Chapter 20 - Jack Gets a 'D' in Math
Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2018 4:55 pm
Chapter 20 - Jack Gets a 'D' in Math
If being an adult means handling a job, school, and a relationship, then count me out. Things were starting to slip, and I was starting to pine for my bed each night like someone 30 years my senior. The job at Lisa's firm was fascinating and holding the bulk of my attention but the other things, most notably high school, had begun to suffer. Polly was my highest priority but she was so busy there were never any hurt feelings when I was not back from work until 7 o'clock in the evening, and a few times she ate with my family which was always special. Unless my Dad was there, then it was just embarrassing.
I was pounding away on the keyboard one Saturday morning at the Craddock offices when the phone rang. "Hey Jack, this is Polly."
"Hey gorgeous, how are you?"
"A little panicked at the moment, are you at Mom's work?" She asked.
"Yes, why?" I said.
"Is Mom there, I need her help?" Polly asked.
"Sorry, the place is a ghost town, what's up? Can I help?"
"Oh would you? I left my performance leotard at home and the coach wanted to do a dress rehearsal. Can you bring it to me?"
"Ok, where is it and where are you?"
"It's lying on my bed and I'm at the school gym. One of the side doors is open today so we can practice."
"I need a break anyway, I'll be right over."
"Thanks Jack, your awesome."
"It will cost you a kiss." I said.
"You can have two." Polly laughed and hung up the phone.
I arrived at Polly's house a few minutes later. I went to the back door and found the hidden key, though unusually the deck door was unlocked. I ran upstairs to Polly's bedroom and saw the dark purple leotard laid out on Polly's bed spread. I started to leave but heard an odd sound coming from down the hall. I stopped and strained to listen. A whirring sound repeated itself at regular quick intervals and it seemed to be coming from Lisa's bedroom.
I stepped closer wondering if the house was empty. The door to Lisa's room was closed but not latched. The sound was definitely coming from there and I thought perhaps something had been left running unintentionally. I slowly pushed open the door and looked around the room. My eyes wandered across the familiar furniture and saw nothing on first glance but then caught movement from the bed. I sucked in a breath at what I saw. Lying on the bed was a woman, her arms and legs spread toward each corner of the bed. She wore black stockings with black high heels, a matching garter belt, panty set, and shiny black opera length gloves, otherwise she was nude. Her modest breasts had flattened against her body unrestrained by a bra. Silk cords connected each of her limbs to the posts of the bed. My eyes roamed up her body until I found her face gagged with a large white ball and I froze. It was Mrs. Bates, my math teacher.
I took a step forward thinking something terrible happened but she shook her head in a panicked jerk and looked toward the archway. I followed her gaze and discovered the source of the noise. Inside the cavernous bathroom room was Lisa and she walked briskly on a treadmill. She wore headphones and faced the wall. I looked back at Mrs. Bates who was staring at me wide eyed and fearful. Lisa was in her workout clothing and my math teacher was tied topless to the bed in lingerie. Things started to slide together in my brain. I looked back over the room again and noticed details I had previously overlooked. There was a phallic object lying between Mrs. Bates spread legs, it looked to have been placed just out of reach. Mrs. Bates though obviously scared by my appearance had not been struggling or thrashing upon my arrival. This was all consensual and I was the intruder.
I turned and fled like a startled rabbit. By the time I had reached my car my breath was coming in ragged gasps. "What am I going to do? What am I going to do? Oh god. Oh god." I said as I put the key in the ignition and drove away as fast as I dared. My mind did back flips around this new information. I knew that Lisa had little love for men, but Mrs. Bates, I guess the 'Mrs.' part was in error. Sure she was older than most single ladies I just never realized she had an attraction to women. Hold on a second, maybe it was the ropes and stuff, maybe that was what she was really into? I understood all too well how such things could arouse and inflame the mind.
Do I tell anyone? If I told Polly, she would tell Lisa which would be bad. If I told Mom or Kat it would similarly get back to Lisa. "Argh! Curse my stupid curiosity. Why did I have to be so nosy?" I yelled into the empty car.
I ran into the school and handed over Polly's leotard. Luckily she was too busy to notice my nervousness. She gave me two quick pecks on the lips and dashed away toward the ladies locker room. I hopped back in my car and went to the office, waiting for Lisa to arrive and give me the biggest cussing ever.
I spent an extremely unproductive two hours at the office. I paced back and forth from the window overlooking the parking lot and my desk once every fifteen minutes. Lisa never arrived. No one called my cell. Nothing happened at all. I might have thought it a dream except I had now placed Mrs. Bates in a very different category in my mind. She had gone from simple math teacher to, "Wow she's really hot beneath those conservative suits."
I waited and waited for something to happen. All through Sunday I waited for a tap on the shoulder from Lisa or Mom but nothing happened. Polly and her mother ate Sunday dinner with us and Lisa acted completely normal throughout. Mrs. Bates must have kept the incident to herself.
I had math class on Monday morning, that would answer all the questions. I was beginning to wonder if I had imagined it. I walked into the room as close to the bell as possible to avoid any chance of speaking with her alone. I avoided her eyes but saw that she wore her usual conservative skirt and blazer with a cream colored blouse. Everything was normal.
"Ok class, I hope everyone has studied hard, I was nice enough to give you the weekend." Mrs. Bates said as she walked down the aisles handing out a test. I felt like pounding my head onto the wooden desk. I forgot the test. It seemed so clear now and I even remembered my intention to study most of Sunday evening. My job and the sight of Mrs. Bates bound and gagged had driven it all from my mind. I was staring at a page with symbols and numbers that seemed to move around as I watched them. With unsteady hands I began to work through the problems.
