There was a knock on the door, and I looked up, hoping it was her.
It wasn’t, though; it was just Carla, returning that book she’d borrowed.
“Thanks so much,” she said. “I really do need to get my own copy.”
“No problem.” I took the book from her and slid it back onto the shelf. She was still standing there. “Was there something else you wanted to talk about?”
“Well, I thought it might be a good idea to set up a time to get together to talk about this newspaper. I think it’s a great idea, but to be completely honest, I’ve got so much going on right now that I’m not really sure how I’m going to be able to fit this in, too. Which is why I’d like us to be prepared, in terms of how this is going to proceed, and not leave it until the last minute.”
“Sure,” I said, though I wasn’t really looking forward to having some sort of meeting with Carla. “I did mention it to my feature writing class, and they all seemed pretty excited about the idea. So I don’t think we’re going to have any shortage of submissions; all we have to do is pick a couple out. If it’s the first issue, people probably aren’t going to have high expectations.”
I was kind of joking when I said this, but Carla shot me a look of mild disgust. “Is that how you see it?” she said. “Keep expectations low? I don’t think so.”
Though Carla and I had never had a conversation that delved into any topic other than school or journalism (or maybe the weather) I knew exactly the sort of overachiever she had been in high school. She didn’t need to tell me that she was probably valedictorian, on the student council, played every sport, and didn’t need an alarm clock to get up in the morning. She was the sort of person who was always doing something, always had to give it her all, whether it was writing a dissertation or scrubbing the toilet bowl. I knew her son, Seth, had these same qualities, although only when applied to basketball. Jack had dragged me to a couple of the games, and I was amazed at how dedicated an athlete Seth was when he’d been so lazy in my class. That sort of intellectual apathy probably pissed Carla off.
“That’s not what I’m saying,” I said. “All I’m saying is, I don’t think there’s any need to stress out about this first issue. There’s bound to be some bumps in the road, and it’s not necessarily going to be perfect. But the students are excited about it, and they’re eager to see their names in print. The newspaper is new to them, so if anything, things should go better this first issue than any subsequent issues. So really all I’m saying is that you don’t have to stress out about it too much.”
“Well, I still think we need to set up a time to sit down and talk about this. We don’t have to do it right now, but in the next couple of days, I’d like to at least have had a discussion with you.”
“This doesn’t count?”
She smiled thinly. “No, it doesn’t. And I think it would behoove you to take this seriously, Leo. This isn’t just a one-off sort of thing; we’re laying the foundation for the success of this project in the years to come. I know that Shannon wants this to continue for as long as possible, and I happen to agree. A school should have a newspaper of its own, and it should be something that the students take an active role in. We’ve been tasked with a pretty big responsibility, and though I don’t have all the time in the world right now, it’s still something that I plan to take seriously, and I expect you will, too. So setting up a meeting to make sure that we’re prepared and have an idea of where we’re going to go with this is crucial.”
“Fine,” I said. “We can set up some time to meet if you want.”
“Good,” she said. “I’ll take a look at my calendar and let you know what dates work for me. Why don’t you do the same? We can have the meeting down in my office if you want, and maybe take some notes before we get together so we won’t forget to talk about anything important.”
“This is starting to sound more and more like a homework assignment,” I said.
“Let’s just try to work together, okay? It’ll make this all the more pleasant.”
“Can’t wait,” I said, as she walked out of the room.
That night, I met up with Jack at the Corkscrew because I didn’t feel like going home. Not that I particularly felt like going to that bar, either, but it was better than nothing. All I really wanted was for the next feature writing class to roll around and see if Tessa would abide by what I had written.
But instead, I sat next to Jack at the bar and listened to him lament the fact that half of his students didn’t really seem to be that interested in the material he was teaching, that there were several students, in fact, who actually seemed to despise it.
“It’s been a real challenge,” he said. “Sometimes I find myself not even wanting to go to class. But I have to, of course, for the other kids that are there to actually learn something.”
I nodded and tried to give him a sympathetic look as I took a sip of my beer. I refrained from telling him to get involved with one of his students if he was looking for a way to make going to class more appealing.
“And the worst of them are the basketball players,” Jack continued. “Not that I’m trying to single any one group out or anything like that—”
“Which is exactly what you’re doing,” I interrupted. “Which is fine, since it’s true.”
“Well, I certainly don’t mean all of them, but you can tell the ones that are really just in school to play the sport and couldn’t really care less about the academics part. I mean, it helps that they have to maintain a certain GPA in order to be eligible to play, but most of them still act like they couldn’t care less about what I’m teaching.”
“I’m sorry, man,” I said. And I was sorry; it must be horrible to be so fucking affected by it. Jack took his job seriously, it was his passion, and his students really should be considering themselves very lucky to have a teacher who was so committed, so invested in their futures. In fact, I—
“Is this seat taken?” a familiar voice asked.
I turned my head slightly. Tessa was right there, next to me; she’d somehow come in without me seeing her. “Hey!” I said. “Of course not—it’s all yours.”
“I can’t stay long,” she said as she slid her backpack off her shoulder. “I’m heading over to the Haymarket to meet up with Lindsey. But I was walking by and happened to glance in and see you, so I thought I’d come in and say hello.”
“Glad you did,” I said, feeling my dick start to get hard just at the sight of her. She was wearing a pair of tight yoga pants and a gray, long-sleeved shirt with a wide neck. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she looked like she could have been on her way to a dance class.
“This is Jack,” I said. “I don’t know if you’ve met before. Jack, this is Tessa.”