For the Love of Ash (8 page)

She lived in a nice part of town, right in the center of the main stretch of bars and shops. It was on top of a small boutique clothing store, LUX, that Lindsay owned and operated. She loved clothes, and instead of just buying them, she decided to make a career out of it and utilize what she knew best.
 

After getting her business degree at Boston College, she bought the storefront downstairs with her graduation money and did the rest by herself. She loved to rub in the fact that she didn't need our parents' help or influence in their faces.

Her apartment was the same size as the store, which was small. But it was the location that mattered, and I had to agree. I had spent a lot of nights on her couch during my college years after a night at the bars. Every school vacation I spent with her.

There was a plate of cookies on her kitchen counter covered in plastic wrap that she must have baked earlier. The entire house still smelled like cookies and sugar, which made it really appealing, and my stomach grumbled as if agreeing with me. I slipped my finger under the wrapping and grabbed a few cookies. I walked through the kitchen to the living room. I found a clicker on the coffee table and turned on her flat screen.

I woke up to my cellphone's alarm blaring from a distance. I groggily got up from the couch, the blue of the TV glowing in the otherwise dark apartment. I found my cell in my duffle bag, and by the time I shuffled over and turned off the alarm, I was wide awake. There was a text waiting for me.

MyFAVEsisterLINZ
: No drama here. Eat my food. Call me after work. Love you!
 

I grabbed my toiletry bag and a change of clothes and found my way to her bathroom. There was a clean towel and washcloth on the back of the toilet. I had a feeling she expected something like this to happen, but who knew. Sometimes I thought she was a mind reader. Or maybe she was just always prepared.

I turned on the water in her shower bath combo and turned the dial all the way to the right so the water would be nice and toasty. I had an hour before I had to be at the school. With Linds's place being all the way across town, I had to hurry or I'd be late for the first bell.

As I stepped over the shin high lip, I almost tripped; my muscles ached from a night spent on a stiff couch. I wasn't used to having to run around a gym anymore, either. I needed to start lifting and working out before I lost all of my tone.
 

After showering, I dressed fast. While it sucked that it would take me longer to get to Woodbury, I knew that I passed a Dunkin' Donuts on the way to the school. I could stop and get a coffee and sandwich if I just hurried up. I decided to leave my duffle by the door, in case I had to spend another night in my hideaway.

During fourth period gym I made sure to keep an eye on Asher. I knew that Mrs. Kellar said not to be too obvious, but I wanted to help him. We were starting a new chapter on floor hockey, one of my favorites because it taught teamwork and coordination, and sharing and remembering plays. I rattled off names from my attendance sheet as I tried to remember faces. I was never good at putting faces and names together.

 
"I'm going to pick teams based on your last names. I'll say one or two and then you're on that team. Sound good, guys?" I asked as I was debating how to arrange the perfect group of twenty I had.
 

I went through the roster, pairing off every other onto the different teams. Afterwards, I had the groups stand together and wait while I pulled out the red and blue tipped sticks from the closet of equipment.
 

"Does anyone know how to play hockey?"
 

Immediately Asher's hand shot up. He had the widest grin on his face. More emotion flowed from him in that moment than I had seen from any child thus far. Granted, I'd only been teaching a few days.
 

"I'll go over the rules since not many of you know how to play. Want to know something cool first?" I got a few kids to nod, so I guessed that was something. "I have a buddy who's on the Rangers. His name's Finn. Maybe I can get him to come play with us," I said.

"Really?" a boy with dark hair asked. "My dad loves the Rangers!"

"I'll see what I can do."

I demonstrated how to dribble a puck and let the students practice. They seemed more interested after I told them about Finn. It was only the first day on the unit, and I only had them for fifty minutes, so I knew we wouldn't make too much progress, but their enthusiasm grew.
 

When there was ten minutes left in the class, I decided to let them practice in a little scrimmage. The girls were definitely not excited about this, but when I cut my glance to Asher, I could tell from his beaming smile that he was in his element.
 

"Why don't you play center since you're more experienced," I told Asher. "Who likes to be defense?" Amy, a little girl with red hair, and Taylor, a large boy with brute strength, both raised their hands from the blue team, and I showed them where to stand.
 

Once I had people in their positions, I blew the black whistle that hung from my neck and dropped the puck between Asher and Kellan, both centers from the two teams.
 

I had to admit that I didn't expect Asher to be very experienced. He danced with the puck, handling it like he was much older and sharing it with the other students, like he knew not to show off. I respected him, which was strange since he was probably eight or nine.
 

Blue team won by two goals, but everyone genuinely seemed like they had a good time. When I blew the whistle and announced the winner, the blue team cheered. They huddled together, laughing as they slapped hands. Red team was more somber, but they were still muttering 'good job' to each other and smiling.

"Please put your sticks back into the can. Leave the colored part up so they fit better. Tomorrow we'll practice some more and have a longer game. Did you guys have a fun time?"

"Yeah!" a few of the students yelled.
 

