Judith barely waited for her mother to put the car into park at the school parking lot before flinging open her door and jumping out of the car. She had done her best to ignore her mother's attempts at conversation on the way to school, but just sitting in the same car together for the short drive to school had her feeling trapped. With her mom working as a sub at her school too, it felt like she could never get a break from her.
"Judith!" Alma called after her daughter, but she didn't turn around or acknowledge her in any way.
As Alma entered the school, she was still keeping an eye out for Judith, but the principal intercepted her.
"Mrs. Wilton, I have some news for you," she said. "Can we speak in my office for a moment?"
Once they were in the principal's office and away from the students in the hallway, Ms. Johnston spoke. "I heard from Mrs. Neilson yesterday and she's planning to return from her maternity leave next week."
"So you won't need me anymore?"
"Not on a regular basis, but I hope you can fill in now and again. You have done a terrific job."
"Oh, thank you," Alma said sadly. She tried to be gracious, but she was having trouble hiding her disappointment. She had been enjoying this long-term substitute position so much that she let herself forget that it was only temporary.
"I really hope you will be able to come back," Ms. Johnston assured her. "But in the meantime, there might be other better opportunities for you out there. Didn't you start out in elementary education? You might enjoy the chance to work with other age groups."
"Yes, perhaps," Alma agreed, but she was having trouble looking on the bright side of this change. There were too many things she was going to miss about not being at the high school every day, being able to see her older kids during the day, her students, and her coworkers. "What about the school play?" Alma asked with alarm. "Mason - Mr. Clark and I have been putting so much work into getting it ready."
"I had assumed Mrs. Neilson would take over for you," Ms. Johnston said thoughtfully. "But I suppose if you want to take the time to help out after school, that would be up to the three of you to work out."
* * * * *
"How long are you going to keep this up?" Jeremy asked as he followed Judith through the hallway.
Judith shrugged. "Well, I have three and a half years left before I graduate. I just have to hold out until then."
"Seriously?" Jeremy sighed. "How do you think you're going to manage that?"
Judith ignored her brother's questions as he continued to follow her down the hallway.
She was glad when she saw Maura at the lockers and called out to her friend. She had missed not being able to talk to her outside of school since her grounding.
"How are you doing?" Judith asked with concern.
Maura shrugged. "It's been rough. I just don't know what's going to happen for sure right now. I don't want Vince to move out and I don't want us to have to move away from our home and all our friends," she said looking at both Judith and Jeremy. "My mom is so mad right now."
"I'm so sorry about my parents," Judith apologized. "I can't believe they voted the way they did. They are messed up."
Jeremy nodded. "I don't agree with what they did either."
"You two are the best," Maura cried as she hugged them both. "I hope we get to stay, but even if we do, my mom says I'm not allowed at your house anymore, but both of you are still welcome at ours."
"If I'm ever allowed out of the house again," Judith grumbled. "They haven't banned me from your house yet, but I wouldn't put it past them."
"How long are you grounded for?" Maura asked.
"Considering my mom just added an extra week because of my attitude, probably forever."
"I guess until then Jeremy will have to be our go-between," Maura suggested. "If he's up to that."
"Sure," he agreed. He had spent a lot of time in the past thinking about how he was going to break up with Maura, but with everything else going on in her life, now wasn't the time. Despite it all, he knew one thing for sure. "I'm here for you."
As he split from the girls to go to his locker, Jeremy caught sight of Natalie in the hallway. He smiled at her, but she seemed to look right through him. As she walked past, he turned around and saw she was making a beeline for Vince. He sighed as he continued walking on. If he had to put breaking up with Maura on hold, he should probably put talking to Natalie on hold too.
"Hey, I'm sorry about what happened at the meeting," Natalie said as she approached Vince.
"Me too. It sucks."
"I wish I could have been there. I told my mom and Simon to vote for you to stay, but maybe if I could have told everyone myself about how you helped save me and my dad, they would have seen what a hero you really are and it would have gone differently."
"I'm not a hero," Vince insisted. "Honestly, I probably deserved to get booted out after all the stupid things I've done. I've made a lot of dumb mistakes."
"Who hasn't?" Natalie asked, but Vince wasn't convinced that she could truly relate. "But you came through for us when it mattered and I think that counts for something."
"I just wish my mom and my sister weren't hurting because of me. That's what kills me." Feeling like he was getting too personal, Vince quickly changed the subject. "So, how's your dad?"
"He's awake now, but he doesn't remember much yet. Honestly, it's kind of awkward."
"So, I guess he hasn't been able to remember the password to his laptop?"
"I don't think anyone is even thinking about that right now. Besides everyone knows Mr. Lind's son is the one who did it. They have the video of him that night and they arrested his friends who confessed, and since he ran away with the money no one knows where he is. I don't think it really matters at this point."
* * * * *
Blaine made his way slowly down the hospital corridor with the assistance of a walker and a nurse at his side.
"You're doing really well, Mr. Kitteridge," the nurse said encouragingly. "At this rate, you should be able to go home soon."
"Wherever home is," he said wryly.
As the nurse was helping Blaine back into bed, Cassie and Zara arrived for visiting hours.
Zara greeted him first. "Hey, Blaine, how are you feeling?"
"Like I bashed my head in," he responded. "But the pain medicine they give me helps."
"I'm Zara, by the way. In case you didn't remember."
"My sister-in-law?"
"Then you do remember?" Cassie jumped in.
"No, sorry," Blaine said. "I just guessed since you look alike."
Cassie's face dropped as her hopes were dashed. "Has anything else come back to you?" she asked hesitantly, afraid that the answer would be no.
"A little," Blaine admitted. "I get bits and pieces here and there, but it's all jumbled. Did we take a trip to a boardwalk one time along a beach with carnival games?"
"Yes!" Cassie exclaimed as she leaned forward excitedly. "On our honeymoon."
"I kept playing this game where you hit the things," he imitated hitting motion as he struggled for the words.
"Whack-a-mole."
"Yes, I was so determined to win you this teacup for our new kitchen."
"You did and it's still there," Cassie said as she blinked back tears. She was so relieved that he was starting to come back to her.
"I wasn't sure- about the memory, if I had it right," he clarified.
"You had it perfect," Cassie smiled.
"So many other things aren't clear. I'm just not sure," he struggled.
"It's alright. It's starting to come back to you and that's good enough for now," Cassie reassured him. She brought out a small photo album. "Do you want to look at some pictures from our life? Zara thought it might be a good idea to bring them and see if anything jogged your memory."
Blaine shrugged and took the album that she offered.
"I made sure to include a lot of pictures of you with the kids. I thought it might be better if you started to get reacquainted with them before you came home. They really want to come see you, but I wasn't sure if you were ready for that."
Blaine just nodded as she started to flip through the book. There was so much that he didn't remember. He wasn't sure if he was ready for any of this.
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