by Trudy Stiles
BETAS! You get TWO shout outs in this book because you are all so freaking awesome! Julie, Jodie, Jennifer, Mindy, Jennifer, Christina, Karen, Kathy, Tabitha, Trisha, Debi, and Barb. LOVE YOU ALL!!
Steph’s Cover Design – You are a true artist. You nailed my first cover and created a brand for me that’s so beautiful and unique. Dear Tabitha is no different. You created a vision that drills into my soul. You captured the vision of this book cover and you made it perfect. Thank you for all that you do for me and for your flexibility and professionalism. You are so awesome to work with and I can’t wait to see what you do with my next cover! LOL No pressure or anything ;) Love you Steph!
Toski Reanne Covey. Well, I am so happy to have found you. For so many reasons. Harper Sloan (who always recommends THE BEST support network in the indie world) recommended you above all others. Well, that made my day. I needed a custom photo shoot and you were the one to go to! You found Alex and Tabitha for me and they are perfect. You brought them to life and I fell in love with them all over again. You created a unique vision for the cover and helped me share that with Steph. It’s beautiful and just so perfect. Thank you! You also deserve thanks as a friend! You’ve been a cheerleader for Dear Emily since early on. You read it loved it and told the world. Thank you for taking a chance on my book and my cover. I am so honored to be working with you and humbled by your support.
Emily Mah Tippetts. Once again a huge class act! I can’t thank you enough for continuing to support my work. You really know how to make the inside look and feel like art. Thank you for your undying support and sharing my work with your network. It means so much to me when a contributor of my book takes ownership for the work that they put into it and shows how proud they are of the final product. You’ve done that for me and for so many others, which is why you’re considered one of the best formatters in the business. Thank you so very much!
My last HUGE shout out is once again to the author and blogging community. Thank you for taking a chance on me and my books. I know how much time and effort goes into participating in reveal and review tours. So many books that you WANT to read constantly get bumped so you can support us indie authors. I realize that you don’t HAVE to read any of my books, but I’m so humbled that you do. I get teary eyed every time I see another shout out or mention of me in the large sea of incredible authors out there. I pinch myself every day and can’t believe that I’m out there and you are all supporting me. Thank you for everything, and I hope to never disappoint you with my work. I love you all. Every single one of you that revealed my covers, read and reviewed my book, shared my purchase links and just said hi. It means the world to me and there really aren’t enough words to tell you everything I feel about you. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Finally, thank you to all of my new readers and friends! I am amazed and humbled by your notes that you send to me as you read and finish my books. It never ceases to surprise me how many people I’m touching with my stories. Thank you for taking a chance and spending your hard-earned money on these books. I promise to continue to try to meet your expectations and produce quality and touching stories for you. I hope that you continue to follow the story of all of the beautiful characters that you have met throughout these two books. They have all become a part of me and I can only hope that they touch or inspire you in some way. Stay tuned, as there will be several more standalone stories in the Forever Family Series. You never know who may have a book or novella dedicated to them.
The Forever Family series will continue to explore the many characters that you’ve met throughout these books.
Head of The Class
JJ Rossum
Summer 2014
The note floated down, brushing his leg before landing on his foot. His initials were written on the front in silver Sharpie. The paper was navy blue. Cowboys colors. Whoever left it knew what he liked.
He reached to pick it up, looking down the hallway in both directions as he did so. Deserted each way. The halls were a ghost town after school , students darting any which way they could to leave the building faster than their friends. Teachers too, most days. But Fridays made people abandon the campus like there was a plague about to roll through.
Whoever left the note was long gone.
The paper unfolded neatly in his hands. The words were printed in all caps.
“DEAR...
A loud cough came from one of the classrooms down the hall, causing him to jerk upward.
The note made him nervous, but he wasn’t sure why. If someone were to turn the corner in his direction and see him reading it, it would feel like he had been caught jacking off or something. He thought about stepping into a classroom, or going down the hall to the bathroom, but decided against it.
His eyes darted back and forth though, and when the cougher didn’t appear, they returned to the note held tightly in his hands.
Before he could even begin reading the words, one thought started racing through his mind.
YOU’VE BEEN CAUGHT. YOU’VE BEEN CAUGHT. YOU’VE BEEN CAUGHT. YOU’VE BEEN CAUGHT.
