Chapter 6
Danielle
Five minutes left.
Danielle shifted her attention back to the students sitting in front of her.
“That’s enough about the green light today.
That gives you a little more time to think about it before class tomorrow.
I look forward to having a full discussion next time.
Think about who’s looking for the American dream.
Who seemingly has it? What does that dream mean to the characters, major or minor? ”
Sounds of shifting filled the classroom as her students realized what time it was as well.
“I’m not done yet.” She waited for them to settle before lowering her voice to continue. “While you’re pondering that, I want you to read the last chapter for us to discuss as well. And don’t forget your research paper topics are due Monday, so be thinking about that this week also.”
The last bell of the day chimed from the speaker above her classroom door. Her students gathered their things and hurried outside, with a few of them telling her goodbye.
“Have a good rest of the day! See you all tomorrow!”
Danielle straightened a few skewed desks as she walked to the back of the room. She didn’t touch her papers or her phone. She just sat in her chair, leaned her head back, and closed her eyes.
“That bad a day?”
Danielle opened her eyes to see Melanie walking down an aisle toward her. She wore khaki slacks and a dark green blouse, their school color. Her auburn hair was pulled up into a loose bun, and, as usual, she wore little makeup so only her bright green eyes got attention.
“Just a long one,” she said. “Getting them to have a discussion is like trying to drag an eighteen-wheeler up a hill.”
Melanie shrugged as she reached the desk. “Some days are like that.”
She was right, of course. Some days they were a chatty bunch, full of ideas and opinions. All of her classes could get like that. Other days… not so much.
This wasn’t a Monday, but maybe they had the midweek Wednesday blues.
“You look perky for the end of the day,” she said. “I guess you’ve recovered from the weekend?”
Melanie waved a hand. “I was fine by Monday.”
She wasn’t kidding. Despite the nonstop dancing that night, Melanie had shown up to work like she’d had a relaxing weekend of reading with her feet up. She probably did just that on Sunday.
Danielle didn’t understand it. She’d have been an exhausted wreck for days after that eventful night. As it was, she’d been laid up with a migraine for most of Sunday, and she wasn’t even the one doing all the dancing.
“I bet you can’t wait for fall break now.”
Melanie’s eyes widened as she sighed. “Counting down the days.”
While her wife, Kim, could request off any time—except around the holidays—Melanie had decided it would be best to schedule their second honeymoon for a school break.
“Remind me again where y’all are going, so I can be extra jealous?”
Danielle knew exactly where they were going, and Melanie knew she knew. But it was fun to ask and remind her every once in a while.
“Destin. I’m so looking forward to sitting on some white sand with a breeze and a book. And coffee and a blanket on a balcony in the morning.”
“Sounds like a dream,” Danielle said.
“Oh, that reminds me of one of the reasons I came in here.”
Danielle didn’t think she was inviting her on their beach vacation, so she had no idea what about it could have reminded her of Danielle.
“One of?”
“Yes,” Melanie said. “First, Kim and I are thinking about starting a book club.”
“A book club?” Danielle had never been to a book club. While she loved reading, what she’d heard of those groups didn’t sound like something she’d be interested in. “I don’t know.”
“You didn’t let me finish my pitch.” Melanie laughed. “It gets better. Trust me, we’ve been to one of these, and I’d say no, too.”
“Okay, then. What are you thinking?”
Melanie waved her hands in the air as if she were showing off a neon sign. “Sapphic book club. Sapphic women reading sapphic books.” She put her hands down and eyed Danielle. “What do you think?”
Danielle considered the idea for a moment. “That does sound good. I mean, if I were to be in a group at all. Groups aren’t super my thing.”
It was pretty clear from Danielle’s habit of keeping to herself during school days and even keeping to herself during professional development days and other events.
She was friendly with all of her colleagues and loved hanging out with Melanie and Gerri especially, but she preferred people one on one.
“I know. But this would be a small group,” Melanie explained. “No need to commit now or anything. Just throwing the idea out there for you to think about.”
“I will. Thanks for thinking of me.”
“Of course,” Melanie said. “Now for the second reason I came in here.”
Danielle was afraid of what was coming next. The book club sounded like a potentially good thing. What were the odds that Melanie had two good things to discuss?
“What’s that?”
Melanie put her hands on the large desk and leaned over it to whisper to Danielle.
“When were you going to tell me about you and Kim’s cousin?”
Heat bloomed in Danielle’s cheeks, and she knew there was no hiding it from Melanie. All the emotions she’d been hiding from herself for the past four days came floating to the surface.
“What about her?” Danielle’s only option was to play it off. Exactly how it was supposed to be. “I saw her sitting alone, so I sat with her for a while. She’s nice.”
Crap. She should have left off that last part.
She also shouldn’t have been thinking for the past three days about how Morgan was working just down the road from her. Close enough to walk down and pop in to say hi one day.
“She is nice,” Melanie said with a sly smile. “And the conversation was nice?”
“Yes, it was.” Danielle shifted in her chair. “But if you’re asking if there’s anything more to it than a single conversation, the answer is no.”
Melanie narrowed her eyes at Danielle. “But you just said it was nice. Nice is the start of something.”
“Not in this case,” Danielle said. “I’ve got my hands full with work and Lila. And even if I didn’t, Morgan isn’t interested in a relationship with anyone.”
Saying that ripped a tiny tear in Danielle’s heart. As much as she knew she didn’t have the time or energy to grow a relationship right now, it hurt to know that it wasn’t even a possibility with Morgan.
It was ridiculous. Truly. She’d met this woman once. Had exactly one conversation with her. There was no reason to be upset about anything.
Except it had been a nice conversation. Easy. Comfortable. There was a pull there that Danielle couldn’t quite explain other than she wanted to be around Morgan more.
Melanie put her hands up in defense. “Just checking. It looked like something good was happening. I don’t want to meddle. Just want you to be happy. And if you need a little nudge to make that happen, I’m happy to supply that service.”
“I promise I’ll let you know when I need a nudge.”
Melanie straightened and began to walk backwards, pointing a finger at Danielle. “I’m gonna hold you to that.”