the tie was a similar shade to his eyes, though she didn’t think that color could be replicated by a mere clothing dye. “It was intense. I’m glad to have the opportunity to join the staff at Thomas. I think it’ll be… rewarding.”
“Were you going to say easy?” Ru laughed. “Because, compared to NYC, I’m guessing it will be, though we have our own form of challenges.” Thoughts of helicopter parents and pressure to keep up the high test scores came to mind.
“I wasn’t going to say that,” Cutter replied, smiling at her. “I’m sure every school has its good and bad. And elementary school in the city isn’t as rough as secondary. But this is a nice little town, and I’m glad to have the opportunity to be back in a small community.”
“Oh, so you’re not originally from the city?” Ru was glad Candice had found her voice again.
“No, I’m from a really small town, far away,” Cutter said, turning as if he didn’t want to say more. “I guess I should get back to my classroom.”
Candice must’ve taken the hint not to ask a follow-up question. “Well, we’re so happy to have you here at Thomas.”
“Thanks. I’m very happy to be here.” He smiled at both of them, but for some reason, Ru felt that his eyes were lingering on her. She felt a bit of a blush coming on and looked away. “I’ll see you ladies in a bit.”
As soon as he was gone, back inside his room with the door shut, Candice turned to Ru, and doubling over she said, “Oh. My. God!”
Trying to keep her laughter as quiet as possible, Ru covered her mouth with both hands, fearing he’d poke his head back out, and they’d be caught. Eventually, she gathered control of herself, and Cutter’s door stayed closed. “I know, right?” she managed.
“I mean… if God sent an angel from heaven to occupy that classroom, he couldn’t be a more perfect specimen of male flawlessness.”
Ru raised her eyebrows. “You think?” she asked. “Don’t get me wrong. He’s hot. But… you don’t think God could do any better? At all?”
“Hell, no,” Candice said, shaking her head. “That man is a demigod. An Adonis.”
“Well, he’s also your teammate, so I guess you should figure out how to talk when he’s around.”
“I did.” Candice crossed her arms. “Eventually.”
Ru laughed again. “True. Who knows? Maybe the two of you will end up as an item.” She raised and lowered her eyebrows quickly.
It was Candice’s turn to laugh. “Yeah, right. I might be pretty, but there’s no way a guy like that would be interested in me.” She glanced over her shoulder as if she could somehow conjure up his image before them. “You could maybe.”
Ru waited until her friend was looking at her again before she shook her head and said, “Whatev.” She had no idea why Candice was always telling her how gorgeous she was. Literally no one else in the world had ever even mentioned to Ru that she was pretty, yet Candice insisted she could be a model.
“I’m serious. It doesn’t hurt that you have the same eye color. Your complexions are similar, you’re both blonde….”
“Our eyes are not the same color,” Ru spoke up. “I mean, they’re both blue, but his eyes are….” She struggled for the right word, not wanting to reveal how much about the new teacher she’d noticed herself. Stunning? Brilliant? “Electric.”
“So are yours.” Candice had taken a few steps over. “Okay, maybe not as… sparkly as his, but you guys have a lot of similar qualities. Hmmm, maybe you’re related.”
“Ha,” Ru laughed, though the suggestion made her stomach roll over. Candice likely hadn’t thought about the fact that her statement was actually a possibility. “Listen, girl, I’ve got boxes to dig into, and I think you do, too. I’ll grab you on the way to the meeting, okay?”
“You better. Or else I’ll be late.”
“You’ll be late anyway,” Ru teased.
“True.” Candice paused by her door and smiled over her shoulder. “Byeya.”
“Bye.” Ru watched her go and then attempted to shift her attention back to her work, which was harder than she’d expected. It wasn’t Candice or even Cutter that had her distracted, though. It was that comment. Could she actually be related to Cutter? There was no way to know.
