CHAPTER SIXTEEN | DESIREE
“Alright everyone, settle down!” I barked from behind my desk.
The first period bell had rung five minutes earlier, but my classroom was still buzzing with the sound of thirty-some restless students shuffling and clamoring to take their seats, all while giggling and chatting away.
There was good reason for the excitement, today was the first day back at school after the now-infamous cafeteria fire.
Although the blaze had mostly been isolated to the school cafeteria, there was still a fair amount of smoke and burn damage to the surrounding hallways and classrooms. So, the students and faculty of Hartford High School had gotten a week long ‘vacation’ while repairs were being made.
As of the first period bell this morning, Hartford High School was officially back in business… but based on the chatter spreading through my classroom, it seemed like my students were still stuck on ‘spring break’ mode.
There was a stack of freshly printed pop quizzes on my desk, still warm from the Xerox machine, and I rolled them into a makeshift megaphone and held it up to my mouth.
“Last warning!” I bellowed loudly through the paper cone. “Take your seats and zip your lips, otherwise I’m going to have to resort to the clapping game!”
The clapping game was a tactic of last resort, dreaded by teachers and students alike. The mere mention of the ‘game’ usually incited a reluctant hush or chorus of stifled groans, but not today.
Today, even that wasn’t enough to incite a sense of calm in my unruly classroom. Undaunted by the threat of the clapping game, my first period students kept right on giggling and gossiping away.
I huffed out a sigh and raised my makeshift megaphone again.
“Alright, how about this,” I barked. “You have three seconds to take your seats. Any students left standing after I count to three will be joining me at the front of the classroom to offer a comprehensive overview of this week’s reading assignment. 1…”
Well that did the trick.
A collective hush immediately rolled over the classroom, and before I could even count to ‘2’ all thirty-some students had stuffed themselves into their desks and clamped their mouths shut.
“Wow, no volunteers?” I grinned as I circled around to the front of my desk. My thirty-some students just blinked back at me in silence.
“I hope this doesn’t mean you guys skimped on your reading assignments last week,” I said, unrolling my paper megaphone and hugging the pop quizzes against my chest, “Because we’re actually going to start today’s class with a pop quiz.”
The students shifted around in their seats and exchanged panicked glances. One student raised his hand reluctantly.
“Yes, Bobby?” I called on him.
“Um…” he mumbled, grimacing uncomfortably, “I thought that since we were on a break, we didn’t have to do the reading assignments anymore?”
“Oh,” I made my mouth into a little ‘o’ as I eyed the class. The general look of panic in the room told me that the rest of my students had reached a similar consensus.
“I see,” I said, raising my eyebrows. “Well I was hoping that you would all keep up with our reading assignments, regardless of the break…”
There was an audible gulping sound throughout the classroom.
“But,” I said, turning my stern face into a smile, “After the fire, I think we all needed a week off to reflect and relax.”
My students practically hunched over in their desks as they sighed with relief and nodded enthusiastically in agreement.
“Good call, Miss L!” Cody clapped from the front row, while the student sat beside him raised his arms over his head like an Olympic runner triumphantly sprinting across the finish line.
“There’s just one small problem,” I said, holding up the stack of papers. “I already printed off all of these pop quizzes…”
I wrinkled my face thoughtfully, pretending to hem and haw while my students watched anxiously from the edge of their seats.
“How about this,” I decided finally. “We’re still going to take the quiz--”
Before I could finish, I was cut off by an immediate chorus of groans. Some students muttered complaints under their breath, others locked their knuckles together and made mercy pleas.
“Hold on, hold on! Let me finish!” I held up my hands, silencing the classroom. Once everyone had quieted down, I continued, “We’re still going to take the quiz, but it will be open-book!”
That garnered even more relief and excitement, and I had to bite my tongue to keep myself from laughing as I passed out the quizzes. This was the most animated and excited my class had gotten all year, and I had to admit, I was impressed by their theatrics. Too bad this was AP English, and not drama club…
After I had passed out all the quizzes, I settled down in the chair behind my desk.
“You have fifteen minutes,” I said, glancing at the digital clock that was mounted on the cinderblock wall.
The classroom immediately went silent; the only sound was the flipping of textbook pages and the scribbling of pencils on paper. I surveyed the scene for a few seconds, then I turned my attention to the stack of homework assignments that I still had to grade for a later class.
I guess my students weren’t the only ones slacking off during the break… I thought to myself as I uncapped a red pen and poised it over the first assignment. I should have graded these ages ago…
We had made it halfway through the allotted quiz time when I heard the dull rumble of a cell phone vibrating from somewhere in the classroom. My eyes flicked up, and I saw several other students glancing around, trying to determine the source of the sound.
“Just a reminder,” I said, “The classroom cell phone policy still applies, even during open-book quizzes.”
I turned my attention back to the stack of papers on my desk, but before I could reach for my red grading pen, I heard the dull purr of another short vibration.
I sighed sharply and stood up from behind the desk, eyeing my class suspiciously.
“Guys, I’m going to say this again,” I said, trying my best to sound stern. “Please refrain from using your cell phones during--”
“I think it’s coming from your desk,” a student in the front row said. He pointed the end of his pencil towards my canvas school bag, which was resting on the edge of my desk.
“That’s not--” I frowned, but before I could finish, there was another vibration… and this time, there was no denying the source. The sound was coming straight from my canvas bag.
“Do you need a reminder of the cell phone policy, Miss L?” Cody cackled.
My cheeks flushed pink and I bowed my head, ignoring the snickers from the rest of the class.
“You have five more minutes to finish the quiz,” I said sharply as I snatched my bag off the desk and threw the strap over my shoulder. “I’ll be right back.”
I slipped out of the classroom and closed the door gently behind me, then I pulled open my bag and dug through the mess of textbooks and loose assignments until I located my cell phone. I brushed my thumb over the home button and the screen lit up.
There were three unread text messages displayed on the home screen, and they were all from Rory’s number.
My heart immediately spasmed in my chest and my mouth was suddenly as dry as the Nevada desert. My hands got so clammy that I nearly dropped the phone. I forced myself to close my eyes and take a long, deep breath.
I hadn’t seen Rory since that night. I still wasn’t sure what to call it… was it a reunion? Dinner between old friends? A… date?
I didn’t know what to make of it all, and I definitely didn’t know what to make of that kiss.
God, that kiss…
It was almost perfect… and then, in the blink of an eye, it was over.
I knew that Rory had a perfectly valid reason to leave. He was a fireman, and duty called. I knew I couldn’t hold that against him… but part of me still couldn’t help but feel like it was deja vu all over again.
That one kiss had proven that every feeling I ever felt for Rory was still alive and burning inside of me. But when he left… well, that proved that he could still disappear without a trace.
I blinked open my eyes and glanced down at the phone screen, then read the texts in the order that they had been received,
‘I still can’t believe I pulled the vanishing act on the best date of my life. How about a second second chance?’
‘There’s something I want to tell you. Dinner?’
‘I promise I’m not going anywhere this time, Des.’
I re-read that last text at least a dozen times, letting the words seep into my bloodstream like smooth, warm honey. My heart slowed to a purr and I let my shoulders slump back against the wall of lockers.
I could have been giddy that he had called our night together a ‘date.’ Not just a date, but ‘the best date of his life.’ I could have been over the moon that he wanted to see me again.
I could have fixated and flipped out over any part of his message, but the only part that seemed to matter was that final line.
I hadn’t even realized how badly I wanted -- needed! -- to hear those words until I saw them on my cell phone screen.
‘I promise I’m not going anywhere this time, Des.’