by Will Knauss
“Hope you like pinot noir. I think it’s the best thing to go with this dish.”
“Works for me.” Aaron sat, and Caleb took the adjacent seat, where Aaron had put the other place setting. He poured a generous glass for each of them.
“Cheers,” Caleb said, raising his glass.
Aaron clinked his glass against Caleb’s. “Cheers. To old acquaintances.”
“Just acquaintances?”
He watched as Aaron took a moment to thoughtfully reconsider.
“How about,” Aaron offered, “old friends becoming reacquainted?”
“I like the sound of that.”
They toasted again and each took a drink before they dug into the meal. “This is delicious,” Aaron finally said between bites.
“Glad you like it. It’s certainly nothing like Nate’s food, but what I lack in culinary expertise I more than make up in… I don’t know, enthusiasm, I guess.”
“Well, I enthusiastically declare this meal a success. Do you cook often?”
“On days I’m home and it’s not game day. Those are too busy, and on the road, it’s impossible to.”
“Me too. I cook a lot because it’s affordable. Plus, I like to bring my lunch because I can’t stand cafeteria food.”
“I have to say,” Caleb said, focusing on Aaron, “you look very handsome tonight. The shirt, the tie—it’s a great look.”
“Oh, thanks.” Caleb’s compliment seemed to leave Aaron momentarily flustered. Aaron set his fork down and picked up his napkin, absently wiping at the corner of his mouth. “I can be more casual, but I kind of like dressing like this. And it shows the students a good, professional look too. You spiff up really well. I’ve seen those suits you wear to the arena.”
“I love that you still follow hockey,” Caleb said, smiling as he held Aaron’s gaze. “I would’ve never suspected it.”
“It’s your fault, you know.”
“Pam’s the one who dragged you to games not—”
“Right, when her boyfriends had some other sporty thing to do. Then I caught on that I could explain some of the geometry based on how the puck moved. By the time I graduated, I was hooked.”
Caleb refilled their wineglasses. So far, the meal had gone well. Good conversation, good food, great company. “And that helped my game too. The way you taught that helped me see new patterns—not only how the puck moved, but players too, and how I could intercept them.”
“See, math can be used after you graduate.” Aaron took a bite of garlic bread and then made a sound of realization, which caused him to chew faster so he could talk. “Since you’re coming to observe tomorrow, why don’t you help me teach? It won’t be actual geometry, of course, but we could talk about basic shapes and principles and connect it to hockey. The kids would love that.”
Caleb nodded. “Sure. But if you’re going to make me state any theorems or something, you’d better be offering a refresher course.”
“I promise I won’t put the hockey player on the spot.”
Aaron looked excited, and it was an expression Caleb wanted to see more often. His instincts said to lean over and kiss Aaron, but that wouldn’t be right. As much as he wanted a date, a real date, he had to settle for the friendly get-togethers. But the more time they spent in each other’s company, the more Caleb wanted to move to that level. But he needed some signal from Aaron that it’d be okay.
Instead Caleb moved to safer topics. “Since I’m back on skates tomorrow, I have an idea. How about we skate together after school? I watch you teach, and then I coach you.”
“Okay,” Aaron said without a pause to even think about it.
“I’ll do my rehab workout in the morning, join you for the second half of the school day, and then we have skating school and on to team practice?”
“It’s a—I’m in.”
Caleb knew exactly the word Aaron wouldn’t say. Date.
They finished the rest of their meal in companionable silence, occasionally stealing glances at one another. Caleb felt like he was back in high school, covertly looking at the boys he found attractive so he wouldn’t be caught. Though in this case, he wasn’t scared about being discovered. He just didn’t want Aaron to think he was pushing too hard to take their friendship out of the friend zone and into romantic territory.
Chapter Ten
LAST night had been tremendous.
After dinner, Aaron and Caleb sat on the back deck, under the heaters, and talked about what their classmates from high school were up to. Now Caleb was getting ready to walk into Aaron’s classroom, and it felt like it was his first day of school. Caleb hadn’t expected to be so freaked out when he arrived at the elementary school just after one o’clock.
Through the small window in the door, he saw Aaron at the whiteboard, writing as he talked. He waited for Aaron to hit a stopping point before he knocked. When he finally announced his presence, Aaron continued to talk as he came toward the door, though Caleb couldn’t hear a word.
“Welcome,” Aaron said as he opened the door. “Class, say hello to our guest, Mr. Carter. He’ll be watching this afternoon.”
The class of twenty-two became fidgety and chatty, albeit quietly.
“And if you behave, he might answer some questions later and maybe even help us with the lesson.”
Aaron raised an eyebrow at Caleb. They’d talked last night about what the lesson would be. But Caleb suddenly felt underprepared and a little bit terrified. Before he left, Aaron had promised he wouldn’t embarrass him. Caleb believed that, but his jitters wouldn’t calm down.
“Hi, everyone.” Caleb raised his hand to wave. The class responded all at once with a cacophony of excited responses.
“We don’t really have a good desk for you, so I was thinking you could sit on the bookshelf in the back.” Aaron pointed to the low bookshelf under a bulletin board decorated for springtime with a theme of growth.
