Chapter 3

Monday, July 22, 2013

Five forty-five arrived much too early. Well, I suppose it arrived exactly when it was supposed to, but it certainly felt way too early. I silenced the alarm on my phone and rolled out of bed, stumbling into the bathroom while I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. After successfully completing the challenge of emptying my bladder while sporting some morning wood, I grabbed a banana and a protein shake on my way out the door. Five minutes later I was pulling into the gym’s parking lot. Paul arrived just after I did.

“Good morning, sunshine! Happy Monday!”

Oh no, he’s one of those. “Please don’t tell me you’re like this every morning,” I grumbled.

“Afraid so. It drives my wife crazy too, so you’re not alone there.” We shook hands and walked into the gym. “I usually do chest and core on Mondays, that work for you?” I merely grunted my assent.

We worked through our sets, my mood steadily improving as I woke up and got my blood pumping. Paul said Monday was chest day but his real workout was his mouth—if he wasn’t lifting something heavy then he was talking. Usually I would find that annoying, but he was a genuinely nice guy and it was good to feel like I was building a new friendship down here. We were about thirty minutes into our workout and Paul was telling me about how he was planning a trip to Cozumel for his anniversary next month when she walked into the gym. No, not Riley. The cute redhead I had seen when I was leaving on Saturday.

Her red hair was pulled back into a ponytail (Did I mention I have a thing for red hair? I have a thing for red hair). She was average height, probably five-five or five-six, and wore a matched set of dark green spandex workout shorts and sports bra that revealed an exciting amount of absolutely flawless ivory skin. It was hard to tell exactly with the way her sports bra kept everything tight, but she was probably around a C in the breast department. When she walked past us my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. This girl had the most ridiculously incredible ass I had ever seen. The mere sight of it in those spandex shorts left me battling all kinds of urges—I wasn’t sure if I wanted to kiss it, spank it, bite it, or just simply fall down on my knees to worship it. Seriously, it was as if the Great Goddess of Glutes herself had descended from on high to simply to grace us mere mortals with her presence. To no great surprise, she headed over to the squat rack and got to work.

“Yo, Ryan, you still awake in there?”

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. “Sorry, what were you saying?”

Paul followed my eyes to see what had been distracting me. “Oh, yeah. I see you’ve discovered one of the gym’s most popular attractions.”

“Do you know her?”

He shook his head. “Not really. I see her around a lot, she works out here pretty much every morning, but I’m not in the habit of chatting up pretty girls at the gym, you know? I don’t know if anyone here even knows her name. I’ve watched dozens of guys try to hit her up though. Every single one shot down cold. No ring, but I’m not sure if she’s in a relationship, doesn’t appreciate getting hit on at the gym, or just doesn’t swing our way. Whatever it is, most of the guys here have learned to just leave her alone. So if you’re thinking of having a go at her, my advice would be to not bother.”

“Oh.” My heart sank a bit. “I mean, I wasn’t really thinking about heading over to hit on her anyways. I don’t really need the complication right now. It’s just a bit hard not to appreciate the view.”

“I plead the fifth,” he said, but he gave me a grin that made it clear he was on the same page as far as the view was concerned. “Come on, let’s finish these sets.”

It took another twenty minutes or so for us to finish our workout. I did my best to focus, but I couldn’t help but let my eyes drift over to the gorgeous redhead. I hated to be one of those creepy guys who just stares at women while they worked out, but this girl’s ass was like nothing I had ever seen before. Maybe if I got my fill of watching her this morning I could avoid being such a creep in the future. Yeah, probably not.

Paul headed to the locker room to shower and change before heading to work. I wasn’t in any rush this morning and had just planned to shower at home, so I hadn’t brought any clothes to change into. I was regretting that choice right now. The redhead was still working out and I couldn’t think of a good excuse to hang around a bit longer so I could try to catch her on the way out. I was probably going to have to start showering at the gym when school started next week anyways, so I planned to just start doing so tomorrow. Paul had said that the redhead was there most mornings. I’d have plenty of opportunities for a “chance” encounter with her later. Besides, given what he told me about her reaction to other advances, it was probably a better idea to let something happen slowly and more naturally rather than try to bump into her on the first day. I headed to my car, stealing one last glance at Miss Triple G (I was sticking with Glorious Goddess of Glutes for now) and her jaw-dropping backside on my way out. Even if I never got to do more than admire her from afar, at least her amazing ass had kept my thoughts occupied and away from Riley. Well, until just now.

Ten minutes later I was home and in the shower, using the memory of Miss Triple G as inspiration for a quick pressure release. Once that was finished I got out and toweled off before exploring my closet for clothes. Today wasn’t an official work day, so I didn’t need to dress like I planned to for when school was in session, but I still wanted to make a decent first impression on anyone I might meet there today. I settled on a nice pair of khakis and a navy polo, along with my pair of dark brown “dress sneakers”. When I went back to the bathroom to finish getting ready I glanced in the mirror and decided I could probably use a haircut sometime in the next week. My hair wasn’t out of control, but it was getting towards being on the longer side of what I liked, and if I didn’t get it done this week then I’d have trouble finding time for a while. Besides, it was still a hot summer and getting things trimmed up a bit would do a little bit to help keep things cool. Satisfied with my appearance, I made my way down to my car for the fifteen minute drive to Spellman Elementary School.

