CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“Aunt Ivy, you don’t need to get out of the car,” Tanner says as I pull the car to a stop in the parking lot of the school.
I look in the backseat to find him already unbuckling his seatbelt and throwing his backpack on his back.
“Yes, I do, you can’t carry all of that,” I tell him looking at the bags of paper towels and such that couldn’t fit into his backpack. “Plus, I need to meet your teacher.”
“No, there’s always a back to school night where you meet the teacher,” he argues as he tries to unsuccessfully grab all the bags.
I shake my head and turn off the car, not bothering to argue with him. I’ve already dropped Lilly off at daycare this morning so I don’t have to worry about her as I grab the remaining bags. “Stop being stubborn and come on,” I tell him and with a sigh he gives up his argument.
I take in the interior of the school as I search for the classroom number I’d received in an email a couple of days ago. The interior is extremely clean and everything looks to be in prime shape even though I know the school had been here for half a century from the welcome email I received.
We continue down the halls and take the stairs to the second floor where we find room 206.
The door is already open so I gesture for Tanner to go ahead, before following in behind him. The class is full of colorful posters and rows of desks perfectly aligned. There’s already a handful of students here and when the teacher looks up, she smiles at us. “Hello, who do we have here?” The woman has on a pair of black heels and a long black dress with red apples covering it. She has long auburn hair and a bright smile.
“Tanner ,” he says, offering her his own smile though it’s slightly shy until his eyes wander over her shoulder and sees a familiar face. “Aiden.” He calls out the little boy’s name and his head pops up from the piece of paper he was writing on.
“Tanner!” Aiden jumps out of his seat before looking back at the teacher, realizing he doesn’t have permission. He sits back down.
“Oh, it seems we have friends,” she says with a smile. “Tanner, you can sit by Aiden as long as you two don’t cause any trouble.” The words are barely out of her mouth before he’s sprinting to sit next to his friend.
The teacher turns back to me and holds out a hand. “I’m Mrs. Andersen.”
I take her offered hand. “Ivy. I’m Tanner’s aunt.” I hold up the bags in my hands. “Where would you like for me to place these.”
“Over on that table would be great,” she gestures to a table already full of supplies. “And let me get you the papers I was going to send home today.”
As I place the bags on the table, she moves over to her desk and grabs a stack of papers. She hands them to me. “These are our emergency papers and our school policies, you can give them to Tanner’s parents to fill out.”
It’s a simple mistake and she doesn’t know any better, but fuck do her words hurt. “Tanner’s parents are deceased, I’m his guardian,” I keep my voice low but loud enough for her to hear.
Her eyes widen as she realizes her mistake. “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed-”
“It’s okay,” I shake my head and offer a fake smile. “I’ll be sure to fill out the papers.” I don’t linger and maybe it’s a little rude but with a quick bye to Tanner and Aiden I leave.
My face is still hot when I get to my car before I remind myself that it’s nothing to freak out about, but it still bothers me in a way that I haven’t let go of when I make it to Jamille’s coffee shop.
The bell on the shop door dings as I walk in and the AC washes over my skin as the sweet aroma of baked treats and fresh coffee meets my nostrils.
“Hey girl.” Jamille is behind the display of what looks like over a dozen cakes and cupcakes.
My eyes widen as I take it all in and I get a better view of the entire shop. Its colorful, pink and green being the main color scheme. There’s a lot of cool art on the walls and there’s a crowd of people already sitting at the tables.
Jesus, I knew her place was nice but I had no idea...
“Hey,” I smile at Jamille, walking over to the register.
There are two other workers and they both offer me kind looks before going back to their duties.
I look over at the menu and my head starts to spin at all the possible options. “I’m not sure what to get,” I tell Jamille as she leans on the counter.
“How about a cake pop and coffee?”
“That’ll work.” I look over the cake pop options, “Surprise me with the flavor,” I decide.
“Got you. You a hot coffee or cold coffee girl?”