by ID Johnson
She also propped her door open. Anyone could open it from the inside, so there was no reason to be cautious as she grabbed the silver handle and pulled it open. She had a few stops to make today, and she may as well just leave it open. She actually propped her door for full weeks at a time these days, and Mrs. Long didn’t say a word because she knew how exasperating it could be to get maintenance over to unlock the door when the black box was shorted out.
Grabbing her lunchbox and the stack of papers she wanted to copy, Ru headed down the hall toward the teachers’ lounge. None of the other classroom lights in her hall were on, which likely meant none of her teammates were there yet. She was a little surprised Jane hadn’t shown up early, but then some teachers might think that no one would notice if they were a little late since the meeting didn’t start until 10:00. Candice was probably on that list; she was often late anyway.
Ru made her way into the lounge and cautiously approached the refrigerator. Thoughts of the time last year when she’d accidentally blown a fuse that made the lounge go dark and appliances temporarily stop working came to mind, and she looked around for something to use to open the door. Seeing nothing, she decided the hem of her flowing, blue shirt would have to do, and she gathered it into her hand and used it to open the door, shoving her lunchbox into an open space before quickly releasing the door and using her foot to secure it closed again.
Heading toward the copy room closest to her classroom, Ru looked down the hallway and noticed the light was on in the room across from hers. That would probably be the new teacher’s room since their ex-teammate, Melinda Blank, had vacated it over the summer. Absently hoping that the new teacher was nice, Ru entered the copy room.
The machine wasn’t on, which was a huge problem. Even though she could see it was plugged in, the last three times she’d attempted to actually power it up, the machine had shorted out on her. She could head across the building to the copier in the other wing, but she knew the primary teachers hated it when the intermediate teachers used “their” machine. She stood contemplating what to do for a few seconds and then decided to go for it. After all, she’d been having a good day so far, and it had been months since she’d actually ruined an electrical device of any sort—except for her last phone. It had died a few weeks ago when she’d thought it might be a good idea to take the protective case off and clean it for some reason. She’d learned her lesson and had the guy at the AT&T store put an Otterbox on her new one before it even left the counter.
With a deep breath, Ru reached around and quickly flipped the power button on the copier. She sighed in relief when the machine came to life. “Yes!” she said, quietly, thinking perhaps it was going to be a great year.
Once it was warmed up, she set her stack of papers in the automatic feed tray and set it to make three copies of each of the twenty or so documents. There were four of them on the team, so that would make one copy for each of the other teachers. She knew Jane would probably throw her set in the trash as soon as Ru gave them to her, but that didn’t prevent her from trying.
She keyed in her code and pushed the start button, and the papers started whizzing through the tray. Thinking her luck was about to change, Ru couldn’t help but smile. She began to daydream about what her new students might be like. She was certain they would be the most brilliant fourth graders to ever grace the halls of Thomas Elementary.
Not paying attention to what she was doing, Ru set her hands down on the copier. There was a zapping sound, as if the outlet had let a surge of electricity through, and the machine began to smoke, bringing the methodic thut of the papers passing through to a halt.
“Oh, no!” Ru said aloud. She still had about three pages to pass through, but more importantly, the other teachers would need this machine. It was the week before school started. Frantically, she flipped the power switch on and off, but not a light on the panel illuminated, and the smell of electrical smoke hung heavy in the air.
“What am I going to do?” Ru asked, gathering the papers that were finished up out of the tray and taking her originals that had copied off of the top of the machine. She considered unplugging it and plugging it back in, but since this had happened before, she knew it wouldn’t work. They would have to call someone from the copier company to come out and likely replace many of the electrical components.
“Machine not working?”
Ru hadn’t even heard the door open. She spun around and froze. She was looking into the brightest pair of electric blue eyes she’d ever seen. Swallowing hard, she struggled to compose herself. “Uh… I think… I broke it.”
The man before her let out a soft, melodic chuckle. “I bet I can fix it,” he said.
Despite her shock at being in the presence of an extremely attractive stranger, Ru managed to say, “I doubt it.”
“Let me take a look.”
She stepped back out of the way as he approached the copier. Trying not to stare, Ru couldn’t help but notice he had the physique of an athlete, perhaps a runner. His blond hair was darker than hers, and he had to be close to six-four, at least. As he examined the machine, he set his jaw, and Ru had to look down at her shoes. He had the face of a Greek god.
“Let’s try this,” he said, the sound of his voice somehow seeming to calm her anxious stomach, even though she was certain that whatever “this” was, it wasn’t going to work.
He flipped the power switch off and then back on again. Ru was already shaking her head, thinking she’d need to tell this new guy that she knew that wasn’t going to work, but before she could get the words out, she realized the copier was working again. “Oh, my goodness! How did you do that?” she asked, stepping toward the machine, but being careful not to touch it.
“I have my ways,” he said, his charming smile causing her anxiety to morph into butterflies. “Do you have more copies to make?”
“Oh, yeah. Would you mind? I don’t want to touch it again.”
“No problem,” he said, taking the three sheets from her. “How many do you need?”
