Ever After Drake (3 page)

I lean in close, saying the words
right next to his ear.

Drake jerks from his position of
leaning back in his chair, his feet propped up on the table; and
nearly falls over. His eyes grow wide and alarmed, and then he sees
me and a chuckle comes from his lips and he shakes his
head.

He tugs his ear buds out as I sit at
the table across from him.

“
I’m pretty sure every
teacher throughout the course of history is a huge nerd,” he says
as he rights himself and leans forward with his forearms on the
table.

“
You may have a point
there,” I say, a smile already forming on my face. “We have chosen
to spend the rest of our days within the walls of a
school.”

“
One day we may even be
wise,” he says, his eyes brightening.

“
Whatcha’ listening to?” I
ask. The sound of his music cuts softly through the silence of the
library. So far, I’ve managed to not bomb my second day of
teaching.

“
The Fray,” he answers,
grabbing his iPod from his lap and turning the volume
down.

“
Song?”

“
Uh,” he says, glancing
back down at it. “Happiness.”

“
Never heard that one,” I
admit.

“
You should check it out,
it’s a good one.”

“
Let me see,” I say,
holding my hand out. He looks at me hesitantly. I realize then that
Drake always has this slightly surprised look on his face, at least
when he’s been around me. Like he’s expecting to get in trouble or
that I’m going to do something surprising and scare him.

It’s kind of adorable.

But the most endearing part is the
smile that always seems to follow that look.

Just like right now.

He leans across the table and hands me
an ear bud. He places the other in his own ear. I place the bud in
mine and he clicks play again.

“
Do you always listen to
music like this?” I ask as the singer goes on about the ins and
outs of happiness. It’s kind of sad and beautiful at the same
time.

Drake shrugs. “I like all kinds of
music.”

“
Rock?”

“
Some might consider this
rock,” he says as his eyes meet mine. They’re a color that isn’t
quite brown, but isn’t quite green. Hazel-warm.

“
How about country?” I
tease.

“
Not all, but there’s some
good stuff out there.” He has that lopsided grin on his face
again.

“
Um…reggae?”

“
Bob Marley will always be
King.” He gives a stuttering laugh and I burst out into it
too.

“
How about Broadway?” I
say quietly when the librarian shushes us.

“
K, don’t make fun, but I
know every song from Newsies by heart,” he says, his eyes dead
serious. He is, however, fighting a smile.

“
I love Newsies,” I say
with a coo. “Young Christian Bale was so cute.”

“
I don’t like it for that
reason,” he laughs again.

I actually cover my smile with a hand.
I feel like such a nerd, laughing and giggling with a boy in the
library.

The song comes to an end and Drake
pulls both our ear buds out and clicks the iPod off.

“
So,” I say, leaning back
and folding my arms over my chest. “This is twice now I’ve seen you
just lounging about during third period. Is it safe to assume this
is also your break period?”

“
It is indeed,” Drake says
with a nod. “You’re pretty lucky to have scored third period break.
It is most coveted since it proceeds lunch. What administrative
gods did you please before you started here?”

“
Pure dumb luck,” I say.
“Though I may have offered up a prayer to Ra before school started
yesterday.”

“
Really?” he asks, his
expression unsure.

I laugh, trying to keep it
quiet and not really succeeding. “No,” I say shaking my head.
“Don’t forget, I teach Ancient World History. I had to throw in an
Egyptian god joke somewhere. Though my last name
is
Ray, so Ra, the sun
god, has always been one of my favorites.”

“
Ray suits you,” Drake
says, his eyes fixing on mine. He has this play on his lips, like
there’s a smile hidden just under the surface.

I give a little smile of my own,
unsure how to handle these little things he keeps
saying.

“
So, are there any
teachers at this school I need to stay away from?” I ask,
redirecting the situation.

My change in conversation has
obviously thrown Drake off and he gets that look on his face again.
But just for a moment.

He really needs to stop doing that. It
keeps doing unexplainable things to my insides. Like filling them
with butterflies and rainbows.

“
Mr. Allen, for sure,” he
says, leaning back and propping his feet up on the table once
again. “He’s notorious for flirting with any woman who has blond
hair, despite the fact that he’s been married to his wife for
something like twenty-five years.”

“
That’s awful,” I say,
wrinkling my nose, and trying not to think about the fact that the
name
Allen
reminds me of a certain ex-boyfriend who invested more into
his data plan than me.

“
And it isn’t just the
blond
teachers
he
flirts with,” he adds, raising an eyebrow.

“
Sounds like an arrest
waiting to happen.”

“
That’s what I’ve said
since my freshman year here,” he says with a shake of his head.
“Who else? Uh, Mrs. Dexter doesn’t like to talk to anyone, she
teaches French. Mr. Andros is pretty socially handicapped, he’s
only part-time and teaches all the AP math classes. Other than
that, everyone else is pretty okay.”

“
Doesn’t sound too
frightening,” I say. “It can’t be worse than Gretta Bejrn, who I
student taught for last year. She found it appropriate to point out
every mistake I ever made. And I have a suspicion that she was
constantly setting me up for failure.”

“
See, I had the exact
opposite,” Drake says with a smile. “Kevin Duran was this old fogy
about to retire and he basically just handed the entire class over
to me. He’d head for his desk at the back of the class as soon as
we got started and zonk out. The man snored like a snarling
wolf.”

I laugh again, looking around to be
sure no one can overhear us.

The lunch bell rings overhead and the
library is instantly flooded with noise from out in the
halls.

“
So, you brave enough to
face the teacher’s lounge yet?” Drake asks.

