Loyal readers of mine will notice a few familiar names in here. Enjoy!
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"Goddammit!" I shrieked at my rearview mirror as the light ahead of me changed to red. The fucking stoplights had been my nemesis this evening, and now? There was a cop behind me. I'd have blazed right through, otherwise; as it was, I could see him giving me a cynical look from behind as I had to stomp on the brakes when I realized I wouldn't be able to make the yellow.
I wasn't late, I told myself, not really. I'd been told the parents wouldn't get there until six, and it wasn't even 5:40 yet. But I knew myself, and I knew my sanity needed to give me at least ten minutes or so to settle myself down and be my usual grinning self before my very first Parents' Night as a full-time teacher at Bennett-
Sanderson High School. I'd wanted to get there by 5:45, but the red lights had seen to it that that would never happen.
"Fuck," I sighed; suddenly, the silence oppressed me. I'd turned off my stereo to focus on weaving in and out of the slower cars, but now I flicked it on and tried to relax to the dulcet strains of the Finnish death-metal Ben was trying to get me into.
Without success, so far. Though I did find myself drumming on the wheel as the red light stared at me, mocking my haste. On top of everything else, I needed to pee. I sighed. Thanksgiving was coming, and I didn't have much to be thankful for just then.
My tires chirped as I flew over the stop-line when the light turned green, my eyes on my mirror; the cop wavered, undecided, before sending his SUV down the other street, and at once I floored it down Madison St, behind the junior-high, until my worried eyes caught the glow in the distance: the lights in Memorial Stadium, where our girls' soccer team was holding its Senior Night.
I whipped my car right on Shaeffer, down past the apartment complex there, and then with a hard reckless smile of relief I was barreling into the high school parking lot, narrowly missing a pair of custodians out there putting up a sign telling the parents where to park. In... shit!...in just eleven minutes, I'd need to be behind my desk, composed and, hopefully, de-urinated.
I hunted for a space, on the prowl. Off to my left, the Alternate Field stretched into the twilight. Coach Jenner had his football team out there, running drills, a few of them already taking off their helmets; practice ended at six, apparently. Jenner stood there with his hands on his hips, yelling, tall in his trucker cap; Jenner was an okay guy, but he had a bad habit, when talking to younger teachers, of speaking directly to their breasts.
Especially if they were well-endowed. So, Coach Jenner spent a lot of time speaking to mine, whenever he had a chance.
I spotted a space not far from the staff door in the back, down from the loading dock, and only after I'd pulled my Honda into the space did I look at that same rearview mirror I'd been so obsessed with and realize, with an anchor dragging my heart down to my stomach, that my door fob wasn't hanging there. "Fuck!" I pounded the wheel in frustration, my brain reminding me that, sure enough, I'd left my fob on my desk, where it now waited happily for me.
Meaning I wouldn't be able to get into the staff door unless there was someone there, inside, waiting to let me in. My thoughts went to the loading dock, but no; half the time that door was locked, too.
I frowned at myself in that mirror, the clock ticking. Ben said I frowned well, my full lips making a curve that, he claimed, looked sexy; just then, I wasn't seeing it. I was seeing a super-pissed young woman, running late and getting later. I could get in from the front door, I knew, but that was clear on the other side of the campus. Fuck that.
Still frowning, I sprang out of my car and spun to grab my big leather teacher-bag from the backseat. The bag was a monstrosity that my mom had bought me when I'd gotten this gig, the permanent one at the end of the summer. That had been just a couple months ago, though I'd been in the building last year for a few months as a long-term sub.
I paused, glaring up at the staff door. I didn't see anyone through the glass; hell, the lights weren't even on back here. Everyone, tonight, would be using the front door. I glanced around; full parking lot. I was probably the last teacher to arrive.
It was dinner. Stopping for food had delayed me too much. I should've had my food delivered, clearly, but I'd had to rush home and feed Ben's cat. Fucking cat. I ground my teeth and clenched my bladder and cursed myself for dating a guy with a cat. I mean, I like cats. In this case, it was the owner I had a problem with; the cat was just an excuse. Things, I reflected, would be much better right now if my cat-guy had a better penis.
Had to be said. Ben was warm, kind, and generally awesome, but... well.
I stomped up the steps toward the staff door. Jenner's voice drifted from way behind, across the parking lot and on the field; he'd need to leave soon too. He had his PE classes to be ready for, if any parent even bothered coming in to see their kid's PE teacher. I pushed listlessly at the bar on the staff door, the thing not even budging: yep. Locked. I thought about pounding on the glass, even shouting, but I knew that would draw Coach's attention.
He'd probably come straight over to help out the fresh new young history teacher. While staring at my cleavage. He'd come eventually anyway and let me in, probably right at 5:57 or so, but I wanted into the building
now
.
I whirled, glancing all around me for an idea. The football team was breaking up over on the field. The lights on the stadium across the street showed soccer players, charging around. And my watch kept on ticking.
My wild eyes found sudden salvation at last: a door was ajar! Just a few feet away stood two doorways, to the girls' and the boys' locker rooms. One of them was wedged open just now, kept from closing by a flip-flop jammed into the door. I gasped, smiling, thinking about this: I could totally do it. I could charge on in there, sprint through the locker room, and break on through into the school's rear corridor, lickety-split, then make a pit stop at the downstairs bathroom before flying up the stairs.
I checked my watch. I'd be there, emptied, by 5:55.
I didn't hesitate. There was a 50/50 chance it was the boys' room I was shoving into, but it shouldn't matter either way: the boys were out at practice, the girls were in the stadium. The locker rooms should be deserted. So I barged in through the opened door, my nose instantly picking up dirty socks, wet grass, and sweat as I passed through the darkened vestibule and into the fluorescent blaze of the room proper, rows of blue lockers receding into the distance.
I'd never been in here, obviously, since as soon as I stepped into the light I realized it was the boys' room I was in. I paused a moment, listening, trying to figure out where I should go: the door had to be on the far side of the room, though, so with the entire football team getting finished up out on the Alternate Field, I knew I'd better hurry.
I moved, my heels clacking loudly, all the way down that first row of lockers, deeper into the stench. In the corner, my heart exulting, I expected to see a door leading out into the school... but found nothing.
Fuck.