Fuck It (Yama Yama)

Kind of hard not to overhear when he was in the next room for last night’s tirade.

“It’s fine. He had the right to move on. We didn’t want the same thing.”

Anderson sighs and looks me in the eye. “I am sorry, Lydia. I hate that what I did has continued to affect you.”

“Not everything has to do with you.” Anderson and I have actually been getting along, but that doesn’t mean I trust him.

“No, but you turning against relationships does. Because I made it hard for you to trust. I know my advice doesn’t mean shit…” He pauses to look at me.

“If you’re waiting for me to disagree, get comfortable.” My tone isn’t scathing, and a grin actually flickers across his face before he’s serious again.

“Simon’s a good guy. I’m the one who cut you, Lydia. Don’t bleed on him.”

Sicily walks in, her heels clacking across the kitchen floor. “Okay, I’m ready.”

The way she somehow pulls off the completely professional but too-hot-for-you look is infuriating sometimes.

“Good morning,” she says to me, then notices the shirt. “Somebody needs to tell me what the Yama thing is all about.”

Anderson groans at my smile. “He won’t tell you?”

“No.”

“It’s a great story. You want to tell it or me?” I ask him, grinning over my coffee.

He shakes his head at me with a smirk. “Fine. It’s no big deal. You know Kasha and I have always tried to one-up each other with pranks. At my bachelor party, she hired strippers to restrain and smack me with a whip.”

Sicily’s jaw drops. I roll my hand for him to continue, and he narrows his eyes at me before he does.

“The safeword for them to stop was Llama.”

You can almost hear the wheels spinning in Sicily’s head. “But Yama?”

“Look, it’s hard to say llama with a ball gag in your mouth!” he exclaims defensively.

Sicily’s gaze meets mine, and we both crack up.

Anderson’s smile is rueful while he watches us. “You happy now?” he asks me.

“You left out the part where you were in your boxers, and they were after you with a giant dildo. But otherwise, yeah, pretty happy.”

“What?” Sicily cries, turning to him.

Anderson gets up and puts his cup in the sink. “Okay, time to go. Work to do.”

Sicily goes after her purse, and I’m left alone with Anderson again. “Listen, I’ve forgiven you. You don’t need to keep apologizing to me. You screwed up and now you’re trying to be better. I get it. Just don’t fuck her over and we’re good, okay?”

Sicily pokes her head in. “We’re running late.”

Anderson looks me in the eye and nods.

“Did you ever get revenge on Kasha?” Sicily asks him as they leave the room.

“Not yet.”

Once they’re gone, I make myself a quick breakfast and eat in front of the TV for company. Something needs to drown out my thoughts.

Principal Franklin glances up when I knock on his door, then returns his attention to the papers on the desk as he says, “Lydia, great. There you are. I wanted to let you know you’ll also start teaching the Health class. It’s twice a week during one of your free periods. Harvey quit.”

This isn’t going to go the way he thinks. I almost feel sorry for him. “You do realize I don’t have a teaching degree, right?”

He flaps a hand at me. “It’s Health. They’re kids. Teach them to brush their teeth or wash their faces.”

Unbelievable.

“I’m sorry but that’s not going to be possible.”

“It’s not a request. It’s now part of your job. Use room fifty-two.”

Instead of arguing, I hold out my letter of resignation. It has to be put between his eyes and the desk before he finally looks up at me. “What’s this?” he sighs, taking it from me and unfolding it.

“My notice.”

His head jerks up. “Because of the Health class?”

Somebody help the kids being led by this man. “No, you just told me about that. I’ve accepted another position that begins in three weeks. I can continue the duties I was already fulfilling until that time.”

He sighs and holds his head in his hands for a moment. I can’t quite tell what he’s muttering repeatedly but it sounds like “I hate everyone.” My cue to leave.

There’s still a good thirty minutes before classes start so I stop by Ava’s classroom. She’s sitting at her desk, messing around on her phone. “Hey, Lydia.”

“Hi, feeling better?” She’s been out all week. I haven’t talked to her since I got back.

“Yes, just a nasty cold. Much better now. How was your holiday?”

I lean against one of the student desks and rub my chin with my finger. “Well, let’s see. I screwed things up with Simon, my ex is now dating my roommate, and I just quit my job. How are things going with you?”

Her eyes widen, and she sits back. “Wow, okay. I don’t know where to start. You aren’t working here anymore?”