Phoenix Rising (Phoenix of the Heart) Read online

Phoenix Rising

  By

  Michelle Stevens

  Copyright © 2014 Michelle Stevens

  Phoenix Rising

  Copyright © 2014 by Red Phoenix

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.

  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 written permission of the author.

  [email protected]

  Edited by Jennifer Roberts-Hall

  Final proof by Rebecca J Cartee

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  The Phoenix Rises

  A New Connection

  First Impressions

  Crash and Burn

  The Morning After

  It’s Over or Is It?

  Connect with Michelle on Substance B

  The Phoenix is fated to burst into flames, being reduced to ashes from which another Phoenix will rise, fresh and new, to live again.

  The Phoenix Rises

  “You’re the best teacher ever!” Kyle cried enthusiastically, flashing a toothless grin as he covered his cupcake with a huge heap of frosting. I’d given my first graders instructions to ice their cupcakes to look like one of the phases of the moon and was startled to see my principal come through the door just as they began the messy venture.

  I watched Mrs. Russell walk over to a table of students and ask what they were doing. I blushed when I heard Bobby whisper matter-of-factly to his classmate, “I don’t think there was a moon when the principal was a kid.”

  If Ms. Russell heard his declaration, she showed great restraint because she didn’t even crack a smile. Instead, she headed straight over to me, wearing the grave expression I’d grown accustomed to. Under her breath, she complimented, “Clever way to celebrate your birthday with your students.” I turned to hide my grin from the class.

  Even though Mrs. Russell constantly wore a severe expression, she knew all 600 students by their full names and remembered small details concerning each of her staff members.

  “I’m a little surprised you didn’t take the day off, Miss Lynn.”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “You know me. I practically live at this school.”

  “Yes, well today I give you permission to miss the staff meeting.” She looked at me kindly. “Even teachers need a life.”

  I couldn’t believe my luck. Normally I wouldn’t have cared, but I was excited about tonight! The new guy I was dating hinted that he had a wonderful surprise for my birthday. The fact I even had a date was extraordinary. I’d suffered a dry spell since moving to Colorado, and I was certain my last relationship had a lot to do with it.

  My heart still ached from the betrayal; the smug look on my fiancé’s face when I walked in on the two of them, my heart shattering to pieces while I stood before them lying naked in his bed… the ending of our dream. However, that was two long years ago, and I was ready to jump back in. After the final bell rang, I waved to my last student and raced home.

  It didn’t take much time to tidy up my one bedroom apartment, which left plenty of time to primp and dress. Since it was my birthday, I decided to go all out. I put on my short silver dress that went exceptionally well with my black legwarmers and new high heels. I poofed up my bangs to perfection and spent almost an hour crimping my long red hair. My best friend, Angie, had given me large silver hoop earrings for my birthday and they complemented the dress perfectly. I smiled at my reflection, trusting Jim would be pleased.

  I’d met my new beau a couple of weeks earlier at a dance club. Since that night, he surprised me with small romantic gifts before each date. I couldn’t help wondering what he had in store for my twenty-fourth birthday. I’d envisioned a big bouquet of two dozen roses in honor of my twenty-four years or dinner at one of the fancier restaurants in Denver followed by a night of dancing afterwards.

  When Jim arrived, I was shocked to see a stack of cardboard boxes instead. He grinned as he brought box after box into my apartment. I had no idea what his surprise was, but it certainly wasn’t the romantic gift I was hoping for.

  “Do you know what this is?” he asked with child-like enthusiasm. I shook my head rapidly with a plastered smile on my face. “It’s a computer, Beth!”

  My smiled faltered. I was uncomfortable with such an expensive gift, and it wasn’t even something I wanted. I actively avoided computers. They were big, complicated and cold – I had no interest in owning one. “You shouldn’t have,” I said lamely.

