2. Shane
1791 Words
2
SHANE
Good luck? That was all I had for her?
Good freaking luck.
My sister had told me what today meant for Rae. She was off to the biggest meeting of her career. It was why I’d gotten up early, despite the fact today was an in-service day. We wouldn’t have any students, and the administration was allowing us to come in later than normal for a seminar.
And still, I’d made sure I was up to make Rae coffee. I hadn’t ever seen her drink it, now that I thought about it, but everyone did, right? Today, I figured she’d need the boost. A boost I’d completely forgotten to offer her before she was out the door, her curls flying free behind her.
Her preference for tea over coffee wasn’t the only thing I’d learned about Rae while living here. She talked to my sister every morning, not about anything in particular, just to talk. Her dad stopped by often, and she never showed any signs of that bothering her.
She couldn’t garden to save her life—hence the overgrown raspberry bushes out front. Rae Brooks was a force, one I wasn’t sure how long I could live with.
She wasn’t a bad roommate. The house was clean, and she stayed out of my way. But every time she looked at me with those piercing green eyes, it felt like she saw right through me down to my core.
And the last time I let anyone in, the last time a woman learned my secrets, she crushed them like they were nothing more than a piece of paper in the palm of her hand.
I, Shane Kelly, was damaged. Everyone knew that, but none of them had guessed exactly how much.
I dumped my coffee in the sink. If I left now, there was still time to grab a bite to eat at Momma Loves Sugar. It was a ridiculous name, but there was no better coffee in Gulf City.
Swiping my keys off the marble countertop, I sidestepped the kitchen island and pulled on my shoes, then stepped out into the blazing Florida sun.
Yep, Rae was right. I was going to fry today.
Too late now. I needed coffee. And definitely a scone. Maybe two.
The house Rae had let me move into, taking over my sister’s lease, was in a neighborhood near the beach, which happened to also be close to the main area of town where businesses lined the streets from restaurants to real estate offices.
I pulled my black pickup into the lot near the bakery and cut the engine.
Inside, I found my brothers sitting at one of the small white tables, their large frames looking odd in the narrow space. “Don’t you two have jobs?” I crossed my arms when I reached them.
“Look who it is.” Tanner, the closest sibling to me in age at three years my junior, checked the time on his phone. “During the school day?”
“They probably fired him.” Johnny sipped his coffee like that was a perfectly reasonable statement.
I slapped him on the back of the head. “You wish. Then, there’d be another slacker in the family.” None of us were completely sure what Johnny did. He seemed to work strange hours and didn’t talk about his job.
“Hey now.” He swatted me away, his laugh telling me he took no offense. Johnny was probably the most easygoing person I’d ever met, and Tanner was a close second. I’d always envied them.
“Grab a chair.” Tanner gestured to the empty table before waving toward someone at the counter. “Coffee dude! We need a third cup.”
I wanted to kick him for being rude to Mariana, the woman who owned the bakery, but it wasn’t her who walked toward us with a coffee pot and mug.
Pulling a chair over, I lowered myself onto it. “Cole.”
He shot me a grin. “Mom is letting me help out today.” The kid was only about ten, but if being a teacher taught me anything, it was the thing kids appreciated most was being trusted. Even if it was with something as small as pouring coffee.
I ruffled his hair. “Thanks, bud.”
He practically hopped back to the counter with an energy I wished I could replicate. I took a long drink and sighed.
Tanner and Johnny shared a look.
“What?”
Tanner set his coffee down. “Shane, we’re worried about you.”
Johnny nodded seriously.
I narrowed my eyes. If my brothers were truly worried, they’d kidnap me and take me to the diner for milkshakes. We weren’t exactly the intervention kind of family.
Johnny reached across the table, taking my hand. “We know this is hard on you, but we’re here for you.”
“What are you two talking about?”
Tanner tried very hard to suppress a smile. “You’ve lived a long time like this.”
“Like what?”
Johnny removed his hand and met my gaze. “We know it’s hard to find out you’re not who you think you are.”
Tanner nodded. “Especially when the truth is…” He sucked in a breath. “That you’re more ape than man.”
The two of them, children both, broke out into laughter.
“Ha ha, douchebags.” It was no secret I wasn’t built like the rest of my family. Tanner and Johnny were both rather lean, probably from all the time spent surfing.
I was built more like a linebacker from my years playing football and hockey. Even now, I lifted weights frequently because it took my mind off the rest of the world.
