Ever After Drake (17 page)

“
It was perfection,” she
says with a long sigh. “We danced and he kissed me and then when he
took me home, he kissed me again. And then yesterday he asked if I
wanted to be his actual girlfriend and everything’s just…” She
trails off into a long, contented sigh.

“
I’m happy for you,” I
say, managing a small smile. “It looked like you were having a good
time.”

“
Indeed,” she says,
standing from her desk. She crosses over to me and wraps me in a
tight hug. “Thanks. None of it would have happened if it weren’t
for you.”

“
Glad I could do some
good,” I say.

And Hannah floats out of my classroom
on cloud nine.

I sit down at my desk and open my
laptop. I check my email and respond to a few questions from
students about assignments. I then check my personal
email.

There’s an email from one Principal
Phillips, from a high school down in Olympia. As I scroll through
it, my heart starts beating faster and my palms start
sweating.

This is a private school. A very
expensive one. One that takes trips to the places they study, one
that has parents with the money to fly these students and their
teachers on personal jets. And they’re looking for a new history
teacher.

They want me to come interview for the
job.

I lean back in my seat and stare at
the screen. I press a fist into my mouth and swivel back and forth
slightly.

They’ve said nothing about pay, but I
have to assume it’s better than what I’m getting right now. And a
private school like this is a teacher’s dream.

But most appealing of all, is the
possible promise of a new start. A chance to begin fresh, to wipe
the slate clean. To get away from Drake, to get away from the drama
of my mother. To go somewhere where people don’t know I got dumped
by another teacher at the school.

I don’t know what to say, so I decide
to wait another day to reply to the email.

I need you tonight,
I text Armando.
Think
Anthony will let me steal you for the evening?

He responds two minutes
later.
Told lover my bestie needs me
tonight. I’m all yours!

See you at
seven!

Armando knocks on the door at exactly
seven and I open the door and immediately grab his wrist and start
pulling him down the hall with me.

“
Walk with me,” I say
before he can ask for an explanation. “I need to move and think
today.”

“
It’s like, forty degrees
outside,” he complains as we walk down the stairs. The building
still smells slightly of smoke, but nothing too
horrible.

“
You’ve got a coat and a
scarf,” I say as we step out into the cool fall air. The weather
report is not any better. There’s a chance of snow by the end of
the week. I hope it holds off for a few days at least. Mom is
supposed to fly in on Saturday and Seattle does not handle snow
well.

“
So, what is so important
it requires a walk in the freezing cold?” Armando asks, only
slightly annoyed sounding.

We set off north, so we’ll stay well
away from Drake’s apartment. There’s a park a few blocks from here
that I have in mind.

“
You know how awful things
have been the past few weeks,” I say. Armando puts an arm around my
shoulders and I wrap my right one around his waist. “Well, today I
got this email from a private school down in Olympia asking me to
interview for a position.”

“
Private school?” he asks.
A gust picks up, threatening to tear away both our scarves. We hug
each other tighter. “That’s pretty exciting, right?”

“
Absolutely,” I say. “I
did some research on them. They have money. And I mean serious
money. They’re the second best ranked private school in the state.
They don’t normally hire brand new teachers like me. So this is
pretty golden that they’ve asked me to come in.”

“
And it’s in Olympia?” he
asks, his voice excited. Armando lives just ten minutes outside the
capital city. There’d be no more driving long distances between
us.

“
Yeah,” I say. I’m trying
to sound and be excited. But all I have is a black hole of dread or
despair in my stomach.

“
And it would give you
some distance from a certain heartbreak,” he says with logic and
wisdom.

I look forward, our breath creating a
constant cloud around us. My nose feels frozen and my toes are
starting to get cold as well. I nod. “The position starts with the
new semester. I guess their previous teacher has some family issues
going on and needs to retire early to deal with it all.”

“
So you’d be going in
what? Two months?”

I nod.

Armando comes to a stop when we reach
the edge of the park. I take two more steps before my head comes to
the present and realize he is no longer by my side. He reaches out
and takes my hands in his. I look into his brown eyes, feeling all
the support that has been between us these past eight years we’ve
known each other. He’ll know what is best for me.

Because I have no idea.

“
I would love having you
so close by,” he says, and I can tell he knows he isn’t necessarily
telling me what I want to hear. He knows why this is so difficult.
“I think you’re at the point where you’re ready to discover who you
are, as a real deal grown up and person, Ray of Kaylee. You have
some healing to do and as hard as I know this would be for you, I
think some distance might do you some good.”

I don’t say anything for a while, just
stare at him and feel all the fragile pieces in me crackle and
threaten to break. “You think I should go for the
interview?”

Armando nods. A huge breath whooshes
out of me and I relax forward into his arms and squeeze him tight.
“Thanks for always being there for me.”

“
Except for that fire over
the weekend,” he says as he presses a kiss to the top of my head.
“I’m sorry I was too preoccupied with Anthony. You always come
first, you know that, right?”

“
Yeah,” I say, tears
pricking at the back of my eyes. “I do.”

Just as I walk through the door when I
get home that night, my cell starts ringing. It’s Dick’s house
number.

“
Hello,” I say, pinning my
phone between my ear and my shoulder as I unlock my
door.

“
Have you checked the
picture today?” Skyler’s excited voice comes through. “There’s
something there!”

“
What?” I say and my grasp
on my keys falters. I hurriedly get it open and rush over to my
computer. “How do you know?”