Chapter 3
Cutter was inside the solace of his new classroom, readying it for the arrival of his students on Monday, and even though Ru and Candice were across the hall and his door was closed, he had no problem listening to them, should he want to. Trying to tune them out was not as easy as it might seem since he kept hearing references to himself. Of course, they had no idea he’d be able to hear them on the other side of the building if he wanted to.
Setting up his classroom had been no problem even though he’d never done it before. After about an hour of work, it was perfect, as if he’d been working on it for weeks. He appeared as if he had been teaching for several years, and he hoped the students would learn something from him for the time that he was here, but that wouldn’t be too long. Mimicking an elementary school teacher couldn’t be that hard, could it?
His phone buzzed in his pocket for probably the tenth time in the last twenty minutes, and despite the fact that he was attempting to emerge himself in this new world of Thomas Elementary, he finally decided the texts required his attention. Pulling it out of his pocket, he saw that all of the messages were from his cousin, Rider. The early ones seemed nonchalant, building toward: “Do you think you found her or not?”
Sighing, Cutter quickly typed in, “It’s hard to say. Give me some time. It’s been an hour.”
“It’s been years,” his cousin quickly shot back.
“Listen, I need to concentrate on what I’m trying to do here.”
“Trying is the optimal word. Okay, but do you think there’s a possibility that she is actually there?”
Cutter fought the urge to call his older, less patient cousin, but he was afraid the conversation might sound too intense for anyone who might be walking by in the hall, so he continued to text. “Saying ‘okay’ and then continuing to hound me isn’t helpful.”
The phone didn’t buzz again immediately, but Cutter knew Rider well enough to know it wasn’t over. “Fine. It’s just… there are no pictures on the website. It’s under construction for the new year. If what we’ve heard is true, and she really is there, you should know pretty quickly, right?”
Already aware of the problem with the website, part of the reason he’d fallen into this role to begin with, Cutter ran a hand through his short, blond hair. Should he tell Rider what he suspected? It might be too soon to tell, although, if he trusted his gut, she was definitely here. Knowing it would probably result in yet another line of badgering, he finally typed in, “I’ve only met a few people, but there is a woman who could potentially fit the bill.”
“Really? That’s awesome! Why didn’t you just tell me that?”
“Because I enjoy torturing you.”
“What is she like? What’s her name? Maybe I can find her pic somewhere else, social media or something. Will need to do some intel.”
“See! This is why I didn’t mention it. I didn’t want you going nuts. Not yet. I’m not sure. There’s just been some….” How could he best phrase it? “strange activity.”
Once again, Rider went quiet for a while. Almost a minute later, he sent, “Okay. I’ll let you wait till you get back to explain that. What’s her name?”
He never gave up. “Roo Roberts.”
“Roo? Like that rat on Winnie the Pooh?”
“I think that’s a kangaroo.”
“Did you kiss three fingers and hold them up in the air in tribute?”
>
Cutter couldn’t help but chuckle at that one. “Stop with the movie references. I am not Katniss.”
“It’s what I do man. Okay. I’ll see if I can find her. What does she look like?”
That was a legitimate question, and he definitely had an answer, more than one. What did she look like? Tall, blonde, gorgeous, with blue eyes full of secrets and an innocence about her that permeated with sweetness. It was too bad he was about to obliterate all of that. “She looks like an angel.”
The GIF of fireworks going off probably had a double meaning, but Cutter chose to believe his cousin was simply happy about the wording he’d chosen. “Now, leave me the hell alone,” he sent back, hoping that would be enough to hold Rider off for a few hours. He had a lot of meetings scheduled that day, and the last thing he needed was to slip up because of Rider’s distractions, or anyone else’s. He’d thought he’d been pretty clear about the importance of being left to his own devices here, but apparently some people either hadn’t been listening or had chosen to ignore him. When it came to Rider, Cutter was certain it was the latter.