“Sounds good. Like Mr. Price said, pay attention and do what he says, and I’ll answer some questions later.”
Caleb went down one of the side aisles, and one of the boys put up a fist, which Caleb bumped as he walked by. The boy grinned, and Caleb winked at him. In the back of the room, he slipped off his jacket, laid it on the bookshelf, and took a seat.
Aaron wasted no time getting back to his lesson, which seemed to center on basics of the US government. Caleb’s mind went to Schoolhouse Rock! and the “How a Bill Becomes a Law” segment. His teacher showed those clips as part of the lesson. Remembering that made Caleb feel old. Did these kids today even know what that show was?
Aaron’s sleeves were rolled up about halfway to his elbows. Caleb noted again how well Aaron dressed for class—black slacks and a blue button-down accented with white pinstripes. The tie, which wasn’t loose like it’d been at dinner, was a dark blue. Caleb chastised himself. After seeing what Aaron wore for class, he should’ve worn slacks rather than just jeans and a sweater. Silently he took a deep breath to get his nerves under control.
The civics lesson continued for a half hour, and Caleb was just as interested in how Aaron taught and connected with the students. They had a pretty good grip on the topic and even asked some good questions about the election that was coming up in a few months. Since that was a local and state election, Aaron moved seamlessly into talking about how New York operated. He only occasionally referred to the textbook as he talked and drew diagrams.
“So, we need to bring this topic to a close for today. Make sure you do the workbook pages tonight.” He pointed to the board and the page numbers. “I’ll collect those first thing tomorrow. We’ll take a restroom break for five minutes, and then it’ll be time for math books.”
Aaron went to the door and opened it. He stood in the doorway as most of the kids got up and went into the hall. Caleb smiled at Aaron and mouthed the words “good job” when he looked his direction. Aaron returned the smile and mouthed “thanks.”
Caleb stood and looked at the bulletin board behi
nd him, seeing the pictures the kids had drawn of gardens and flowers, rain and sun, and other spring scenes. A couple of students came up to him while Aaron monitored the hallway.
“What’s it like to play for the Rangers?” a student in a Flash T-shirt asked.
“Best thing ever.” Caleb sat back on the bookcase so he’d be more at their height.
“I want to play for Philly when I grow up.”
“Work hard on your skills, and I bet you can.” Caleb loved how the young man’s face lit up when he said that.
“Did you play hockey when you went here?”
“I did and I never stopped. It takes a lot of time to get good enough for New York, Philly, or any other team.”
“Did you get in trouble for getting hurt?”
“Not at all.” Caleb chuckled softly. “The team just wants me to get better and come back.”
Another student asked a question. “Did the other guy get in trouble?”
“No, it was an accident. He even apologized after the game. Despite how it may look and how the intense competition is, we really don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
“Okay, everyone, back in your seats, please.”
“Thanks, Mr. Carter,” the students said over each other. Fist bumps were traded, and they got back to their desks.
“So, here’s something I bet you guys don’t know. Mr. Carter was one of the first people I ever taught, back when I was seventeen.”
Caleb cringed as Aaron brought up the tutoring. It wasn’t Caleb’s favorite topic, but it had been necessary at the time.
“He was having a hard time with geometry, and I offered to help him so he could stay on the high school hockey team.”
Caleb piped up from the back. “You could say that’s he’s partially responsible for getting me into the pros.” He played along since he was sure Aaron was going to make this a teachable moment.
“You see, geometry is something that Mr. Carter still uses every day.”
A girl in the front row raised her hand and waited for Aaron to call on her before speaking. “Really? I’ve heard my mom and dad say they never use what they learned in school, especially if they’re trying to help my older sister with her homework.”
“I used geometry even before I knew what it was, and the fact that I know it as well as I do makes me a better hockey player.”
The class turned to hear Caleb speak.
“Most geometry is all about angles, and angles are crucial to the game. How many of you watch or play regularly?”
Six hands shot up.
“Okay. How many of you have heard of a goalie coming out of his net to decrease the angle?”
Only two hands now.
“Do you know why?” Aaron was already drawing what Caleb described on the white board.
No hands this time.
“It’s because moving out in that way makes the net appear smaller to the player, thus reducing the chances of getting a shot by the goalie while also giving the goalie more room to block the shot.”
Caleb got a tingly feeling at how well Aaron diagrammed the scenario. Aaron added additional lines to the board and drew out even more lines to show various angle scenarios that went beyond what Caleb had considered. The Rangers’ goalies would’ve been impressed.
“Of course, as a forward comes in for a shot, you have to try to force the goalie to reposition.” Aaron wrapped up his description, seemingly leaving the kids stunned.
“Now where are the players?” Caleb asked.
Four hands went up.
“How often do you use geometry in a game?”
He got four shrugs in response.
“You use it all the time.” Caleb walked to the front of the classroom to draw on the board, but he changed his mind before he picked up the marker. He looked to Aaron. “Can we go outside?”
