Lessons In Falling – Christy Schillig (1)

Her hair is pulled back to the side, her dark, loose curls cascading down one shoulder, her arms crossed over her chest as she lifts a brow at me and bends to look into the window. I lower the glass between us and hold her gaze. “You thinking of coming in?” she asks. “Nah. I told them I’d drive them for half the price of an Uber.” She smiles and a soft breeze whips a piece of her hair loose from her ponytail. The red leaves of a Japanese Maple rustle behind her.

She shivers. “Let’s go, weirdo. I’m cold. And since you managed to weasel your way into an invite from the hostess, you better be ready for an inquisition,” she says, patting the roof of the car twice. I put the glass back up and smile up at her before cutting the engine and reaching for the pink bakery box I brought. The box is out of my hands before I’m even fully out of the car. “You brought Maggie’s! Oh sweet joy. I’m gonna lick all of these,” she says, rocking onto her toes while she peeks under the lid of the box.

“They are for your mother,” I lie. I know how much she loves these cupcakes, so I took the trip across town to get them. Just so I could see her bounce around like a kid. It was worth it. “Right,” Devon murmurs as she leads me into the house. “I’ll take them to her.” She stops, glances over her shoulder at me, then bounds up the steps with the box, leaving me staring after her like she’s lost her mind.

“You must be Jeff!” Devon’s mother is an exact replica of her eldest daughter. I step forward and offer my hand. “I am. And I hate to show up empty handed, but your daughter just took off with our dessert to hide them god-knows-where,” I tell her.

She laughs, Devon’s laugh, and I’m smiling like an idiot at the sound. “Oh look at that dimple! I’m Kathy Gallagher. It’s so lovely to finally meet you.” She wipes her hands on the towel over her shoulder then takes my hand in both of hers. Gives me a wink and pulls me in closer. “My daughter talks a lot about you.” Does she now? I shake my head. “I bet. We had a rocky start,” I explain.

Copyright ©, Christy Schillig, 2025 All rights reserved. No parts of this book may be copied, distributed, or published in any form without permission from the publisher. For permissions contact: [email protected] The author does not consent to any Artificial Intelligence (AI) to reproduce, mimic, or replicate any party of this work via any means. This is a work of fiction in which all events and characters in this book are completely imaginary.

Any resemblance to actual people is entirely coincidental. ISBN: 9798218739430 paperback Cover designed by Sam Palencia, Ink and Laurel Edited by Cassandra Dunn Published by Christy Schillig Formatted with Vellum OceanofPDF.com Dedication This one’s for you, Shultzy, for being the person I look forward to waking up to every day and for being the best example of an educator who cares.

OceanofPDF.com Contents Author’s note Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Sister, Sister Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Sister, Sister Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Dr. Dick Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Dr. Dick Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Sister, Sister Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Doc, Doc, Goose Chapter 32 Dr. Hotass—formerly Dr. Dick Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 J.J.—formerly Dr. Hotass—formerly formerly Dr. Dick Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Acknowledgments About the author OceanofPDF.com H Author’s note ello, Amazing and Supportive Readers: I wrote this novel before the pandemic in my fifth or sixth year of teaching, still bright-eyed and bushy-tailed—ready to take on the world of education.

After the better part of a lifetime battling my own mental health conditions, I found myself needing to help the students with their battles.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 3b55f78aaf395612
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 3,363,864 bytes (3.208 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 9798218739430
• Pages: 281
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 422.22 minutes
• Total Words: 84,444
• Total Characters: 451,108
• Average Words per Page: 300.51
• Average Characters per Page: 1605.37

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