ELYXANDRE
She stoodin the mezzanine of the gymnasium bleachers, one leg bent, the bottom of her foot against the wall, one hand pulling down on the neck of her vest. Tonight was drive-in night of the homecoming festivities, and the audience was watchingThe Princess Bridein the darkened gym, sprawled out in the ground-level bleachers or on blankets on the floor. There was the ghost of a smile as a group of students closest to the screen, likely theatre kids, recited all the lines along with the characters. Some movies were timeless.
Her thoughts drifted to earlier in the day. Dealing with the vandalism had been the start to a relatively crappy day. Not five minutes after the awkward encounter in Lucas’ office, the fire alarms had caused a school-wide evacuation. Someone had turned on a vehicle in the auto shop and left it running with the doors closed, and the carbon monoxide detectors had gone off. While it had only been fifteen minutes from the start of the alarm to the time they were able to air out the shop and let students back in the building, she was certain that no teacher had been able to regain any semblance of control for the lastfifteen minutes of the day. As if homecoming week wasn’t crazy enough.
Her brain automatically routed itself back to those minutes in the principal’s office. What the hell was that? Had her boss’ ex-girlfriend, now best friend, been trying to set them up? It certainly felt like that.
In just a short time, she’d gone through a whole slew of emotions. The normal tingle of being in his presence. The awkwardness of comparing herself to Lucas’ girlfriend. The panic at what felt like a setup. The exhilaration at discovering that Jess wasn’t his girlfriend. The disappointment when she reminded herself that she didn’t need the disaster of another work romance turning on her.
Not that he was interested because he clearly wasn’t. He’d been polite, but he was still trying to wiggle out of his friend’s intentions. And why would he be interested in her when he could have any woman available?
And yet… he offered up explanations of who Jess was to him when he didn’t need to. He also asked about her relationship status. Somehow, she didn’t think that was a normal boss-employee conversation. It had certainly never been the norm in her past, and it didn’t feel like it should be. Was he fishing for information? Was he interested in her?
While she mused on the situation, Ezra Vaughn walked past her, a bag of licorice in his hands. “Hey, Officer E. Enjoying the movie?”
Quickly, she shoved thoughts of Lucas and their conversation away. “Hey, Ezra. What’s not to love about it?”
“Licorice? I haven’t opened the bag yet, so you know it’s safe.” He tore open the bag and offered her the open end. At her quizzical glance, he replied, “Dad refuses to touch anything a student could tamper with, so sealed treats are safe.”
“Smart man. Thanks.” She reached in, careful to touch only one freestanding piece, then ended up pulling three out of the bag.
Ezra grinned. “Licorice hazard. Quality control is slipping at the factory because they’re not cut well.”
She let off a soft chuckle. “You’re a funny kid.” She bit off a piece of licorice. “Who are you here with tonight?”
“Actually, I’m here on my own. After practice, I just stayed in Dad’s office and did homework. Now that I’m done, figured I might as well come out here, show my face, and enjoy a few minutes of the movie. Seems silly to go home when in an hour, he’ll be headed that way anyway.”
“Makes for a long day.”
“Eh. I’m so overinvolved in stuff, I practically live here. That started when he was just a teacher, so I don’t see why it would change now that he’s a principal.”
“Kids give you a tough time about that?”
He barked out a laugh. “You two must share a brain. He asked me the same thing not too long ago.”
He bit off a piece of licorice, leaning his forearms on the bar separating the upstairs portion of the bleachers from the downstairs. As he chewed, she observed him. He was an eerie carbon copy of his father. Short black hair in a standard haircut, with the slight cowlick over his right eye. Brown eyes. Perfectly straight, white teeth. The ghost-of-the-future devilish smile. He was tall but well-built for a teenage boy. She’d heard girls giggle about the “silver fox” principal, so she bet they were all impressed with his mini-me version.
After the accident she’d stumbled upon before school started, she made an effort to get to know the kids involved, at least on paper. She started with the principal’s son, since she’d be working so closely with his father.
In her research, she discovered that Ezra was an extremely talented wide receiver, but rumor had it he’d turned down two college offers to play ball and was headed to MIT to study computer science. He’d play for their team, but he was far more concerned about academics. Still, he was a three-sport athlete, did a little theatre, was part of the debate team, wrote for the high school newspaper, and served as the vice president of the student council. He wasn’t kidding when he mentioned being overinvolved. Still, he was in the top five of his class, and he worked hard to manage it all.
His voice broke through her thoughts. “It’s not easy being a teacher’s kid. You’re constantly hearing about what an asshole or bitch your parent is. Kids try to curry favor with you if they’re in your parent’s classes because they think it’s going to gain them some sort of special privileges. Maybe that works with some teachers, but not with my dad. Totally straight arrow with an ‘everyone can do it if they put the effort in’ mentality.”
“Did you have your dad as a teacher?”
He shook his head. “We talked about it because it would have been on my path. He taught AP Language, and he was the only instructor. He’d have been fine treating me like I wasn’t his kid, but I didn’t want anyone to make it weird, so I took a technical writing class and substituted with AP Anatomy and Physiology. Both of which kicked my ass, but I managed.”
“That’s a pretty mature outlook.”
He shrugged and bit off another piece of licorice. “Dad’s got it hard enough without me adding to it more than I already do.” He glanced at her. “Being a single parent is pretty brutal. Mom didn’t make it easier either. She has no desire to parent, so he’s done it all. I used to think he was Superman.”
“Used to?”
“The man earned his master’s degree, then earned his doctorate, and eventually became a principal, all while raising akid. As I got older, I realized that’s just who he is. No superhero involved.”
As he watched the movie and she watched the crowd, a figure moved out of the darkness down below—Lucas Vaughn himself. He had shed the normal jacket, leaving him in his standard button-down shirt with no tie, the top buttons undone, and his sleeves rolled up on his forearms. He wore crisp blue jeans and cowboy boots, and he’d ditched the reading glasses. He looked like a hot dad instead of a high school principal, and she felt that flutter return, like it did every time she saw him.
What did he see when he looked at her? she wondered. There were moments when she saw flashes of admiration, certainly, but sometimes those flashes included what she thought were flares of attraction in his eyes. Would he be interested in pursuing something between them?
