Double Threats Forever (4 page)

He turns my way with a weak smile.

And then, first period mathematics begins. Calculus for dummies. I want to go back to the days when numbers were numbers and not represented by letters and symbols, and when all I needed was a four-function calculator.

Math goes by quickly. We check out our books at the library and then our teacher spends the rest of the period discussing supplies and homework schedules. We’ll have tests every other Friday. My ears perk up at the mention of extra credit on our tests if we complete all homework assignments. Not a bad incentive. I hate exams.

“Looks like you’re on your own, Meg. Go get ‘em,” Keesh says, slapping me on the ass as I walk away from my friends.

We’re all going in different directions. I have AP Physics next. Steph’s on her way to be Mrs. Cruz’s teacher’s aide. I wish I could go with her. I’m dying to hear the news about her and Mrs. Fuller’s brother. I’ll have to wait until fifth period to get the scoop from Mrs. Fuller herself.

I walk into my next class and I’m not surprised to see Amy. Of course, we’d have physics together. The only class in my schedule, other than teacher’s aide, that I don’t have my friends for back up. Or support. Or something.

I sit far enough away from her so that we don’t get paired up for any labs if this weirdo teacher decides to group us with our table mate or the people behind, in front of, or on the side of us. I’m a good six people away from her so I think I’m safe.

Nothing but the same old stuff happens in this class. Another talk about the importance of our senior year and staying strong until graduation. This teacher reminds us that we need to pass his class to be eligible for all the four-year universities we’ll be applying to in the next few months.

Holy crap. I really need to figure out what I’m going to do when I grow up. I’ve always been set on going to college, just haven’t given it much thought about where, why, or what. As my teacher rattles off something about basic classroom procedures, I jot down a few notes in my planner.

Colleges:

Where: Near Alex

Why: to be near Alex

What: whatever Alex is doing

Well, that’s a start. A sad one, but a start nonetheless. I really need to consider something other than Alex when making plans for my future.

But then again, a future without Alex …

Nope. Not even going there. A future without him doesn’t exist.

We all meet up at our lunch spot on the way to third period. Keesh is giddy because she gets to see her man candy, Mr. Marino. She’s his aide again. Josh is just as dopey since he has Ms. McGallian next—who happens to be annoyingly hot and also Mr. Marino’s woman. For now. That guy is a tool. I doubt they’ll last the rest of the year.

I’m on my own again as I head to English. I spot Amy whipping open the door to my next class. Figures. I now have two classes with Amy without backup. Now, I can’t wait to get to college and put all this high school drama behind me. With my luck, we’ll probably end up going to the same school. Wouldn’t that be a total bitch?

Our English teacher explains there will be more of an emphasis on reading non-fiction text this year. It sounds interesting. I’m ready to do somersaults across the room when she says we won’t be reading any Shakespeare this year. Somewhere some old English teachers are rolling in their graves at the announcement but I think it’s the best thing I’ve heard all day.

We’re
encouraged
(which really means required) to read books for pleasure. For real? What’s that like? They pile all this work on us, expect us to read chapter after chapter in all our textbooks, then want us to read a book for fun. As if. Let me just skip meals and sleeping so I can squeeze that right in. In middle school, I read all the time. The girls and I passed books back and forth like the pants in Sisterhood. Since then, we just haven’t had time. Something tells me it’s not gonna get any better until I’m done with college.

So until the bell rings, I sit at my desk staring blankly at my teacher, wondering when I’ll ever read a book for fun again.

Finally, the period I’ve been looking forward to all day. We’re all here. Me. Keesh. Stephanie. Travis. Andi. Josh. And Eric too. No sign of Amy. She left this class freshman year when her sexual exploits became public knowledge. It wouldn’t have even been a big deal if she wasn’t dating one of the hottest seniors on campus, if not
the
hottest one—Alex. Yes, my Alex. Well, he wasn’t mine at the time. So yeah, Eric cheated on me. And she cheated on Alex.

Whatever. We survived. Too bad her reputation didn’t.

