A young high school teacher was getting out of his car when a student approached and said, “Sorry, sir I was dared to do this.”

The nervous freshman handed him a greeting card-sized envelope.

The teacher looked at the envelope, shook his head sadly, and said, “Thanks, Jeff. Don’t worry about it. I know you’re being pressured on this. I assure you, it’s fine.”

“Thanks!” Jeff said and ran off.

Jeff Michaels was one of the best students in the freshman class. By the time his four years were over, he could be valedictorian. He was a good kid who was trying too hard to be liked by the popular kids. He would find his way eventually.

The teacher opened the envelope and frowned at the expected content. It was a homemade card, on actual card stock. He thought to himself, ‘At least the quality is getting better.’

The front of the card had the typical image of the guidance counselor from the South Park cartoon on it. His enormous head, skinny body, high water pants, and mismatched clothes were all present.

The teacher opened the card and read the typical quote he’d heard over and over again since he was a kid. “Drugs are bad, m’kay.”

It wasn’t bad until he hit high school. He was a smart, socially awkward, geeky kid. He struggled to make friends initially but found out quickly that there is a clique for everyone in high school.

The so-called geek kids had their group who, rightfully so, were fine with who they were and with each other. The group of six fed off of each other and became close friends who were still close as they approached their high school’s 10-year reunion.

He remembered well the first day in homeroom when his name was called for attendance, “Kyle Mackey.”

He raised his hand and then heard, “Drugs are bad, m’kay.” The class erupted in laughter and to Kyle’s dismay, his teacher was laughing along.

He’d hear it so often over the next four years that he grew to hate it. He kept the hate bottled up inside, and never pushed back. Those that picked on him saw that it bothered him, and continued it all through school.

He was thankful he didn’t have to deal with it in college and he had mostly gotten over it. That is until the first time one of his students said it to him.

When his students started saying the teasing phrases, “m’kay” or “drugs are bad, m’kay,” he became depressed. He eventually got over it and numbed himself to it outwardly with the help of his ex-girlfriend, who was a therapist, but it still bothered him.

Occasionally, he was hyper-sensitive about it and that bothered him even more. When he would beat himself up in his mind over it, he’d call himself a pussy and tell himself he needed to man-up and get over it.

What he bore were the scars of teenage bullying. His was never any sort of physical abuse, but for whatever reason, he hated for people to pick on his name.

To a casual observer, it would seem as if it were not a big deal. Who gets mad about having the same last name as a silly cartoon character? For Kyle, it was a deeply seeded anxiety.

He was saddened when his students did it, but he didn’t get angry with them. When his adult friends would do it, however, even if in good-natured teasing, he would get angry to the point of shouting at them.

Those episodes were few and far between, yet occasionally they surfaced under the right circumstances.

He put the card back in the envelope and wondered if it would ever stop. He almost regretted becoming a teacher because of his name. That fact was sad because he loved teaching and he loved working with kids. It was his goal since he was a young boy wanting to follow in his parents’ footsteps. Both were teachers who loved their work.

Kyle walked through the halls to his class, smiling and nodding to the students who addressed him. He taught mostly science courses and most of his students were honors level.

If one would ask him, he’d say that he was liked by his students. He tried to be the “cool” teacher that the kids would list among their favorites. It was important to him to not become the type of teacher he despised—a crotchety old man. After all, no one picked on people they liked, in his opinion.

He was young at twenty-eight, and although he didn’t realize it, quite good looking. Some of his students even had a crush on him. He had recently broken up with his girlfriend of five years, Siobhan.

Siobhan broke his heart by turning down his marriage proposal. She was fine dating him as a placeholder for a wealthier man, but she wouldn’t marry him. He knew she had bigger hopes than he could ever fill. He didn’t realize though that she could dump him so coldly after such a long relationship. He let himself believe that she loved him.

Julie Tyson walked into the office at Jefferson High School ready to start her first day. She was a mid-year replacement for a teacher who was fired in a pay-for-grades scandal.

Julie had been a substitute teacher for several years, waiting for a full-time opening somewhere. Unfortunately for her, the opening was on the other side of the state from where she lived.

