Chapter 10
Vienna
Memories, Gossip, & Rocks
“Ms. Lewis!” Kara, one of the girls in my class, comes running up to me on the playground. “Johnny won’t stop chasing me.”
I look over at the blacktop where Johnny is waiting for Kara to return. From what I’ve seen, he seems to love pushing the other kids’ buttons. Focusing back on Kara, I crouch down so we’re at eye level. “Maybe you should try not running from him.”
She looks at me quizzically. “Why?”
“Because if you don’t run, then he can’t chase you.”
Her head tilts to the side as she ponders my advice and then she shakes her head. “No, that sounds boring.” Before I can reply, she takes off and races right past Johnny, leading him to chase her again.
Stacey—the only person I’d consider a friend that I’ve made in this town so far, mostly because we see each other every day at work—walks up to me, playing with the lanyard around her neck. “Was Kara telling on Johnny for chasing her?”
“Yeah, how’d you know?”
“Oh, it’s their routine. I’m surprised you haven’t gotten a glimpse of it sooner.”
I think back to the past few weeks, but much of it has become a blur. Between teaching, trying to train Roscoe, and attempting to ignore Rhonan but failing miserably, I’m running on fumes. “Well, now that you mention it, I do think I remember a similar exchange last week.”
“I’m telling you, she’ll come up to you again at least one more time before the week is over complaining about him chasing her, only to go right back to running around with him.” Stacey shakes her head. “Some girls get sucked into patterns at a young age, I guess.”
Part of me wants to snap back at Stacey for her judgment, but that would mean opening up about my own toxic patterns and how hard I’ve fought to overcome them. Instead, I shrug. “They’re only kids.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. But I just think about how many times I was told as a kid that if a boy is mean to me, that means he likes me. If I only knew what a crock of shit that was back then, it could have saved me a few bouts of heartache, you know what I mean?”
Sighing, I nod. “Yeah. I really do.”
Ellis walks up to me now, holding several rocks in her hands. “Ms. Lewis?”
“Yes, Ellis?”
“Can I put these in my backpack, please?”
“Um, you still have about seven minutes left of recess, sweetie.”
The rocks tumble from her hands and onto the blacktop beneath her. “Can I leave them here with you, then?”
“Why do you need all of these rocks, Ellis?”
She smiles up at me. “They’re for my daddy.”
“Your dad likes rocks?”
“He likes the ones I give him.”
Her candor makes me chuckle. “Okay, well…”
“Can you please watch them, Ms. Lewis? I don’t want anyone to steal them.”
My eyes scour the pile at my feet. They look like ordinary rocks to me, but what do I know? Besides, I had a fixation like that once upon a time as well. “Sure, Ellis. I’ll watch them.”
She lunges for my legs, wrapping her arms around them. “Thank you! You’re the best teacher ever!” And then she takes off, running back to the group of girls I’ve seen her play with numerous times.
“Rocks, huh?” Stacey asks.
I shrug. “Every kid has their thing. Mine was pine cones.”
Stacey nods. “My brother collected bugs and didn’t tell anyone that he brought them into his room, so one day my mom went in to clean it and noticed the floor was moving. You can imagine the horror of having to exterminate the entire space.”
Covering my mouth with my hand, I stifle my sound of disgust. “I would die.”
Stacey looks over my shoulder toward the outside of the school. “Is it just me, or has that woman been standing around for a little too long out there?”
Spinning to look in that direction, my eyes land on a woman that can’t be much older than me. “I honestly don’t know. I didn’t notice her.”
“She’s been there as long as the kids have been outside.” Stacey peers down at her watch on her wrist, waving me off with her other hand. “I wonder if she’s waiting for someone, or if she’s someone’s aunt or grandma, or something? It happens quite a bit in our small town.”
Awareness creeps up my spine, but I attempt to push it away.
Paranoia isn’t a friend of mine, but I’m sure this woman is there for a reason.
Just as I tell myself that in my head, she leans up against the fence, gripping the metal poles and pushing her head close to the structure, like she’s attempting to see something better.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she looks familiar.
“Should I go over there and say something?”
Stacey shakes her head, squinting in the woman’s direction again. “You know what? That’s Sally’s aunt. She’s harmless. Walks by the school every once in a while and waves to the kids.”
As I’m about to look away, the woman waves in my direction, but it’s a small wave. Honestly, if I wasn’t looking right at her, I would have missed it. I arch a brow and then twist my head around to see if there’s anyone else she might be waving to, but no one is looking in her direction.
