by Cherie Marks
“I will take care of you now. I’ll take you far from here and teach you how to be good.”
Good? What did she mean she’d teach me to be good? I didn’t want to be good. I wanted to be wicked.
She stood and pulled me up beside her. Her hand wrapped tightly around my upper arm, and I winced with the squeeze of her grip.
With a wide, circular motion, she began winding her hand in the air in front of us. As she did, I watched the air in front of us change, like a black hole was ripping open in the forest.
“Karrena? What are you doing?”
“I’m creating a dimensional wormhole. Maybe the better question is how am I doing it?”
Once the hole was big enough for me to fit through, the woman picked me up and pushed me through into darkness. I landed on something soft but solid, like carpet, and felt the music-box woman fall in behind me. She scrambled to her feet, and as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I watched her raise her arms in mid-air on either side of her head and, with effort, push them together. As she did, the hole we’d climbed through closed with a pop, and the last thing I saw were the angry faces of two people I never wanted to see again.
Chapter 2
Assjacket, West Virginia, August, modern day
Like the gorgeous best friend and amazing distraction I needed, Celia poked her head into my classroom and gave me a smile that said she had juicy, juicy gossip that I’d so want to know. School started in three days, and we were here prepping our classrooms for another school year of blessing young minds and shaping the future because we were professionals who’d chosen this job. Why? Clearly, we were good, decent people who wanted to make a difference in the world. Or, we were slightly insane and needed an outlet for our crazy.
“Is your ass coming, or what?” As usual, Celia looked like the model for the Van Halen song, Hot for Teacher. She was blonde, tan, and had legs that were longer than a week of standardized testing. She was flat-out hawt, and worked her physical blessings to get many, many dates. Or at least that’s what she led us all to believe. I thought it was likely she just loved to talk a big game, but we all let her maintain her bad-ass image. Seemed like the right thing to do.
“Where are we going?”
“To meet the new principal.” Her chin dropped and she waggled her eyebrows a few times before explaining, “I hear he’s hot, and I gots to see it for m’self.”
I laughed a little as I said, “Celia, you’re always horny. He could look like a puddle of melted ice cream and you’d slurp it up like the best thing you’ve ever eaten.”
She made a sucking sound and beckoned me to follow her. “Come on. Time’s a wastin’, darling! How will we get the jump on fruity-tooty Mrs. Rudy? If she digs her hooks into him, we’ll never have a shot.”
“She can have him for all I care. I don’t have time for dating right now.”
“Who said anything about dating? I was thinking I’d slam his body down, wind it all around, and then we’d zigga-zig-ah.”
We walked to the center of the building where the staff was hosting a reception in the library. As we walked inside, I noticed people standing around with cake and punch in hand. It just wasn’t a party until someone handed out a piece of cake, right?
As I glanced around, I saw a few familiar faces, but a number of new ones too. This was only my second year teaching at Mount Shelley High School, where the motto was, “Don’t be named Shelley.” Maybe it was really some crap about reaching for heights, but I was thinking about starting a petition to change it. For now though, I was still meeting everyone, and it didn’t help that turnover was inevitable in a school, but especially in our school this year.
Turns out, a new high school opened on the other side of town. For some strange reason, Assjacket was having some kind of population boom, and it had called for a new building to house the growing number of students. As a result, many teachers and even the previous principal from MSHS made the jump to the new facility, probably hoping to get the good office chairs and the student desks that didn’t wobble and rock. Fancy!
That meant one thing though for us—newbie staff—and all the hilarity that ensued. Of course, technically I was still a newbie since this was only my second year here. Sadly, I didn’t stay in one place too long, and as much as I loved the friends I’d made here, I knew the time would come that I’d have to run again. Until that day though, I’d enjoy belonging somewhere.
Celia and I hit it off first day last year or else I’d have been one of her targets for hazing. Instead, I got to be in on the jokes, and only had a few run-ins with the Mounters, Celia’s crew of hardcore veterans who got just a little joy in laughing at the inevitable moments of insanity brought on by the newness of newbie teachers.