She was greeted by Principal Danning and led to her classroom. She looked around and smiled, glad to have finally reached her dream of becoming a high school Mathematics teacher.

Jefferson High was one of the top schools in the state. She hoped with the higher quality of students, she wouldn’t have to deal with the problems that she had in her previous district.

Her previous district was one of the lowest-performing in the state. It was one of the reasons she never took one of the permanent jobs there. She wanted to work in one of the best schools and to be part of a great program. She didn’t want to fight every day for her students to focus on classwork and do the work needed to get a decent education.

She had a pleasant demeanor and she wasn’t strong enough to push back and control the riff-raff when they pushed at her in class, and they pushed all of the time.

Her degree from one of the top colleges in the country and a sterling recommendation from her previous district helped her get into the prestigious Jefferson High.

“Miss Tyson,” the no-nonsense older principal said, “Welcome to Jefferson and good luck. Oh! By the way, across the hall is Mr. Mackey’s Science room, and next door is Mrs. Grayson’s music room. The walls are soundproof so you won’t have any issues hearing the noise from there.”

“Thank you, Principal Danning.”

“Call me Vicki, when we’re away from the students please.” She smiled and walked out of the room.

Julie looked around and thought that it was a strange wing of the building. There were only three classrooms on their level and below them was the library. It was separated from the Math and Science wing by a winding hallway around the corner of the gym, almost as an afterthought, but was necessary due to the overflow of students. She would later find out that they were originally meant to be club rooms, not classrooms.

As she prepared for her day, she heard a knock on the open door. “Hey there, new girl!” Mrs. Grayson said as she walked in.

“Hi, I’m Julie Tyson,” she said walking over.

“Jenny Grayson. Nice to meet you. What do you think so far?”

Julie laughed and said, “I haven’t been here long enough to have an opinion. I just got here a few minutes ago.”

“Duh! How dumb of me, of course. Hey, it’s almost 7:15, follow me.”

Julie was confused but followed the slightly scatter-brained Music teacher.

“Stand here and watch. This is the best part of my morning,” Jenny said with a smirk.

They were standing in the doorway of the music room that had a glass partition. It partially blocked the view from the hallway, but they could see to the end.

“What are we watching?” Julie asked.

“Him,” Jenny said, nodding down the hall.

Julie looked and saw a man walking towards them. He was tall and lean, with jet black wavy hair, and wore tortoiseshell glasses. She thought he looked like Clark Kent.

His clothes were perfectly pressed and he looked as if he was dressed to impress. She noticed that while he wasn’t wearing a suit, he had on a sport coat and slacks, rather than the normal teacher’s sloppy outfit of Khaki Dockers style pants with shirt and tie.

His bookbag was slung over his shoulder and he walked with a fast gait. She thought that he almost looked sad as he paid them no attention while they watched him turn into his classroom.

“Damn, if I weren’t married,” Jenny said to the new teacher. “That man is the nicest guy you’ll ever meet and he oozes sexiness. He’s unbelievably shy though. You’ll have to talk to him, he’d never initiate a conversation with you other than polite greetings.”

Julie giggled and said, “He’s cute. Who is he?”

“Cute? Oh, sweetie. Calling that man cute is an offense to kittens and puppies everywhere. That man is a fifteen on a ten scale.”

Julie laughed as the outgoing music teacher continued.

“That, my dear, is our hall mate Mr. Mackey. I swear, I dream about him three nights a week.”

They laughed together as Julie was taken aback by the unabashed attitude of her co-worker.

“Come on, I’ll introduce you,” she said pulling her new friend’s arm.

“Knock knock, Mr. Mackey,” Jenny said as she walked them into the classroom.

He looked up from his notes and said, “Good Morning, Jenny.”

He smiled warmly and noticed the other woman following behind her.

He was struck by her immediately. She was girl-next-door cute, a close comparison would be Daisy Ridley with larger breasts, and he loved her smile.

“Kyle, this is Julie Tyson. She’s our new hallmate. She takes over Jim’s classroom today.”

He frowned at the mention of Jim Anson. Jim was a short, balding, middle-aged man that had a Napoleon complex. He’d always brag about his wrestling championships and would always find some reason to put down Kyle. Kyle was glad he was gone.

