A Table for Two (2 page)

Laurie took a quick peek at her watch. "We'd better stop standing around chatting and get in there." She picked up her bag with one hand and took hold of Ridley's arm with the other as they started toward the main entrance. "When did you get back from the shore?"

"Last night around nine-thirty. I waited until the traffic thinned out before I hit the road. As you know, there's no sense in leaving any earlier on a holiday weekend because if you do, you just end up sitting in your car on the road while you crawl all the way home with everyone else who left early. You get home just as late."

"Bet you hated to leave. Is your Mom still down there?"

Ridley's nod answered Laurie's question. "September's one of her favorite months. It's still summer and still warm, but the vacation crowds are gone and it's peaceful again."

"It must be a lot more peaceful, but then we wouldn't know because we have to get back to work." Laurie let out a squeal after she said that and joggled Ridley's arm to and fro with gusto. "Speaking of work, I can't believe we're going to be working at the same school! I was thrilled when you told me your transfer was official."

"Back when we were in college, did you ever think we'd be working together someday?" The two of them had been friends ever since Laurie chose the seat next to Ridley's in their first freshman class at Temple University. Ridley's smile evolved into a wry grin. "I do hate to put a damper on your enthusiasm, but you'll be up on the third floor teaching English and I'm going to be down in the gym so we'll hardly see each other."

"So what? I'm just happy to have you here. We can eat lunch together and go to meetings together, can't we?" Laurie cocked her head, a habit Ridley was quite familiar with. "We can talk about the same people and we'll both know what's going on in the school. It'll be fun."

"When you put it that way, it sounds like a hell of a lot of fun." Ridley cocked her head to match Laurie's and mirrored her friend's silly smile.

Laurie straightened her head. "You don't need to make fun of me."

"I was only teasing you." Ridley covered her mouth and yawned. "God, I'm so tired today. I think I slept about four hours at the most. I couldn't get to sleep, I couldn't stay asleep and then I couldn't get up once I finally fell asleep. You know how out of whack our systems get after we've been off the entire summer."

"I didn't sleep much either," Laurie said. "Every September I go through an adjustment period for a week or two until I get back into my work routine."

"I go through the same thing, but on top of that I think I was anxious about going to a new school. I was happy to leave my old school, but..."

"I understand. Just don't be nervous about working here," Laurie said.

"I know, I know. You told me how much you love it here. Still, it is a new job and you can't blame me for being a little nervous and excited."

"No I can't, but I know you're going to love it here. That's why I called you the minute I found out our gym teacher was retiring. I..." Laurie didn't finish her sentence and her gaze became fixed on Ridley's. "I'm sorry, your eyes distracted me. I almost forgot how they change colors from one moment to the next. They can be different shades of green depending on the light and in the next second, they've got flecks of gold in them. They're so pretty they make you lose your train of thought."

"You should be used to them by now." Ridley was accustomed to other people's remarks about the color of her eyes, although she appreciated the compliment more when it came from Laurie or someone dear to her. "They probably have dark circles under them, today."

"Not really." Laurie paused on the sidewalk and inspected Ridley from top to bottom. "I haven't seen you in a few weeks and you may be tired, but you look fantastic and I love your tan. Not that you needed to, but did you lose a little weight over the summer? I didn't notice it when we came down to visit at the end of July, but now I can see it."

Ridley looked down at Laurie who at five feet five was a good two and a half inches shorter than she. "I lost about twelve pounds. I always lose weight in the summer."

"I usually lose a few pounds, too, but not because I'm as active as you are. I just don't feel like eating as much." Laurie stopped when they reached the high school's massive cascade of steps that led up to the main entrance. "Here we are. Nowhere left to go but up."

"My, isn't this is an attractive building." Ridley paused to study the dilapidated and dingy structure that loomed in front of them like an abandoned insane asylum. She'd seen the high school many times before, of course, but she'd never paid that much attention to it. In its day it must have been a stately building and in spite of its current state of disrepair, she could almost make out the ghostly image of the building's former grandeur.

"Isn't it? It's definitely seen better days."