After bustling around his classroom for a few more minutes, Cutter grabbed his school issued iPad, a pen, a pad of paper, and a bottle of water and ventured out into the hallway. Ru was walking out of her classroom at the same time. She smiled up at him, her eyes flickering with self-doubt. If she was who he thought she was, he wondered how she’d gotten like this, and how she’d ended up here.
“Hey! Headed toward the meeting?” he asked, smiling back at her.
“Yes. Just gotta grab Candice.”
“Okay. See you in a bit.” He took off in the direction of the library, which he’d discovered earlier that morning as he’d been exploring the building. He could’ve waited for her, but he didn’t want to seem too clingy too early. He’d need a few days at the minimum to discover if she was who he suspected. And then the really hard work would begin.
When Cutter walked into the library, a few other teachers were seated at the rectangular tables, talking excitedly, as if they hadn’t seen each other in years—or maybe it was just months. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to work with people you didn’t see for a couple of months every year. As they noticed him, the women grew quiet for a few seconds, one or two even gasped aloud, and then the conversation shifted to whispers, assuring him he was the new topic of discussion.
Normally, he would’ve gathered as much information as possible before subjecting himself to this sort of situation, but in this case, the discovery that the one they’d been searching for might actually be here had come with only enough time to get him this teaching position, and as Rider had pointed out, the website for Thomas Elementary was under construction. They weren’t too tech savvy around here, apparently. The Facebook page for the school hadn’t been updated since late April, and there were very few photographs of teachers. It was as if Reaper’s Hollow operated in its own bubble—a dated bubble at that.
There was one other male in the room. A tall, thin, though well-built, African American sat at a table in the back, his long legs not fitting under the table. He was flipping through a sports magazine, and Cutter noticed he hadn’t bothered to bring anything else but a pencil. He looked up at Cutter and ran a hand over his bald head before declaring. “Dang—they really did hire another dude.”
Trying to curtail his laughter, Cutter stepped over. “Hi. Just the two of us then?”
“Yep, but that’s better than it just bein’ me. Have a seat man,” he said, scooting the chair next to him out with his very large Nike. “I’m Joe Clark, PE.” He offered his hand, and Cutter took it before sitting.
“Nice to meet you. Cutter Michaels.”
“Cutter?” Joe repeated. “And they say we have weird names.” The second part was muttered, but still audible, and Cutter laughed. “Good to see you. What are you teaching?”
“Fourth grade,” Cutter replied. “And you say you’re the PE teacher?”
“Yeah, for going on six years. It’s a good school, though. You’ll like it. Mrs. Long is awesome. And there are some really nice teachers here. They’ll feed you. Seriously, it’s like another potluck every Friday.”
“Good to know,” Cutter chuckled. “You always lived here?”
“No,” Joe said rather quickly. “No, I played in the NBA for a few years. Blew my ACL, though. Never been the same.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” He didn’t think Joe’s name sounded familiar, but he’d never been much of a basketball fan.
“Thanks. So… I decided to go back to school. Not exactly sure how I ended up here, but Reaper’s Hollow is a nice place to live. Quiet town, not much going on. But close enough to the action if you’re looking for that.”
Cutter assumed he meant New York City, although there were some other large towns within easy driving distance. There were also some parks and other recreational areas. Before Cutter could say anything else, he noticed his teammates walking in, Ms. Roberts and Ms. Stein lagging a good four feet behind Ms. Owen. They sat at a table in the front, center, and Cutter wondered if he should move.
“Those are some teammates you’ve got there,” Joe remarked. “You met ‘em?”
Cutter nodded. He couldn’t take his eyes off of the tall blonde.
“Now, Roberts and Stein, they’re cool. You’ll like them. Owen—she’s another story. They always sit at that table so she can be the center of everything, especially the center of attention.”
Cutter raised an eyebrow and looked in Joe’s direction. He wasn’t sure what to say. Owen really wasn’t why he was here, although there was a possibility she could get in his way. She sure did try to control everything.
