Kenzie
“Good morning, class,” I say as my students are entering the classroom. Some of them are looking a bit gloomy this morning, and I have no doubt it’s because they have a pop quiz that I’m about to place down on their desks. They are going about their routine of putting their stuff away and marking themselves as present on our magnetic board. They are all situated in time for the morning announcements to start, and then we have the Pledge of Allegiance. When the announcements are finished, I start discussing plans for the day, and they start to perk up a bit. I ask for a show of hands. “Who is ready to present their Genius Hour project today?”
Tyler, Roberta, and Sara all raise their hands. “Good, you three will present later today. You will have a portion of Genius Hour to work on your speech while the remainder of the class continues working on their projects. If I find your project to be at grade level, you will be allowed to move onto a new topic. If not, I will ask that you elaborate on certain areas. You can add to it and try again next week.” I glance around the room at their excitement. They really like Genius Hour, and I have yet to mention the pop quiz.
“Now, onto important business. We have the matter of the pop quiz I promised y’all this morning, and I have it right here,” I hold up a stack of papers. Suddenly, the room erupts into grunts and groans, and honestly it makes me chuckle. “Y’all act like I just told you that you had to go to the doctor and get five shots each.” They start to laugh as I place the pieces of paper on their desks face down. There are only eight questions on the quiz, and some of them start to smile as they realize just how easy this is. Once they each have a piece of paper on their desk, I say, “You have twenty minutes. You may begin now.” I look at my watch as I make my way back to my desk.
Opening my laptop, I see I have some emails that need answering, so I use this time to go through them and respond to those that need it. I’m glancing over my laptop periodically to ensure no one is cheating. The room is so quiet you could hear a pin drop. I’ll take that as a sign that I got my message across.
I’m watching the clock, then announce, “You have five more minutes.” Some gasp in panic and others smile smugly, because they are already done. If they actually read the chapter they should have had plenty of time, but, as always, there are some who don’t really do the reading.
“Time’s up,” I announce when it hits the twenty-minute mark. “Flip your tests over and I will collect them.” Suzie is feverishly writing in the back corner still. I walk over to her, take her test, and see she’s only answered six out of the eight. I can already see at least one is wrong. I pick up the paper and say, “I believe I said time is up.” She huffs, sliding her hands across her chest, while everyone else sits waiting for the tests to be collected.
***
It’s finally lunchtime, and I’m happy to say that my class has turned around a bit now that the pop quiz is over. I head down to the teacher’s lounge to get my lunch from the fridge and when I get there, of course, Mrs. Bennett is sitting there, and after yesterday’s conversation with her, I’m a bit embarrassed to see her. I nod. “Good afternoon, Mrs. Bennett.” I take the seat beside her.
“Good afternoon, Kenzie. How did your pop quiz go this morning?”
I smile, glad she’s brought up an easy subject. “Better for some than others. I had one student who didn’t understand the meaning of time’s up,” I say with a smile.
“Yeah, there’s always one.” We both go about eating our lunch, as we don’t have a ton of time to eat during our break. As a matter of fact, I often eat in my classroom, but I didn’t want Mrs. Bennett to think I was mad at her after yesterday’s conversation. I actually want to thank her for giving me something to think about last night, but I don’t know how to bring it up. I’m lost in thought when she stands to clean up her mess.
“Have a good day, Kenzie.”
She’s about to leave the room when I say, “Wait, please. I want to thank you for giving me something to think about last night.”
She gives me a tight smile. “Actually, it’s none of my business. I should really stay out of it.” She walks out of the room. I sigh, feeling like she’s mad at me. I certainly can understand her being protective of him. I mean, he’s her son, and she’s mentioned how he is her pride and joy. I shake it off and quickly finish eating my lunch so I can get back to my classroom.
***
I’m so happy this day is done. The kids had a great rest of the day, but I couldn’t help feeling bad after that conversation I had with Remy’s mom. The kids have all left the classroom, and now I have to head home so I can meet up with Daniel. I pull up to my house and frown at my empty porch. I miss my surprises from Remy. It made me smile to pull up and see cards, notes, and other things on the front porch. I shake it off, running inside to change quickly and make my way back out the door to meet Daniel at the diner.
I pull up at ten minutes to six. We’re supposed to meet at six o’clock, but I hate being late. My father used to always say, “If you’re not ten minutes early, then you’re late.” I smile at the thought of my father.
I walk inside to find it’s a bit busy tonight, but when I scan the tables I see Daniel isn’t here yet, so I check out the available tables and pick one by the window. I take a seat facing the door, so I can wave Daniel down when he gets here. The waitress comes over with a glass of water. I inform her I’m waiting on someone. She tells me she’ll keep an eye out and be back to check on me shortly. I sigh as I stare out the window waiting for him. Daniel was never one for punctuality and it used to drive me crazy.
Looking down at my watch, I see it’s now six and he’s still not here. I check my phone to see if I have a text or voice mail from him, but see nothing there. If this guy stands me up, so help me god I’m going to be pissed.