“
Dad’s been watching the
picture online,” Skyler says. He sounds excited and keyed
up.

“
Can I talk to him?” I ask
as I log into my account. It shows I have seventy-eight
notifications between shares and comments. I click to the comments
and start reading through them.

“
Hey, Kaylee,” Dick says.
“You on the computer?”

“
Yeah,” I say distractedly
as I continue reading through the comments. Most of them say things
like
hope you find him, good luck,
and
God
bless!

“
Check the one that’s the
fifth from the last,” he says. I can almost hear the smile on his
face.

I scroll right to the bottom and
backtrack five.

And there the comment
is.
I was at that party. My friend was
dressed as a pirate and disappeared with a pretty little bumblebee.
Message me.

“
Oh my gosh,” I breathe.
“Dick, this guy was friends with my birth father.”

“
Sounds like it,” he says
with a little, happy chuckle. “I think you should get off the phone
now and talk to this guy.”

“
Yeah,” I say with a
laugh. A genuine smile has broken onto my face. It’s huge and it
feels so good. But I’m also nervous. “Yeah, I think I
should.”

“
Good luck, kiddo,” he
says.

“
Thanks, Dick,” I say and
hang up.

I click on the name next to the
comment: Donny Setter. He looks like he’s about forty. About the
age my dad should be. His profile picture is him with a woman and
two teenage boys. Their skin is as dark as Armando’s. They’re all
smiling and happy.

I click on the message section and set
to typing with nervous fingers.

You commented on my
picture that your friend might be my dad. Can we talk?

I click send before I check to see
where he lives. But it doesn’t show in his profile.

It’s hard to be patient. It might be
days before he sees my message, some people never log into their
accounts. But when making a comment like that, one that could be so
important to someone’s life, I would hope he’d be checking
frequently.

I leave my laptop open on my bed as I
start getting ready for bed. I distractedly plan out my lessons for
next week. And keep looking up at the computer.

Finally, just before ten o’clock, a
notification comes up. A message.

Hi there. Yeah, I think I
might be able to give you some answers. We should get together and
talk. Promise I’m not a creep.

I chuckle and set my
fingers to the keyboard.
Where do you
live? I’m in Woodinville.

I’m in Seattle. Maybe we
could talk tomorrow evening?

Tell me where and
when.

CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN

Just when you’re sure your life has
come to a standstill and that you’ll never move forward from the
worst times of your life, things suddenly speed up.

I would love to
interview,
I respond to the email from the
private school
. I can come in any
afternoon
.

I click send during my lunch break and
nervously wait for a response. It comes less than five minutes
later. We set up an appointment for me to come down tomorrow
afternoon.

My stomach keeps getting butterflies
and then killing them with nervous acid that I swear will eat all
of me up. School gets out, I head home, and stare at the clock,
waiting for it to be time to go.

As I walk to my car I wonder if maybe
I should have had Armando come with me. This Donny guy said he
wasn’t a creep, but anyone can say anything online.

But I’m Kaylee Ray, and I can’t help
but see the best in people. From our few words back and forth, it
didn’t seem like he had any sinister motives.

It’s a fifteen minute drive to where
we’re meeting in Seattle. We’re on the outskirts, thankfully, so
we’ll miss most of the chaotic roads and expensive parking. I pull
up to the curb and sit in my car for a few minutes since I arrived
early.

No matter what happens today, if I
learn my father’s identity or if this leads to nowhere, it doesn’t
affect who I am as a person. Like Armando, said, life has forced me
to face harsh reality and to realize I am an adult in a real world.
If I find the other half of my genetic makeup, that’s great. If
not, I will move on. And I’ll keep looking.

Finally, I climb out of my Mini and
head inside.

I recognize Donny from his profile
picture. He sits inside on a bench, his hands clasped together
between his knees. He looks about as nervous as I feel.

“
You must be Kaylee,” he
says with a smile as he stands and holds his hand out to me. “I’m
Donny.”

“
It’s nice to meet you,” I
say. Nerves are still vibrating through my veins, but they feel a
bit more settled at seeing that Donny doesn’t look like a
psychopathic killer.

“
Table for two?” the host
asks. We both give a nod and she leads us into the restaurant. The
table toward the back is comfortable with dim, soft lights, and a
quiet location. Perfect for talking.

“
So, why don’t you tell me
about yourself?” I say as I open my menu. Every cell of my vocal
cords wants to ask the immediate question:
what do you know?
But I’m scared.
Once he gives it to me, I have to hold it, no matter how heavy—or
light—it may be.

“
Uh,” he starts, opening
his own menu. “I grew up in Sedro Wolley. Graduated high school
there and then started at Seattle Community before transferring.
I’m a dentist now. My wife is Shaundra, and we’ve got two boys. One
is a freshman, the other is a junior.”

I nod, giving a small smile. Seems
like a legit story. And he is wearing a gold wedding
band.

“
How about you?” Donny
asks.

“
Graduated from La
Connor,” I start, propping my chin up on my hand, elbow to the
table. “Went to college at Western. I just finished my student
teaching in the spring. I’m a bit over two months into my first
real deal teaching job.”

“
Oh,” he says with a smile
and a nod. “You’re a high school teacher, I’m guessing.”

“
Correct,” I laugh.
There’s something about Donny that is easy going and relaxed. “I
teach world and ancient history. And one period of historical
literature.”