Lessons in Love

Chapter 27: First Day of School

POV: Riley Campbell

The girls were less than enthusiastic about being in the high school. The way they wandered in stilted, nervous, told me everything I needed to know about how they felt. A few of them hadn’t shown up at all, though Ben had said to expect some absentees this week because of the harvest. A few of the older girls from Sarah’s Place brought the younger kids. Emma had shown up with her bear from Rusty’s clutched to her chest.

“Hi Emma,” I smiled brightly. It did little to get the girl to let go of Mr. Sloan’s pant leg.

Mr. Sloan got down on one knee and smiled lovingly at the little girl. “You get the special privilege of being taught by a Luna.” He said. “That’s a big deal, remember?” Emma nodded solemnly and headed into the classroom. “She’ll be alright, but just in case.” He handed me a slip of paper. “That’s my number.”

“Henry,” Claire said as she entered, looking elegant as ever.

“Luna Claire,” He blushed a little, and I had to wonder if he had a bit of a crush on her. He gave her a nod. “Morning Ben,” he smiled at Ben as he made his way out.

“Reporting for duty, Ms. Campbell.” Claire absolutely beamed. I could tell this was an adventure for her. It was something she would never have been able to do before. The happiness rolling off Ben was giving me a contact high. He pretended he was all about the protection detail, but I saw the way he eyed me from time to time, standing just behind his mother. I showed Claire to her classroom and introduced her to the kids.

“We brought lunch.” Ben said quietly as I came back out to the hallway. “For the three of us.” He smiled. I felt my face get hot as I smiled back. Our long-distance make-out session had been two nights ago, but we’d done it again last night. The twinkle in his eye said he’d be ready and waiting for me tonight again.

“See you then.” I bit my lower lip, unsure of whether I was talking about lunch or after dinner.

The morning flew by, and I felt good about how it had gone. The girls were all on track for their ages. The challenge would be keeping them there, I knew that, but it had felt so good to be in a classroom again. The curriculum didn’t even bother me. I joined Ben and Claire in the small room I’d commandeered as my office for lunch.

“The children are wonderful.” Claire smiled. Her face was flushed, and her eyes were so much livelier than I had ever seen them. Ben seemed to feel the same way. He smiled non-stop at the both of us.

Ben’s face suddenly dropped, and I felt his emotions shift from happiness to fear in a heartbeat. I looked at him and knew before he said. “Dad is on the way.”

“We knew this was coming.” I said calmly, feeling both of them tensing up. “It’s the first day. He’s going to want to make sure everything is running smoothly. A lunchtime visit means he wants to see the facilities, not the curriculum.” I reminded them. My pep talk seemed to have calmed Claire down some, but Ben looked immensely bothered by the intrusion.

“He’s going to fling that door open in about five seconds.” Ben warned us in a whisper.

The door was flung with such force it rattled the pane of frosted glass in it. Even I flinched at the sound. “Hope you don’t mind, but I’m here to see what you’ve done with the place.” George’s malicious smile spread across his face.

“Of course, sir.” I said, wiping my mouth and standing up. “Where would you like to start?” I asked, coming out into the hallway to find Rick standing behind him, looking positively ill.

“We should start in the gym.” He said.

Ben was on his feet and out in the hallway. “Trade off?” He looked at Rick.

“Delta Richard is my detail today.” George growled.

“Rick is your detail for the morning, sir.” Ben corrected. “We both have a great number of duties to perform, so we are splitting the days between you both until a suitable Gamma can be selected.” Ben straightened his tie and squared his shoulders.

George leveled a low growl and turned on his heel, marching toward the gym. Rick gave Ben a look of thanks and slipped into my office with Claire. The tour was quick with no one to torture. George didn’t seem overly interested in the building as we walked him through it. We returned to the lobby to find Claire and Rick waiting.

“Hope everything was to your liking, sir.” Rick said with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“It’s a school, not really much to see.” He glared at Rick. “I did notice the herb garden, what’s that about?” George turned on me.

“Sir, they have to know how to grow their own herbs or how will they cook?” I said, acting appalled by the question. Claire had warned me I’d get questioned about it, and the answer she’d provided landed perfectly. George didn’t like that I’d gotten the answer right, but he couldn’t say anything about it either.

