The new teacher is clearly straight out of college. Her face has that fresh look that eight years teaching high school math has flushed out of me. She’s pretty in a young and perky sort of way. If she put on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, she could easily pass for one of the students, but instead she’s wearing a pink blouse and brown skirt, paired with brown loafer heels that I saw at Target last week for twenty-five dollars.
I nudge Shelby, who is mid-sentence, gushing about some restaurant that served the best stuffed shrimp she’s ever had. “Who is that?”
Shelby looks across the cafeteria at the young woman cozying up to my husband. “I think her name is Hailey. She’s the new…um, French teacher?”
French teacher. It’s almost too cliché.
Shelby’s eyes narrow at me. “You’re not worried, are you? Come on. Nate is a good guy.”
I want to believe that. I want to believe that the late nights last year were all just because he was sticking around to grade papers or supervise extracurricular activities. I want to believe that our regimented one night of sex per month is all just because he has a low sex drive.
“Yes,” I finally say. “I’m sure you’re right.”
And now Hailey, the pretty French teacher, has a hand on his forearm. I want to scratch her eyes out. The only saving grace is that Ed Rice, who is chronically single, seems to actively be putting the moves on Hailey. But it’s clear who Hailey’s choice would be between the two men. Ed is twenty years her senior and balding.
Fortunately, the bell for the next period rings before I can do anything I would regret.
Usually, Nate and I dash out of the cafeteria to go in our separate directions after lunch is over. But this time, I stride purposefully in his direction, my heels clicking loudly against the floor. I grab him by the arm, in the same place where Hailey was touching him moments earlier.
“Hey,” I say. “How’s your first day going?”
Nate blinks at me, surprised that I’ve spoken to him on school grounds. But he quickly smiles. “Swimmingly. How about you, my darling?”
“Good so far.”
“Fantastic.”
Nate raises an eyebrow, clearly wondering why I approached him. I’m not sure if Hailey is watching us, but just in case she is, I reach out and grab his brown tie, tugging him close to me. If I were a cat, I would have peed on him, but since I’m a human, I plant a kiss on his lips that is markedly steamier than our usual three kisses per day.
He seems surprised, and as always, he’s the one who breaks away from the kiss first. And after he does, he brushes at his lower lip with his index finger. “Well then,” he says. “That was a nice send-off.”
He’s smiling, but I’ve been married to him long enough to know when it’s not a real smile. But Hailey doesn’t know.
My classroom is on the third floor, and I make it there with two minutes to spare before the next bell rings. The new students are filtering into the classroom, sitting wherever they want. I’ll have to reorganize them. I’ve learned from prior experience that if I don’t separate teenagers from their friends, I’ll never be able to keep their attention.
But before I can get into the classroom, a girl steps in front of me. I recognize her as Jasmine Owens, who was in my class all of last year. I gave her an A-plus both semesters. She’s paired a nice blouse with her blue jeans for the first day of school, and she’s traded her usual sneakers for a pair of closed-toed sandals with flowers decorating the toes.
“Mrs. Bennett,” she says. “I’m so sorry to bother you, but I was just hoping to catch you before your class started.”
“What’s wrong, Jasmine?”
She flashes me a nervous smile. “I’m trying to get my college applications sorted out, and I was hoping you could write me a letter of recommendation.” Before I can answer, she adds, “You’ve been my favorite teacher, like, ever. I’m planning to get a degree in education, and I want to be a math teacher—like you.”
My cheeks flush with pleasure, and some of the anger I was feeling back in the cafeteria drains out of me. Jasmine was an amazing student, so I’m not surprised she’s already working on her college applications. And it feels good to hear that I made a difference in a student’s life. There are days when I feel like I’m just teaching kids a subject that they hate and—let’s face it—will almost certainly never use again. It’s hard to make an argument for sines and cosines being useful in day-to-day life.