"All right. Line up in two equal lines and we'll finish the class." I always had the students split into two lines and say good job to each other before we left. I knew a lot of kids from playing high school varsity sports, and the most important thing I hoped to emphasize to these kids was respect. I hopped at the end of one of the lines and did the same.
 

"Have a great day, kids!"

"Bye Mr. Wilson!" a few of them answered before they left.
 

"Hey, Asher," I said as I noticed him lag behind the rest of the group. His bag was at the far end of the bleachers, so I ran to catch up with him. "You were really awesome. Do you play?"

"Thanks Mr. Wilson!" He smiled back at me. "I'm on a travel team at the Shelton rink."

"Wow. You think you can help me out tomorrow?"

"
Help you with what?" he asked. His fingers played with the loose strap of his backpack. I hoped I wasn't making him nervous.
 

"
I can use you to demonstrate some moves. Nothing crazy. You'd really be helping me out." I pleaded with my eyes, hoping that he would do this for me. I knew that it might help him come out of his shell. The other kids would like him more, too—or at least know his name.
 

"I guess that's okay." He shrugged his shoulders. His eyes darted to the door, like he was looking for an out.

"Thanks, buddy. See you tomorrow then." He smiled again and walked away. I watched him leave, my arms crossed over my chest. I narrowed my eyes at the door as he walked through, trying to get a read on him. I couldn't tell if he liked me or not. It seemed like he didn't trust me. Something definitely was going on.

Wednesdays were my most packed day of teaching. I had my fifth grade group that I only saw half the week and my kindergartners who I only had once a week. They were back to back, so it was very hard to plan with my tools since their levels were at opposite ends of the spectrum.

I didn't have Western today, which relieved some of my stress. I envisioned my afternoon while I waited for the kids to come in. I would go back to Lindsay's, watch TV, and eat more of her amazing cookies. I'd do a couple lesson plans and then be set for the night. I'd probably get some pizza and pass out early on the shitty couch.

All of the fifth graders stormed into the gym at once. They threw their backpacks near the bleachers, most spilling out into the hallway. I was lucky because they went easy on me. I hadn't been able to get a good read on most of them, but I knew from my teachings that they were a tough group. They were in that in-between stage of trying to look cool and fit in, but not knowing how to do so.
 

I liked to keep my lesson plans consistent, so I had all of the grades doing floor hockey at the same time. It was easier to keep the same equipment out, instead of switching things around all day. Maybe I was just lazy. I was able to do a lot more with the fourth and fifth graders than the younger groups, but they still had a blast.
 

I had a lunch break before my last class of the day, so I walked over to the teacher's lounge. I hadn't been in the room before. I walked through the door and found only half of the five tables were full. The small room had a microwave, refrigerator, and a few vending machines with soda I knew the kids weren't allowed to have.
 

"Mr. Wilson?" a woman asked from behind me. I looked over my shoulder as I pressed D2 on the vending machine. My salt and vinegar chips clinked at the bottom of the machine, and I bent down to retrieve them before I turned and faced the woman.

"Hi, there. Kara Renrick." She held out her hand to me, and I shook it, noting her soft fingers. She looked beautiful—blonde hair, blue eyes with brown makeup accentuating them. Her hair hung down to her waist in soft waves.
 

"I'm Luke," I said as I let go of her hand.
 

"I'm new here, too, so I know how you feel," she said, rolling her eyes at the other teachers in the room who appeared to all know each other. They seemed cliquey.
 

"Do you want to sit together?" I asked as I popped open my chips and pulled one out. The vinegar was strong as it wafted up at me face.

"That'd be awesome. You're a lifesaver."

"So, do you live in the area?"

"I just moved to Fairfield County. My family is actually from South Carolina, but I went to school at UConn and was offered a job here, so I decided to stay. Are you from here?" She twirled a strand of platinum hair around her pointer finger, flirting with me like it was her main job.
 

"Yeah. My family lives in New Canaan. What year did you graduate?"

"Technically, I graduate in December because I had three more credits, but I'm taking the class online, so I'm basically done."
 

"I just graduated last December. That's strange we never saw each other."

"Oh. Well…Isn't this just awkward…" She pursed her lips and looked down at her fingers. She picked at her chipped red nail polish, little flakes landing on the table.

"What?" I asked, confused with where she was going with this. She had flipped on me, suddenly angered. "Do I know you or something?" I truly had no recollection of who she was.

"You know, I didn't think you were an asshole, but I guess I was wrong." She pushed up from her chair, the legs grinding against the tiled ground. She caught the attention of the other teachers as she stormed out of the room. They looked at me with furrowed brows.

I followed her, wanting to get to the bottom of her outrage. I had no idea what the fuck was going on, but I clearly knew this girl, and she was clearly mad that I forgot. Her heels clicked against the tile, loud and fast.

"Kara, wait!"

"Oh, you know my name now that we're alone?" When she turned and faced me, I saw her glassy eyes. I felt like shit. She wiped under her eye and then looked up at me.

"How do I know you?"
 

"Shit," she muttered as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You seriously don't remember?"