Her Imaginary Husband (Contemporary Romance)

by Lia London

  Good for you, Adam, thought Nikki. At the same time, a part of her ached to think that the boy had no real fun time.

  Josh, however, did not appear impressed. “That’s what you get for being a farmer, Adam.”

  “Shut up, Josh.”

  “Face it. You’re just a farmer.”

  Something in Adam’s body language told Nikki it was time to intervene. “All right, boys. Don’t make me come over there and get all old school on you two. I’ve got a ruler, and I know how to use it.”

  The negative energy diffused with a few chuckles, and Nikki began her explanation of the assignment. As the words flowed from her mouth, she fretted the notion that if she ever ceased to be funny, she would lose control of her students. Humor was her way of keeping things on her terms.

  When the class settled in to start their assignments, Nikki walked over to Adam and tapped him lightly on the shoulder. Josh noticed, of course, and watched her closely.

  “Adam, can I talk to you for a minute?”

  He sighed. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Out in the hall?”

  Adam bristled, but rose to follow her. Once outside the door, he stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Am I in trouble, Ms. Fallon?”

  “Not at all,” she said, studying him with a wash of maternal pride.

  He glanced up from under the brim of his hat. “So…what do you want?”

  “You’re president of the FFA,” she said.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Do you want to be a farmer when you grow up?”

  “I’m a farmer now,” he said, standing taller.

  Nikki smiled, acknowledging her mistake. “You’re absolutely right. Sorry.” Meeting his eyes, she asked, “Is that what you want to do all your life?”

  Adam shrugged and his mouth twisted in a bitter frown. “I’m just a farmer, right?”

  Nikki’s eyes narrowed. “What Josh said? Is that what you think?”

  “It’s what everyone thinks,” he said plainly.

  “It’s not what I think,” said Nikki.

  There was a long pause, and Adam cracked his knuckles. “I love farming. I feel free out there.”

  “Even with all the work?”

  “I won’t always have to spend eight hours a day here.”

  “Good point.” Nikki tried to not to feel disappointed that he viewed school as a distraction. Remembering that it was because he wanted to work made that easier. She clasped her hands and thought for a second. “I’m an English teacher, so I get all excited about words. That word ‘just’ is simply not true.” When he squinted, she went on. “When Josh says, ‘just a farmer’, it implies two things: one is that you are a farmer and nothing but a farmer. The other is that being a farmer is somehow…less.” She shook her head and looked at him intently. “Neither of those are true, are they?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re a farmer, and a leader, and a scholar, and a good friend, and who knows how many other things?”

  “I play guitar and fix cars, too.”

  “See what I mean? You’re not ‘just’ one thing. You will be many in your lifetime.”

  “Yeah. But that’s what people see. The farmer. They think I chew hay and hang out with cows in the barn.”

  Nikki wagged her head. “No offense, but that’s what highschoolers see. Riverview High isn’t forever, and when you’re in the adult world, people will see all of you. And you already have an amazing work ethic in place. You’re not ‘just’ anything. You’re awesome.”

  Adam smiled, revealing a heretofore hidden dimple. “Thanks.”

  Slapping his back to usher him back into the room, she whispered, “And personally, I’m very fond of eating, so I’m grateful for farmers. We’d all die of hunger without you.”

  He jerked his chin in agreement. “You got that straight.”

  She nudged him and murmured, “If you ever need an extra day to get an assignment done, let me know. Let me know in advance, and I’ll give it to you. Just…don’t tell the whole world, okay? I understand you have more on your plate that most of us.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said. He strode back to his seat, ignoring the curious stares, and Nikki thought maybe she had handled that all right.

  

  The young couple walked in late to sixth period, and Nikki stopped and stared. The boy was the over-pierced, pink Mohawk kid from the mall, and the girl looked like she’d spilled a bottle of Elmer’s glue in her jet black hair before falling asleep.

  “Hello?” Nikki watched them head straight to the two vacant chairs in the back of the room. “And you are?”

  Mohawk kid smiled. “Justin Earl.”

