School Belles Sweet Rom-Com Series

• Summer Wishes - School Belles Prequel Novella:  Romance, secrets, and jealousy hang overhead like storm clouds. Can the School Belles friendship survive the transition to adulting? Get to know each Belle as they take one final vacation before real life starts in the Fall.  
• Falling for the Firefighter - School Belles - Book 1: Delilah has all the feels. Can she keep her cool about Brad (the town's firefighter/barista who delivers fresh lattes and saves the day), while reaching her troubled students, and saving her professional reputation? 
• Destination Christmas - School Belles - Book 2: When snowmageddon grounds their flight a festive teacher and a frosty businessman must work together to reach Aspen by Christmas Eve. Could a Christmas detour with an almost stranger be the best present of Lexie’s life? 
• It's Complicated - School Belles - Book 3: Belles before Beaus is an unbreakable friendship code. Can Andie bend it for her BFF’s brother? Absolutely not. Jake's totally off limits…unless they keep it a secret…
• Catch the Bride - School Belles - Book 4: Jade didn’t mean to run away the week of her wedding. It just...happened. One minute she was refereeing family drama and the next she was speeding down the road in the dead of night like an escaped convict. But she isn’t ready to go back...not yet.

Delilah pressed her palms flat against the door and pushed. It reluctantly opened, but she still had to use her shoulder to force it the whole way. This will be tricky when I’m loaded down with groceries. Actually, it wasn’t too convenient right now. The box she’d been carrying was just out of reach. Delilah looked around for a doorstop. There was none. She reached for the box and turned around quickly. The door slammed shut just missing her right foot.  

“This thing is a menace,” she exclaimed.  

The thought of moving the rest of her belongings upstairs was even more daunting now. Thank goodness the furniture had already arrived and she only had her clothes and some other odds and ends in boxes. Once again, she performed the door dance. This time she was able to wedge the box between the doorjamb before slipping into the hallway. She thought about running downstairs to get the rest of her things but reconsidered.  

This was her first time in their apartment. Of course she'd seen pictures, but that only gave a limited scope. They were incredibly lucky Lexie’s family owned this hundred-year-old building in the middle of Clifton’s small downtown. It was quaint with exposed brick and intricate window cornices. Delilah suspected they were getting a good deal on the rent, which she appreciated. It would be an ideal place to begin her new life as a teacher.  

Lexie had been here prepping her classroom and the apartment for a week, but went home to pick up some more things and wasn’t set to return until tomorrow. Which was fine. It would give Delilah a moment to settle in. Lexie was tons of fun but a little exuberant for her at times. She stepped into the two-bedroom apartment. Bright light flooded in through the wall of windows at the far end of the space. An exposed brick wall led from the front door into the living room. She set down her box and walked in. There was a gray L-shaped sectional couch under the window facing the kitchen, covered in decorative pillows. Several monogrammed.  

Hers was the first bedroom off the living room. Delilah pushed open the door and came to an abrupt standstill. All of her things had been delivered as planned, but they were piled on her bed in the center of the room. Yikes. Where was she going sleep? It would take a long time to sort through everything. Instead of dealing with the logistics of unpacking, she looked past the pile of boxes to her new room and enjoyed what she saw. The walls were a soft gray, and a delicate chandelier hung from a fixture in the middle of the room. There were two windows on the wall opposite the door, with enough space between them for her bed. And another smaller window that faced east, toward Main Street. It was lovely, but she couldn’t enjoy it yet. Right now, she had to get the rest of her bags up from the car and worry about this mess later.   

By the next afternoon, Delilah had all the still full boxes stacked against the wall. But she had managed to put her clothes away in the closet. She had slept on the couch and her back was twinging in protest as she started unpacking boxes, but it had to be done. School started in a week and her first teacher day was Thursday.  

A door slammed and Delilah froze. Did I remember to lock the front door? Or was that down the hall?   

“Are you here?” Lexie called out.  

Delilah let out the breath she was holding. “My room,” she called back.  

“Roomie!” Lexie exclaimed.  

They hugged then danced around in excitement.  

“I can’t believe it’s finally happening!” Lexie said.  

“I know. It still feels like a dream.” 

“Come on downstairs, there's a good burger place on the corner. Let’s catch up.” 

Delilah couldn’t argue and followed Lexie downstairs.  

As Delilah walked through the empty hallway for the first time, she noticed it had a lingering smell of cookies and potato tots. At first she had second guessed her decision to accept this position over the high school one, but it was clear that middle school was the right choice. Delilah felt like she was coming home. When she stepped into her classroom, a jolt of electricity shot up her spine. This was all hers. It would soon be filled with eager young minds, and she would be their teacher. True, it wasn’t much to look at with its bare beige walls, but Lexie had handed her a pile of science decorations this morning. It was time to get to work.    

