Tingle - a love story of the supernatural kind.

Chapter 5

The Team

"Take it!" Cora shouted as though her voice could be heard across the veil. "Come on, Natalie."

Bill had urged Ms. Leslie inside the lounge at that last moment, knowing she was the one who might actually make the difference. "Ah well."

"Don't give up on her. She'll be back there again at lunch."

They watched how animated Natalie became as she divided her classes into four groups and as the "host" of Vocab jeopardy, cheers and boos filled the classroom. When the group couldn't define the word, a designated person was allowed to look up the definition in their dictionary - not on their phone.

Natalie was a treasure, and by their enthusiastic smiles and hellos anyone could see that her students looked forward to her class. Especially during those moments, the team knew how inspired she became when a student defined the word correctly and how the time spent hadn't been for naught.

Though, when Jeremy and Cory came in they avoided looking at her as they took their seats at the back of the room.

"Happy Friday, gentlemen," she greeted. Natalie didn't like the way she'd left things with the two boys. Now, she regretted reading it at all, if only to save them the embarrassment.

Cora observed her great, great granddaughter. "She's not letting on that she opened up their note."

"Because she's just that special," Jeff said. "Besides, sometimes it's just knowing that someone admires you that gives you that lift that you needed. If only she knew how Theo adores her."

Bill put in, "Yeah, but what Natalie needs is to find her own self-worth." They knew that giving everybody else the power to define you was a thirst nobody else could truly quench. Natalie needed to fill her own cup.

During lunch, she sat at the table and exhaled a small sigh because Theo hadn't shown up. The other English teachers compared notes and successes with their lessons. They'd asked what she covered that day and when she told them they were doing Vocab jeopardy, the other teachers just shot each other a look then went back to their own conversation. Natalie's cheeks pinked, and though the self-love book sat in the middle of the table just inches away, she didn't dare reach for it. Especially not in front of them.

"She needs that book, now more than ever," Cora said.

"Okay, let's help her. Angels, if you please?" Jeff requested.

A knock at the teacher's lounge door prompted one of the veteran teachers to open it. Another staff member, holding three large pizza boxes, looked around for a place to set them down. As it so happened, the other tables were cluttered with papers and textbooks.

"Pizza," the younger of the two teachers said. "Put that down right here." She gestured to their table.

"Who's it for?" Natalie asked.

"Staff appreciation. A parent ordered it. Wasn't that nice?"

Natalie eyed the pizza, already dismissing her salad as the boxes were set on top of the table, which pushed the self-help book forward onto her lap.

"Bingo!" Bill said. "Thank you, angels!"

Lifting the book, Natalie recognized how it had been practically shoved onto her. She took the hint finally and grabbed her purse hanging from her chair, being sneaky as the other teachers opened up the pizza boxes and helped themselves. She stowed the book inside her purse.

I hope nobody misses this, she thought.

"Nope," Jeff said. "It's all for you, sweetie."

When she got home, the book sat forgotten in her purse inside her car, and Natalie hefted three grocery bags into the kitchen. Dan hadn't arrived home yet, but she hummed a tune as she put the veggies and fruits away and frozen foods away.