  Another boy in the room called out, “Yo, Justin!”

  Nikki remembered the name from the roll sheets the first day, but hadn’t paid attention once she’d assigned the attendance-taking task to the girl in the front row. She wondered if she should have held on to that part of her job for at least a week to learn names faster.

  “Welcome. Glad you could finally join us.” Nikki gave a questioning look at the girl, but received only a scowl. “And you are…?” The girl didn’t answer. Instead, she slid into the desk and folded her arms belligerently across her Goth-garbed chest.

  “That’s Amanda Zane,” said the roll-taker.

  “Amanda Zane. Cool name,” said Nikki, hoping to break through the girl’s gruff exterior. “A to Z in one name.”

  The girl rolled her eyes. “Like I’ve never heard that one before.”

  Nikki decided being nice wasn’t working, so she’d be official. “You have tardy slips for me?”

  “I didn’t know I needed to bring a gift,” said Amanda.

  Ah, a real charming one, thought Nikki. I guess the lucky streak of nice kids was too good to last. “You’ll need to go get one, or the absence that was already marked will stand.”

  “I don’t actually care,” said Amanda.

  Justin looked sympathetically at Nikki. “P.E. ran long,” he said. “Mr. Carlin gets all excited about the game, you know. Forgets to give us time to shower.”

  Nikki took a deep breath and resisted a tactless response about the obvious lack of water either of their heads had seen in at least a few days. “Okay, I’ll talk to him later and get that cleared away. Thanks.”

  There was a pause while everyone looked at Nikki expectantly and Amanda feigned sleep. Nikki decided she’d let it go for now and talk to Gayle and the others for advice on how to deal this kind of behavior.

  With a forced grin, Nikki asked, “Ready for a pop quiz?”

  “What?!”

  “No way!”

  Agitation of various degrees rumbled through the room until Nikki laughed. “Don’t worry. I’m not ready, either. But you may wish we’d had one after we tackle this next bit.”

  Relieved murmurs mixed with open-mouthed stares.

  “I can’t believe you did that on the first day,” said Justin.

  “Your first day, sir. We’ve been enjoying this party since Tuesday!”

  He tried to sneer, but humor shone in his eyes. Nikki suspected he might not be a jerk. Amanda? Well, she’d just have to see.

  “You all know what a Venn diagram is, right? Please say ‘yes’.” Several students responded with mock enthusiasm. “Great. Tell me what it’s used for.” She drew large overlapping circles on the chalkboard.

  The class began the tedious process of comparing and contrasting Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” with Puritan writings. As Nikki cited a line from the famous sermon, Amanda sat up and yelled, “Hey, we’re not supposed to do religion in the schools. Separation of church and state. You’re violating my Constitutional right not to believe in God.”

  Coughing snickers sounded, and Nikki struggled to keep a straight face. “I’m glad to see you’re up on your American Government. You do realize that I’m not trying to convert you to anything, right?”

  “You’re talking about God.�
� said Amanda flatly.

  Nikki resisted groaning. “We’re studying the literature of the time period. That was what they talked about in those days. Science fiction and reality shows came later.”

  “We’ve moved on. I don’t want to hear about it.”

  “You’re welcome to go back to sleep, Amanda,” said Nikki. Oh dear. I learned her name already. And not for being the smart kid. Amanda continued to frown, so Nikki matched her look and added, “Or you could just go sit in the hall where you can’t hear this offensive lesson.”

  Three seconds later, Amanda was out the door, and Nikki doubted she had handled that conflict very well.

  12~Gossip and Advice

  Monday morning, Nikki found Robert and Sammi sitting by her classroom door studying Geometry together. Nikki squinted down at them. “Aren’t you here a little early? I actually beat the buses here today.”

  Robert pushed his glasses up his nose. “I’ve ridden my last school bus, Ms. F. Those things are vessels of vexing vertebrates.”

  Nikki blinked slowly. “Someone eating shredded dictionaries for breakfast?”

