“And so it begins. Like always. The shouting. That’s all they ever do to each other. Yell.” She stabbed at her pasta, twirling her fork into the long strands.
“It’ll be okay.”
“I know it will, but now they’re using me to get the upper hand. It started with Mom, and she’s only asking you to show that she’s caring more for me than what my dad does.” She sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. If you do need some tutoring, then my door is open.”
Teal smiled at him. She stared down at her plate and frowned. “Do you ever wonder what went wrong and why?”
He was a little confused.
She looked up and smiled. “I’m sorry. It’s just that between my mom’s affair, and moving, everything seems to have gone wrong. I never used to test badly. I was a great student, or used to be.”
“I understand. Going through your parents’ separation can be tough. It can affect you in ways that you’re not prepared for.”
Teal laughed. “That’s not it, at all. Trust me. The only difference right now is that you’re not hearing the other side of the conversation. My parents are rivals. Or they used to be.They worked at rival companies. Same positions and everything. Trust me, I’m used to them being at each other’s throats all the time.”
“Your dad’s not around, Teal. He usually is. That could have an impact.”
She sighed. “I guess you’re right.” She put her fork down.
“Damn it, David, you are not a better parent than me. While I’m trying to figure out what went wrong with Teal, you’re too busy licking your damn wounds with your PA. Who is now, Natasha, Becky, well…”
Jaxson watched Teal as she listened. She was an interesting person.
In his class, she sat in the back of the room, and each time he called on her, she had the answer. She never put her hand up. Always looked at the board, took her notes. She did everything right. There was a sadness in her eyes, and for the first time in his life, he had a need to make it go away. To see her smile.
“So, do you think Leanne and Stew are going to make it work?” Jaxson asked, reciting the gossip he’d heard from his students.
Teal looked at him and frowned. “Are you listening to school rumors, teach?”
“It was hard not to overhear. Don’t you think they whisper loudly?”
She burst out laughing, and that smile, damn, it shook him to his core. “Yeah, they do. From their whispering, I have since learned that apparently Leanne is a real hussy. She has slept with the entire basketball team, not to mention a couple of the guys from the wrong side of the tracks. As for Stew, he has screwed all of her friends as well as her enemies.”
“Wow,” Jaxson whispered. “And when I was in high school it was all about getting to prom.”
Teal chuckled. “There is still that as well. Prom is themost important social event of the year.”
“I’ve already been asked to chaperone.”
“Are you going to do it?”
“Hell no. I remember prom. It was a long time ago, but trying to deal with these kids, not happening. Will you be going to prom?”
“Hell no.”
“You don’t want to go to a dance, dress up, have some fun?”
“Not a chance. I’m not going to be the dateless girl on the sidelines. I don’t know anyone well enough to even accept a dance from them. Trust me, it will be no problem not going.”
“You only get one prom.”
“And this one, I will miss.” She shrugged. “Were you the guy who spiked the punch?”
Jaxson snorted. “I was the prom king.”
“Oh, my, you were?”