I arrived just before eight to find Mrs. Mitchell getting out of her car, her dark blue sedan parked in the spot labeled “Principal.” The spot next to hers was reserved for the “Teacher of the Month.” School hadn’t started yet and I doubted that the parking lot was going to be very full this morning but I didn’t want to be presumptuous, so I parked in the next empty space.

“Good morning Ryan!” She hurried over to give me a hug. “How was your weekend? You all settled in?”

“Good morning to you too, Mrs. Mitchell. Yeah, it was fine. Mostly just getting unpacked and set up, spent some time with my planner and at the gym.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Oh, I’m just so excited to have you working here! It’s going to be a wonderful year. Come on, let’s get inside.” I followed her towards the office. “I spoke with Beth on the phone yesterday and told her that you were back down here. She said she’d love to meet you for lunch when she gets back. I passed on your new phone number to her, I hope that’s alright.”

“Of course it is, I told you that you could. She’s my oldest friend in the world.” Mrs. Mitchell beamed at that. “You said she’s out of town for a couple weeks though? Where is she?”

Mrs. Mitchell grabbed her keys from her purse and unlocked the door to the office, ushering me inside. “She was up in L.A. this weekend shooting a wedding, she does a lot of wedding photography to pay the bills. But she’s leaving for Hawaii tomorrow. Do you remember Michaela Webb?” I nodded. Michaela had been one of Beth’s close friends in high school, a rail-thin brunette who played the clarinet in the marching band. “Well Michaela is getting married in Maui on Friday and Beth is going to do the photos for that one as well. She’s going out a little early and staying for a bit afterwards to make a vacation out of the trip, since Michaela and her fiancé are paying for her flights. Might as well make the most of it!”

“That sounds like a lot of fun, I’m jealous. I’ve never been to Hawaii. I’ll have to ask her all about it when she gets back.” Every time I mentioned something about Beth her smile got a little bit bigger, and I had to fight to not roll my eyes. I had a feeling that both my mother and Mrs. Mitchell were going to try everything they could think of to get me and Beth together. Maybe I did need to find a girlfriend soon, if for no other reason than to shield myself against their machinations.

We made it to Mrs. Mitchell’s office and she dug around in her desk for a minute before emerging with a set of keys. “Here we are!” She handed me the keys. “You’ve got your front gate key, your classroom key, your supply room key, and your P.E. supply key. That should be everything you need for now. You’ll be in room 5A. Come on, I’ll give you the tour.” I followed her out of the office and into the main school corridors. She pointed out the teacher’s lounge, the lunch room, the auditorium, the library, and the computer lab. “The halls are separated out by grade. This one here is all kindergarten, rooms KA through KD. Across the way is the first grade hall, 1A through 1D. The next set is second and third grade, and then finally fourth and fifth in the last row.”

Just like all the others, the fifth grade hall had four classrooms, 5A through 5D. My door was plain, but all of the others were covered in decorations. Great, arts and crafts. I had forgotten that elementary school had a bunch of that stuff. 5B, the door right next to mine, had “Jackson’s Jaguars” in big yellow letters cut out of construction paper. Below it was a very impressive rainforest scene, once again cut from construction paper, and then twelve laminated paper jaguars, each with the name of (presumably) a student written on it. 5C and 5D had similar, though not quite as impressive, displays on the door. 5C was “Allen’s Aliens” and 5D was “Dixon’s Dragons.” Shit, scooped on the best D mascot. What else is there? Demons? Devils? No, I can just imagine how quickly I’d have a parent complaining about that one. Dogs? It works, but it’s not very creative. Maybe dinosaurs? But those are just less-cool dragons. Screw it, I’ll figure out something later.

“Miss Jackson always has the best door displays. She really gives 110% on anything like this. I’m sure she would have loved to help you with yours, but she’s on vacation this week. She’ll be back next week for the workdays though.” Mrs. Mitchell frowned. “Mrs. White was her mentor, the two of them were very close. Miss Jackson took the news of her cancer very hard. Our classroom layout has us pairing up teachers into little teams, so you’ll end up doing a lot of activities together. The two of you have both been teaching for a few years now, but of course this will be your first year with fifth grade, so she’ll be a great resource for you as you get used to the transition. Mrs. Allen and Miss Dixon will be there for you as well, of course, but Miss Jackson will be your partner teacher this year.”

“That reminds me. I don’t suppose Mrs. White left behind any materials or lesson plans? I know I’m really behind on having everything set for the year. I’m not planning on just going off her stuff, but I think it would be helpful to see what’s worked for her over the years.”

“I believe she did, but I’ll have to track them down. She might have left them with Miss Jackson, but I’ll get you something no later than Monday so you can use the workdays next week to get everything planned out.”