He was fired after getting caught taking a bribe to give one of his failing students a passing grade. That’s bad enough but he was caught when he tried to get the mother to have sex with him as well. She turned him into the principal and she was let off the hook for the bribe if she didn’t push them on the sexual harassment in a quid pro quo.

He snapped out of his thoughts, said, “Nice to meet you,” and shook her hand warmly.

“Glad to meet you also, Kyle, m’kay,” she said with a smirk.

Kyle rolled his eyes and abruptly said, “Well, I’ve got to get back to work. I’ll see you around.”

He sat back down and ignored the women as they both looked at each other wondering what happened.

“Yeah,” Julie said, “see you around.”

As they walked across the hall to Julie’s classroom, Jenny said, “What the hell happened in there? He went from undressing you with his eyes to practically pushing us out.”

Julie frowned and said, “I have no idea.”

They let it go and finished getting ready as their students began to arrive.

At the end of the day, Jeff was talking to Kyle in the hall about the lab that was coming up. Julie walked out of her room and waved to Kyle as she was leaving.

He ignored her.

She wondered again what she did to upset him, but she couldn’t figure it out. She walked on and figured he was just having a bad day.

She was attracted to him, and after verifying with Jenny he was single, decided to take the lead and show him her interest. She decided to be casual about it and not ask him out. She would be less conspicuous and ease him into it.

All of her plans went out the window when she parked next to him in the teacher’s lot the next morning.

He was again impeccably dressed and she wondered why. Many male teachers were poorly dressed and barely presentable. She scrapped her plan of taking it slow and walked up to him.

“Good Morning, Kyle.”

He didn’t look at her while he continued to get his things from his trunk.

“Hello, Miss Tyson.”

She frowned at his cold greeting and continued, “Kyle, I’m new to town and was wondering if you would have coffee with me and fill me in on the restaurants, shops, and other pieces of local info.”

Without looking at her, he shut his trunk and said, “I don’t live in this town, you’re better off finding someone else who’s a local.”

He walked away leaving her wondering again. She thought about what Jenny told her about him being nice. She certainly hadn’t seen a nice side to him. He wasn’t even being polite to her. His rudeness started to wear on her and she thought Jenny’s opinion must be clouded by her lust for him.

When Kyle reached his classroom, he found Jenny sitting in his desk with her long legs crossed.

“Good Morning,” he said brightly.

“Okay, Kyle. What happened yesterday with Julie?”

“What do you mean? Nothing happened,” he said.

“That’s bull and you know it. I saw you look at her like she was a lamb chop and you were ready for your last meal. What happened to make you do a hundred and eighty-degree spin on us yesterday and practically kick us out of here?”

Kyle shrugged his shoulders and said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was just busy and needed to get back to my notes.”

“Kyle, I’ve known you for two years and you’re one of the nicest guys I know. That was not you yesterday.”

He hated being so overly sensitive about the Mr. Mackey m’kay thing and he didn’t want his fellow teachers to know about his issues with it either.

It might not have bothered him so much except Julie said it the first time they met. In his mind, if she could be that insensitive to someone she didn’t know, how bad would she be to people she was more familiar with. He didn’t like people who made fun of others and that included adults. In his hardened heart, Julie would never be his friend.

“Jenny, I think you’re reading more into it than is there.”

“We’ll see about that. A hot young lady working right across the hall from you should get a better reception than that. You might have blown your chance with her.”

He laughed and said, “No, she asked me to have coffee with her and tell her about the town since she’s new here.”

Jenny lit up in a smile and said, “That’s great!”

“Nope, I told her that I don’t live in town and she should find someone more familiar with the area.”

“Oh my God! Are you dense? She was asking you out, idiot.”

“Look, I’m not interested. I just broke up with Siobhan and I’m not jumping right back into the dating scene. Especially not with a co-worker.”

Jenny shook her head and said, “You’re a damned fool, Kyle,” and walked out of his room.

She was going to talk with Julie, but the bell rang and it was time for class.

