Game of Love (The Remingtons, Book One: Love in Bloom Series)

Chapter Thirty-One, Game of Love

Chapter Thirty-One

ELLIE LEANED OVER her desk as her students worked on a writing assignment. It was Friday afternoon, and although it was only her first week of teaching at Maple Elementary, she felt as if she were meant to work there. The staff was completely in tune with the students and their needs, they were excited about the potential software proposal, and since the first morning when they'd gathered in the teachers' lounge for coffee, she'd felt as though she fit in perfectly. Her colleagues were, in fact, her peers. She wasn't the only teacher who had something other than a middle-class childhood.

During her first few days of teaching, Ellie observed and listened. She met with each of the students and got to know them. She knew, for example, that Selma liked reading about horses and anything that had to do with animals, and that she once had a cat that her neighbor ran over with his car. Michael enjoyed only comic books and thought any other literature was boring. His mother, however, could not read at all. Kenny had a hard time with math but could read on a third-grade level, and he often prepared the grocery list for his family. Tabby could barely make her way through a sentence. During that initial get-to-know-you conversation, she'd also learned that Joseph lived with his aunt and her five children, and they had moved three times since first grade. The classroom was ripe with need, and Ellie was chomping at the bit to take them under her wing.

She watched the kids, some intent on the task at hand, others staring out the window, unable to stay focused for more than a few minutes at a time. And then there was Joseph. Joseph was a wanderer. Smart as a whip, socially awkward, and undiagnosed as anything other than a problem child, Joseph worked best when his legs were moving. She understood the need to not feel confined, and that was part of what drove her to ease up on typical "in your seat" guidelines and allow Joseph the freedom to move.

"Okay, girls and boys, it's time to put our work away for the afternoon." She walked down the rows of the high-ceilinged classroom as they put their work away. Sunlight filtered through the windows. Plywood blocked the holes where windows had been broken and not yet repaired, and as she glanced at them, she wondered what had caused them to break. Did it happen during school hours, or were they broken by rowdy teenagers over a weekend? The desks were standard student fare, small, metal, scuffed, and some covered with graffiti. Overall, the classroom was functional, and with a few colorful decorations, it would soon come to life.

"Joseph, good job getting your homework done last night," she said as the little dark-haired boy put his work into his backpack.

"Thank you, Miss Parker."

Blythe appeared in the doorway and waved her over.

"Three minutes until the bell rings. Be sure to take your jackets home with you. Check your cubbies for anything else you might need." She held up one finger to Blythe and continued speaking to the students. "I enjoyed our first week together, and I think we're going to have a great year."

"Me too." Missing her two front teeth, Selma flashed a toothless grin.

"Thank you, Miss Parker," Joseph yelled.

"It was a fun week except the reading," Michael said.

She met Blythe in the doorway.

"Great news. The grant program doesn't close until December twelfth, so we can still apply." Blythe's eyes widened as she smiled. "I'm so excited about this, and talk about fate! With Dex and his friends' help on the technical side of things, and our educational staff, I think we really have a shot at this."

"That's fantastic news. I can't wait to tell Dex. We've already begun the outline of the proposal. Why don't I bring it in next week and we can flesh it all out and get some opinions on anything that's missing?"