"Alright boys and girls, have fun." I nod at the art teacher, Mrs. Pine, as the last of my third graders disappear into the art room, heading straight to the corner to grab their tie-died extra-large t-shirts that serve as make-shift smocks. They pay me no mind as they scramble back to the tables and find seats next to their friends.

"I'll see you in forty minutes." I say to her before turning back into the hall and letting the door shut behind me. I start towards the office to grab my mail and I flip through the papers, finding a paper-clipped stack of fliers for the open house to send home with the students.

I say hello to the secretary, and then I'm right back in the hall hoping to get back to my room and finish grading some math quizzes before I have to go back and get my kids.

I'm just turning around the corner and I see Callie hanging what look like maple leaves on the wall outside her door.

"Hey." I stop near her and she turns her head, I think this might be the first meeting of ours where I haven't totally caught her by surprise. I can't stop myself from giving her a quick look up and down when, after she replies with a hello back, she turns her concentration back to the task at hand.

Even in black cropped pants and a white polo shirt she looks good. Her blond hair pulled back in a messy bun, with just a few haphazard tendrils that have fallen out tucked behind her ear. Her bottom lip is pulled between her teeth as she's straining to reach up and place that last leaf.

Something in my brain finally clicks back and I remember that I'm at work. "Here." I simultaneously hand over my mail to her and take the construction paper project out of her hand and she steps out of my way so I can hang it up for her.

"Thanks." She smiles.

"Not a problem. Any more that need to go up there?" I ask.

"No, that was the last one. Thank God." She replies, and we both turn to admire the "Fall is..." paragraphs ad drawings that her students have crafted, and so diligently glued onto the various colored 'leaves.'

"They're cute." I say.

"They couldn't wait for me to put them out here." She hands my mail back to me. "So are you going to that conference?" She points out the paper thats at the top of the pile regarding a guided reading conference next month.

"I haven't gotten a chance to look that over yet, but most likely. Sheri is always asking us to go to these things and if I don't volunteer, I'd probably be asked to go anyway. No one ever really wants to go, but it looks good if you do. Are you?"

"Sheri already pre-registered me to attend." She laughs, "She said that someone had to go and the experience would be good for me. I don't think I could've said no if I wanted to. I don't even know where this place is."

"Hmm... well I'll probably meet up with Sheri later this afternoon and have her get me the registration information and I'll come with you." I offer. For some reason I can't stop myself from uttering those words. These conferences can either be really interesting, or like pulling teeth and I went to one like this last Spring. But, I can't just let her go alone can I?

We stand in the middle of the hall in silence for a few seconds awkwardly staring at each other. I'm wracking my brain for something to say but come up empty.

"There was something I wanted to ask you but I... can't remember what it was." I mumble.

She lifts up her wrist and checks her watch. "I've got to go pick up my kids from the gym. But, I will stop down and see you at the end of the day? Maybe you'll have remembered by then." Her phrase ends in a question and I nod.

"Okay. Cool. I have some quizzes to go over anyway. Have a good afternoon."

"You too." She grins and flicks off the light switch in her room before patting my shoulder as she walks past.

It takes a moment for me to realize that I'm actually watching her walk away. I shake my head and turn around to head right into my room. I sit down at my desk and get lost in recapping the very short conversation in the hall, and anticipating the pending one this afternoon. When I finally come out of that haze I glance at the clock and realize that it's already time for me to head back to the art room.

So much for sending those quizzes home today. They'll just have to wait until Monday.

At the end of the day I'm sitting at my desk, finally tackling that stack when I hear a knock on my door and the click of her heels as she walks across the tile floor. I smell her before I actually look up and see her.

Roses and Vanilla.

Anyway, I look up just as she's opening her mouth to speak.

"Hey." we both say at the same time and then simultaneously chuckle.

"So how was your first week? It wasn't so bad right?"

She pulls out one of the chairs at a desk sits down in it, I fight back a smile at the sight.

"It went well I think."

"Good. I would have popped in to visit you more but I jumped right into this and third grade is just as new to me as it is to them."

"I see, you're giving quizzes already. You're mean." Her tone is mocking in a playful way.

I laugh and shake my head, leaning back in my chair I lock my hands together behind my head. "It's just a pre-test to see where they are. So there."

She smiles. "So didja remember what it was you wanted to say earlier?"

"Yea I did actually. I have a box of some stuff that I used last year, and it's all second grade stuff that I can't use so I was wondering if you wanted to take a look at it and see if you wanna use any of it."

"Yea that would be great." She replies. "Do you have it here?"

"No." I shake my head from side to side and am about to tell her that I would bring it on Monday when my mouth completely betrays my brain.

"But if you want, I can drop it off at your house just in case you might want to use some of the welcome back stuff next week." Her eyes widen for a second then she relaxes.

"Well, I would say yes, but my apartment isn't ready for any sort of company yet. I do have to go out this evening to do some errands, maybe I can stop by your house?"

Surprisingly she doesn't seem the least bit uncomfortable with that idea at all, and neither am I.

"Sounds good." After a few more moments of aimless conversation, I scrawl down my address and some directions and we part ways with the expectations that we'll see each other later.

Later on that evening, I'm engrossed in a major Guitar Hero battle with my best friend Mike when I hear my doorbell ring.

"You expecting some one Jay?" One of my other friends, Frank, asks.