In between class periods, Jenny walked into Julie’s room and told her to stop by after school. Jenny agreed as she was still trying to figure out the Kyle situation and maybe Jenny could help.

“I hear you asked him out for coffee,” Jenny said as Julie walked into her room.

“Yeah, and he hit the brakes on that so fast I thought I had whiplash.”

“I don’t know what his problem is. I asked him about it this morning and he acted as nothing happened. Something happened.”

“I don’t know. I’m not going to dwell on it. I think he’s cute and I put myself out there, but I won’t beg. He had his chance.”

A few weeks went by and it was Spirit week. Things were still frosty between Julie and Kyle. Neither made any effort to ease the tension and at Julie’s request, Jenny let it go and didn’t try to play matchmaker any longer.

Each day during Spirit week had a themed dress code that the students and faculty took part in. Everyone donated a few dollars and the money went to the athletics department. Jenny hated it because the music department fought and scraped for funds, but she also hated dressing up, so she participated.

Monday’s dress code was Jefferson school colors, red and gray. Tuesday’s dress code was local sports teams.

Wednesday’s dress code was favorite cartoon day. Everyone could wear clothing with their favorite cartoon or character featured. Julie’s favorite cartoon was South Park and she hoped to break the ice with Kyle by wearing a Mr. Mackey t-shirt in his honor.

Julie and Jenny were standing outside Julie’s classroom chatting when Kyle approached. Kyle saw Jenny’s Winnie the Pooh sweatshirt and smiled but then got angry when he saw Julie’s t-shirt.

“Oh for Christ’s sake!” He said, looking Julie in the eye.

Both women looked at him in shock and when he slammed his classroom door, looked at each other.

“What the hell was that all about?” Jenny asked.

Julie shrugged her shoulders and walked into her classroom. Jenny decided that enough was enough and she would get the situation resolved one way or another.

“What the hell was that all about, Kyle?”

Kyle was upset enough to vent.

“I can’t stand people that make fun of others. Whether it be students or adults.”

“What are you talking about Kyle? Who made fun of you?”

“Oh come on, Jenny. The very first day you introduced that bitch to me, she made fun of my name and today she wears a t-shirt making fun of me again. I don’t need any more shit from her. I’ve been dealing with it for most of my life and don’t need anymore piling on.”

“Kyle, I don’t know what...”

“Seriously, Jenny?” He asked cutting her off.

She looked at him confused and didn’t speak.

“Jenny, what’s my name?”

“Kyle Mackey.” Then the light bulb went on. “Oh! Mr. Mackey, and she’s wearing a South Park shirt.”

“Not just a South Park shirt, a fucking Mr. Mackey shirt. She just can’t resist making fun of me. All of the students that see it are going to be laughing at me. How can she be such a bitch?”

Jenny couldn’t think of anything to say. She didn’t know that much about South Park so she didn’t know who the shirt had on it. She couldn’t believe Julie would make fun of him on purpose. She had to talk to her.

“Look, let me find out why she’s doing it. I can’t believe she’s doing it to be mean. She told me that she liked you.”

“I’d hate to see what she would do if she didn’t like me.”

Students started coming in for class and then the bell rang so Jenny hurried off to her classroom.

After the first period, word got around the school about Miss Tyson’s t-shirt. Half the students thought it was funny and the other half assumed they were dating. When Kyle’s third-period class started, one of his best students Keri Grissom asked, “Mr. Mackey? What’s the deal with Miss Tyson’s t-shirt? Are you guys a couple or something?”

The class started laughing and Kyle got even more upset.

“Guess what, class?” He said with a sneer. “You get to do a 3-page report on the development of the periodic table. I expect full source acknowledgments and footnotes. Start now and it’s due Friday.”

The class groaned and complained. Most blaming Keri for the unplanned assignment.

He sat and tried to calm himself while his Honors Chemistry students worked on their reports. He wasn’t calming so he decided to get some water. He could trust his honors students to work quietly while he was gone.

“I’ll be back in five minutes,” he said and left the room.

As soon as the door closed, Jeff said, “Jesus, Keri. Why did you have to ask him that?”

