Free FIGHT FOR ME by AJ Crowe Page A

here, Ivy. You’re all I have in Paisley.”
    This time it was Ivy’s turn to stay silent for a few moments.
    “Ivy?”
    “I’m all you have?” She said the words quietly. On one hand, it made her feel sad for Lucas, who had left his life for a quiet, lonely one in Paisley for some unknown reason. On the other hand… she was all he had. It was the most incredibly romantic thing anyone had ever said to her.
    “Everything,” he said.
    Ivy wanted very badly to see his face as he said these things.
    “So,” she said. “How are we going to do this?”
    “Do this?”
    “Be together. We have jobs. Responsibilities.”
    “I have a car.”
    “It’s a three day drive to the city, Lucas.” Ivy thought for a moment. She took a deep breath through her nose and closed her eyes while she tried to think of a solution. She thought about the surprising amount of work she had been able to get done just with her laptop. She could view versions of the magazine on her laptop, edit them, and send emails to her colleagues. There was a possibility she could work from her laptop for another month or two… “I have an idea.”
    “Yeah?”
    “I’m coming back to Paisley.” She didn’t even want to wait for a go ahead from the editor in chief. She would tell her that she needed to stay with her sister until the anniversary of Nikolai’s death, which was about a month away. It would work. It had to. She wasn’t ready to go back to her life before.
    Wake up, go to work, spend some time with friends, go to sleep, repeat. It was an average life but not nearly as fulfilling as the past few weeks had been with Lucas.
    “Thank you,” he said.
    “I’m going to drive back in the morning.”
    “Thank you,” he said again, his voice almost breaking.
    Ivy wondered what it was between them that made it so hard to be apart. She almost wanted to call it love.
    No. Love meant trusting each other wholeheartedly. As long as Lucas kept part of himself from her, she couldn’t love him.

Chapter Twelve
     
     
     
    “I’m Ms. Robins. I’m here to help you with reading.”
    The little kindergarteners looked up at her with complete trust and obedience. Feeling a little less nervous, Ivy wrote the word “THE” on the board in large letters.
    “Can anyone tell me what letters make up this word?”
    A few kids raised their hands, jumping in their seats. Emma was one of them. Ivy called on a boy with dreadlocks next to Emma.
    “T, H, E,” he said proudly.
    “Great job! And can anyone else tell me what T, H, E spells?”
    A few kids yelled out “the!”
    “Can anyone raise their hand and tell me?”
    This time, Ivy called on Emma. “T, H, E spells ‘the.’”
    “Great job. What sound do the T and H make together?” Ivy asked a little girl with long braids sitting in the front of the class who hadn’t raised her hand yet.
    “Um,” she said. “Th?”
    “Very good.” Ivy turned to the board again and wrote “THE CAT.” “Can anyone tell me what this says?”
    The lesson went on like this for a few more minutes. When the kindergartener’s attention started to fade, they broke up into groups and read together with volunteers from the older grades.
    Ivy sat down next to Lucas behind his desk. He took her hand under the table and smiled at her. “You did great. You could be a teacher.”
    “Reading happens to be something I’m good at,” she said, laughing. “I’d probably have trouble teaching math.”
    “I hope not. Kindergarten math is pretty easy.”
    They grinned at each other.
    When they had finished reading their easy reader books, it was the end of the day –at least the end of the kindergarten day.
    Lucas walked up to the front of the class.
    “Everyone, thank your reading buddies.”
    “Thank you,” cried a chorus of kindergarten voices.
    “Now go see if your parents are outside.” He smiled.
    The kids jumped up and gathered up their jackets, lunches, and tiny kindergartener-sized backpacks.
    Lucas stood by