Substitute for Love

Chapter 18 Avery

Tuesday September 2, 12:30 PM

Carrying a plate of half-eaten adult-style Lunchables, Avery headed down the hall toward her classroom. She unlocked the door and plopped down at the teacher’s desk.

“Dang it, Gabe. We’re supposed to stay friends.” She shook her head and let out a deep breath. She had friend zoned him, but so far it wasn’t sticking. When he had touched her hand, the connection between them was definitely more than friends. Why did he have to go and make things more complicated? Or maybe it was her fault for complimenting him like she had. But friends were allowed to do that, weren’t they?

Maybe not so much if they had a history of kissing.

Avery shook her head. No. She wouldn’t go there. She’d put it all out of her mind. Marshall was coming to town, Gabe was most likely leaving, and she needed to focus on her new job at the library and taking care of her mom. No more distractions.

Still, he had given her an idea. That morning, she’d been trying to get the students to write short stories based on their readings. As always, Avery followed the substitute plans to the letter. Give directions. Let students write.

So many of them struggled to come up with anything. Maybe he was right. She needed to relook at how she was getting them to create a story from nothing. Especially the students who didn’t do that naturally like she did. But how to approach teaching the concept differently?

As students filed in, Avery got an idea. It was less straightforward than the sub instructions, but it was worth a try. Anything was worth helping the students enjoy writing. When the bell rang, she headed to the whiteboard and wrote, “Once upon a time…”

Once everyone sat, she started talking. “Today we’re going to talk about stories. Specifically how to start a story.” She turned toward the whiteboard and underlined what she had written. “Once upon a time. That’s how the fairy tale writers started their stories. But how else could a story begin?”

Silence. Everyone stared at her. What would Gabe do right now?

Of course, he’d be silly. Tell a dumb joke. It was worth a try.

Avery cleared her throat. “Did you hear there’s a new Beauty and the Beast movie starring Cogsworth? It’s about time !”

A few students snickered. She’d take that. “Ok, if you don’t want any more lame jokes, give me some answers. How else can a story begin?”

Students yelled out answers, some silly, some insightful. She wrote all of them on the whiteboard.

“How do people know what to write next? Then next? How will they figure out what the story should be about?”

One student talked about how the author of Twilight came up with the story through a dream. Another student said ideas pop into her head sometimes.

Then Avery remembered a video she had seen recently. “I want to show you a clip about how to create a story. Specifically about how authors come up with characters and plot.” She hooked up her phone to the overhead projector and the students seemed genuinely interested as the video played.

“Story is something we all inherently know. So even if you haven’t done it before or think you’re any good at it, you already know the basic elements of beginning, middle, end. Creating characters people care about and putting them into tense situations. Fighting dragons. Saving the world.”

“Kissing the girl,” one guy yelled out, and everybody laughed.

Avery smirked. “That one is definitely a popular plot point.” Even though the student was being silly, he was referring to the lesson. This was working. A warm sense of happiness flowed through her. Is this how teaching was for Gabe, too?

Next she explained the assignment, and even though she had spent more time prepping the students than each of the previous class periods, these students appeared willing to at least try.

Avery had to admit this was one of the best classes she’d had all day, maybe even since starting as a substitute teacher. And she had Gabe to thank. He had given her a different perspective. And it had worked.

As the students began writing, she walked back to the teacher’s desk to grab her phone and send him a text. But something caught her eye outside the window. In the distance, the recognizable form of him stood in the parking lot facing away from her.

Was that really Gabe outside? She stopped and focused on the form. It had to be him. He was standing next to his truck. But he wasn’t alone. A female figure rested her hand on his shoulder, their closeness causing Avery’s throat to feel tight. All of a sudden she was defensive. Who was encroaching on the bubble around Gabe? The one Avery suddenly wanted to protect?

Claire. Why was she here?

If she had shown up at the school, clearly she wanted to meet up with him. The question was, did Gabe want to see her? Not that it was any of her business. She and Gabe were only friends. Weren’t they? So why did she care so much about what he was up to?

She couldn’t. She didn’t. Avery went to close the blinds as she saw them hugging, not like a quick hug but a long hug where two people share a closeness. An intimacy. This wasn’t a friendship call. This was something more.