“I think it’s cute that they are dating. They’re my favorite teachers. I didn’t think he’d get mad about it.”

“It’s none of your business,” Michelle Simmons said. “Especially in front of the whole class.”

Keri shrugged and didn’t argue.

Meanwhile, Kyle walked to the end of the hall to the water fountain and filled a sports bottle with water.

He couldn’t believe the students thought he was dating that immature woman. Being accused of dating her was as bad as the students thinking that she was making fun of him. He never expected that kind of fallout.

He walked back into his room slightly more relaxed. He felt bad that he got so angry with Keri and punished the class for it, but it was too late to go back. He fretted it even more when he realized he’d have to read and grade all of the papers. He shook his head thanking the maker he wasn’t an English Literature teacher.

It was in the fourth period when Julie had her lunch that she heard the rumors.

“Julie, what’s with the shirt?” Alice Reynolds one of the other Math teachers asked. “Half the school thinks you’re sleeping with him and the other half thinks you’re making fun of him.”

“Oh my God!” Julie said. “I was just trying to break the ice with him. He’s been cold to me and I thought he’d find it funny. I didn’t think anyone would think that I’m sleeping with him or making fun of him.”

Alice shook her head and said, “Well, dear, you failed.” She began to laugh and walked away.

Julie couldn’t understand how she could’ve been so ignorant. She didn’t even consider other people’s reactions to the shirt. She only wore it for Kyle’s reaction.

No wonder he was so mad at me when he saw it this morning.

The period bell rang and Kyle had his lunch break. He typically stayed in his room and ate at his desk. A few minutes into the period, Principal Danning walked into the room.

“Kyle, what the hell is going on between you and Julie Tyson? The school is in an uproar of rumor and gossip.”

“I have no idea,” he said. “I don’t know why she wore that damn shirt and I’m pretty upset over it.”

“What shirt?”

“The cartoon character on her shirt is named Mr. Mackey.”

She laughed and said, “Ah. That explains the rumors. What’s the real reason, I wonder?”

“Who knows. I was pretty upset when I saw it and didn’t bother asking her. I figure she’s just making fun of my name again.”

“Again? Do we have a problem I have to get involved in?”

“No, Vickie. Until today, it hasn’t bothered anyone and was a minor irritant. We can handle it between us. You don’t have to get involved any further.”

“Alright. Just get it settled and over with. I don’t need any more scandals,” she said only half-joking.

Kyle got even angrier over the shirt. Principal Danning getting involved was the last straw, even though the camel’s back was already broken in his opinion.

After the last period, Kyle was packing his bag when there was a knock at his door. He looked up and saw that it was Julie.

“Ah! Just the person I wanted to talk with,” he said.

She hesitated walking in when she heard his angry tone but steeled herself to apologize through his anger.

She closed the door behind her and walked to his desk. He didn’t rise or invite her to sit, so she took a deep breath and said, “I’m sorry that I upset you by wearing this shirt. I didn’t consider what the students would think, I screwed up.”

“Yeah. Big time,” he said. “Vickie paid me a visit because of the rumors.”

She hung her head and said, “I was only trying to make you laugh. You’ve been so cold to me, I wanted to overcome...”

“You think that you can make fun of me again and that will make some kind of friendship blossom? Are you crazy?”

She flinched at his anger but was confused.

“What do you mean again, I’ve never...”

“Please, just leave. I’ll tell Vickie everything is fine between us. Lord knows I don’t want any issues with her because of you. Just leave me alone, I’ll leave you alone, and everything will be fine.”

She was shocked. He wouldn’t accept her apology and was talking about her making fun of him again. She couldn’t understand why he’d think that she had once, let alone that she was doing it again. She wished he wasn’t so mad so they could just talk about it.

She quietly said, “I never meant for any of this. I’m very sorry,” and walked out of the room with a tear streaming down her cheek.

She almost bumped into Jenny walking across the hall. Jenny saw her face and pulled her into her classroom closing the door behind her.

“Jesus, what happened in there?”

“I tried to apologize. This whole thing has blown up the school. I never considered what the kids would think and they ran off and started all kinds of rumors. I just thought he would find it funny that I wore a Mr. Mackey t-shirt. I didn’t mean to embarrass him.”

