The Agent and The School Teacher

Chapter Four: Protect

As the next week progressed, I continued to struggle with if I should go back to Boise. Chelsea said they were counting on me but...what if I don't want them to count on me? What if I don't want to be that person anymore? That's why I left after college and moved to the same town as my parents, to get away from that, and now they're trying to suck me back in.

I also couldn't stop thinking about Aaron.

I had one of the best conversations I'd ever had with anyone the second time we met. I couldn't forget about it. Plus...Aaron is one of the more attractive men that I've met. It didn't help that his son was in my class.

The first day back to school I moved him away from Paul, just to be safe, but according to Charlotte that and inviting Paul to Jack's house didn't seem to be making a difference. And on top of that, i already needed to talk to Aaron about Jack's test scores, so it seemed like the perfect time to set up a meeting.

Plus, I wasn't opposed to seeing him again.

I gave Jack a note on Thursday to take home to Aaron. I was going to meet with him on Friday, if he was available of course. Then I was going home for four days.

"Why do we have to stay and grandma's for four days." Sadie whined, playing with my pencil cup. Charlotte was in the back of the room, looking at a book with Jack. They'd become great friends lately, and it made my heart soar.

"Because baby, Mommy has a class reunion back in Idaho."

"Why can't we go with you?" She asked, looking up at me. I shook my head.

"It's no place for kids, Sadie." There was a knock and I looked up to see Aaron in his usual suit. "Right on time."

"I tried very hard to make it happen." He said, smiling.

"Why don't you guys go look at the book in the hallway?" I suggested. They did so, Sadie trudging behind them. Aaron sat down in the chair beside my desk.

"I had a few things I wanted to talk to you about. About Jack."

"Ah, so this wasn't an excuse to see me again?" He asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Afraid not. No, I just wanted to show you his standardized test scores. You mentioned that you read together?"

"We just finished Charlie and the Chocolate Factory last night." He replied, looking down at the paper.

"Well, it's working. He's reading at a fourth-grade level." I pointed out, pointing to the numbers on the paper."His scores are high across the board, but...I'm a bit worried about him in the classroom. He seems to be holding back a little, and I think I know why."

"Why?" He asked.

"Has he talked to you about Paul?"

"Paul Cain?" He asked. I nodded. "Yes, he's been over. He's a friend of Jack's." I shook my head.

"No. I think Jack is trying to make friends with him in order to combat Paul's negative behavior towards him. Paul has been being mean to Jack."

"How long has that been going on?" He asked.

"A few weeks, I assume. Charlotte said he told her about it, and his plan to invite him over, at the park the other day. I've had her report to me if anything bad happens ever since. Paul does this a lot, to several kids. I moved him away from Jack, but it doesn't seem to make a difference. Everything is documented, I just...I thought you would want to know."

"Well, Jack says things are going very well at school, so the steps you're taking must be working." I nodded.