Unteachable

by Leah Raeder

“I keep hoping this is some elaborate practical joke,” he said. I swallowed. “Life is an elaborate practical joke.”

“If you’re going to film school,” he said, “there’s something I need to give you.” My heart skipped. “What?” “An education.”

That’s how you know someone loves you. When they want you to be happy even in the part of your life they’ll never see.

He stared off into space. The light waned, the snowfall turning opaque, a muslin sheet flecked with stars. “It didn’t make me happy,” he said. “That’s it?” “That’s everything.”

The boys shook his hand and the girls hugged him, and when it was my turn I breathed in his ear, “You changed my life, Mr. Wilke.”