I swallow hard. To be honest, I’m
terrified. I know how young I look. I know what other teachers
think of fresh newbies. So far I’ve managed to avoid pretty much
everyone but Drake.

“
Yeah,” I lie, plastering
on a bright smile. “Let’s do this.”

There are two other teachers here
besides me that are brand new. Duncan Scott has also just graduated
and is a fresh teacher in the biology department. And Anita Blasser
transferred from somewhere in Seattle to teach
Chemistry.

Anita’s a pro and fits right into the
swing of things. Duncan looks just as scared as me and sits at the
back of the lounge silent and timid. I feel bad for him. If Drake
weren’t so busy furiously introducing me to everyone, I’d go sit
and talk with him.

Everyone is welcoming, for the most
part, and there is plenty of teasing and a good helping of hard
times. But I’m glad I came with Drake. Sometimes it’s nice to have
someone around who forces you to be brave.

Fourth period World History finally
wraps up the last of the first day droning. Maybe it’s an attempt
to get the classes to like me, but I haven’t assigned any homework
for the first class. The bell rings and everyone practically
rockets out of their seats and heads for the door.

I did it. I survived my first official
two days of teaching. Not that I actually taught anything, telling
students that we’ll be briefly going over the history of the entire
world doesn’t really count. But still, they didn’t kill me with
their judgmental and condescending stares.

I start gathering my things
up.

“
So, you found your way
around the school yet?”

I look toward the door to see Lake
leaning against it. His arms are crossed over his chest and he’s
giving me this coy smile.

He’s quite a bit larger than Drake,
but the smile is what really gives them away as
brothers.

“
I think I’ve managed just
fine, thank you very much.” I’m not sure whether to smile, scowl,
or just ignore him. But most of those options would be mean, and I
just can’t do it.

“
Don’t you have practice
right now?” Suddenly Drake is behind Lake, slapping a hand down on
his shoulder. “Dad’s going to kill you if you’re late
again.”

“
And leave this pretty
little thing to fend for herself?” Lake says, his brows furrowing
when he looks at Drake.

“
How about I help Miss Ray
out while you go plow into your fellow teammates and grunt like a
caveman?”

Lake is glaring daggers at Drake, but
he does eventually turn and walk down the hall.

Drake looks at me, a lopsided smile on
his face. I just look back, my eyebrows raised and
disbelieving.

“
Sorry about him,” he
finally says. “This school’s senior boys are notorious for giving
pretty, young teachers a hard time.”

There he goes again, giving me
compliments.

I laugh, shaking my head. “It’s fine,
I guess I should have expected it considering I look like a
freshman myself.”

Drake’s brows furrow and he shakes his
head. “I don’t think you see yourself very clearly.”

I can feel my face blushing and my
cheeks burn. A smile spreads on my face and my eyes drop away from
his.

“
So,” I say to the floor
before I find the nerve to look up again. “Your dad’s the football
coach?”

“
Yeah,” he says with a
breathy chuckle. “Us McCain’s have deep roots in Woodinville. Dad’s
been coaching the team in one form or another since I was in like,
third grade.”

I sling my bag over my shoulder and
pick up the box I need to take home. I start for the door when
Drake gives me a little smile and pulls it out of my hands and
tucks it under one arm. I know I’m blushing even more as we slowly
start walking down the hall toward the parking lot.

“
So, Lake plays on the
team. What about you?” I ask.

Drake shakes his head. “I’m not
exactly football player stature. I would have gotten creamed. Dad
was always pretty bummed I never played. But this isn’t some sob,
daddy-was-never-proud-of-me story. He’s a good guy.”

I give a little smile, a jealous
twinge forming in my heart. “Any other brothers or sisters?” I ask
instead as distraction.

Drake nods. “I’m the oldest. Then I
have a sister next, Sage. She’s a senior at UW, she’ll be
twenty-one in a few weeks. Then comes Lake, who turns eighteen this
year. And last is Kale, who’s thirteen.”

“
Do you like having a big
family?” I ask as we step outside the doors. I dig through my bag
and fish out the keys. I stop by my Mini Cooper and finally pull
out my key ring.

“
Yeah, I guess,” Drake
says as he sets the box in the back of the car when I open it for
him. “Kind of all I ever knew, you know? And I have to say, this
car is very…you.”

I chuckle. “Why, because it’s
tiny?”

Drake shrugs. “Pretty much all small
things are cute. Animals, furniture, cars, women.”

I give him a long look and struggle to
hold back my smile as I do so.

“
So, what about you?” he
asks as he closes the back of my car. He walks around to the front
of it and leans on the hood. I follow him and prop myself up on the
hood. “Any annoyingly cocky siblings in the business of hitting on
gorgeous teachers?”

“
Um,” I hesitate, somehow
able to ignore his compliment. I hate that I feel slightly ashamed
of my family whenever they’re brought up. “My family is kind of
complicated.”

“
I think all families are
a little complicated,” he says. His voice is quieter though, his
tone more hesitant. Like he’s encouraging me to talk, but doesn’t
want to push things.

His eyes drop to the ground and this
gives me a chance to study him for a moment.

Something about Drake makes me feel
immediately comfortable, from the moment we met. He’s easy going.
He’s relaxed. He’s sweet. And he seems so
un-complicated.

And everything in me immediately
trusts him.

“
Okay,” I say, taking a
deep breath. “How’s this for complicated? My mom got pregnant with
me when she was seventeen. She was a senior in high school. My
birthday is the end of July, so she was
very
pregnant when she graduated. My
birth dad was some guy she met at a party and never saw again. She
doesn’t even know his name.”