The ASB room is like a Ke$ha concert, musty and full of glitter. I’d hate to be the one to clean this room on a daily basis. It’s a freaking mess and it hasn’t gotten any better over the years.

Mr. Mitchell must have had one too many cups of coffee this morning because he’s like a firecracker going off in all directions, dishing orders and passing out information. I steal a task from his hand and gather the crew in the cafeteria to get started.

“Listen up,” I shout, trying to quiet Josh and Travis who are trying to trip each other. “We have to cut out huge individual letters from cardboard to spell out ‘seniors’. And then we have to paint them red.”

“I’ll start drawing the letters,” Keesh says.

“I can help with some of them so we finish faster,” Andi offers.

“Boys, go get the cardboard,” Steph tells them.

Josh salutes her and they take off to the other room to get supplies.

The girls and I sit down while we wait. “So how’s Mrs. Cruz?” I ask Steph.

Her eyes brighten and a cheesy grin appears. “She’s not Mrs. Cruz anymore.”

“What?” we all ask.

“Nope. She’s Mrs. Gelson.”

“Dude, she married Meg’s Ms. Gelson?” Andi says. “I didn’t know she was a lesbian.”

I shake my head. That can’t be right. “No. That’s not the
original
Ms. Gelson’s name anymore. She goes by Mrs. Fuller now since she got married.”

“That’s right,” Andi agrees.

“So how is she Mrs. Gelson then?” Keesh asks.

The light bulb finally flashes on in my head. “The brother. Mrs. Fuller’s brother. They got married?”

Steph nods repeatedly. “She showed me pictures. She looked beautiful.”

“Dude, wait a minute. My art teacher’s name is Mr. Gelson.”

Steph smacks her palm to the side of her head. “Duh, I forgot. Her hubby is the new art teacher.”

“And I thought we had drama,” Keesh says, shaking her head slowly with a smirk.

“Yeah, no kidding. They could film a reality show here. The Desperate Teachers of Carver High.” We all laugh at Steph’s joke.

“I wouldn’t call Mrs. Fuller or Mrs. Gelson desperate. Have you seen them? They’re gorgeous. And their husbands? Mr. Fuller is fine.”

“And so is Mr. Gelson. The man looks like he could be a cover model for underwear. He has dreamy eyes.” Andi rests her chin in her hand with a content sigh.

“Well, Mr. Marino is still hot as hell.” Keesh never misses a beat to talk about her favorite teacher.

“And he’s an ass too.” I can’t stand the guy.

“Don’t talk crap about my teacher.”

“Keesh, he cheated on Mrs. Fuller with Ms. McG. He’s a dick.”

“Dude, you all are confusing me with all the misters and misses. I have no idea what the hell is going on.”

“Let me break it down for you,” I tell her. “Okay. First, Mrs. Fuller was engaged to Mr. Marino. They were together forever. Then, he dumped Mrs. Fuller for Ms. McGallian.”

“No one ever said he cheated,” Keesh says in his defense.

“No one had to. It’s assumed. That’s why he’s a dick. Anyway, so then Mr. Fuller put his moves on her and she fell in love with him so they got married, remember? That’s how the original Ms. Gelson became Mrs. Fuller. But I still call her Ms. G sometimes because I forget. Mrs. Fuller sounds weird.”

“Dude, this is crazy.”

I hold up my hand. “Wait, I’m not done yet. Mrs. Cruz was married before. Then she got divorced. I think her husband cheated too but I’m not sure. So anyway, Mrs. Cruz and Mr. Gelson were like in love in high school. Her and Mrs. Fuller have been best friends since elementary school. So when she became available, I guess he staked his claim. This is so exciting.”

“It’s like a fucking soap opera,” Keesh says.

“And you still haven’t heard the big news yet.” Steph is practically falling out of her seat with excitement.

“What is it?” I ask. We stare at her in silence waiting for her to dish the gossip.

“I can’t say. It’s a secret, but you’ll find out next period.”