“Just three of each. They’re for my team.”
He nodded and punched in the correct number before putting the papers through the feeder. “What team are you on?”
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t even introduce myself.”
“That’s okay,” he replied, grabbing her papers out of the tray and taking the originals. “I didn’t either. I’m Cutter. Cutter Michaels.”
He extended his hand, and even though she was afraid she might ignite him with some sort of an electrical charge, Ru placed her hand in his. There was definitely some sort of transfer of energy the second her palm touched his, but it felt more like a warm vibration than an electrical shock. She wondered if he could feel it, too. Perhaps it was just her imagination; he was likely the most attractive man she’d ever seen, after all. Maybe this was the sensation all those romance writers were trying to capture when they spoke of tingles shooting up their heroines’ arms.
“I’m Ru Roberts,” she said. “Nice to meet you. I teach fourth grade.”
“Roo?” he had started his question midway through her introduction, and she wasn’t even sure if he’d heard the rest of her statement. He had a bit of a puzzled look on his face, but that was common when she was introducing herself.
“Yes,” she replied, withdrawing her hand and trying not to make a face. If she did so, he might ask follow-up questions. If she was able to convince him that Ru was a typical, perfectly acceptable name, perhaps he wouldn’t inquire further. “What do you teach?”
Before he could answer, the door opened. “Oh, good, the copier’s already on.” Jane rushed in with a stack of papers. “We are going to need these for our meeting.” She set the pile down on a nearby table. “Hi, Cutter. Did you get all moved in?”
“Just about,” he replied. “The copier is free.” He handed Ru the copies he’d run for her.
“Didn’t you have copies to make?” Ru asked, wondering why he’d even come in, though she r
ealized he didn’t have any papers with him the moment the question was out of her mouth.
“No, I was actually just looking around.”
“Oh….” Ru thought that was a little strange, but then, if he was new, he might’ve just wanted to see the copy room and other common places.
“How was your summer Ms. Roberts?” Jane had a fake smile plastered to her face, and Ru realized she was just trying to play nice in front of Mr. Michaels.
“Wonderful, thank you. How was yours? Did you have a nice time on your cruise?” Two could play at this game.
“It was delightful.” Jane shook her head and began to run the first stack through the copier.
“Say, Ms. Roberts, I hope you’re planning on bringing this flow chart example to the meeting. It looks great. I used a similar one when I taught fifth grade last year.” Cutter was gesturing at the paper on the top of the small stack Ru was still holding.
She’d come to the realization that Cutter was the new team member a few seconds ago when Jane called him by name. How she felt about that still wasn’t clear. “I am,” she said. “I felt like the rest of the team might want to use it, too.”
“You know you don’t have to bring anything,” Jane reminded her. “I have plenty of fresh ideas for my whole team.”
Jane loved to remind everyone that she was the team leader, despite the fact that Mrs. Long was the first to point out that every teacher in the building was a leader. Before Ru could say anything in response, Cutter said, “Oh, I had some ideas I wanted to run by the team, too. I know I’ve never taught fourth grade before, but I think some of the tools I’ve collected over the years might be useful. We don’t collaborate?”
“No, of course we collaborate,” Jane said, turning around to face him and taking a step closer than necessary. “It’s just… some of our team members have a tendency to bring ideas that aren’t really feasible.” She looked at Ru as if she were an insect.
“Well, this one is awesome. In fact, so are the other two I was looking at before you walked in. I can’t wait to hear about them.”
Ru could feel the gratefulness radiating from her eyes, and she hoped Cutter could pick up on it, too. Perhaps he hadn’t chosen a side, per se, but for now, she would take this as a sign of victory. “Thank you,” she said.
He turned so his back was to Jane and winked at her. “You bet.”
Her legs suddenly felt like jelly, and even though she knew she was acting ridiculous, Ru had to pull her eyes away. She grabbed the rest of her papers off of the table and headed for the door. Cutter got there first and held it open for her. “Thank you,” she said, smiling up at him. “See you in a bit, Jane.” She turned and smiled at the team leader who only glared in her direction until she realized Cutter was looking at her, and then her face morphed into a freakish forced smile.
Ru walked down the hall toward her classroom, Cutter at her side. She knew he had to walk that way, too, but she still felt a little awkward. “So… she’s something.”
She glanced up at him. Even though she was fairly tall for a woman at five-foot-ten, she still couldn’t get over how much she had to tip her head to look him in the eye, which she realized she should still probably avoid. “That’s Jane.” A wise woman at church had one told her, “If you can’t find something nice to say, don’t say anything at all,” and that was one lessen Ru had taken to heart. She really hated talking badly about others, even when Jane deserved it.
“Well, I’m hopeful she will let you share your ideas.” They were almost to their classrooms, and he seemed to slow a bit. He had his hands pushed down into the pockets of his khakis.
Ru slowed as well. “If she does, it’ll be thanks to you,” she replied, finally stopping outside of her classroom door.
“Nah, I didn’t do anything.”
He had a glimmer in his blue eyes, and Ru felt a smile spread across her face before she could even try to stop it. “You have no idea,” is all she could think of to say as she turned to go into her classroom.