When their laughter died down, Tanner turned serious, a feat for him. “How was Rae this morning?”
“How should I know?”
Johnny snorted. “Dude, you live with her.”
Not by my own choice. It had been that or move in with Mom and Dad until I found an apartment. “She’s fine, I guess.”
“Really?” Tanner didn’t look convinced. “I talked to her last night, and she was freaking out about this meeting.”
Of course he’d talked to her. Tanner and Rae were close, something I’d never managed. I could hardly find the words to be nice to her, let alone actually be friends. “She seemed okay when she left.”
“Rae always seems okay.”
I knew that too. She never let anyone see when she was rattled or when she doubted herself. It was like she thought vulnerability was weakness. I’d never even seen her without her hair and makeup done in the weeks I’d lived with her. She aimed for perfection in everything she did, even her appearance.
“The truth is, I don’t know if us living together was a good idea.” I rubbed my eyes.
Tanner raised a brow, but Johnny beat him to the punch. “We could have told you that, bro.”
“We just… don’t get each other.”
“You never have.” Tanner laughed. “The two of you have been arguing since she was a kid. It used to be entertaining.”
“And now?”
“Well, now, we all just wonder if you remember why you’re arguing.”
Why did Rae and I fight? Some people just weren’t meant to be in each other’s lives. Maybe that was it.
I drained the rest of my coffee and realized I hadn’t gotten a scone, but I was no longer hungry. “I need to get to work.”
My brothers waved goodbye, and I got the distinct impression they were laughing at me.
I was early to the school, but it still felt like I was late simply because any other Friday morning would have seen me arrive hours ago. I wasn’t even sure what the point of these seminar days were.
The staff was to receive training we’d already gone through the year before. I’d rather be teaching my students.
I walked into the school building that was much emptier than it should have been. No students rushed through the halls for fear of being late. It was missing the laughter and chatter teenagers tended to have plenty of.
Instead, without the kids that were the heartbeat of the place, it felt empty.
I nodded hello to a few of my fellow teachers, whom I’d never really taken the time to get to know. It was no secret that I wasn’t great with adults, much preferring the company of teenagers, who still saw the world through rose-colored glasses.
Most of them hadn’t yet been jaded, they hadn’t had their hearts broken into a thousand pieces. And there was something special about that.
I walked to my classroom to hide out until the training started, but as soon as I stepped into the darkened room, I knew I wasn’t alone.
“Come out before I turn the lights on, and I won’t drag you right down to the principal’s office.”
There was a shuffling sound, and the light spilling in from the hall fell on a pair of scuffed and worn tennis shoes, ripped jeans, and a wrinkled shirt.
I flipped the lights on. “Trevor, what are you doing here?”
Trevor Nicks was my star student, probably the most brilliant one I’d ever taught. He had a mind that astounded even me, but no one would know when they looked at him and his scraggly appearance.
Trevor kicked a toe against the ground, looking anywhere but at me. “I didn’t think anyone would be in the building.” He rubbed his eyes, as if he’d just woken up.
I scanned the room, finding a backpack and blanket on the ground behind a row of desks that had been pushed to the side. “You slept here.” It wasn’t a question. Somehow, I just knew.
He turned and scrambled to shove the blanket into his backpack. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean… I just figured with the school closed…”
“The school isn’t closed.” I reached behind me to shut the door for privacy. “You all don’t have school, but we unlucky teachers still have to be here.”
He wiped his eyes and slid his backpack over one shoulder. “I’m sorry.” He tried to rush by me, but I held out an arm to stop him.
“Wait… Trevor, how did you even get into the school?”
“The janitor is here late at night. I just hid until he left.”
“This wasn’t the first time?”
He shook his head. “Mr. Kelly, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. Can I go now?”
I should have told someone, brought Trevor to the principal to deal with this and hand out punishment for breaking into the school. But something in his eyes kept my authority-prone behavior in check.
The reason I’d become a teacher was to help these kids, and Trevor needed help, even if that just meant me looking the other way when he was so obviously desperate. “Yeah, kid. You can go.” I pushed a hand through my hair. “But Trev?”
He stopped, his fingers curling around the door handle. “Yeah?”
“If there’s something going on… if you need help… come to me, okay? You aren’t alone.”
He gave me a sad look that told me I didn’t know what I was talking about. “We’re all alone, Mr. Kelly. Some of us just have to learn that earlier than others.”
His words stayed with me long after he left.
- Writer