Don’t get me wrong. They helped them more than they hurt them, but Celia showed me how finding humor in the situation kept you from going batcrap crazy like the rest of them.
Even now, Celia had engaged a new, male teacher wearing a caught-in-the-headlights look in his eyes into a conversation with her. He was clearly doing his best to talk himself up, and it was almost unfair how easy he was going to make this.
“Evie, have you met Mr. Feldman?”
“Um…it’s Mr. Frederick.”
“Uh, huh. He was just telling me that he’s going to be our new chemistry teacher. Just hope they fixed the problem. I’d hate to lose another teacher in the same way as the last one.”
Mr. Frederick’s eyes widened, and I nearly ruined it all with a giggle I covered with a swipe of my hand over my mouth.
“How exactly did the last one leave?”
I didn’t know how Celia kept such a straight face as she asked, “What do they call those things? Oh, yes, I think it’s called a body bag.”
Sputters and questions by Mr. Frederick were cut off as Celia raised her hand to wave at someone across the room. “Look! There’s Liz. Let’s go ask how her summer was.” As she stepped away, Celia called behind her, “Bye, Felicia.”
She grabbed my arm and took off for the side of the room where Liz was talking to a few other people, leaving poor Mr. Frederick to wonder what had happened to the teacher for which he was taking the position and calling after us, “It’s Frederick, but….”
“Celia, you’re heartless.”
“Oh, he’ll learn soon enough not to believe a word I say. It only took me explaining that there was a hierarchy for copier use, and that you were at the very bottom for you to see through my bullshit.”
The memory of the first time I met Celia made me laugh. I thought she was a real bitch. Of course, that only convinced me we’d be friends forever.
As we crossed the room and closed in on Liz, I noticed a larger crowd gathered in one part of the library. I tried to angle my head to catch a glimpse of our new leader, but only caught sight of short, wavy, brown hair with natural bronze highlights. He stood taller than the rest of the staff, but I still couldn’t see a clear view of his face. Not that I cared. One principal was just like any other. His or her job was to make the big decisions that guided the school. There were always four major factions pushing the administrator toward certain choices—students, teachers, parents, and the mighty ones in charge sending their own decisions from above. Usually, one decision helped one particular group but possibly hurt another. In other words, a principal didn’t stay popular for long.
I could’ve used my powers to separate the crowd. They wouldn’t even know what’d happened, but I’d sworn not to use magic. It would draw too much attention, and I was all about staying under the radar nowadays.
“Hey, Liz. How was your summer vacay? Did you finally get laid?” Liz winced the slightest bit at Celia’s blunt questions, but she no doubt expected such boldness from our brash friend.
“As a matter of fact…my summer was great but short. And I think you know the answer to your second question.” She gave a twist of her mouth and rolled her hands along her curvy hips. “I got a whole lot of…nothing.”
Tho
ugh she often alluded to the fact she was a tad rounder than most, she was such a beautiful woman. Her cropped, blonde hair was always perfectly styled and her make-up looked airbrushed and striking every day. As much as she joked about wanting to be a walking stick, she was perfect the way she was, and we all knew it.
Liz changed the subject quickly by asking, “Have you seen the new principal? Beam me up, McHawtie!”
Again, my gaze strayed to the crowd, but I still couldn’t get a clear view of the subject of our conversation. “Is he really that attractive?”
“Let’s just say, I’m on my third pair of underwear, and I’ve only been here for fifteen minutes.”
“Oooo! Gross, Lizzy. TMI to the extreme.” I pushed my brain not to think about her revelation, but once it was out there, it was impossible not to know.
“Hey! I spit the truth. Handle it.”
“We should go over there.” Celia was beginning a plot. I could feel it.
Liz shrugged. “Looks pretty crowded right now. Maybe we should wait and catch him when he’s not surrounded.”