"I'd say it's long past its heyday. Now I know what the 'P' stands for."

Laurie cast her friend a curious glance. "What are you talking about?"

"The P--the P in Calvin P. Hayes. It has to stand for prison."

"You're totally nuts. You know that, don't you?"

"Why do you say I'm nuts?" Ridley pretended to be wounded. "It looks just like a prison and look at the windows, they have bars on them. That proves my point." She pointed to the iron security bars on the ground floor windows.

"That doesn't prove anything. All the schools have bars on the windows."

"Laurie, I'm just teasing you and believe me when I tell you that I do not care how it looks as long as I enjoy working here. Anything would be an improvement over my last school. The last straw in a long line of last straws was that new principal we got last year. There's nothing worse than a bitchy woman armed with absolute power."

"All the principals are dictators. It's just a matter of whether you get a benevolent one or a malevolent one." Laurie climbed the first two steps and motioned with her hand for Ridley to catch up. "Hurry up. We don't want to be late or we'll miss out on the free coffee and bagels."

"In that case, we had better get moving." Ridley tucked her chin in, threw her chest out and squared her shoulders. "Are you ready to take on the challenge of another exciting and rewarding school year? I have no doubt it will prove to be more memorable than the last."

"I'm ready if you are, my fellow idealist." Laurie stood tall as she trudged all the way up the steps with Ridley and straight through the front door.

"Are you going straight up to the library?" Ridley asked once they were inside the main office. "It's cool in here. I wish I could stay in here all day."

"We've got about a half-hour to kill, so I'm going up to my classroom." Laurie reached inside her mailbox and removed some papers and a folder. After she did that, she pointed to another box one row over. "Check this out. They already gave you a mailbox with your name on it. Isn't that cute?" Without asking for permission, Laurie reached inside, grabbed the contents and handed it to Ridley. "Here are your materials for the meetings."

"Stealing someone's mail is a federal offense."

"So have me arrested why don't you?" Laurie's eyes drifted to the clock on the wall. "I've got to get going. I'll meet you in the library in twenty minutes. Save me a seat and get me a cup of coffee and a sesame bagel or a cinnamon raisin. And don't forget the cream cheese, regular not light." Laurie scurried out of the main office without another word.

"Anything else I can do for you?" Ridley mumbled to the wall.

AFTER LUNCH, THE staff was given the rest of the afternoon to get their classrooms in order and that gave Ridley an opportunity to check out the gymnasiums as well as her office. Horrified by a cluttered desk and closets stuffed with junk, she wasted no time launching her attack. Like any teacher who had to take over for someone who'd long ago lost their spark, she'd have to get rid of anything she didn't want or couldn't use and make the place her own.

"Those meetings bore me to tears." About an hour later, Laurie appeared out of nowhere and spoke from the doorway to Ridley's office. "It's the same old stuff every year and those group exercises..." She held her hands up to the ceiling. "Is there no mercy? Is there no God?"

"They drive me insane," Ridley said.

"Me, too," Laurie agreed. "Last spring at one of our meetings they made us pick someone we didn't know and take a walk with them. We were supposed to share something that we'd never told anyone. Now, if there was something you didn't want to tell to someone you knew why would you want to tell it to someone you didn't know?"

"They're definitely running out of ways to torture us." While she talked, Ridley kept on throwing huge piles of yellowed forms into trash bags. "Look at these old forms. Some are thirty years old. I'll bet you only the pentagon and the IRS have more forms than the school district." Ridley scraped an old wooden chair across the floor for Laurie. "Here, keep me company while I clear out this junk."

"I can't stay long." Laurie flopped in the chair with a sigh and gulped down the rest of the bottle of water she'd carried in with her. "How can you work in this heat?"

"I have to get it done before I get busy because I can't function in this mess. I have to have a neat and organized work space."

"This is such an appealing gym." A vinegary expression transformed Laurie's typically sweet face. "And it's so modern."