  “Just stating the facts, ma’am,” he said, closing his textbook and stuffing it into his back pack. He and Sammi stood as Nikki sorted through the keys to unlock the door. “It’s the one with the red sticker.”

  Pushing open the door, Nikki eyed him. “I’m not going to ask how you know that. Good morning, Sammi. You avoiding the bus, too?”

  “Yep.”

  “It’s that bad?”

  “It’s like a leper colony,” she said, yawning.

  “So how’d you two get here?”

  Sammi dropped her backpack on her desk and stretched. “Our moms are going to take turns. You see, I can outrun the jerks on the bus, and Robert can beat them up, but neither of us can do both. Since we want to stick together…”

  Nikki set her purse down. “You two could be crime fighters at night. Just get some tights and capes.”

  “His knees are too knobby,” said Sammi, shaking her head. “Anyway, if we want a ride, we have to come early when my mom is heading to work.”

  “It’s tough being superhuman in a world of sub-humans.”

  Nikki laughed. “Thanks a lot!”

  “Not you,” he hastened to add. “It’s just…I’ve got a kid in my fifth period class who still isn’t 100% sure how to spell his own last name.”

  “Is he Welsh or Uzbekistani? Cut him some slack.”

  “Nope. He’s just stupid.”

  “Look, I know you write freelance for the local newspaper and all, but…they can’t all be geniuses.”

  Robert rolled his eyes. “Ms. F, they’re not even close.”

  Sammi tugged at his sleeve, her eyes on Nikki. “He gets this way sometimes.” She patted his back. “I get it, Robert. Really, I do. I remember last year realizing that kids who got straight D’s were getting the same middle school diploma as me, with my straight A’s. I was pretty disgusted.”

  “Exactly!” he exclaimed, punching a triumphant finger in the air. “It’s bogus!”

  “It’s life, Robert,” said Sammi wisely. “Some of those kids will get by, but most will struggle for the rest of their lives. You, on the other hand, will have a nice cushy job that requires no manual labor.”

  “Work your mind so you don’t have to work your body,” he said smugly.

  Nikki shook her head, astonished at their banter. “And you’ll be paying them through the nose to fix your car and your furnace and do your landscaping.”

  Sammi giggled. “She’s got a point.”

  “Robert, Mr. Braniac,” said Nikki, “I need you to remember two things.”

  “Shoot,” he said.

  “One, there is more than one kind of smart, and we need to respect that, and two—”

  Robert affected a sappy voice, “We’re all special!”

  “Honestly, I don’t know how you walk with those smarty pants on so tight, Robert.”

  Robert sniffed and pushed his glasses up his nose.

  “I was going to say,” she said holding up two fingers, “that if you’d try to help some of the slower kids instead of mock them, you might learn something about interpersonal relations. It wouldn’t kill you, and you just might lift them up a level academically at the same time.”

  He harrumphed.

  “It’s what superheroes do,” said Nikki.

  “Superhumans,” he corrected.

  “Captain Smarty Pants!” cheered Sammi.

  “Exactly,” said Nikki.

  Robert glanced at Sammi, whose perpetually amiable grin softened him. “Oh, all right. I won’t mock them out loud anymore.”

  “Fair enough,” said Nikki. “Can you two hold the fort while I go check my inbox and retrieve all the exciting memos for the day?”

  “Fly. Be free,” said Robert drily, re-opening his Geometry book.

  Nikki clicked down the hall, hating her shoes. Noting the emptiness of the halls, she stopped and removed them, preferring to walk in nylons than four-inch heels. She made it as far as the office door before she heard a voice behind her.

  “Ah ha! So you are going to sneak up and kill someone with those things!”

  She turned around to find Officer Ross chuckling.

  Sagging with defeat, she laughed, “I can’t get anything past you.” She swung the heel of one shoe at him as if stabbing, and he blocked it easily, grasping her wrist firmly but gently. “Cool move,” she said, pulling free and then leaning that hand on his shoulder for balance while she put her shoes back on. “Teach me that ninja stuff some time?”