In a sudden motion, Celia grabbed my shoulder and squeezed. “Oh, no! Mrs. Rudy at nine o’clock! We have to stop her now before she makes him her bitch.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. There’s no stopping that train. She’s going to do what she’s going to do.” I’d had my run-ins with Mrs. Rudy. She always got her way, and people defied her at their own peril. Not only did she know the superintendent personally, but she also regularly hung out with the school board members. Needless to say, she got the computer lab whenever she wanted it.
“No! We can’t let her this time. Evie, get in there and cause a distraction. I’ll find a way to keep them apart.”
I laughed because she clearly had lost her mind. Did she think she could keep them apart all throughout the entire school year? I didn’t get her logic one bit. “Celia, you’re asking for the impossible.”
But, the next thing I knew, she was behind me, steering me toward the group, and I was digging in my heels, fighting her every step of the way. We were making unintelligible sounds to each other as I slapped at her hands on my shoulders, and people were starting to stare. Somehow though, she maneuvered me into the crowd, and with one last shove, pushed me straight into an immovable object, like a brick wall or a Mack truck.
Yet, when I looked up, I realized exactly what I’d hit. Him!
My hands were on his chest, and though I knew I should pull away, one involuntary squeeze of his warm, nicely-clothed body in my hands, and I went brainless. All I knew was that I had an unobstructed view of him finally, and this was my chance to see how handsome he was for myself.
I started at his black, motorcycle boots and let my gaze travel up his vintage-washed, indigo-detail jeans until I paused at the dark, blue button down where his chest widened considerably into full, linebacker shoulders. My anxiety built and rolled in my stomach as I started to lift my eyes to meet his gaze. Not much actually scared me anymore, but looking him in the eyes was the hardest thing I’d done for quite some time.
I took it slow, pausing at his perfectly sculpted mouth and lingering on his straight nose and sculpted cheeks. Oh, but, when I stared into the sparkle of his green gaze, I felt my mouth go dry, my heart constrict, and my happy place leap—actually leap—in response. I might’ve even let out a small squeak. I suddenly understood Liz’s underwear comment completely. Might need a change myself after this encounter.
“Are you okay?” The deep timbre of his voice sent shivers down my spine. It was like sweet, melted butter poured over the most delectable dish, and I wanted to hear it over and over again.
“Fine. And you?”
He chuckled lightly and a corner of his mouth lifted, but then his face turned grim again as he cleared his throat and set me back away from him, finally breaking my grip on his shirt.
“Doing my best to stay on my feet. Guess you’ll have to try harder next time…Ms. Ward, is it?”
The flash of humor in his eyes was gone quicker than I could acknowledge it, and he turned to address the crowd of people in the library. But the damage was done.
He’d said my last name like he knew it was a fake, which it was. I hadn’t used my real last name for many years now, and it was disconcerting that he might know who I really was.
It didn’t help that I couldn’t seem to look or move away from him. He was the kind of handsome that could only be described as not-human, and I could sense the magic coming off him in waves. Whatever he was, he definitely wasn’t human, and he was dangerous to me. What if she had sent him?
“If you all will take a seat, I’d like to say a few things.”
The smart thing to do would be to resign my position here and now. To leave. Sprint—not walk. Far, far away and as quickly as possible.
But as I looked around at Celia and Liz, at the library with all the colorful book spines and enticing displays, through the interior windows to the soft blue of the walls of the school hallway, I knew I didn’t want to run. I shouldn’t have to run. This was my home now. I’d made a life here that I wasn’t willing to give up just yet. I’d been on the run for far too long before settling here. I didn’t want to return to that life. If he were here to drag me back to Karrena, he’d literally have to fight to do it, and not to brag, but I’d become quite the fighter over the last few years.
I felt someone nudge me toward a seat, but I ignored the push and made my way to the back of the room, sunk into a chair, and crossed my arms to send the message that I was already tuning out anything he had to say. He’d already lost my trust, and I’d just have to avoid his ass…pretty much…forever.