Ridley knew the reason for Laurie's sarcasm and although they'd both become accustomed to working in impoverished conditions, it never got any easier. She'd expected the drab green peeling walls, the exposed pipes and crumbling ceilings. It looked just like many other schools in the city and even better than some. "I'll never understand how the students can feel good about themselves in buildings like these."

"They always promise us new schools, but I don't see it happening," Laurie said.

"No money, that's the bottom line as the saying goes--a saying I've always hated, by the way." Ridley turned her attention to a couple of enormous cardboard boxes. She grabbed a filthy, deflated soccer ball out of one of them and shook it at Laurie. "Look at this." She threw it onto a pile of torn nets and cracked knee pads. "This broken junk has to be thrown out, but I'm afraid housekeeping will have a fit."

"They will if you put it in the regular trash. Call Ernie, our custodian and he'll send a couple of his guys over to get rid of it for you."

"Thanks. I'll do that." Ridley realized that Laurie was sitting around talking while everyone else was getting ready for school to start. "Don't you have to get your classroom in order?"

"I came in last week and did it." Laurie shrugged. "You know how I am. I hate doing things at the last minute. So what do you think so far--about working here, I mean?"

"I talked to Dr. Wilson after the meeting and she's very supportive about what I want to do, especially the health education part. She wants the students to take a half-year of health education as a graded course in addition to gym classes."

"I told you she's a great principal."

"Stay put, I'll be right back." Ridley walked to the other side of the gym and came back with a huge trash can bouncing behind her. She kept right on talking as she worked. "She said she welcomed fresh ideas and liked my enthusiasm."

"The guy who was here before you did as little as possible and I hate to say it, but the kids hated him. He was an odious man."

"Odious?" Ridley stopped what she was doing and put her hands on her hips. "You've read way too many nineteenth century novels."

"I'm a classics buff, what can I say? I love those Jane Austen words like 'felicity', 'condole' and 'trifle'. I don't know why we don't use any of those words anymore. They were so poetic and descriptive. I loved the way she wrote phrases like, 'you take great delight in vexing me' or 'I am excessively diverted'."

"Don't ever talk like that when the students are around. You'll never hear the end of it."

"Don't I know it?" Laurie remarked as if she'd had experience in the matter. "But be honest, doesn't 'don't trifle with me' sound better than 'don't fuck with me'?"

"I guess it sounds better, but..." Ridley hesitated and a mischievous smile formed in the corners of her mouth. "It doesn't feel nearly as good."

"I might have known you'd say that." Laurie sounded deflated.

"Sorry, but it's true. You know it is."

"Yeah, I guess so." Laurie leaned forward in her chair. "I hate to change the subject, but I want to know about that girl you were dating at the shore. Are you still seeing her?"

"You mean Melissa? No. It fizzled out and I let it. All she wanted to do was to drink and party with her friends and she made me feel like an ornament hanging on her arm. To tell you the truth, I'm getting tired of the lesbian singles scene. Maybe I'm tired of lesbians in general."

"What a thing to say. You can't blame all lesbians for your dating woes."

"I don't know who else I'm supposed to blame."

"I'm sorry it didn't work out with her," Laurie said.

"Don't be. It doesn't matter and I only said I was tired of lesbians because I'm frustrated with the whole dating scene. It never seems to work out for me. Most of the women I've dated are only looking for casual sex and casual relationships and I guess I'm ready for more."

"I thought you enjoyed being alone and playing the field."

"Being alone is not a problem for me. My mother taught me to be self-sufficient and she taught me never to depend on someone else for my happiness." Ridley poked at her chest as she said the next words. "She said real happiness comes from inside here."

"I can't argue with that," Laurie said.

"She also told me that being able to survive on your own makes you stronger. Even as a young girl, I promised myself I'd never be one of those people who fell apart every time they found themselves alone. Being alone isn't such a bad thing, you know."

"I agree, but why do I get the feeling it's getting to you?"

"Because it is." Ridley took in a deep breath and forced it out. It wasn't easy to admit what she knew she was about to say, not to herself or to her best friend. "Look, it's not that I can't be alone, it's that I don't want to be, not anymore. I want someone in my life."