Aaron looked surprised, and Caleb hoped he hadn’t put him in a bad position. “What’d you have in mind?”
Caleb stepped close and whispered in Aaron’s ear—the one angled to the whiteboard to help ensure the class couldn’t hear. “Show them a couple things using balls—bounce them off the building to help explain angles.”
“We can do that,” Aaron said quietly back. He turned toward his students. “Want to go outside for a few minutes?”
The class burst into excitement.
“Get your jackets and line up.”
As they went out through the gym, Aaron grabbed a couple of baseball-sized rubber balls. On the playground Aaron brought everyone near a part of the building where there were no windows. Caleb took one of the balls from Aaron and bounced it off the wall a couple times. It would do just fine.
“Mr. Price, could you stand about fifteen feet away, directly across from me?”
Aaron nodded and jogged to his position.
“So, what’s the best way for me to send this ball to him?”
Several hands went up, and Caleb picked one.
“Just throw it to him.”
“Sure. Straight line, because the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.” Caleb threw the ball and Aaron caught it. “So, let’s say there were six of you in the way.” Caleb selected six students. “Get in the way.”
They went to stand between Caleb and Aaron.
“Now what?”
One of the students between them raised his hand, and Caleb nodded. “You could just throw it over us.”
“True.” Caleb nodded at Aaron, who sent the ball back over the students, who all tried to get it out of the air. “That works too. That used an arc to get it over your heads and still land it with Mr. Price. An arc is just another kind of angle. Now, what would happen if we couldn’t throw it over you? In hockey, the puck stays relatively low.”
“It doesn’t always,” one of the students who had identified as a player said after Caleb selected him from the hands that were raised.
“Right. But let’s pretend for this moment that it has to stay on the ice. That would make the arc impossible. What are the other options?”
The same student raised his hand again, although slowly, as if he hoped he wouldn’t be the only one. Caleb suspected the boy knew the answer and didn’t want to spoil the rest of the class, so he had the young man come over to him.
Caleb kneeled down next to the boy. “What’s your name?” he asked quietly.
“Byron,” he said, nervousness evident in his voice.
“Okay, Byron, whisper the answer to me.”
Byron cupped his hand over Caleb’s hear and spoke softly. “You’re gonna use that wall, like you’d use the boards in a game.”
Caleb nodded and smiled at him.
Byron continued to talk quietly but didn’t do so directly into Caleb’s ear. “My coach always says the boards are your friends because you can use them to redirect the puck.”
“Your coach is a smart man. Stay here with me, okay?”
Byron nodded. Caleb stood to address the class. “Okay, the rest of you figure out where you want to be to stop the ball from reaching Mr. Price.”
As suspected, no one got near the wall. They simply piled in the middle between Aaron and Caleb. He saw Aaron squat, almost like a baseball catcher, and that let him know that Aaron knew what was going to happen.
“Here it comes.”
Caleb considered for a moment. He didn’t want to telegraph his intention too much. And the last thing he wanted to do was to hit one of the kids.
He threw the ball at the target he’d picked out. It bounced just as he intended and went to Aaron, who caught it. Caleb high-fived Byron.
The students practiced a few times, throwing against the wall and seeing how hitting different spots would change where the ball would go. Then they talked about how the same ideas could be used to intercept the ball before it got to its target. They played with the geometry for about twenty minutes, then returned to the classroom.
Once they were back inside, Caleb took his spot in the back of the room and Aaron moved
on to a brief science lesson to get the students ready for an upcoming assignment looking at constellations. The class wrapped up with some questions for Caleb, and he answered a few after the bell rang.
When it was just the two of them again, Aaron sat on the edge of his desk next to Caleb. “You’re really good with them.”
“Not as good as you. Even when the kids don’t catch on quickly, you’re so patient.”
“You really clicked with Byron today, and that was awesome. He’s smart but doesn’t like participating, so the fact you let him stand out as the person who knew the wall was the answer is outstanding. I don’t think he’ll forget that, and hopefully it’ll pull him out of his shell more.”
Caleb was proud and grinned broadly. “I couldn’t have imagined when you were helping me get this stuff right all those years ago that I’d actually help you teach it.”
“You remember it and use it. Means I didn’t waste my time.”
“Good teachers can make things stick.”
They held each other’s gaze for a moment and only broke it when there was a knock at the door and Pam entered.
“How are two of my favorite people? Is it true you let my brother teach?”
Aaron and Caleb briefly recounted their afternoon for her before they had to leave for hockey practice.
Chapter Eleven
AARON wrapped up the after-school club he had with kids who were into science. He’d run a similar club in LA and was thrilled when it was approved as part of this job. The club did simple experiments and broke things down to the level that third-through-fifth graders could comprehend. He enjoyed working with the club and hoped he’d end up inspiring a scientist or two in the long run. Today had been a particularly good day because a couple of students brought in things to share—experiments of their own construction based on what they’d learned.
“Glad to see you didn’t blow anything up today.” Pam stood in the classroom doorway as he finished putting away the equipment he kept for the club. “I was worried when Jennifer Baldwin came in with all those electronics this morning.”