Suddenly, Ru realized her door was closed. She looked back down the hall in Jane’s direction, thinking perhaps she’d been the one to close it, and bit her tongue, the temptation to let a curse word pass her lips overwhelming. She never swore at school though, even when the kids weren’t there. Still, this took the cake.
“Let me get that for you,” Cutter said. “Your hands are full.”
Even though she was only holding a small stack of papers, Ru let him use his badge to open her classroom door. Since they were on the same team, their badges would work on each other’s rooms. “Thank you,” she said, walking into a dark classroom.
“No problem.” He quickly flipped the switch on the wall, illuminating what would soon be a fully-decorated, ready-to-go fourth grade learning environment, even though it was hard to tell at the moment since most of Ru’s materials were currently in boxes at the back of the room.
“See you at the meeting,” Cutter called as he propped her door open and made his way across the hallway to his own room.
“See ya.” It was too late. There’s no way he’d heard her. He was already gone. But Ru had no idea what to say. How had he known she’d need him to prop the door and turn on the lights? While there was a chance he was just being polite, it seemed odd to her.
She took her stack of papers over to her desk and began to make four sets, one for each of them, and reflected on what had just happened. Not only had Cutter mysteriously managed to fix a copy machine she’d absolutely obliterated, he’d helped her out with Jane, and then prevented her from permanently locking herself out or blasting a fluorescent light bulb to smithereens. Was it possible he knew something about her freakish curse?
She’d heard there were other accident-prone people like her in the world, though she’d never met anyone like herself. Occasionally, she’d do a Google search which would have stories of people chronically destroying electronic devices like she did, but it seemed fairly rare to her. And even if he’d known someone like her before, that wouldn’t explain his ability to fix the copier.
Before Ru had drawn any conclusions, she looked up to see Candice’s familiar face coming through her classroom door. “Hey, girl! How are you?” her bestie called, and Ru crossed the room in a flash to hug her. “You look fabulous. Did you lighten your hair?”
“No,” Ru laughed. “Just the sun.” Her hair was almost platinum blonde, and Candice was always telling her how jealous she was since hers was what she referred to as “mousy.” Still, Candice was gorgeous, and Ru couldn’t believe some lucky guy hadn’t proposed years ago. She seemed to always go for the wrong type of guy, though, and as Candice began to tell her about how her last few weeks had been since they’d seen each other, Ru’s mind wandered across the hall. Maybe Cutter and Candice would make a good couple.
“So anyway, the moral of the story is, don’t go to an amusement park in the summer!” Candice laughed, and Ru joined in, not sure she’d caught even half of the story. “So what have you been up to?”
“Oh, you know. Same old same old,” Ru replied, backing up so she was sitting on the corner of her desk. “Mostly working on school stuff and reading.”
Candice made a face like Ru had admitted her life was the most boring one in existence. “Are Lady Tremaine and the step-sisters leaving you alone?”
Ru felt a pang in her stomach at the mention of her mother and sisters. “Mostly,” she said. “How’s Barney?” Candice loved to talk about her pet poodle, and Ru was glad she’d taken the bait and changed the topic of conversation. The last thing she wanted to talk about was her family.
Candice prattled on about Barney for a good five minutes before she said, “I guess I should get back to my room. I have so much to do.”
“I know.” Ru glanced at the clock. They had about an hour until the staff meeting started. After that, they’d also meet as a team. She wouldn’t have much of a chance to work on her classroom unless she stayed late, which was likely what it would take. T
he rest of the week would probably be full of staff development. Why didn’t district administration ever allow them time to get their rooms set up?
“Have you met the new teacher yet?” Candice whispered, stopping short of the door.
“I have,” Ru replied. A smile spread across her face, and she watched Candice’s eyes enlarge. “I think… we’ve got a shot at this one.”
“Yeah?” Candice obviously knew she was implying Jane might not have an ally this year. “Is she nice?”
Over Candice’s shoulder, Ru saw Cutter walk out into the hallway. Her smile somehow managed to widen even further. She was excited to see her friend’s expression as she took him in for the first time. “Yeah, I think so,” she replied.
Clearly seeing Ru’s blue eyes focused on something, or someone, over her shoulder, Candice turned to look. The sound she made was one Ru wouldn’t have known how to spell should she be compelled to write it down.
“Hi, you must be the other fourth grade teacher,” Cutter said, stepping forward. “I was hoping to have a chance to meet you soon.” He extended his hand. “I’m Cutter Michaels.”
Candice had turned to stone, as if looking into Cutter’s blue eyes had the same effect on her that Medusa’s stare mandated. Trying not to laugh, Ru stepped forward and gently placed her hand on Candice’s shoulder. “Candice?” she said, quietly, into her friend’s ear.
The mention of her name jarred her back into reality. “Hi. I’m… Candice Stein,” she said, finally taking his hand. “It’s meet to nice you.” She shook her head and tried again. “It’s nice to meet you.”
If Cutter found her inability to speak amusing, he didn’t let on. “It’s wonderful to meet you, too.”