“They looked like three strutting roosters walking around with their chests puffed out. They couldn’t have been prouder. I was the only one embarrassed. So, to get away from the situation, I pointed at something to make them look away, and then I ran.”
“No!” Gabe pushed me back under the water as he laughed heartily. “Tell me you’re lying!”
“No! I told you I was panicking!”
“Sweet baby Jesus, Winnie. At least tell me you got their numbers.”
“Oh, I’m never seeing them again. No way.” I shook my head and grabbed for his soap. “Never in a million years.”
“You’re kidding me.” Gabe deflated, his frown almost comical. “You look like they unloaded thirty pounds of stress from your shoulders, Winnie. You’ve had this goofy smile on your face every time you think I’m not looking.”
I shook my head harder. “It was a thing that happened, but I’m not doing it again. I’m already struggling enough to not freak out even more.”
“Damn it, woman.” He pulled his shirt off and sighed. “You have no idea how much fun I could’ve had with this.”
“How much funyoucould’ve had?”
He wiped the water droplets from his body and nodded. “Yeah. Getting you laid is a big dream of mine. It’s right up there with teaching kids math and having sex with any of the men from the Fast and Furious movies.”
“Consider your dream lived. I had sex with three men in one night. That would’ve normally taken years. I’m all caught up until Birdie’s in college, I think.”
Gabe gasped and pretended to fall against the counter. “You’re killing me. But don’t think this is getting you out of telling me every single detail. If not tonight, then over lunch in the teachers’ lounge tomorrow. Your choice.”
9
Winnie
“Ms.Lane,Ineeda word with you.” Principal Stand stood at the front of the classroom the staff had been using for the afterschool meeting. The meeting had already gone over, but what Principal Stand wanted, she got.
I nodded while smiling, despite feeling like vomiting. The woman had been worse than ever over the last month. She seemed to have made it her mission to torture me into quitting. So far, all she’d managed to do was make me feel like crap. I wasn’t sleeping very well from all the stress, and just walking into the school was making me sick to my stomach.
I felt the other teachers glance my way as they headed out, including Gabe, who looked annoyed. I smiled at him, trying to let him know I was fine. Chances were Stand just wanted to flex her muscles some more. For some reason, being in charge of the entire staff of teachers wasn’t enough. She needed to make her power known in a more finite way.
As the last teacher left, I stretched my lips into what I hoped looked like a smile. “What can I do for you, Principal Stand?”
“Ms. Lane, I believe I’ve made it clear to you more than a few times that the handbook makes the dress code for staff very clear. Have I not?” She ran her eyes down my dress and scowled. “That dress doesn’t meet any standards, anywhere, much less in a professional setting like this one.”
I looked down at my dress and frowned. It was a bright dress, but there were letters and numbers all over it, and it hung off me, not clinging anywhere. It wasn’t as elegant as her pencil skirts, but it was appropriate for an art teacher. “I’m sorry, Principal Stand, but—”
“I’m just about tired of you being sorry, Ms. Lane. If you don’t start showing that you’re a professional, I’ll be forced to reevaluate your spot here at Stand Elementary.” She adjusted the buttons on her fitted suit jacket and shook her head. “Honestly, I don’t even know where you find things like that. It’s like you work to be unprofessional.”
I swallowed. Stand Elementary, as in Principal Stand had married into the founding family of the town. If the rumor mill was right, she’d been divorced for a little over a year, but it didn’t take away the fact that she was big in town. If she fired me, I wouldn’t work in Stand again. “I’m sorry. I’ll take care of it.”
She rolled her eyes and looked me up and down again. “You look terrible. You should be careful before someone starts spreading a rumor about drug use. Those bags under your eyes don’t exactly inspire confidence.”
I gasped, but she was already striding out of the room, leaving me flustered and as angry as ever. There was nothing I could do, and that was almost the worst part. Being talked to that way, at all, was the actual worst. It was hard to believe anyone was truly that mean. Yet, there Principal Stand was, as mean as a snake.
Gabe strolled into the room a few seconds later, his eyes narrowed at the hallway, even as he walked towards me. “That flagrant bitch. She looked so smug walking out of here. I’m sure she’s feeling great about whatever she just said to you. Are you okay, baby cakes?”
I sighed and nodded. “Yeah, fine. Are you still okay with riding to the mechanic with me?”
He stared at me, his frown marring his handsome face. He looked like he wanted to argue with me, but finally he just blew out an exasperated breath and nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m good to go.”
“Thank you for going with me. I’ve read so many things about how some shops will take advantage of a single woman, thinking they don’t know anything about costs. And because I don’t know anything about costs, that’s where you come in. My strapping, strong best friend who is going to pass as my boyfriend with big muscles and a decent knowledge of the cost of tires.”
Gabe threw his arm over my shoulders and led me out to the teachers’ parking lot. “I love playing straight for you. Remember the time we did it to make that visiting magician leave you alone? I got to grope your boobies that time.”
I tried to look stern, but I couldn’t help giggling. Just walking out of the school lifted my spirits and eased my sick feeling. “Just the fact that you say ‘boobies’ is a dead giveaway, Gabe.”