  “I’d love to.”

  Smoothing her straight skirt over her hips, she glanced down at her feet. “Are you kidding me? I have a run in my nylons?” She reached down to assess the damage just as someone swung the door open, bumping her on the bottom and knocking her forward into Ross’ thighs. He toppled backwards with a grunt, and they both turned to see Will looking at them with surprise.

  “Wow, Nikki! Maybe I should put you in as one of my tackles!”

  Before she could rise, both Will and Ross extended a hand to help her up. She blushed at the ground. Two cute boys want to hold my hand! Which one do I pick? she said with a teenage girl voice in her mind. She opted for both, and felt the difference. Both strong, but the one on the right was calloused and one on the left was gentle. Embarrassed at her own thoughts, she avoided eye contact with either and waved good-bye to both as she entered the main office.

  “Good morning, Nikki,” said Katie. “You just missed Coach.” She winked.

  “Oh, he never misses,” said Nikki, crossing to the wall of little cubby inboxes.

  “You know,” said Katie standing up and leaning on the counter. “I think he might actually like you.”

  Nikki pulled a stack of colored papers from the box and began sorting them mentally between junk and pain-in-the-neck. A moment later, she registered what Katie had said, and joined her at the counter. Glancing to either side to be sure no one was listening, she said, “What makes you say that?”

  “Well, he chases all the ladies, pretty much. Once. He either gets them, or not. But this is week two, and he’s still after you.”

  “How do you know that?”

  Katie sat back in her swivel chair. “He doesn’t usually talk about the ladies, just to them. You see what I mean?”

  Nikki narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean ‘about them’? About me? What’s he saying?”

  “I think the words he used were ‘cute and little and fiery’.” Katie shrugged and popped a stick of gum in her mouth. “Don’t get me wrong. The guy’s a total lady’s man, but he’s a gorgeous one.”

  Nikki moaned reluctant agreement. “Yes, there is that.” She turned to go.

  “But I think he might actually like you,” said Katie. “That’d be a first since his divorce. Maybe you’ve tamed the savage beast within.”

  Leaning her back on the door to push it open, Nikki said, “Not unless I get a go
od long whip to keep him in line.” Katie burst out laughing, and Nikki quickly had second thoughts about letting that comment escape. “Don’t repeat that. It’ll get back to him, and he’ll think I mean something else entirely.” She left, Katie’s laughter still ringing in her ears.

  Back in the classroom, Nikki found Sammi, reading a book. “Where’d Robert go?” she asked. Sammi looked up and smiled innocently. “What?” asked Nikki, detecting a secret. When Sammi didn’t answer, Nikki turned to her desk. “Gaaaah!!!” The memos went up in a fountain of color.

  “Hiya!” said Robert, sporting his first smile of the year. He sat perched atop her file cabinet in a martial arts pose.

  Hand over her heart and recuperating her breath, Nikki barked, “Don’t do that. Not so early in the morning. The air isn’t even all the way on yet.”

  “What?” He sat so that his legs dangled off the top of the cabinet.

  “Haven’t you ever noticed?” Nikki stooped to retrieve the fallen papers. “That’s why you feel so crappy in the mornings. No air.”

  Sammi giggled from her seat. “I guess you’re not a morning person, huh, Ms. F.”

  “You get an A for the day,” said Nikki. Standing and looking pointedly at Robert, she said “Will you please get down from there? The other kids will think it’s okay to climb on the furniture and—”

  “Say no more.” He slid down. “My mom says I’m like a cat because I like to climb and sit in high places.”

  “As long as you don’t shed on my clothes, scratch the furniture, or lick yourself, I’m okay with that.”

  “He hasn’t done that since the third grade,” said Sammi.

  

  “I don’t get it, Nik. Why didn’t you just report him?” Charlie stuffed the last of his triple cheeseburger in his mouth and tossed the wrapper in the trash can outside the college library. They’d decided to go for a walk through the campus to see what events were going on for Freshman Orientation Week since the college started later than the high school.