Page 42 of Between the Lines

“Yeah. She like, let me listen toThe Outsiderson YouTube as long as I followed along, since it was hard for me to read.”

My chest warms at that thought, of Claire thinking outside the box to accommodate him.

“And did you follow along?”

His cheeks flush, and he smiles and rolls his eyes, muttering,Kinda.

“Do you want my help with your assignment?”

Rocco’s expression scrunches incredulously.

“You’re a principal, bro. What do you know about English?”

I chuckle. “I was a teacher before I was anassistantprincipal, Mr. Thatcher. You’d be surprised. Here, let’s see what you’ve got.”

His backpack was already unzipped, so he pulls out the worksheet and slides it to me.

“Synonyms and antonyms. That sounds simple enough.”

I lift my gaze and smile, but his signature Rocco-scowl stares back at me.

“You sound like the ‘helpers.’”

“Well, it’s just?—”

“Cinnamons and antonyms, Iknow. Problem is, I’m too stupid to know what the words mean in the first place, so how am I even supposed to know if they’re theoppositeor not? Friggenstupid.”

I pause, and reevaluate my reaction. Just because this is simple for me doesn’t make it simple for him.

“Okay. Let’s take a step back. Can you tell me what a synonym is at least?”

“Yeah. Means the same thing,” he huffs.

“And an antonym?”

“Opposites.”

“Okay. See. You know more than you think.” I tread lightly, then put my finger on the word he’s supposed to be analyzing. “What is this word?”

“Bro, I don’t evenknow, I justtoldyou that.”

“Mr. Thatcher,” I say. But even as I do, my tone just hinting toward a warning, I think again of his favorite teacher. The one who asked me to call herClaire. “Rocco.”

I try again, and see him softenfractionally.

“Can we try stretching it out?”

“Like I’m in kindergarten?”

“No. Like you’ve come to an unknown word and need to piece it together. Start with the prefix.”

“What does that even mean?”

Lord, we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.

It takes us ten minutes to find a synonym and an antonym for the wordInherent. But the pride on Rocco’s face afterward was the prize to this assignment. We’re about to start on the next one when a disheveled woman barges in, reeking of marijuana. As soon as she sees Rocco, she barks his name.

“Let’s go. We’ve gotta drop Tim off at work, and he can’t be late again.”