Read Online Somewhere Between Black and White by Rosa Sophia, Shelly Hickman - Free Book Online

quietly.
    She watched one boy in particular, who
was seated with a table of girls, but didn’t really speak with any of them. He
was quiet, not terribly big. There were three boys sitting at the next table,
joking about something amongst themselves. Sophie couldn’t be sure, but she got
the distinct impression that they were talking about the other boy. One student
from the small group, wearing a red jacket, got up to get more pizza and
stopped along the way, saying something to the boy. She didn’t like Red Jacket’s
menacing expression.
    The boy who was seated remained
unexpressive, then stood and took his plate and cup to the garbage. He was
actually taller than she realized, but quite skinny. Clearly not wanting to
return to his seat, the dishwater blond whose hoodie was two sizes too big for
him approached Sophie.
    “How are you today?” he asked.
    “I’m good.” She smiled. “And how are
you?” 
    “Just wonderful! My name is Ian.” He held
his hand out to her.
    “Nice to meet you, Ian. I’m Miss Cook.”
She was completely taken off guard by the politeness and maturity of this boy.
    “It’s pretty hot out today.” He was
wearing black, and it was unusually warm for fall. “Do you mind if I stand over
here by you in the shade?”
    “Not at all.” It didn’t take long to
notice the somewhat feminine quality to his speech, and Sophie was quickly
beginning to understand the scene she had witnessed.
    “So what do you teach, Miss Cook?” he
asked, genuinely interested.
    “Computers. I’m the room right next to
the library.” 
    “Oh, yes. I know where that is. Do you
like teaching computers?”  On and on he continued this conversation with her,
asking how long she’d been teaching, how long she’d been at the school, and
whether she enjoyed it. He was absolutely charming; students this age rarely
took the initiative to express interest in an adult. She hated being so cynical
by wondering if there was some ulterior motive. However, he was not a student
of hers, so there couldn’t have been a kissing-up factor involved, at least, none
that she was aware of.  Although she understood he was escaping the company of
his peers, he could have as easily droned on about video games or some T.V.
show. Instead, he graciously focused the conversation on her.
    A little bit of a breeze kicked up,
blowing some of the empty cups into a planter.
    “Excuse me,” Sophie said as she went to
pick them up.
    “I’ll get them.” Ian eagerly jumped into
the planter to start collecting them.
    Wherever did this little dude come from?
He is an angel! He stayed behind to assist her with cleaning
up after most of the students had gone, helping her fold table cloths and take
left over supplies into the teachers’ lounge.
    “Ian, it was a pleasure to meet you, and
it was great talking with you today,” Sophie said, shaking his hand again before
heading back to her class.
    “It was nice talking with you, too, Miss
Cook. Have a good day!” He threw the last couple of paper plates into the
garbage, then waved before disappearing through the door.
    Those are the kids you need to focus on
when you think you’ve had it. It was kind of ironic,
for she and Sam had a conversation about this very thing. She had gone in Sam’s
class once to watch him in action, and she wondered how he stayed so patient
and calm. Not that the kids were doing anything horrible, but his composure
definitely had a rippling effect.
    “Don’t let me fool you,” he said. “I
have my moments, just like everyone else. Besides, once again, you’re
second-guessing yourself too much.”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Try to think about the gems, even when
the others are giving you shit. They’re always there, but the difficult ones
pull us away from seeing them.”
    Ian was one of the gems, and Sophie was
uncharacteristically relaxed as she headed to her fifth period class, which was
normally one of her biggest sources of stress. Strangely, she found