Chapter 4

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 once 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. The 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.”

“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.