“That would be great, thank you.” I found my classroom key and unlocked the door. Flipping on the light, I surveyed what would be my domain for the school year. It was basically what I expected. Whiteboard on the wall. Three sets of four-desk clusters and the associated tiny kid school chairs. Teacher’s desk at the front, and a bunch of bare walls.

“I’ll let you get settled. If you need anything just give me a call, I’ll be in and out of the office all day.” She started to turn to go but stopped suddenly. “Oh! I almost forgot!” She hurried over to the teacher’s desk (my desk) and turned on the computer, grabbing a sticky note and pen while it booted up. “Here’s your log-in information for the school network and your account. Your class roster should be in your email. Okay, now that should be everything.”

“Thanks again. I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me. You’ve been a real lifesaver.”

She hugged me. “Oh Ryan, it’s my pleasure. We’re going to have a wonderful year!” With that, she headed out.

I did a quick survey of the classroom and found it to be pretty much completely bare. Guess we’re starting from scratch. I pulled out my phone and started making notes of what I needed to buy to get my classroom stocked and ready. Most of the items I’d ask the students to supply themselves—I hated that we lived in a world where the choice was for either for the teacher to pay for things or ask their students to, rather than the school itself—but I’d need at least some backup stock incase they ran out or some of the families couldn’t afford it. The community as a whole was pretty middle-class, but there was always some variation in the socioeconomic status and you never knew for sure who might be struggling. Besides that, I’d need some more general items for the whole class, as well as posters and other decorations. It was too bad Miss Jackson was out of town for the week, she probably had some things that we could share between our classes, but without knowing for sure I’d either have to buy them myself and maybe double-up, or hold off only to find out later that she didn’t have what I needed. In the end I decided to just buy what I could now. Worst case scenario I’d just have to find some time to go return anything I didn’t end up needing. This was just one more downside of making the switch from high school all the way down to elementary school. The younger kids really responded to all that extra fun stuff. In high school I could get by with just a red pen for grading tests and assignments. Here I’d need a whole set of stamps that said things like “Good Job!” or “You Did It!” in bright colors.

The most difficult (and expensive) part would be books. I was of the opinion that a good classroom library was essential at this age. It was often difficult at this stage to have students all on the same page in terms of their academic development, and a classroom library was a great way to give the faster kids something quiet to do while I helped the other students finish their work. Ideally I would have library of a few dozen age-appropriate books for them to choose from, built up slowly over the course of several years, either purchased by myself or given as donations. I didn’t really have either the time or money to make that happen before school started. I’d have to think on that problem a bit more.

With my preliminary list complete, I locked up my classroom and left for the school supply store. The only employee was a a very nice older woman who helped me find everything I needed. Pens, pencils (both regular and colored), crayons, glue, glue sticks, scissors, supply caddies, stamps, stickers, paper, poster boards, and so on. I cringed when she rang everything up. Definitely going to have to limit the eating out for the foreseeable future. Supplies in hand, I drove back to the school and got to work. It was a beautiful day, so I propped the door open and got to work. I split most of the supplies into the four caddies, one for each table. The stamps and stickers went to my desk. I scattered the posters on the counters around the room for now, I’d get them hung up later.

Next I started setting up the classroom “Job Board”. I would have twelve students in the class, so I worked out twelve different “jobs” that each student would be responsible for on a weekly rotation. First, each of the three tables would have a “table captain” for the week who would be responsible for getting their table’s supply caddy as well as picking or or returning assignments for their whole table, so I only had three kids coming up at a time instead of twelve. The next three jobs were the line positions: line leader, door holder (second in line), and caboose. It felt maybe a bit juvenile for fifth grade, but it was still elementary school and the kids would be used to that sort of things from earlier grades, and they still did have to travel everywhere in a line together. Then we’d have the Board Cleaner, Lights Monitor, and Trash Monitor. Finally there was the Librarian, the Errand Runner, and the Teacher’s Helper. That was it, twelve jobs that would rotate each week. They were all very minor things, but kids liked to have structure and a special responsibility that was theirs.

I was stretching to finish stapling the last of the jobs onto the wall when I heard the sound of a phone camera snapping a picture behind me. When I turned around I found an embarrassed-looking woman holding her cellphone in my doorway. She gave me a very silly cringing face and then a shrug. “Oops. That was supposed to be silent.”

“Can I help you?”

“Oh, sorry. Not the best introduction, huh? I’m your neighbor from across the hall in 5D, Miss Dixon. Melissa.” She strode across the room and reached out her hand to shake mine. Melissa was a cute little thing, probably only about five-two or three, with curly blonde hair cut to her shoulders, green eyes, and an adorable button nose that fit perfectly with her lightly freckled complexion.

“Ah, so you’re the one who scooped me on using Dragons for my classroom mascot. Now I’m stuck scrambling to figure out whatever the second-best D-word is. I’m Mr. Dillon. Ryan. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Dragon actually is the second-best D-word,” she said with a grin.

I arched an eyebrow at her. “So then what’s the best?”

She blushed and stammered a bit. “On second thought, it’s probably not school appropriate.”