  “Beth, it’s the 80’s. You have to keep up with the times.” He pointed to all the boxes, claiming proudly, “I got you the best. This baby’s got a 450 megabyte hard drive, 8 megabits of memory and an internal modem.” Jim looked at me expectantly as if I should be impressed, but I just stared at him. It was all Greek to me.

  I was afraid he’d spent thousands on the darn thing. “A fancy computer, Jim? Don’t you think that’s overkill for a girl who doesn’t even know how to turn one on?”

  His eyes sparkled when he answered, “Having a computer is the best thing in the world. You’ll see!”

  He insisted I sit as he began taking parts out of the numerous boxes, leaving styrofoam and cardboard scattered everywhere. My pristine living room became a trash heap in a matter of minutes. Cleaning up the mess was so not what I wanted to do on my birthday and I pouted. Jim was oblivious.

  He was too caught up in examining and admiring all the pieces. Once he had it all laid out, Jim began assembling the complicated beast. I had to admit, the smile on his face was adorable. He genuinely seemed thrilled to be building the stupid computer for me.

  I looked him over carefully as he worked. Jim reminded me of an elf from the series The Lord of the Rings. He was a few inches taller than I was, with a thin face, large blue eyes and a lean physique. I couldn’t help giggling as he toiled. Every time Jim bent over to fiddle with the computer, his long bangs fell into his eyes. Without fail, he’d brush back the clump of blond hair in irritation, only to have it slide back down to the same place.

  “Need some barrettes there, Jim? I’ve got a couple I could spare.”

  He looked up at me and scowled, but went right back to work. A full two hours later he finally announced, “There you go, Beth.” He pointed to the power button proudly and stated, “You should do the honors.”

  I flipped it on, and the beast began to breathe with a deep, churning sound, followed by little clicking noises. Jim seemed very pleased with himself. “I’m jealous, Beth. This baby is far better than what I have at home.”

  So I’m dating a computer nerd… “Wow, I didn’t know you were such a computer expert, Jim.”

  “I’m not really,” he said with false modesty, waving off the compliment. “Anyone could put this thing together. Now, let me show you what it can do.” I had to admit Jim’s zeal was infectious, so I stepped closer to the screen and watched his hands dance over the keyboard.

  “You’ll like this, Beth. I’m dialing up a Bulletin Board System. It’s called a BBS for short.” I listened to the two computers “talking” to one another with high-pitched electronic squeals and pings. The screen changed into a crude black and white picture of a lighthouse on a craggy hill with its beacon shooting into the distance. The words ‘The Lighthouse’ flashed at the top, and near the bottom I saw in smaller lettering, ‘SysOp: The Keeper’.

  Jim enthusiastical
ly explained, “The Lighthouse is the name of the bulletin board and The Keeper is the person who runs it.”

  “But what does SysOp mean?”

  “It stands for Systems Operator.”

  That meant nothing to me, so I asked, “What the heck do you do with a BBS?”

  “It’s like a big party. People call from all over Denver and talk about different things. It’s fun, trust me. I’ve been calling The Lighthouse for a couple of months now.” Jim pointed to the monitor, and I leaned in to get a closer look at the words on the bottom of the screen.

  What is your alias?

  “Beth, you get to pick a nickname for yourself,” Jim said, grinning like a kid.

  I could tell he was eager to share his hobby with me, and I thought it was cute. “What are you called?”

  “My alias is Green Lantern in honor of my favorite comic book series.”

  So he was a comic book guy as well? Yikes. Jim’s nerdiness factor went up another notch. I wasn’t against nerds; in fact, many of my good friends in college were nerds. However, I had learned from experience that too much nerdiness didn’t make good boyfriend material.

  Jim got out of the chair and insisted I sit. He leaned in close as if he were sharing a secret. “Beth, this is your chance to be whoever you want. Have fun with it.” His passion for the BBS was beginning to rub off on me. I came up with several aliases I liked, but finally settled on Teach.

  Jim protested, “That isn’t descriptive enough.”

  “Well, I’m a teacher, Jim. Teach seems pretty darn