I drink some water and begin reading over the menu, looking out the window periodically for the ass that has left me waiting. It’s now ten past six and he’s still not here. I’m about to order something to go when he finally comes running into the diner. I wave to him so he’ll see I’m already here, and give him my signature one eyebrow look that tells him I’m pissed. “Sorry I’m late,” he says, slipping into the booth.
“You’re always late. Is this how you prove to me that you want me back, by leaving me waiting in a diner for you?”
“I said I was sorry,” he says, looking at the menu.
“Which are you sorry for? Being late or breaking up with me? You seem to be sorry for a lot.”
His brows shoot up. “Both?” he says questioningly.
“You know what? This was a bad idea.” I start to stand to leave, but he begs me to hear him out.
I groan in frustration as I slip back into the booth. “You have thirty minutes and I’m out the door.” The waitress approaches, and I instantly say, “Bacon cheeseburger, medium rare with fries, and a diet pop please.”
Daniel smiles and says, “Make it two, please.” When she walks away, he says, “See, we even still like the same foods.”
I roll my eyes and stare at him as I wait for him to speak, but he says nothing. “Are you going to say something? Your time is ticking.”
“Come on, Kenzie. How can you really just let us go after two years? I know you must still care about me.” I shrug, not committing either way. “I really do love you, and I’m sorry that I didn’t come with you.”
“Not good enough. What makes you think you can just walk back into my life after months of being away? Do you know how many nights I cried over you because you left me hanging when I needed you most? You hurt me, and forgiving that is not that easy.”
“I know I screwed up. I get that now. I didn’t realize just how much you meant to me until you were gone and I was left up north by myself.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Why now? What took you so long?”
“I don’t know. I guess I was trying to build up the courage to come down here and beg for forgiveness.” He takes a sip of the pop the waitress has put on the table for us. “I don’t have much more time. I have to go back home to square away some work. My vacation time is running out, and my workload is piling up.”
“So what was your plan? You’d come down here and beg me to come back with you?”
He looks down and says nothing. The waitress puts a plate in front of each of us and walks away to leave us to our dinner. He takes a bite of his burger and says, “This is really good.”
“You didn’t answer my question. You mentioned moving down here at one point, and now you’re telling me you have to go back home to square away some work.” I take a bite of my burger, trying to give him a moment to tell me whatever he’s holding on to. I can see the reluctance in his eyes.
“Everyone misses you. Jazzmine, Paul, Meghan. We all want you to come home.”
I nod in frustration, because I want him to admit he only came because he heard about Remy, though I’m not sure he’ll admit it. “Why now?”
He gives an exasperated sigh. “I guess I thought you would come down here, and once your grandmother passed, you would come home. You would have had a chance to calm down from our argument, and we would pick up where we left off. When I heard you were dating this Remy guy, I had to come and tell you that I still love you and that I’m waiting for you.”
“I told you when I left that I wasn’t coming back to Boston. Nana, Aunt Kenderly, and Uncle Jasper are the only family I have left. Why would I leave my roots, my family, behind again? I want to spend as much time as I can with them. You are one of the few people I told about my fears of loss and commitment, and yet I committed to you. The second things got tough I was on my own.”
“I know and I’m sorry. I made a poor decision.”
“You’re damn right you did. You need to take your happy ass back to Boston where you belong and let me move on.” I pull my wallet from my purse, throw some bills on the table, then stand to leave, bumping into Mrs. Bennett as I do.
“Everything okay over here, Kenzie?” she questions, seeing the hurt in my eyes. I close them trying to gain some composure.
“Yes, Mrs. Bennett. This is my ex-boyfriend from Boston, Daniel. I was just telling him to get packing, because he’s not welcome here.” She steps aside for me to walk away, and that’s when I run into Dr. Bennett. I look over to see she’s blocked Daniel in.
“Are you okay, Kenzie?” he asks as I stare at Mrs. Bennett, who has her arms crossed over her chest.
She narrows her eyes at him. I hear her say, “How dare you. That poor girl is going through enough right now. A man she cares a great deal for was just deployed, and her nana is ill, and here you are, stirring up more trouble for her.”
“I care about her too, ma’am.”
“Well, maybe you should have thought about that before you sent her down here by herself to cope with her ill nana,” she says. He sighs. “I think you better get a move on. If you care about that girl, you’ll take yourself right on home and let her move on.”
He tosses more money on the table and walks past Dr. Bennett and I, not even making eye contact with me. Mrs. Bennett winks at me, and I give her a small smile.
“Y’all enjoy your dinner. I’m heading home to relax.”
“You have a good night, Kenzie,” Dr. Bennett says as I walk out of the restaurant.
When I arrive at home, the porch is still empty and all is quiet. I truly hope at this point that Daniel takes the hint and goes home. I really can’t take him being here any longer. I walk in, flicking on a small light as I make my way to my room. It’s early, but I want to be in comfortable clothes so I can relax in bed and watch some TV.
Once I’m settled, I can’t help but think. I curl up on my pillow trying to watch TV, but my mind keeps drifting to thoughts of Daniel and Remy. I do believe I loved Daniel at one point, but given my feelings for Remy, I wonder if it was really love, or maybe we were just got comfortable with each other and I was too blind to see it for what it was.