She realized anything between her and Gabe had been nothing. A fling. A lie. Gabe was never hers before and he definitely never would be again. Her heart sank. Great job, Avery. Now your heart is broken again. Long-term guy, short-term guy, it didn’t matter. She and relationships—well, one relationship previous to Gabe–didn’t work out. So, she was going to be grateful for this perspective.

Good, she thought. Good for them. At least, that’s what she told herself. So why did she feel so crappy? Because she definitely had feelings for Gabe. And she thought he had feelings for her. No matter how hard Avery tried to convince herself they were just friends, she was lying to herself.

For the rest of the day, she tried not to sulk as each class came and went, the assignment going better and better all the time. At least she could feel happy about that. There was a sense of satisfaction in the school day she had never felt before. And even though Gabe had helped her look at things differently, she was the one who had carried it out. Substitute teaching wasn’t so bad after all. Maybe doing this and working part-time at the library would be good.

Still, she wondered about Gabe. Would he act weird if he knew that she had seen them? In the back of her mind, she devised a plan to avoid seeing him the rest of the day. Thankfully, last period was prep so she could leave early. She’d have to be strategic in walking to the office, otherwise he might catch her eye through the window of his classroom door.

She laughed to herself, recalling her first day tripping in front of his classroom as they locked eyes. Well, that wasn’t going to happen again. Avery now wore better-suited shoes and she was definitely not going to fall for that handsome, unavailable substitute teacher again.

She sat at the teacher’s desk between classes deep in thought. What a substitute for love he turned out to be. Funny. She smiled. That would be a good title for a story. Avery made a mental note to take the idea and run with it. Not that romantic comedies were her thing. But she’d be willing to give it a try.

The bell sounded and the 7th period students filed out of the classroom. She tidied up, wrote a quick note to the teacher about how great the students had been, then grabbed the substitute binder. Since the first-day binder mix-up fiasco, she always double checked the name at the top of the rolls before leaving the front office. So far, she had never been handed the wrong binder again. As she turned out the lights and closed the door, a thought crossed her mind. Had Doreen done it on purpose the first time?

She shook her head. Doreen was a sweet lady. Loved the students. Was always helpful. Maybe a little too helpful? Loved giving Gabe snacks. Loved Gabe in general. Would it be such a stretch for Doreen to try to match make? Avery held the binder close as she walked down the hall toward the office. Perhaps she would have met Gabe anyway, and things would have turned out the same. Or what if they hadn’t met? Would she still be subbing?

Without thinking, she stopped in front of Gabe’s classroom door. His back was to the window, but she could see all the students looking up at him, smiling and engaged. It was too bad he was planning to leave and do archeology. He was so good at teaching.

She looked ahead toward the office, her steps slow. Despite how things had played out between them, he had influenced her in a good way. She wasn’t afraid of the students like she had been the first day. In fact, she looked forward to whatever the next substitute job would be.

Avery continued around the corner toward the office. Marshall had been an emotionally abusive creep, which was why she had left. Gabe, conversely, was a good influence, but unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. Not exactly failures if she thought of them differently. But she would keep her guard up. Even though she had promised herself not to fall for anyone when she moved back to Phoenix, she knew better now. No men. Period.

“Hey, Doreen. How was your day?”

The secretary looked up from her desk and smiled. “Oh, hi there, honey. Another glorious day at Desert Scorpion. How were the students for you today?”

Avery handed the binder to her. “They were great, actually.”

“Getting the hang of it, huh?” Doreen had a twinkle in her eye.

For a split second, she considered asking Doreen straight up if she purposely switched the substitute binders. She hesitated, then fished in her purse for her sunglasses. Maybe she could find out without asking.

“Well, you know, Gabe has given me some good tips.” Avery winked, then put her sunglasses on.

“I knew the moment you walked in you two would get along. He’s a natural, that one. Too bad he won’t be staying for long. I mean, unless he can find some reason to stay.” Doreen said.

The phone rang and Doreen waved goodbye as she answered.

Avery narrowed her eyes. Was Doreen referring to Avery being the reason Gabe would stay? If that was the case, she was sorely mistaken. Maybe she simply didn’t want him going on the dig.

Wait a second. Did Doreen know about Claire? No way. Their fling was over the summer, so Gabe wasn’t subbing then. And Claire hadn’t even known what school Gabe subbed at, so today was probably her first time here. Right?