Lexie had driven her crazy over the last few weeks, badgering her to lesson plan, but this wasn't like English. She'd be following the science curriculum, plus she had some innovative ideas for projects depending on her students’ abilities. It wasn't that she didn't do well planning, but she just did better figuring things out as she went. Besides, moving to a new city, and negotiating with Lexie over their apartment decor had been enough decorating to last her a lifetime. 

Delilah stood back and admired her work. The two bulletin boards now had yellow backgrounds and a border of the planets. She decided that one board would be for school announcements, and the other important class info, like her grading scale, the bell schedule, and maybe no-name papers.  

"Knock, knock," Lexie said from the door. “Wow! You actually decorated!” 

“It was a bit boring. Thank you for the planet borders.” 

“Is that all you’re going to do?” 

“Yeah. It’s clean but still colorful. Don’t make that face. This is what I’m comfortable with. Besides, I have other things to get done today. Aren’t you supposed to be decorating?" 

"Finished early. Aww, you have your School Belles bell on your workstation,” Lexie said, picking up the monogrammed trinket. 

“To remind me that I’m not alone. Y’all are going through the same growing pains, too.” 

“That’s so sweet. I put mine on my desk. Want to grab lunch? I’m starving." 

"That's tempting," Delilah said, stomach grumbling. “But I have a ton of other stuff to do. Hey, have you been to that coffee place on the way to school?” 

“You know I don’t drink that stuff,” Lexie replied.  

“Oh, right. It looks cute. It’s a little building on the edge of the grocery store parking lot. Just before you get to the turn on Griffith Road.” 

Lexie shrugged. 

“It’ll be convenient to pick up coffee on the way to school. Hey, do we have orientation first thing tomorrow?” she asked. 

Lexie consulted the schedule on her phone. “Yep, eight a.m. on the dot.” 

“In that case you go get lunch, I need to stay and finish setting up.” 

Lexie made a pouting face but conceded.  

Tomorrow would be filled with setting up accounts, and logging into computers. If technology worked the same here as every other place on the planet it would involve troubleshooting. It would be hectic, and then Tuesday would be their first day with students. Delilah wanted to make sure she was ready.  

That night, when Delilah returned from setting up her room, she found Lexie on the living room floor with two poster boards, paint, stickers, and markers spread all around her. 

“Wow, that’s quite a mess you have going,” Delilah said.  

“I’m leaving tomorrow right after orientation. Bubba and I are going to the beach.” 

“Oh, things are getting serious,” Delilah said.  

“We’ll see,” Lexie replied, a grin on her face. “But I forgot to do our Teacher’s first day poster.” 

“Pardon. Our what?” 

Lexie held up her phone. On the screen was a colorfully decorated poster with Mrs. Smith printed at the top in block letters, and then a bunch of details: this was her 1,897th day of school, she taught first grade, her favorite color was blue, and so on. 

“And we’re required to do this?” Delilah asked horrified.  

“No, but I thought it would be fun. Oh, come on. Be a little playful with your students. Show them that you are a person not just a teacher.” 

Delilah stared at the blank poster. Creativity was not her strong suit. 

“I found some laboratory themed washi tape,” Lexie said, rolling it across the floor. It hit Delilah’s foot and fell over.    

“Fine. I will attempt at making the poster, but if it looks terrible I am not bringing it to school.” 

“Yay! Here, brainstorm on what facts you’re gonna add.” Lexie pushed a notebook at her with a template of the poster design and slots for her information.  

Delilah began with the easy one at the top: her name. Under facts, she listed some generic tidbits and a few of her favorite things. Then she went to work decorating the poster. The washi tape came in handy for separating the sections. It made the poster look like she had a lot more creativity than she actually possessed. Lexie had also found cut-outs of planets, stars, the sun and moon, plus some mad scientists looking pictures more suited to Halloween. Delilah cut out the beakers and test tubes and glued them to the poster. Then, with the fat tipped marker went to work adding her information. She held it up.  

“That looks great! Do you maybe want to add some glitter?” Lexie asked.  

“No,” Delilah said, snatching the poster back.  

Miss Stratford: First day as a teacher: Today. Likes: Physical Science, Coffee, and Otters; Dislikes: Thunder, Rudeness, and Sitting in Traffic; Favorite Book: All the Harry Potters; Favorite Memory: Lantern Launch this summer; Favorite Season: Fall; Birthday: December 12th; Looking Forward To: Having a great first year! 

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