Marta
Yikes. Maybe Chase can get you one?
Yes.Maybe Chase Cooper could sweep me off my feet and buy every damn student in my classes a robot. I snicker at the thought as a chime sounds from my computer.
Back to reality, Renate.
Office
You have a package at the front. Maintenance will bring it by later.
Rather than wait, I assign two of the students to retrieve it, but a few minutes later, they’re running back into my classroom, out of breath.
“Ms. Silva! We can’t get it!” Carlos announces.
“It’s too big, Ms. Silva,” Maria backs up his story, adding, “Mr. Jenkins is bringing the box now. What did you get us?”
“Is it a new robot?” Carlos asks.
“A car?” Maria follows up.
I’m trying to remember what the heck I ordered when a giant box appears at the doorway. The box is taller than I am—although that isn’t saying much—and close to eight feet long. I definitely didn’t order this.
“Hey, Ren,” Craig Jenkins, the school maintenance worker, says cheerfully. He maneuvers the hallway and small door, wheeling the rest of the way into the room. That’s when I notice the giant red bow on the box and I’m even more confused. “Is today your birthday or something?”
“No, not my birthday. We’re sure it’s not ticking, right?”
He graciously laughs at my poor attempt at humor as he hands me a card. “The delivery guys said there’s information in the box about having them come back for training and installation if we need it.”
“Training and installation?”
I take the card without looking at Craig because I’m too busy reading the wordssmartandscreenon the box. That can’t be right. I’ve requested one of these things every year I’ve been here and I’m always denied. And the ones I’ve asked for are much smaller than this one. This thing is going to take up an entire wall.
“Shit. Miley will kill me,” I mumble under my breath, trying to remember if I got drunk and ordered things online. Not likely, since my credit cards don’t have enough room for a sandwich, let alone a piece of equipment like this.
“Who’s it from, Ms. Silva?”
“What is it?”
I giggle as Brad Pitt screams in my mind,‘What’s in the box?’I ignore the eager shouts of the students and open the card, almost dropping it when I read the note.
Renate-
Sorry for bumping into you last night, but notthatsorry since I got to meet you. I hope you can put this to good use. Any chance you’re free for dinner tomorrow night?
-CC
He’s included his number at the bottom of the card, but I can’t read it with my hands shaking the way they are now. A smart board? Dinner? What the heck happened to flowers or candy? Did this man hit his fucking head last night when he ran into me? Is this some kind of fucked up joke?
Dani.
She’s up to something. But how could she afford a smart board?
I sigh and drop my hands to my sides. “Does Miley know yet?” I’m a little relieved when Craig shakes his head. “Okay. Let’s put it in the back. I need to figure out what’s going on, and if he sees it, he’ll want the damn thing somewhere useless, like his own office.”
“Why can’t we keep it, Ms. Silva?”
“Who’s it from?”