But somehow, Doreen must have known about Claire, because maybe Gabe had mentioned her or something. And that must be what she meant by “reason to stay.”

Oh. Dang. Her heart sank.

Avery opened the double doors, the Phoenix afternoon sun nearly blinding her despite wearing sunglasses. The light and heat permeated her skin, a light breeze doing nothing to relieve the temperature. Some days Phoenix was like a warm hug, but right now it was like a blow dryer to her face.

She headed to her car, Gabe’s truck coming into view on the way. Maybe Doreen knew what was up with Gabe and Claire. That her visit and hugs meant they were back together. Or were never really apart. A quick glance into his truck and Avery saw it. A badge to Claire’s gym hung from his rear-view mirror. It hadn’t been there on Saturday. So, yeah. They were back together.

Duh, Avery. When will you realize none of this has been about you? She reached for her car door handle, the hot metal immediately burning her hand. “Ouch!”

“You okay?”

Avery practically gave herself whiplash as she turned in panic to see who was behind her.

“Gabe? What are you doing out here?” She rubbed her hot hand on her hip, then pushed up her sunglasses. Act natural. Things were normal right now.

He smirked. “I asked you first.”

She lifted her hand and showed him her palm that still hurt from the hot metal. “Oh yeah, fine. Getting used to the heat again, you know? It’s a good 30 degrees cooler up in Flagstaff.”

He nodded. “I see.”

Avery waited, narrowing her eyes.

“Oh,” Gabe said. “So, to answer your question, I’m out here because my students, uh, dared me to.” He turned around and waved at an entire classroom pressed up against the glass, watching.

“They dared you to… come outside? Why?”

Gabe ran his fingers through his floofy hair and he looked down at his shoes. “It’s a long story, but we were playing truth or dare, and…”

“What? During class?”

Gabe shrugged. “It was relevant to the lesson. Honest. And they said they’d finish their assignment without talking but only if I did one dare they all came up with.”

Avery rolled her eyes. “The messes you get yourself into.” Yeah, like kissing Avery when he was really dating Claire.

“Yeah, I know.” He cleared his throat. “Anyway, they want me to, uh…” He looked at her lips.

Avery closed her eyes, as if that would somehow stop what he was about to say. “Ki….”

At the same time Gabe said, “High five. Wait, you thought they wanted me to kiss you?”

She opened her eyes. “High five? That’s it? I don’t believe you.”

She peeked over to the school window, where all the students were watching intently, a few with their phones out clearly recording.

“Okay, fine. They want me to kiss you. I told them no, it wasn’t appropriate, but they insisted. And if I don’t do it, then.”

Avery put her hand on her hip. “Then what? Something worse than kissing me?”

Gabe bent forward and whispered, “I have to get on the loudspeaker and tell everyone you rejected me.”

Avery burst out laughing. She covered her mouth with one hand, and the other her stomach. After a few deep breaths she waved it off.

“Seriously, I would pay money to see that. Do you think Doreen would let you?”

Gabe gave her a side eye. “Of course. Doreen basically wants to adopt me. And you, too, but don’t tell her I told you.”

Really? That was surprising. Avery had always been nice to her, but she didn’t think they had the Gabe-Doreen type relationship going.

“Hmmm. What to do? What to do?” Avery tapped her fingers on her face as she stalled. “I mean, if I reject you, then the students would finally quit asking if you and I are dating. Which would be better for you anyway, since you and Claire…”

Gabe held up his hands, turning his head and furrowing his brows. “Woah woah woah. What?”

Why, oh why did she say anything? Avery hadn’t meant to—it just slipped out.

She cleared her throat and lifted her chin and stood tall, trying to play it off like it was no big deal. At least, that’s what she was telling herself. “I happened to see you guys earlier in the parking lot.”

“Avery, I need to explain—”

She shook her head. “You and I are friends. You and Claire can do what you want. It’s fine. I’m fine. I’ll still help you with your grant application, we’ll still be co-workers, but that’s it.”

“Please, you need to know that I—”

Avery didn’t want to hear the explanation about how he didn’t mean to hurt her or he had always had feelings for Claire, or whatever. He needed to shut up and not talk.

She walked up to him, gave him a big kiss, then got in her car and drove away. The cheers of students sounded through the windows of the school.