Crazy Socks, Calendars, and Coffee

Chapter 1- The Redheaded Bombshell

 There it was, just as he had remembered it, bright green pillars, the forgotten old clock on the face of the school, the falcon statue out by the road. It was all very nostalgic, the car ride here and the ferry ride before that, everything had changed so much since he was here last. Shane shut the car door and began strolling into the office he began running a play-by-play in his head. "I'll greet my old teachers, pour myself a coffee, look at my schedule, I got this."

First day teaching and he was so nervous he could not sit still. Scanning the unoccupied seats in the staff room, no one was there. "Okay, then." Shane sighed, some encouragement from his former home room teacher would have helped calm him down a bit. Taking a seat with coffee in hand he read the schedule for the day, his class was set up neat and orderly, all his book preferences are stocked on the shelf behind his desk, everything that came to mind had been handled, all he had to do was get through the day with minimal damage. Straightening his tie Shane began to head to his classroom, the courtyard had not changed either, except for a few bricks being added to the bottom step exiting the office's glass doors.

The classroom was frigid when his students filed through the door, but the teacher next door was the only one who could control the temperature. Quickly they got seated and he took role trying to memorize their names to their faces. "Austin!"

"Here!"

"Hayley!"

"Here!"

He continued taking roll until all his children had been accounted for, all twenty five, Shane knew he would have his hands full with this bunch. The little seventh graders chatted amongst one another about simple things, most had been to primary school with one another, so they had all immediately sectioned themselves off into cliques. He could pinpoint his loners from his jocks, his "socs" snd "greasers". He had almost chuckled at the fact he was referring to them as 'his' children.

Soon they scurried away confused and a bit disheartened about a full day of classes, and quickly they were replaced with the eleventh grade Geography class. Shane physically gulped. "Good morning guys, let's get seated and get to know each other a bit." hearing snickers he smirked. "How'd I know I'd get that reaction out of you guys?" Strolling toward one student with thick bushy eyebrows and blue eyes he introduced himself to the large group, "I'm Mr. Shane Cash, I'll be teaching you guys Geography and History, and depending on how lucky you are you may have me for P.E."

Slowly an arm raised from the back, "Mr. Cash? Weren't you like, a student here or something?" The girl twirled her hair around the end of her pen as she gazed at him dazedly. He was easy on the eyes, but seeing one of his student fawn over him made him want to cringe.

"Yes, I was I came back to teach here, why do you ask?" Shane's questioning eyebrows raised in wonder, of all the 'ice-breaker' questions that was the topic she chose.

"It's just that no one ever really comes back here." She sounded solemn about it, like it meant something deeper. Shane simply nodded going back to his desk as the class commenced talking, he didn't plan to do any work with them today anyway so why not let them converse with each other.

.......................................................................................................................................

His uneaten sandwich sat before him, Shane could not help but overthink the question that girl had asked him in class earlier. Why had he come home, Abaco was no more than a grain of sand on a global scale, in fact James had been surprised when he had called to ask for the teaching job. His parents had nothing to do with it, they never even thought he would have become a teacher, a lawyer perhaps. So over his lunch he continued to contemplate what the hell he was doing back in Abaco, that was until a bright redheaded bombshell stepped into the staff room.

She set down her tervis of coffee on the table as well as her stack of papers, walking to the fridge she pulled out a container of hummus and a sleeve of crackers from the cupboard above her. She definitely was not short, Shane figured they were the same height and she seemed fit, like she ran every day.

As if se had been startled by his presence she yelped, and Shane chuckled at the adorable sound. "I'm sorry, I didn't even notice you when I walked in, I'm Lyndsey, the chemistry teacher." She walked closer to offer him her hand. Firmly shaking her hand he noticed that they were significantly smaller than his own, he also realized she was wearing heels and smirked to himself; maybe he was actually taller.

"Well it's nice to meet you, I'm..."

"Shane, I know." Lyndsey giggled again and Shane was mesmerized, not even ten minutes in the same room with this woman and he was going crazy. "Alana was explaining that she had taught you when you used to go here." she explained backing away from him to fill a glass at the sink.

"Ah yeah, it's kind of strange being back actually, being on the opposite side, you know?" She hummed in agreement walking over to join him at the table with her lunch. Now having her right next to him he enjoyed to shade of red her hair was, darker than orange, but nowhere close to a brownish color, and very long.

Shane took a bite out of his sandwich with a grin, he liked her company, as the two continued to eat in silence none of the other teachers came into the room, it was just her and him. When the bell rung signaling the end of lunch, they packed up, said goodbye to one another and headed to their separate home rooms. Shane had never believed in fate, but what if she was the reason he had come home?

.......................................................................................................................................

Classes for the remainder of the afternoon flew by, Shane had finally reached his double P.E. period of the day and was eager to get it over with. As he lead the children in a series of stretches under the shade hut he couldn't help but notice Lyndsey and her bright hair crossing the courtyard. Absentmindedly he stared, wondering where she was headed to, he would not admit to it, but he had taken a peek at her schedule and he knew this was her free period, so where could she be going? 

Lyndsey flashed him a smile as she sat down at a picnic table under the shade hut and spectated their lesson. Shane quickly dismissed the seventh graders to set up the field for a game of kickball before he walked over to greet Lyndsey. "Hey, enjoying the lesson?" He almost kicked himself as soon as the words had left his mouth. 

She giggled at his awkwardness and said, "The kids are actually doing pretty good, at listening and following instructions I mean, I haven't actually seen them play a game yet." Laughing at his expense she got up and walked onto the field with the children, a few greeted her and a handful gathered to hold a conversation, Shane smiled at their interactions before blowing his whistle and disrupting them. 

"Alright, Josh and Miller, you guys are team captains, rock paper scissors to see who goes first." as the two battled it out Shane turned to Lyndsey and asked, "So, how long have you been here on Abaco?" 

"About a year, I'd been doing some research for The Friends of The Environment awhile ago, but the scientist I had been working under, well his funding got pulled and I was out of a job. I had met James while I was working at 'Friends' and he offered me this position." 

"What made you want to stay?" 

"Excuse me?" For a moment Shane thought he had offended her, but she looked genuinely confused by his question. 

"What made you want to stay here in Abaco?"

For a minute she was silent, the children by now had begun their kickball game and the loud cheers seemed to mask her thoughts from him. "I honestly don't know, I'll have to get back to you on that one." She giggled as she sauntered away leaving Shane frozen, jaw slack, at her reaction to the question he had been asking himself all day. 

____________________________________________________________________

What did you guys think? Positive feedback is appreciated and if there are any questions as far as lingo or dialect go, I'll be glad to translate it. Another Chapter will be up soon enough, this is something I've decided I'm going to be invested in and I will try my best to continue publishing chapters at a steady pace. Hope you enjoyed! 

-BECKS