The Low Notes by Kate Roth Read Free Book Online

hearts. But Nina’s heart was already broken.
    James grimaced at her sympathetically. He was just as inexperienced in love as she was and as such, he had little advice for her. He put a careful hand on her leg and patted her sweetly. He didn't have to say anything.

Chapter Nine
     
    Kevin shoved a stack of papers into his black leather satchel paying no mind to the students from his last period class who were still pushing their way out into the hall, the sounds of slamming lockers and booming voices ricocheting into his classroom. He put the last assignment into his bag and let his eyes sweep over the room for anything he might have forgotten. His eyes lingered on the last desk in the last row. It was Nina’s empty seat. The seat she hadn’t been in for nine days.
    It was his job as her teacher to fix the issue of her skipping class but it was his guilt as a man that made him wary of approaching her. He hadn't seen her since she walked out of his room, silently crushed. He looked for her in the halls and even scanned the lunchroom a few times to try to get a glimpse of her. He wondered if she was skipping all of her classes. He wondered if something happened to her, if she wasn’t coming back. The thought made his stomach twist miserably.
    He flipped off the lights and closed the door behind him and headed towards the exit. The sky was still crystal clear and the breeze smelled of sweet summer scents just as it had the evening he and Nina spent together. The teacher’s lot was adjacent to the senior parking lot. It was a special privilege for twelfth graders to park closest to the school and avoid the trek underclassmen were forced to make every day from the far parking lot to the school.
    Kevin dug in his bag for his keys as he leaned against his car door, his impatience taking over as he slammed the bag on the hood of his trunk to get another angle for his search. Finally he saw the glint of silver inside the black abyss. He grabbed the keys and looked up just in time to see her walking out of the building. She was alone. She was beautiful. Nina.
    His breath caught in his chest seeing her stroll to her car. He noticed a thin white wire coming down around her slender neck. She was oblivious to her surroundings as she listened to a song Kevin could only imagine. He absently took a few brisk steps across the pavement in her direction. Nina glanced up from her purse and Kevin was in front of her in an instant. He watched as she pulled her earphones out and stared at him blankly.
    Kevin drew in a deep breath before he spoke. “Hello Nina.” It was all he could manage to think of at the moment. Just seeing her face made him dizzy. He cursed himself for still wanting her. He should be the one with the grimace, not her. He noticed Nina shut her eyes for a moment, maybe in effort to make him disappear.
    “ Do you want me to talk to the dean about putting you in another English class?” he asked delicately.
    Nina’s grey eyes flew wide open and she began shaking her head vigorously. “No! Why would you--? No,” she blurted.
    “ Well how exactly should I grade someone who doesn‘t attend my class?” Kevin retorted, his anger pushing its way out of him.
    She sighed and turned her face from him.
    “ I’ll be there Monday morning, okay?” she whispered.
    Kevin nodded and turned quickly to walk back to his car before he let himself say or do something he might regret. He felt his breath quickening thinking about how easy it would have been to reach out and touch her.
    “ Kev- Mr. Reed?” Nina called out, correcting herself halfway through.
    He spun around to see her again, a vision of grace and beauty. She stood biting her lip primly, starring out at him across the lot.
    “ I’m singing at The Black Jewel tonight.” Her statement was simple and true yet the implications her words held were clear to Kevin. He imagined himself running to her, closing the distance between them, sweeping her up in his arms and crushing