Everything inside him wanted to follow her home. She must have seen him struggling.
“Don’t worry, my shoes are going to be dry by the time I get home,” she assured him as she pulled them out of her case and tossed them onto the passenger seat floor.
“Stay here,” he said at last.
“I can’t. I have a class of kindergarteners waiting for me.”
“Some of my dad’s friends might have been watching you.”
“That’s crazy. They’re watching your sisters, not me.”
Hopefully, she was right.
She looked at him. Really looked at him, her hazel eyes searching his. “Thanks for caring. I’m going to be fine. Truly.” She reached out with one slim hand and touched his cheek. “I’m so glad you came home for your sisters.” Then she withdrew it, and he stepped back and shut her car door. He watched as she drove toward the gate. Evie must have been watching because it was opening.
He jogged back inside the house, humming Hot for Teacher.
***
“He shoved me.”
“Did not.”
Karen knelt down next to the little girl who was close to tears and put her arm around Jaden. “How did she fall, if you didn’t push her?”
“I hit her.”
Karen somehow managed not to roll her eyes. Lori scrambled up from the floor and tried to take a swing at Jaden. She stopped the little girl’s fist before it made contact.
“Jaden. Go sit in the timeout chair.”
“Lori, go back to your desk.”
“She almost hit me, she should go in timeout,” Jaden protested.
“You hit her first. She didn’t connect. Boys shouldn’t hit girls. Do you want me to continue? I can. Now march, young man.” Karen pointed to the dreaded time out chair in the corner of the classroom.
Jaden wasn’t normally a bully, she was going to have to talk to him in a bit and see if something was going on at home. In the meantime, she was proud as punch that Lori fought back.
She went around the classroom and helped children with their letters, keeping an eye on Jaden. She wanted him to sit and stew for ten minutes. Normally, talking to the boy would be easier because Piper would be assisting her, and she could have her watch over the class while she took the boy into the hall for some private one on one time. Instead, she was going to have to be sneaky.
“Okay, kids, who wants to go see Fluffy eat some lettuce?”
“Me, me, me, me.” Hands flew up in the air. She saw Jaden turn around with interest.
“Follow me to the back of the room and you can gather around Fluffy’s cage. Conner will be the monitor, he will make sure none of you get too close. Remember, Fluffy is shy, and you need to be quiet while he eats.”
Karen herded her twenty-five charges over to the rabbit’s cage and opened up the Tupperware container of lettuce. She placed some in the cage, and Fluffy set about munching to the ooohs and aaahs of the children.
Satisfied that they would be occupied for five minutes, she went to go talk to Jaden.
There was a tap on the door, and she saw Lacy, the first-grade teacher let herself into the classroom. Karen continued on to where Jaden was.
“Can I go see Fluffy?”
“No, you can’t. You’re still being punished for hitting Lori.”
She watched as his little face fought between tears and belligerence. Belligerence won.
“She’s just a girl.”
Well, that sure as hell was upsetting.
“Girls are just as important as boys, and boys should never, ever hit a girl.”
“Why not?”
“Well you shouldn’t hit anyone, but especially not a girl. You’re going to end up bigger, and stronger. Your job is to protect girls.”
“But she said I was writing my letters backwards. I hate her. She’s mean.”
“Then you ask her to stop saying that. If she continues, you call for me.”
“I ain’t no snitch.”
Karen smothered a laugh. The poor kid was in a no-win situation. “What should you have done?”
Jaden scrunched his face and thought. “I shoulda told her that I knew my numbers better than her.”
“Maybe next time you could help one another.”
“Whatchya mean?”
“She can help you with her letters. You can help her with her numbers.”
He crossed his little arms and thought about it.
“Do you know what else you have to do?”
He stuck out his lip. “Pologize.”
“Yep. And tomorrow I’m going to put you two together at the back table to help one another, okay?”
“’kay.” She turned around and sent a smiling Jaden towards Fluffy, and then went to talk to Lacy.
“Is Piper okay?” Lacy asked. “I heard about the stuff with her father.”