Celia sat to my left and Liz to my right, crossing their arms to match mine. We made an undefeatable line of defense, and I dared him to look at the back of the room right now.
“Mission accomplished. Mrs. Rudy ran to the teacher workroom when I told her there was a pineapple upside down cake in there.” Celia seemed so proud of her trick.
The gym teacher nearby leaned in uninvited, “Is there one?”
“No, Slim! No cake. Now, mind your own, damn business.”
We tightened up our circle as Celia asked, “How’d you do?”
“Very funny. You shoved me into him. He didn’t seem amused, and I definitely wasn’t.”
“Did we at least get a name?”
I shrugged. “What was it? Oh, yeah, that’s right. Name’s Boss-man because that’s all he’ll ever be to me. Didn’t strike me as the friendly type. Might even be gay.”
Liz clutched her chest. “Oh, say it isn’t so. Guess we should introduce him to Matt.”
But at that moment, our new leader cleared his throat and the room of people quieted. I let my gaze focus on the floor at my feet and didn’t dare look at the front of the room.
His voice hit me hard again as he said, “It’s been nice to have this time to get to know the staff. So far I’m very impressed with the people who’ve dedicated their lives to make the students of this school become the best they can be.”
So, this is how we were going to start things off? Smoke-blowing up arses? I barely held back the universal symbol of jacking off, but I hadn’t lost my mind completely yet.
“For those I haven’t been formally introduced to, I’m Dane Calvin, and I’ve been asked to take over the helm here at Mount Shelley High School, where I believe the motto is don’t be named Shelley.”
Everyone laughed, but I sucked in a quick breath and lifted my gaze to meet his knowing one. My heartbeat picked up. His focus was only on me, and I knew his joke had been a message. I hadn’t told that little ditty to anyone here. Had he read my mind? What else did he know?
“Sorry. I couldn’t resist. Everyone was just sitting there so seriously.” He turned his intense green eyes back on the others. “I don’t plan to make sweeping changes, but just so you’re aware, our budget has been slashed, so as of right now, don’t ask for anything. We are in a spending freeze until the school council can s
it down and determine just how much to allocate to which programs.”
I heard the low talk around me, but I couldn’t seem to think about school right now. I was too busy trying to come up with some way to slip out unnoticed. It was clear I had to disappear again, and for the first time, the idea actually made me sad.
“Well, he just got a little less attractive, didn’t he?” Celia brought me back to reality. She had no idea how much his stock had dropped in my estimation.
Liz chimed in, “Nothing new. Whatever package they come in, they all stand up there and say the same thing. They’re replaceable cogs, and he’ll be here long enough to make us whine for a couple years, then he’ll leave for something better, and someone will replace him with the same old, same old.”
Suddenly, my spirits lifted. I almost stood up because I was so excited about the direction of my thoughts. Liz was a genius, whether she knew it or not. Mr. Calvin might be happy to be here for now, but it wouldn’t take much to change his mind, and that’s just what I’d do. I wouldn’t have to run away because he would. I’d make his life so miserable here, he wouldn’t stay a month. Did I feel guilty? Not the least bit. I was here first, and it was only fair that he get off my turf.
Pretty sure I’d read The Outsiders one too many times, but the plan was set in my mind. I’d find a way to make him leave so that I could extend my time in Asscrack and with the people here I’d come to care about.
And, mind-reader or not, he better watch out because once I put my mind to something, it was a sure thing. Hasty exit for one? Check!
Chapter 3
One of the best things about the beginning of the year in-service days for teachers was the hour-long lunch break at an actual restaurant. Normally, we had to squeeze microwavable heaven into about fifteen or twenty minutes. So, when Celia invited Liz, me and the two other Mounters, Selena and Matt, out to lunch at a local Cajun place with her, nothing could tamp our excitement.