“Oh, girl, he’s not embarrassed, he’s pissed. He thinks you’re making fun of him. He’s got a real complex over it.”

“Oh no! That explains why he shut down on the day we met. I said m’kay to him. He thought I was making fun of him. Damn, I wasn’t. I’m just a fan of the show and thought he’d get a kick out of it. I didn’t know he had emotional issues over it.”

“Sounds to me as if he needs a shrink,” Jenny said.

“I have to clear this up. I have to make him understand,” Julie said. “Let’s see if he’s still here.”

They walked out and saw that his door was closed and the light out.

“Damn! He left,” Julie said. “I’ll talk to him tomorrow and try to make it right.”

Kyle was sitting in his favorite Italian restaurant later that day having dinner alone. He calmed down after the argument with Julie, but he was in one of his depressed states.

He knew that he was overreacting, unfortunately for him, he couldn’t control his feelings sometimes. He was trying to figure out why it angered him so much that Julie did it when he heard a voice from behind him.

“May I sit for a moment,” Julie said.

She watched his shoulders slump and then he silently extended his hand towards the chair opposite his.

He watched her sit and before he could speak the waiter came over with her meal.

“I had already ordered when I saw you sitting here. I hope you don’t mind?” She asked.

“No, the Eggplant Parmesan is very good here. I don’t mind you having it.”

She smiled and said, “Well, it seems you’re a comedian away from school.”

“Look, Julie...”

“No, wait. Please let me apologize again. I’m truly sorry about saying m’kay to you when we met. I’m a fan of the show and I honestly thought you’d find it funny. I had no idea that you would take it differently.”

He looked into her pretty blue eyes as she spoke and he believed her. In an instant, his anger melted and he was lost in her eyes.

She reached across the table and took his hand, “Kyle, I swear on my life I did not wear that shirt today to make fun of you. I thought that you’d get a kick out of it and start talking to me.”

He smiled softly and said, “I know that now. For whatever reason, I’m over-sensitive about the Mr. Mackey thing. I’ve tried over the years to bury it and for the most part, I have. I’ve been thinking about it and I think I got angry with you because I was immediately attracted to you. I didn’t want you to be like the kids that tormented me in high school.”

She took a sip of her wine and said, “You like me huh?”

She smiled as he shifted uncomfortably.

He said, “I did for about twenty seconds. You kinda ruined my first impression of you.”

“Will you forgive me for that? Can we start again?” She pleaded.

He took a deep breath and said, “I’d like to.”

“Good. I’ll consider this our first date then.”

He almost choked on his wine when she said that.

“How can I go from wanting to scream at you to being on a date with you in a matter of a few hours?”

She smirked and said, “Good luck.”

“So what brought you to Jeff High, Julie?” He asked as they walked in the crisp Spring air.

“I was a sub bouncing around a large district upstate. I had taken the job as part of a program where they will pay for a portion of your student loans if you work in low-income areas.”

“I considered that myself,” he said. “Math and science teachers get more of a benefit.”

“Exactly. It was a large enough district that I was able to be full-time while substitute teaching. Bouncing around isn’t fun, let me assure you.”

“I bet.”

“I did have some longer-term assignments with several teachers having maternity leave and other FMLA leaves, so it wasn’t a horrible five years. But when the five-year commitment was up, I left.”

“Kind of a big leap, going from the inner city to Jefferson,” he said.

“Yes, I had to. I wanted to be in an environment where the teachers wanted to teach and the students wanted to learn. Don’t get me wrong, there are many kids in those schools that do their best, but the gangs and other bad elements are tough to handle.”

He looked at her and wondered how she could’ve handled it at all.

“I had to get out of there, Kyle. I was constantly harassed and had little control of the classrooms. I’m not a very strong person, I guess I’m too much of a wimp for those kids. They walked all over me.”

She took his hand as they walked on.

“I guess I wanted my job to be easier. Please don’t think lesser of me for that, but after all of the abuse I’ve taken from some of those kids, I needed a break.”

“Were you assaulted?”

“Yes,” she said with a tear falling down her cheek.