"Uhh...no?" It takes a minute for my brain to register what's going on, Franks brother Jeremy is already on his way to the door when my finger presses the pause button on the game. Mike's angry 'Hey!' is drowned out by my sudden freak-out.

"Shit!" I literally jump over the back of the couch and make it to the door just as Jeremy is reaching for the doorknob. I push him out of the way and pull open the door.

"Callie, Hi." I smile and kick Jeremy in the shin before he can say anything.

"Hi. I'm here for that box."

"Yea... yea, come on in." Unfortunately there is no way around her seeing the mess of beer bottles, pizza boxes and of course the game and men occupying my living room so I figure I might as well introduce her.

Jeremy is just sitting back down when I point at him.

"Callie, this is Jeremy, Mike and Frank." I point each of them out and they wave or nod at her in response to her small 'hello.'

"Guys, this is Callie, she is the new second grade teacher that took my job."

They immediately welcome her into the group and I know they must have ulterior motives.

"Callie, you up for guitar hero?" Frank holds up one of the wireless guitars and smiles. "Maybe you can knock Jay down a peg or two, he thinks he's unbeatable."

I interrupt before she can even speak.

"You guys Callie isn't gonna play the game. Come on, don't pay attention to them, I'll get that box."

I start to continue through the room and when she doesn't follow me I turn around and offer a confused look.

"What Justin, afraid you're gonna get beat by a girl?" It's my turn to be surprised, but I recover a split second later as she's already slipping the strap over her head.

"Alright girl, you're on." I reach for the other guitar that Mike is handing over.

"I'll even let you pick the song." I offer and grin at her. This girl is going down, I never lose this game.

My cocky grin quickly falters when she locks in her choice of a Kansas classic, and the familiar intro begins.

My so-called friends quickly jump to her side and I instantly find myself watching her instead of the colored dots on the screen that are deciding my fate.

I go back and forth, stealing glances at her every once in a while wondering how the hell she got so good at this game, and where my ridiculous talent for this game disappeared to.

Despite the fact that I know I am majorly failing at this game right now; and I hold my own but before I know it the last notes have been played and my friends are all cheering for Callie while I stand there with my jaw on the floor.

"Dude she just kicked your ass!" Mike says unnecessarily and I glare at him.

"Yea... yea... whatever." I yank off the guitar and toss it at him, only slightly satisfied when he doesn't quite catch it and it drops on his foot. I turn to her to see her smiling brightly back at me, and I have to tell you that the outcome of that battle completely leaves my mind.

"Now if you'll excuse me I have laundry to pick up. Where's that box?" She sets down the guitar shaped game controller and claps her hands together. I do my best to ignore the last traces of laughter from the guys and nod at her. I just got beat by a girl. And I've never been happier about it. A few minutes later, I've pulled the box off the shelf in the basement and handed it off to her. I walk her to the door and stand there watching walk to her car.

"Thanks Justin!"

"No problem Callie." I wave to her. "Drive safe." I add for good measure.

"I'll see you on Monday." She waves back at me from her car door.

"Yup" I nod back at her and lean against the door frame as I watch her back out of the driveway and leave. I turn around and head back inside.

My friends are laughing about something when I come into the room. Three heads turn to look at me.

"What's up guys?" I ask, picking up my beer from the coffee table and sitting down in a chair.

They all shrug and shake their heads and then Jeremy sets down his beer and speaks.

"We like her Jay."

"Um... alright?" I hope this isn't heading to where I think it's heading.

"Yea. I think she'd be good for you." Mike takes a swig of his beer.

"It's about time you moved on and got out there again." Frank adds.

Shit.

"Guys, it's not like that. Callie's just someone I work with. She just moved here, was looking for a friend. She's sweet but you know..."

I'm interrupted by Mike.

"We know you haven't dated anyone since Jennifer left, and you haven't even looked at a girl since you trucked your ass out to California to get her and came back empty handed. Blah... blah... blah. Dude I have never seen you jump so fast. You were over that couch in like... half a second."

I really don't want to hear this. I glare at Mike and eye the other two. "I'd really appreciate you not bringing her into this and I don't think about Callie that way."

"Bullshit Jay!" Jeremy laughs. "You always cream our asses at that game and she comes up in here, puts on "Wayward Son" and you suddenly can't even find the red button. She had you so back asswards you can't even stand it."

I groan and can't think of anything to say to refute their statements. I mean I like seeing her every day at school. She's easily one of my favorite people there. But seeing her outside of school, well this was just something completely different.

She wasn't my colleague, today she was this vibrant, very attractive woman that came all the way across town to see me, and completely kicked me ass at guitar hero. Which is something that no one has ever done. I never lose, I hate losing, but because it was her that beat me... and because of that gorgeous smile that lit up her face when Mike, Jeremy and Frank high-fived her afterwards I'm completely okay with that. I have to admit the effect she had on me is a little weird.

But dammit all, I don't know if I'm ready to date again. The last time I dated a girl like her... it just didn't... I don't know.

I pick up a pillow and throw it across the room at Jeremy. The guys fall into a fit of heavy laughs.

"Dude that girls gonna getcha. You've got it bad and it's about damn time too." Frank says.

I don't think they are quite right about that all yet. I'm not really sure how I feel about Callie right now. This morning she was just Callie Harrington, the second grade teacher down the hall. Tonight she became Callie Harrington a woman unlike any one I've ever known before.

The reasons I'm alone I know by heart,
but I don't wanna spend forever in the dark.