Sam Campbell needed to escape, escape from her life, her messy divorce, and all the pitying looks. Looks she couldn't ignore when everyone in town had known her and Cam, had known her shame and failure. So, she took the first job she could get, teac...
Sunday came and went and Sam never heard a word from Eddie, not so much as a phone call. She tried to tell herself that he was just with his uncle. He was just too busy to call. It didn't mean he was blowing her off or that he was ignoring her. It didn't mean that he'd wished they'd never done what they did last night. It didn't mean he'd just used her and discarded her. Right?
She spent the day busying herself by doing little things around the house like pulling weeds and wiping down every inch of her kitchen. As afternoon came, she walked into town to the local hardware store to look at possible paint colors for her porch. Then she'd popped into Melvald's for some light bulbs and met Will's mother, who was also apparently the Chief's wife.
She was kind and friendly, pulling Sam in for a hug, telling her how nice it was to meet her, welcoming her to Hawkins. A big smile stretched her face but she had the same haunted look in her eyes that the others did, a look of someone who'd almost been completely broken by life and was trying hard to keep the pieces together. She couldn't imagine what that sweet woman must have gone through when she thought Will was dead. No mother should have to experience that kind of trauma, even if it turned out to be false in the end. Joyce had insisted that Sam should join them for dinner at their house sometime. Apparently all the kids came over once a month. Sam told her of course, finding herself unable to disappoint this lady who was so welcoming within seconds of meeting her.
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When darkness fell and the late hour reminded her that she had to wake up early in the morning to teach a bunch of eight year olds, she fell into bed, deceiving herself, holding onto the thought that he'd just been busy and he would call tomorrow. But an annoying voice in the back of her head kept whispering that she'd been an idiot to trust him, to believe him. She'd made a rash decision after her divorce and now she was going to pay for it.
Monday came as it always did, far too early, whether she wanted it to or not. Sam's mind stayed fairly occupied at work, as long as she was busy, and that wasn't a problem when the students were in the room with her. Between watching Lance like a hawk, having to explain to two heart eyed children that there was no kissing in third grade, and Jeremiah announcing to the entire class that his mom had hit the neighbor's car yesterday but it was a secret, her mind had stayed plenty busy. But her planning period had found her blinking back tears at her desk as she tried to work on interventions for a couple of kids who were behind a grade level in Reading. Her lunch hit the trash can even though she'd barely touched it when her stomach revolted against it.
The meeting with Lance and Charlie's parents had gone just about as awful as she'd expected. Mr. Johnson and Gareth, as he'd requested she call him, had wound up going toe to toe. The meeting got heated very quickly when Mr. Johnson said his son had done nothing wrong and Charlie shouldn't dress like a freak if he didn't want to be treated like one. Both men were up and in each other's faces within ten minutes, chests heaving, eyes hard and hateful.
Principal Washington had wound up calling it over after forty-five minutes that was getting no one anywhere, telling both men to go cool off. So, she was stuck in the same position she'd been in prior to the meeting, no resolution to the issue between the boys and now a bigger issue between the parents.
