Linda Lowry

“M-Mrs Lowry,” you stuttered, feeling your stomach dance. “Please take a seat.”

She did so, sitting down and smiling at you politely. You could see Allison in that smile, twenty something years removed. It made you sick with grief. Forcing it back into your subconscious, you looked down at the reports laid before you on the table.

“Allison…” you trailed, trying to regain composure, “Allison has been a very bright student, though uh…absent for quite a few of my classes of late.”

The fact was that you hadn’t seen her at all since you started teaching, though you knew from memory that she was great at science. There were dozens of times when you had sat with her on the floor of your bedroom, working together on science homework that she had to coach you through.

“Allison has had a rough couple of weeks,” Linda pointed out. “As I’m sure you’re aware, her boyfriend recently passed away. She’s needed the time away, we’ve gotten her into therapy and we hope to have her back in classes soon.”

You found that tears were tickling at your eyes, so you looked down, nodded along and pretended to examine your notes. “Well..um,” you cleared your throat, “perhaps we could arrange one of the other students to bring her homework, in the meantime.”

“That would be fine,” Mrs Lowry agreed. There was a pause as she studied you, and when you glanced back at her you thought there might have been a look of…interest? She smiled. “Allison always has nice things to say about you, Mr Hanson. It’s good to see a teacher having such a positive impact on their students.” She laughed, girlishly. “Though she never said you were so young and good looking.”

You felt your ears turn red. Was she hitting on you? How the hell would you respond to that? This was Linda, the woman who was like a second mother to you!

“I’m just…just doing my job,” you eventually got out. “Allison’s a good student, and I hope that everything works out for her.”

Linda nodded slowly, and then seemed to consider something. A moment of thought passed and then she reached into her purse and dug out a card. She slid it across the table. “Here’s my number. I think it would be good if we stayed in touch, to coordinate on Allison’s progress.”

You took the card and felt a strange tickle at the back of your head. This was surely just about school, right? Purely innocent. But when the conversation came to a close, you couldn’t help but note Linda’s little smile, or the way her hips bounced with every step out of the classroom.