What would happen if he had? How big of a shitstorm would that cause?
His heart began beating faster.
YOU’VE BEEN CAUGHT. YOU’VE BEEN CAUGHT. YOU’VE BEEN CAUGHT. YOU’VE BEEN CAUGHT.
“Shut up,” he said out loud, but his brain wouldn’t listen. He would have to just ignore it.
He continued reading, skipping the salutations.
“I KNOW IT IS STUPID LEAVING A NOTE LIKE THIS BUT I COULD NEVER SAY THIS TO YOU IN PERSON. SO HERE GOES. I AM IN LOVE WITH YOU. I THINK YOU ARE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PERSON I HAVE EVER SEEN.”
His eyes grew large. This wasn’t what he was expecting. But he heard himself breathe a sigh of relief.
YOU HAVEN’T BEEN CAUGHT. PHEW.
“I THOUGHT IT THE FIRST DAY I SAW YOU. YOUR HAIR. YOUR EYES. EVERYTHING. SEEING YOU MAKES EVERY DAY BETTER. I HOPE THAT YOU FEEL THE SAME WAY ABOUT ME. BUT I CANT TELL YOU WHO I AM. NOT YET. JUST KNOW THAT SOMEONE IS THINKING ABOUT YOU.”
He couldn’t believe they had actually signed the note “SECRET ADMIRER.”
People only signed letters like that in the movies. Like those cheesy Lifetime ones his mom watched every afternoon instead of cleaning the house. Or doing anything productive.
Maybe it was a joke. It had to be a joke. SHE had probably left it for him.
He remembered how she had commented on his eyes the first time she went down on him. She had locked eyes with him, not letting him looking away until she (well, he)was finished. Those bright blue eyes had felt like they were peering right through him. He still saw them in his mind often. Usually when he was lying in bed and couldn’t sleep.
The front of his jeans was starting to feel a little tighter. He needed to stop thinking about that blowjob. But, what guy wouldn’t think about that every chance he got? He certainly had many times.
His attention turned back to the note, and the tightness began to diminish.
Thank God, he thought. The last thing he wanted was to be caught standing in the hallway with a boner.
He knew what her handwriting looked like, and the ALL CAPS letters were not written in her style. Obviously, she could have made it look that way on purpose to throw him off her little game.
It felt weird to always refer to her as, well, HER. But, it was weird either way. He had always called her Mrs. Lerner, because that was the proper, respectful thing to do. Except now things weren’t exactly proper, and calling her Stephanie seemed strange to him too. She wanted him to call her that, scolded him when he wouldn’t. It was just a hard, odd habit to break himself of.
If the note wasn’t from her, and it was actually someone serious about what they were saying, then he didn’t have a clue who it could be. Who would sign a note with “SECRET ADMIRER”? Maybe it as one of the freshman girls who always giggled when he walked by. But, how would they know about his love for the Cowboys? It wouldn’t exactly be common knowledge to fourteen or fift
een year old girls. But, he couldn’t put it past one of them finding out that bit of information.
Down the hallway, a door opened and Mrs. Geary appeared.
He stuffed the note into his pocket and picked up his bag, then closed his locker too loudly.
Mrs. Geary was locking up her classroom and turned at the sound. She was holding a bag of books in the crook of her arm.
“Hello there, Mr. Perkins,” she said smiling. Her smile looked forced. It didn’t look like she was feeling well. She must have been the person he heard coughing earlier.
“Hi Ms. Geary,” he said. “Can I get that bag for you?”
Mrs. Geary had been his favorite teacher during freshman year. He had always hated reading, but her love of literature and the way she presented it had changed everything. He couldn’t wait to be back in her class for his senior year British Lit class.
She started to answer but began coughing again, this time more forcefully. She shook her head instead, like she was turning down his offer.
He reached for it instead.
“Here, I’ll take it. It’s okay.”
“Thank you, Landry,” she said, weakly.
“Are we taking this down to your car?”
She nodded.
They began walking down the hallway toward the stairs. Landry wasn’t sure what to say to her, and thought that if he tried to start a conversation, she would begin coughing again. So, he stayed quiet.
Mrs. Geary didn’t.
“Does Mr. Harper have you reading To Kill A Mockingbird?”
“Yes ma’am,” he said.
“Did YOU read it.”