“Hannah should come and teach the students about gardening.” George said. “Beta Benjamin, arrange it.” He said, like he was a king ordering a lowly slave about.

“That’s very kind, sir, but Hannah recommended Mr. Sloan to us. He has the best herb gardens in the pack in Hannah’s expert opinion.” I smiled. “He’ll be teaching on Wednesdays when the Luna is unavailable.”

George bristled, and I felt Ben’s fear kick into overdrive. Ben stepped closer to his father, like he was expecting George to grab me or hit me. “Why was I not informed of this?” He growled, rounding on Ben and Rick.

“Our apologies, sir.” Ben said, drawing his ire. “We thought it was a trivial bit of scheduling. It is too unimportant to bother you with it during the final days of the harvest.” Ben’s words were smooth and outwardly confident. “We’ll let you know about everything moving forward, sir.” He smiled at George, and I felt a relief wash through him. George had made a mistake. Ben and Rick would be able to hide their real efforts by drowning George in all the petty details of keeping the pack running smoothly.

George pushed past Ben, deliberately bumping his shoulder. Ben stood solid, like he’d known it was coming. George bounced off Ben’s shoulder, stumbling to keep his balance. He glared at his son and leveled a vicious growl.

“Move.” George demanded.

“Of course, sir.” Ben said, taking a step to the side to let his father pass. He gave me a smile before he turned and followed his father out. Rick and Claire were staring at me in shock.

“What?” I asked.

“That was you.” Claire whispered. “He was able to do that because of you.”

I looked at Rick. “And the fight after the harvest festival, Ben went after him. He was ready to kill him. George might have cursed you, but there’s no way he would let you actually give Ben any real strength.” Rick shook his head. “I think this is real.”

Rick made himself scarce, staying near the building entrance and away from the classrooms or the lobby as best he could. I could see him from the whiteboard and noticed he’d stepped outside, rubbing his forehead occasionally throughout the day. Late in the afternoon, just before school was set to end, I passed out an assignment to the class and pulled five of the girls into the lobby.

“Is there something wrong, Ms. Campbell?” Shawna asked.

“No, I just needed to talk with you. You five have expressed interest in training in combat.” Shawna’s face instantly lit up. The other girls all seemed to be smiling from relief.

“I know some of what happened in this building during the war.” I said cautiously and saw all five girls stiffen at the mention of it. “I know a bit about what happened in the gym.” I glanced to the front door, but Rick must have been outside. “We are going to have to use the gym to train you. I’m sorry for that because I know that is going to be hard at first. But we did some renovations, and I think once you see it …”

“I’m not going in there.” Kelsey said firmly.

Shawna put her arm around her. “I know it sucks, but I promise, there’s not going to be anything in there but gym equipment.” She said gently. Shawna looked at me then, and I saw, despite her words, she was just as nervous.

“Shawna’s right,” I explained what we’d done to the space and watched as a few of them relaxed. The door opened behind them, and Rick came back in.

“Can the Delta come with us?” May asked. Rick stopped in his tracks, not having context for the question.

“The Delta is here as a protective detail for the Luna.” I said. I looked up at Rick. “I don’t think he’ll be able to join us in the gym today.” The girls all turned to see him standing there.

“I have to stay in the lobby.” He said. The girls all looked disappointed, but I gave Rick an understanding nod.

“Let’s go over to the doors.” I said gently. “We’re going to take our time, and today, nobody has to go in if they don’t want to. When everyone is ready, we’ll open the doors up, and you can take a look. Think we can manage that?” The girls all nodded.

“If you’re just going to be by the doors,” Rick said with an uncomfortable shrug. Most of the girls let out an audible sigh of relief. I gathered them by the doors and gave Rick a look, trying to convey it wasn’t too late for him to change his mind.

“Like I told you, I know I little bit about what happened here. Is there anything about the gym that you feel I should know? Anything you want me to understand?” I asked.

“Why?” Shawna folded her arms over her chest.

“Well, I might ask you to do something, or I might say something in there that upsets you. If you tell me about what makes you uncomfortable, it will help me avoid adding stress to the space.” The girls mulled that over. Rick looked positively ill.