+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Out the classroom window
+++++++++++++++++++++++++

He thought he saw a car the same color as his ex's drive by.

His eyes searched for it again, but it was gone.

Was that her?  Is she back in town?

That stinging feeling hit him.

But he was in the middle of something important.  He was teaching math
to these small town kids and they were going to learn it whether they
wanted to or not.

So he returned himself to the moment.  He called out his silly battle
cry.

"Why are we going to get this?"

Their baffled and discouraged eyes avoided his eyes.

"Because why?"  He said it again, louder, but in a grinning silly way,
hoping that his obnoxious joy would rub off on them.

A few answered back. "Because we're smarter than they think we are..."

It may have been in that sarcastic deadpan voice popular with the
teenagers, but it was good enough.

"OK, so, let's try a simpler one!"

Marlowe spent the next few minutes at the chalkboard, solving narrating
his steps.

Then a student interrupted, "Wait, I get it now!"  Marlowe held out the
chalk and the student walked up and worked out the problem.

Marlowe cheered when he saw the correct answer, finally, on the
chalkboard.  "Everybody!  Give it up for Lita!"

The students all cheered.  The energy in the room shifted.  Soon, they
almost all got the hang of the technique.

Later, after the bell rang, Marlowe sat at his desk.  He looked out the
window and watched students leave the school and head home, and
meanwhile, he watched the road for that color.