No. He didn’t. Summer had been too busy to add a book assignment to it.
“It was on our reading list.”
“That’s not what I asked,” she said. “I know it’s on your list. I asked if you had read it.”
She resumed coughing, but Landry knew she still expected an answer.
“No ma’am,” he said. “I didn’t read it. I just got busy with other stuff and...”
She waved her hand at him.
“I know the excuses,” Mrs. Geary said as they stepped outside and began walking toward the teachers’ parking lot. “I’ve heard them all. It’s perfectly acceptable to say that you simply didn’t read it.”
“I simply didn’t read it,” he replied.
She laughed.
“Well, that might fly for Mr. Harper, but it won’t for me. So, between now and your senior year, I hope you rediscover your love of books.”
“Yes ma’am. I promise.”
“We’ll see about that.”
They reached Mrs. Geary’s car and Landry put the bag in her trunk.
“Thank you, Landry. It was very kind of you to carry my books for me.”
Landry turned around to face her. She really didn’t look good.
“You’re welcome, Ms. Geary. It was the least I could do.”
She shook her head.
“No, no, no,” she said. “The least you could have done was make the choice to do absolutely nothing. That’s the choice most people make.”
Landry simply nodded. He was going to have to think about that one for a minute.
“Have a nice weekend, Landry,” she said.
As Mrs. Geary got into her car and drove away, Landry’s phone vibrated in his pocket.
It was a text from HER.
In his phone, she was simply S L. Landry’s mom liked to snoop, and even with passcodes he knew it wasn’t safe to be sending and receiving messages from one of his teachers.
ARE YOU STILL HERE?
There were those ALL CAPS again. Maybe the note really was from her.
Yeah. Just helped Ms G carry her books to her car.
DO YOU HAVE A FEW MINUTES?
I thought you had a meeting?
IT’S OVER. PARENT DIDN’T SHOW UP SO WEST SAID I COULD LEAVE.
Oh. Are you upstairs?
Landry looked around the teacher parking lot, and her car was one of only two cars left. He was pretty sure the other car belonged to Principal West.
YES. WHAT TIME ARE YOU GETTING PICKED UP?
He checked the time on his phone. His mom had said she would pick him up at 4:30.
In a half hour.
OKAY. CAN YOU COME HELP ME MOVE A FEW THINGS BEFORE SHE GETS HERE?
Landry knew this was her code. She told him that she couldn’t say anything inappropriate over the phone.
Omw
As he walked back toward the building to help HER “move a few things”, Landry once again began to feel the front of his jeans become very tight.
JJ Rossum’s first book is called Thou Shalt Not
and can be purchased here
Trudy Stiles is a New Adult author, mom to two beautiful children, and married to the love of her life. She is the author of the Forever Family series including “Dear Emily” and “Dear Tabitha”. There will be many more stories from this series and you never know who may have a standalone or novella written for them. Stay tuned! Seth’s story is coming up next and will be released later this Summer.
Trudy is a music junkie and you’ll know that she’s writing when you see her plugged into her laptop with her earbuds in. Her playlist is unique and is a must for her writing sprints.
When she’s not writing, she’s carting her children to their various activities while avoiding any kind of laundry or housework. She also loves to run along the boardwalk of the beautiful New Jersey shore.
She’s always been an avid reader and frequently escapes into the fictional worlds of the many characters that she has come to love. Well, now there are some fictional characters in her head dying to get out!
This first story is called “Dear Emily” and was released in December 2013. “Dear Tabitha” was released in March 2014. The Forever Family series will continue with several companion/stand alone novels.
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Copyright © 2014 by Trudy Stiles.
Veronica Vixley Press, Copyright ©
First published in 2014.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual, locations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior express, written consent of the author.
This book is intended for mature adults only. It is not suitable for anyone under the age of 18.
Cover Art by Stephanie White of Steph’s Cover Design
Cover Photography by Toski Reanne Covey of Toski Covey Photography
Editing by Indie Express
Interior Design and Formatting by E.M. Tippetts Book Designs
Table of Contents
Title Page
Books by Trudy Stiles
Editorial Reviews
Synopsis
Dedication
Content Warning
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Epilogue
One Year Later...
The End
Next Book
Note to My Readers
Acknowledgements
Excerpt from Head of the Class
About the Author
About the Designer
Copyright Notice