I turn back toward the playground, ready to let it go, when that unsettled feeling lingers anyway—prickling along my spine for no real reason I can name.
Why is this woman’s presence making me feel curious? And why does she look like someone I used to know?
“You know what, Stacey… I’m gonna go talk to her.”
Both of her brows lift. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Watch the kids. I’ll—I’ll be right back.”
She nods and I head toward the fence. When I get closer to the woman, her features become clearer, and that’s when it hits me—she looks like Lydia.
“Ma’am? Can I help you?”
Her eyes connect with mine in an instant before she releases the iron bars and takes a step back. “Oh. No. I was just…watching the kids play.”
“You sure? Visitors are supposed to check into the office. My colleague said you are Sally’s aunt.”
Tears fill her eyes. “Yes. I’m—I’m sorry if I caused any alarm. I just wanted to watch the kids play.”
“Are…are you all right?”
A laugh filters through her tears. “God, I’m sorry. This is…this is embarrassing.”
“Why is that?”
Clasping her hands over the center of her chest, she says, “I just…I wasn’t ever able to have kids, so sometimes I come down to the school and watch them play…”
She keeps talking, but her words hit me harder than they should. Reaching through the fence, I grasp her hand as her eyes dip down to the sight. “I get it.”
When she lifts her head, there’s a hint of hope lurking in her gaze. “You do?”
I nod. “Yes, but I’m going to warn you, this sort of thing could be received the wrong way.”
We share a laugh. “God, I’m sorry. Usually, I just go to the park and sit on a bench and watch the moms chase their kids around to torture myself, but…”
My heart twists in my chest. “It’s all right.” But before I can say another word, the hair on the back of my neck stands up as the energy around us shifts. Dropping her hand, I take a step back from the fence. “Are you going to be okay?”
“Yes. Thank you for being so kind.”
“Of course. We never know what demons someone else is battling on a daily basis.” I dart my eyes across the street, searching for the source of this uneasiness building in my gut, but then turn my attention back to the woman. “I hope you find some peace.”
“Thank you.”
The bell rings, signaling the end of recess and forcing me to put my teacher cap back on so I can gather my class and head back inside. But in the back of my mind, I’m wondering what happened while I was standing there to make my sixth sense perk up.
Luckily, Ellis runs over to me, crouching down to pick up the pile of rocks she collected that I forgot I was supposed to be looking after, bringing me back to the present. “My rocks are still here!”
“I told you I would look out for them.”
“Thank you, Ms. Lewis. You’re the best.” With her arms full, she steps in line and I lead my class back inside, checking over my shoulder to see if the woman is still standing there.
She’s gone.
You must just be imagining things, Vienna. Besides, it’s not like anyone knows that you’re here or would bother showing up if they did.
Well, maybe just one person would.
Once the kids and I are back in the classroom, Ellis walks over to her backpack and deposits her collection of rocks inside.
“What are you doing with those rocks?” Caleb, one of the little boys in the class, asks Ellis.
“I’m putting them away so I can give them to my dad when I get home.”
“You give your dad rocks?”
Ellis nods. “Yup.” She zips up her backpack and then leads Caleb over to the carpet for story time, plopping down cross-legged in her usual spot.
I settle into my chair and open the book in my lap. “Okay, class. Now, we’re going to jump back into our book we started yesterday.”
Ellis’s hand shoots up.
“Yes, Ellis?”
“Ms. Lewis, when we get home today, do you wanna come over and see my dad’s rock collection?”
Johnny snickers from his spot in the back of the carpet. “Ms. Lewis can’t go to your house, Ellis. She’s the teacher.”
Ellis turns around to face him, a look of annoyance on her face. “Yes, she can, Johnny.”
“No, she can’t. She has her own house.”
Ellis sits up taller. “I know that. Her house is next to mine.”
Caleb nearly shrieks. “You live next to Ms. Lewis? Lucky!”
Rosalie chimes in. “Does she live in a castle?”
“No, but she has a puppy named Roscoe and I get to play with him.”
Chatter breaks out among the kids. “Okay, everyone. Look, we need to finish the story. Eyes on me!” But my words fall on deaf ears.
“And my daddy fixed her shower when it broke, and she ate ice cream with us,” Ellis continues.
Henry comes up to me, pulling on my skirt. “Can you come over to my house and eat ice cream?”
“I have a puppy that your puppy can play with!” Jayden’s little voice cries out.
I finally lift my whistle from around my neck and blow it, not too loud since we are inside, but loud enough that it cuts through the chaos.
The kids reach up and cover their ears with their hands, but Ellis just sits on the carpet, pleased with herself.