While he had been civilized, he certainly hadn’t been friendly. And that was fine. Now at least she had her own opinions of him, based on her own experiences, not some crazy rumors. He wasn’t a monster per se. He just wasn’t very nice.

At least she had made the effort.

She walked through the door of her English class, her head held high, feeling proud of herself.

In Health that afternoon, Lauren kept her eyes dutifully on Mr. Mavis or on her notebook, never allowing them to cross the room to him, although he remained in the periphery of both her vision and her mind for most of the period.

“Miss Monroe?”

Lauren glanced up from her mindless doodling, startled out of her musings.

“Can you name a common mistake most people make when attempting to sober up a friend?”

She sat up a little straighter, running her hand through her hair. “Um, well, you’re not supposed to have an intoxicated person try to walk it off.”

“Not true,” a male voice interrupted, and she looked over to see one of the juniors in the class shaking his head. “The worst thing you can do is let a drunk person lie down. It allows their vital systems to slow down, which increases their chances of getting alcohol poisoning.”

Lauren opened her mouth to respond just as another male voice said, “Actually, she was right.”

Her eyes flitted across the room to where the voice came from. Michael was looking down, watching his fingers twirling his pen as he spoke. “Physical activity can’t make your body metabolize alcohol any faster. Your liver works at the same pace, no matter what you’re doing. And the last thing a drunk person should be doing is walking around. Or doing anything physical, for that matter. A drunk person will have impaired balance, impaired reflexes, and a wasted person won’t have any. The chances of them hurting themselves are too great of a risk.”

He lifted his eyes then, looking at the boy who had spoken, charging him with his stare. “So maybe you should check your facts before you try to make someone else look stupid. That way you won’t end up looking like a moron yourself.”

There were a few stifled gasps and giggles before Mr. Mavis chimed in. “Okay, Mr. Delaney, that’s enough. But yes, you and Miss Monroe are right, an intoxicated person should never be asked to engage in any type of physical activity, even walking…”

As Mr. Mavis continued with his explanation, Lauren looked across the room at Michael. He was watching her, and when she made eye contact with him, he didn’t turn away. Instead, the corner of his mouth lifted in the faintest hint of a smile before he straightened his expression and dropped his eyes, watching the pen weave between his fingers again.

Later that afternoon, when Lauren opened her locker to put her books away, two pieces of paper sailed out and fluttered to the ground. She recognized her own handwriting and realized they were the Health notes she had given Michael, but when she bent to pick them up, she saw something scrawled on the back in a jagged print that was unfamiliar to her.

She turned the paper over.

Hey Red—thanks for the notes. Del

And though">October 2011

.

August 2011

Lauren left that day before he came back to pick up his daughter, so she didn’t have to see him again.

But she was still reeling.

She hid it well, falling right back into the children, putting all of her energy into them. It was easy to get lost in a room full of eleven preschoolers.

But now that she was in the car on her way back home, all she had were her thoughts and the silence, and she didn’t know what to do with either.

Lauren leaned over and grabbed her cell phone, holding down the speed dial for Jenn. Although Jenn was still back in Scranton, they made it a point to meet for dinner once a month ever since Lauren had moved to Bellefonte, and their record was nearly flawless. And while she’d be seeing Jenn that weekend for their monthly dinner, she knew there was no way she’d be able to wait that long.

“You better not be cancelling on me,” Jenn said as her greeting.

Lauren smiled weakly. “I’m not. I just need to talk.”

“You okay?” Jenn asked.

“I don’t know yet.”

“You’re freaking me out here, Laur. What’s going on?”

Lauren took a breath before she said, “I saw Michael today.”

“Michael?”

“Del,” she clarified.

“What!” Jenn shrieked. “Is this a joke?”

“No.”

“Holy shit,” she said. “Hold on.” Lauren could hear the sounds of shuffling before the sound of a door closing, which meant she had just shut the door to her office. When she did that, she meant business. “What did you say?”

“I didn’t say anything. I froze.”

“Are you kidding me?” Jenn said, her voice equal parts disbelief and disappointment. “You didn’t let him have it? We rehearsed what you would say! You used to dream about it!”

“Yes, we rehearsed what I would say—when we were eighteen. You realize that was eight years ago, right?”

“Eight years, eight days, it doesn’t matter. He still deserves a piece of your mind.”

“I was at work, Jenn!”

“So you didn’t speak to him at all?”

“No, I did. But it was just really awkward.”

“I still can’t even wrap my head around this. Michael Delaney,” Jenn said, her voice incredulous. “What exactly did you say?”

“Just stupid formalities. ‘It’s good to see you.’ ‘How’ve you been?’ And then he registered his daughter and he left.”

“What a jerk,” Jenn said, her voice now full of disgust. “I can’t believe you even talked to him. I can’t believe you didn’t spit in his face.”

“Yeah, it would have been a great move on my part to spit in the face of a parent on my first day,” Lauren said. “Besides, all that stuff">October 2011

With a child, no less.”

“Lauren,” Jenn said in a warning tone.

“What?”

“Are you really going to sit there and make excuses for him?”

Lauren sat up a little straighter as she felt herself growing defensive. “I’m not making excuses for him. What happened was years ago. That’s not an excuse, that’s a fact. He came in to register his daughter, and I registered her. I don’t see what the big deal is. Can you stop preaching at me, please?”

“I’m not preaching,” Jenn said, her voice softening. “It’s just that…you’ve always had selective amnesia when it comes to Del.”

“Trust me, I remember everything that happened with Michael Delaney.” And that time, when she said his name, she felt a twinge in her chest, the faintest echo of the pain that had nearly crippled her all those years ago. The corners of her mouth turned down slightly.

“Good. Keep it that way,” Jenn said. “So, what’s his daughter like?”

“Very sweet,” Lauren said, regaining her composure. “Her name is Erin. She didn’t say more than a few words today. Mostly kept to herself. Really polite.”

“Well she must take after her mother then,” Jenn said, the disdain back in her voice, and Lauren shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Know anything about her?”

“Who?”

“The mother.”

“No, there was no information about a mother on her registration forms.”

“So he abandoned the mother of his child? How out of character!” Jenn said in feigned shock, and Lauren sighed.

“We don’t know if that’s what happened.”

“Sure we don’t.”

“Okay,” Lauren said with a shake of her head. “I think I’m gonna go. I’ll see you this weekend. And just so you know, holding grudges gives you premature wrinkles.”

“Yeah, well, in this case, not holding them would make you a wrinkle-less fool,” she retorted.

Lauren frowned, because as much as she didn’t want to admit it, Jenn had a point.