Squeals of disgust all around. “Gross,” says Corinna.
Brianna exhales, and only then does she realize that she is trembling. “Lunch is over, ladies,” she says without looking at her watch.
“Are you for serious?” says Lizette. “We still got like fifteen minutes.”
“Lunch is over.”
Brianna turns away, leaving the girls to gather their wrappers, but not before she sees Lizette toss the banana into the planter.
THAT AFTERNOON at Community Meeting, after the girls have arranged their chairs in a circle and Brianna has reminded them to note the date of the Open House next month, she asks if anyone has anything they want to check in about. Lizette is the first to raise her hand.
Instead, Brianna calls on Tabitha, who sits up straight and smooths her curly hair before talking. “Yeah, miss, I got a headphone issue. I don’t get why they’re not allowed, because, like, when we’re studying, it’s easier to tune people out with headphones. My thing is, if people are talking to each other, it’s easier to concentrate with music.”
Brianna smiles hard, aware of Lizette’s hand swaying. “Those are valid points, Tabitha, and I appreciate you bringing them up. Our classroom rules make the classroom similar to a workplace. At a job you can’t answer personal calls or use headphones. The point is to give you what you need to succeed in the world outside the classroom. But during lunch and breaks, you’re welcome to listen to music.”
Tabitha flops back into her chair, dissatisfied. “Okay,” she says, unconvinced.
Lizette’s head is cocked in challenge.
“Yes,” Brianna says coldly. “Lizette?”
“Hey, miss. I really feel you weren’t fair, cutting our lunch short. We need nutrition.”
Brianna forces herself to look at the girl, and to her dismay, her heart kicks with agitation. She hopes the movement isn’t visible through her sweater. Every single thing about Lizette bugs Brianna: those pretty eyes, that insolent fat slouch. Brianna can sense Lizette fungating, sending out spores of toxic attitude. She’s just so—sexual. “Well, I feel you were misusing your lunchtime. Lunch is for eating, and you were not eating that banana.”
Lizette rolls her eyes. “You’re just all—I feel you’re just all butt-hurt because you can’t take a joke. Just because something’s not funny to you doesn’t mean it’s not funny to other people.”
“Lizette, that behavior was not school-appropriate.” Brianna taps the classroom rules printed on the piece of butcher paper behind her. “You weren’t respecting yourself or your classmates, who deserve to eat lunch without being subjected to that kind of display. Your behavior might even be construed as sexual harassment.”
“Sexual harassment?” Lizette hoots. “Who’d I harass? The banana?”
Brianna takes a deep breath. “Sex is not a performance or a joke. It is something that should occur between consenting adults.”
Ysenia raises her hand tentatively, and with relief Brianna nods to her. “Yes?”
“I mean, it could be a performance or a joke, right? Like, if we want it to be? Didn’t you say that we’re in charge of our bodies? That we should be sex-positive?”
“It was inappropriate,” Brianna says too loudly. Sweat trickles between her breasts. Indeed, the front of her sweater wavers with each heartbeat. “Any future behavior like that could be grounds for expulsion from the Smart Starts! program, which has, as you all know, a zero-tolerance policy for behavior that could negatively impact members of the community. I suggest you all bear this in mind. And now, Journaling Time.” The relief in the room is palpable, and the girls drag their chairs to their desks and pull out their journals.
Oh, it’s ironic that Brianna Gruver is teaching in the Smart Starts! program. In college, Brianna took an evolutionary biology class, and the entire semester turned out to be one long source of sorrow to her. Every lecture, every theory, every finding of every study, emphasized that Brianna Gruver had none of the traits signifying fertility, none of the bosoms or hips or plush ample fragrant femininity that the male of the human species, despite what the fashion magazines indicate, is looking for in a mate.