Chapter 4

Lunch drags on as I wait for the bell to ring so I can go back to Mrs. Fuller’s class. Stephanie is keeping her word and keeping her mouth shut. I told Travis about the secret so we both walked over to her class at the beginning of lunch, and Mr. Fuller’s, but their doors were locked. Travis is just as interested since he is Mr. Fuller’s teacher’s aide.

When the bell finally rings, I jump to my feet. Travis kisses Andi on the top of her head and we’re out. Our classes are only a few doors down from one another. I stop at the missus, while Travis continues on to the mister.

Yes. The doorknob turns and I rush in.

“Oh my god!” My hands fly up to my mouth in shock, and let’s be honest, I get all teary eyed. “Congratulations.” My teacher is putting stacks of paper at the front of each row, and she looks adorable with her baby bump. She’s totally prego.

Before I can say anything else, Travis crashes through the door. “I had to see you.” His smile lights up the room. He jogs over to Mrs. Fuller and gives her a giant hug. “Congratulations.” Then he comes my way and scoops me up too. “This is so cool, Meggie.” And then he vanishes as quickly as he appeared.

I turn to Mrs. Fuller who appears breathless. “My turn,” I tell her. And then I shuffle over and hug her too. “Congratulations. I’m so happy for you.”

“Thank you, Meggie. From the look on your face, I’m guessing Steph kept it a secret.” I nod. “I wanted to surprise you.”

“What an awesome surprise. This is way too cool.”

“Hey, before class starts, can you go pick up some papers from Mrs. Cruz for me?”

“Sure. I’ll be right back.” I toss my backpack on my desk and go down the hall.

“Where you going?” Travis asks as he falls in step next to me.

“To Mrs. Cruz’s class. Or should I say Mrs. Gelson? Gotta pick something up. You?”

“Same here.”

Travis opens the door and we walk in. She’s writing something on the board, her backside to us, and she says, “Come on in.”

“Hey, Mrs. Gelson. Congrats on the new name!” I say, a little too excitedly. “I can’t wait to meet the new art teacher.”

“Is that right?” she teases as she turns around, revealing yet another baby bump. Although, hers in much bigger than the one I just saw down the hall.

“Oh my god. We’re not drinking the water at this school anymore.” Travis laughs, then makes his way around her desk and hugs her. “Congratulations.”

“You guys better not be drinking any of this water,” Mrs. Gelson says, gesturing to her baby bulge.

The three of us chuckle as I scoot past Trav to offer my wishes. “Yeah, congrats on the wedding and the baby. Do you know what you’re having?”

“Yes, a little girl.”

“Sweet,” Travis says. The tardy bell rings, signaling class to start. “We better go. We didn’t have to pick anything up from you, did we?”

“No,” she shakes her head. “Go on back to class. Nice to see you guys again. Big bad seniors. It’s gonna be a fantastic year, I know it.”

It’s a total trip that I have social studies with Keesh and Travis again for sixth period. This year, we’re taking AP Government first semester and AP Economics second. Three tests are plenty. I’d love to pass them so I don’t have to take the actual courses in college.

“Hey, you guys should try not to get detention on the first day again.” Keesh jokes with us.

“I’m breaking bad habits today. I got to school on time. And I’m not staying after school.”

Travis juts out his bottom lip. “Are you sure? I was looking forward to it.”

“You better not do anything to piss off this teacher or I’ll break your face.” I don’t know where that came from. It was just the first thing that came to mind. Break your face. Dumb.

“Ooo … you’re scaring me, Meg. I’m shaking.”

“Let’s just sit down and shut it already before you do get in trouble again.” Keesh sits in the front row.

“We’ll be back here,” Travis says, letting me pass and then following me down a row.

That girl is such a history nerd. In every other class, she sits in the back like a slacker just like the rest of us, but not in social studies. She hangs on every word the teacher says and takes frantic notes like history is going to change if she doesn’t get it all down. It could also be that our teachers have been hot, but we haven’t seen this guy yet.