Class by Stephanie Land

Author:Stephanie Land
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atria/One Signal Publishers
Published: 2023-11-07T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

“Mama, are you crying?” Emilia asked for the second time later that evening.

“A little, sweetheart, but I’m fine.” She came over and sat in the kid-size seat my crossed legs made. I put my chin on the top of her head. “I’m fine.”

“Is Seth coming over for dinner?”

“I’m not sure,” I said. “I will ask him.”

A few weeks ago my friends who took Emilia camping had invited me to a comedy show they’d planned to perform in. It was at the Union, the bar just a couple of blocks from my place, so I wouldn’t need a sitter for very long if I popped in to see their set. I’d stood in the back, laughing along with the crowd, when they introduced someone with the same name as my ex-roommate. Then Seth walked onto the stage. Not only did Seth have a microphone in his hand and a spotlight on him, but he spoke a lot of words to form a funny story that began with “So I’ve been doing a lot of babysitting lately.…”

Seth oddly grew more and more attractive by the minute. I’d never seen him around his friends, or outside of my house. He showed no surprise at seeing me when I came up to talk to him afterward. He suddenly seemed very at ease around me, and I found myself flirting with him. Our whole relationship dynamic felt like it changed.

Since then, we hadn’t made out or anything, but we hugged goodbye sometimes and he often came over to make food or hang out. And he still babysat for me, claiming it was “for material” as an explanation for not wanting me to pay him.

Maybe I could tell Seth. I mean, who doesn’t want to hear, “Hey, how’s it going, can you drive me to my abortion?” There was always Sylvie, but she was dating a guy I didn’t like very much and we’d been avoiding each other. Plus she was in nursing school and busier than I was, with four more kids than I had. We barely made it to the gym anymore to go climbing. Reed could be a good person to talk to. No, we talked banter, not anything with substance. I had an urge to go through the contacts on my phone to look for someone who could help me get through the next two weeks. I couldn’t think of anyone. That’s how you wanted it, I reminded myself. Remember? No relationships. “Yeah,” I softly said.

“What, Mama?”

“Yeah!” I said, wrapping my arms around her small frame. “Let’s go figure out this whole dinner situation.”

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