She glances up from her desk and pushes her glasses up on her nose. “Not faring well, dear Pike.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“I don’t care to communicate at this time.”
I nod. “Okay, well, you know where I am if you do want to talk.”
“I appreciate your camaraderie,” she says, and hell, I feel fucking bad for her. Really bad.
I wish there was more that I could do, maybe talk to Kelvin, see where he’s at, but then again, Keiko broke up with Kelvin because she knew he didn’t want kids. She hasn’t told him she’s pregnant, and it’s not my place to say anything to him. Hopefully she’ll change her mind soon.
“Anytime, I just—” My stomach gurgles, loud enough for Keiko to hear from across the room.
“Dear sir, did that bellow erupt from your intestines?”
I place my hand on my stomach. “Yeah, I believe so.”
“Concerning. The deep rumble accompanied by the severity of boisterous sound ripping through your intestines leads me to believe that you are going to be incapacitated in a few minutes.”
“No, I think I’m just—” Rumble, rumble, gurgle. Oh fuck. That does not feel right.
Keiko winces. “Do you require the assistance of a toilet?”
I shake my head and take a deep breath. “No. I’m okay. Probably just hungry.” I straighten up and say, “I’m heading to my classroom and I’ll eat something before the students arrive.”
“Well, you’ve obtained my phone number. Please feel obliged to message me if there seems to be any gastrointestinal issues.” She adjusts her glasses again. “I’m not a gastroenterologist, but I must say, that inharmonious clamoring is not orderly.”
Yeah, they don’t feel orderly either.
“Thanks, Keiko,” I say, raising my hand and then disappearing down the hall to my classroom. I set my things down and carefully take a seat as my stomach rumbles again.
I didn’t have much to eat last night, so maybe my stomach is just telling me to feed it. I reach into my backpack, find the protein bar I packed for myself, and down that pretty quickly, hoping it helps my stomach. I top it off with some water and take a few deep breaths.
When nothing else happens, I heave a sigh of relief.
See? Hungry.
That’s all it was.
Just a very empty stomach.
Thank goodness.
The bell rings overhead and kids shuffle into my room, all tired, all not wanting to be at school today. They take their seats, and I let them talk for a few minutes as I collect my notes for the day. Just as I reach for my journal, my stomach grumbles again, but this time, the grumbling is lower.
Not quite in my stomach this go-around.
Fuck, that doesn’t feel right.
I pause, hands on my desk, and glance down. A heavy pressure starts to build at the base of my spine, and not a good kind of pressure. My intestines cramp, I start to sweat, and it hits me all at once . . .
Fucking Cora and her coffee.
I push back from the desk, clenching my butt cheeks together, and shoot up from my chair, my feet getting tangled on the chair legs, and at the same time snagging my mobile from the front pocket of my bag. My frantic movements draw the attention of my students.
“Be right back,” I say quickly as I charge out of the room and straight toward the teachers’ lounge, which is right across from my classroom—thank God.
I run into the bathroom, texting Principal Dewitt, asking her to go to my class, and then rush to the toilet.
I’ll spare you the details of what happens next, but all you need to know is that Cora went too fucking far.
Chapter Twelve
CORA
“I think I went too far,” I whisper quietly as I sit at the teachers’ lounge table. Normally, we have lunch in Greer’s classroom, but some kid threw up in the middle of her class and the room is being cleaned, and Stella’s classroom is being used by the Chess Club right now, so our lunch has been switched to the teachers’ lounge, which makes me uncomfortable.
I don’t like being out in the open like this. I want to be able to speak freely, without hushed tones. I don’t like having to keep my voice down or use code words.
Currently, Sunflower is code for Pike. Just to keep you abreast.
We hoped to have Keiko join us for lunch today but she refused our invitation and said even though the three days were up, she still wanted time to herself. I sent her donuts this morning, and her reply was . . . did he tell you?
Did who tell me?
I was so confused and was about to ask her what she was talking about, but then we had a social media nightmare I had to clean up, and by the end of that, I forgot to respond. When I was walking to the teachers’ lounge, I just texted her back and told her to enjoy.