“Now, if I was you, I’d get in good with the nice ones, let Owen hang herself. I like to mess with her; it’s kinda funny to see her get all bent out of shape.”
He couldn’t help but chuckle at that. It seemed sincere. “Like how?”
“I don’t know. Like… telling her we’ll be in the gym, but taking her class out to one of the back fields so she has to come looking for them, walking through the mud in her heels. Sometimes I send out an email to the whole staff that I’ve got cookies in my office—my wife makes the best cookies—but when she gets there, they’re all gone.”
“Wow, you’re a hard man, Joe.” Cutter was laughing though.
“Hey, when you’re the only guy, you’ve gotta do something to entertain yourself. Ru, though, she’s the best. She’ll go outta her way to make things easy on you. She’s never late to pick up her kids. Always gets there on time. If you’re having a bad day, she somehow just knows it, and she does nice things for other people all the time.”
Cutter was staring at the back of her head so intensely, he thought for sure she’d feel it. “She seems nice.”
“Yeah, she is. And pretty, too. Though she don’t know it, which makes her even sweeter. Candice knows she’s miss thing. But she’s a nice girl.”
Nodding, Cutter dragged his eyes away from the back of Ms. Roberts head. “Do you think I should go sit with them?”
“Nah. You’ll get to spend plenty of time with them later. Stay with me. We dudes gotta stick together. Besides, when Mrs. Long gets up there, she’s probably going to mix us all up anyway. We’ll do some ice breaker sh—stuff. It’s never anything that has anything to do with me. You might learn something. Doubt it, though. ‘Specially if you’ve been teaching for a while. And then, once they teach you everything you need to know about such and such, they’ll never mention it again until some sort of a report is due. Next year, they’ll change all of that stuff.”
“That sounds about right,” Cutter agreed, shaking his head. He had to pretend like he’d been around the block a few times, so he couldn’t show that he was shocked at what he’d learned so far about how teachers operate. Hopefully, if Mrs. Long asked him anything directly, he’d be able to come up with something. He’d done some research and had some materials he thought were appropriate should the questio
n arise, but keeping his head down was probably the best idea.
“Okay, let’s get started everyone!” Mrs. Long said, standing at the front of the room. Many of the voices continued to chatter, so she said, “If you can hear me, clap once.” A few people clapped. Cutter tried not to be confused and prepared for her to ask again. “If you can hear me, clap twice.” This time, he was ready and joined in with about half of the teachers. “If you can hear me, clap three times.” This time, almost everyone was with them. “Are we ready then?”
Mrs. Long had a captive audience. She was a short woman, probably in her mid-fifties, with reddish-brown hair that came out of a bottle, though likely the bottle of a stylist. She had a nice manicure and was dressed in a black pantsuit. Though she was a bit robust, she had a kind smile, and Cutter had liked her the moment they’d met. She seemed to really know a lot about education. It was a shame he’d had to lie to her face so many times. It would also be hard to leave her with two positions to fill so early in the school year should things turn out the way Cutter anticipated, but there was nothing he could do about that. Hopefully, two of the candidates Lyric was researching as replacements would work for Mrs. Long. His team didn’t like to inconvenience people if it wasn’t necessary.
He realized he wasn’t listening, and by the time he brought his attention back to the front of the room, he caught the tail end of what she was saying. Luckily, he’d tuned back in just in time. “It will be nice to have another gentleman as part of our Thomas family. Ladies, please help me welcome Cutter Michaels.”
Not only did the room erupt in applause, there were actually some cat calls, which made Cutter blush. He wasn’t sure if he should stand or just wave, so he simply raised his hand and tried to acknowledge each table.
“Now, ladies, keep it civil,” Mrs. Long warned about the cat calling, although she had a small smile playing at her lips. “We need to make sure that Mr. Michaels is comfortable here. Remember, the sexual harassment training video we watch every year? That’s scheduled for later this week.”