On a normal day being unprepared for a math test would be no big deal, instead of an 'A' I may have pulled out a 'B' but today with the constant sense of Mrs. Bates' attention drilling into my skull I could not focus. Twice during the hour long class I looked up and found myself staring directly into Mrs. Bates brown eyed gaze, I turned away each time with the memories of her loose brown hair splayed out onto a pillow and a large white orb wedged into her mouth. Both times my hand was shaking so much I had to erase much of my work since it so illegible not even I could read it. When the bell rang I was not surprised to find many problems still incomplete.
I grabbed my backpack and made for the door as quickly as I could without drawing suspicions from my fellow students. It made little difference though. "Jack, please stay behind, I would like a brief word."
Ollie caught my eye and he could not have missed the terror in my eyes. "You ok, dude?" He asked.
I swallowed. "I'm..." My voice rasped in a whisper. "I'm fine, just fine."
"Ok, see you at lunch." Ollie glanced over my shoulder at the teacher and then quickly walked outside.
I returned to my seat and crossed my arms over my chest to hide my trembling hands. As the last student exited Mrs. Bates walked to the door and turned the lock with an ominous click that echoed through the empty room. She then sat down on her desk her skirt pulling tight across her legs revealing more of her black nyloned legs. "We need to talk." She said quietly and without anger.
"I'm sorry, I did not mean too..."
Mrs. Bates waved the frightened statement away with a flick of her hand. "Lisa was careless, we made certain assumptions that were incorrect. Did you speak to anyone?"
"No. No one." I said.
"Not Polly, or your Mom?" She asked with raised eyebrows.
"No, no one." I said with a small measure of hope this could be put behind us.
"Well that's good." She looked at the ceiling. "Thank the maker I did not mention it to Lisa." She looked back at me. "I almost said something to her expecting you to run off and tell Polly."
"No, I could not."
Mrs. Bates looked strangely at me for a moment. "Could not? Why couldn't you? Seems like something teenagers would get a good laugh over. No matter that it would cost me my career."
"I did not know it could get you in trouble, that's not the reason I kept it to myself." I answered.
"What is the reason?" She asked.
"Well, one reason is that you are my favorite teacher." I began.
Mrs. Bates crossed her legs and smiled. "That's nice to know."
"And the other reason is..." I paused and took a breath. "...I sort of get it."
"Get it?" She said cocking her head to the side.
"You know, I get it. I get what you were doing." I responded not know exactly how to express my thoughts.
Mrs. Bates pinched her lips together in thought. "You're awfully young..."
I don't know why I said it, perhaps it was an attempt to reduce my favorite teacher's embarrassment. "I love it when Polly ties me up. I get it."
Mrs. Bates back stiffened and her eyes went wide, she stared at me for several seconds as my heartbeat started to accelerate. Then her head cocked over and she looked at me from my shoes to my hair. I felt like I was being sized up for auction. "I can definitely see it." Mrs. Bates said starting to grin slightly.
It was my turn to be surprised. "See what?" I said slowly looking toward the door in hopes of escape.
"Oh nothing, let's agree not to discuss this again and keep it just between us."
I nodded so hard I heard my neck popped from the sudden movement. "I agree to that."
I left Mrs. Bates classroom wishing we had talked before the test, I remembered several easy errors I had made and knew that this would be likely my worst grade ever.
* * *
The remainder of the school day was normal. The school was now used to Polly and I being together so we were no longer the topic of deep conversations or long sighs by the younger girls who saw us together. I often caught Polly at the tale end of her lunch and most of her coterie of friends had started working together to allow us a few moments of privacy, they were some good friends.
After my brief rendezvous with Polly I spotted Ollie leaning against a nearby wall where he was obviously waiting for me so I stepped closer. "What's up?"
"What did Mrs. Bates say?" Ollie asked though I could tell he was just making small talk and he wanted to discuss something else.
"She is concerned about my work, I'm starting to slip in my studies since I'm so busy with my job." I lied, sort of, the test was a complete disaster and half the reason was all the time I had been losing to work.
"How's that going, the job I mean?" He asked though he was definitely trying to work up the courage to ask something else.
"It's really interesting and that's why I've put so much time there." I decided to get it to the point, the bell would ring soon. "What's this about Ollie?"
Ollie took a deep breath and combed his fingers through his blond highlighted hair. "Look, I've had a lot of fun with girls and I was sure that's all I ever wanted, but..."
I raised my eyebrows.
"I've watched you and Polly these last few weeks and I think maybe I'm missing something." Ollie said in a voice barely audible above the general din of the hallway.
"You would like to have a steady girlfriend, is that it?" I asked.
"Yeah, but I just don't know who to ask."
I thought back to recent weeks. "I know Kristy likes you."
Ollie's eyes went wide. "Kristy? Really? How do you know that?"
"Polly mentioned it." I decided not to mention the actual content of the conversation which involved certain female undergarments.
"You never told me." Genuine heat rose in Ollie's voice.
"Honestly, I knew you weren't into anything serious, you did date her once or twice."
"Yeah, they were good dates too, she's a great kisser." Ollie said in dreamy remembrance.
"There you go." I hefted my backpack onto my shoulder and slugged Ollie in the shoulder. "See ya."
* * *
After spending a couple of hours at Lisa's office I returned home to a strange car parked in my usual spot. Our house had become a parking lot now that we each had a car and my spot was at the curb next to the sidewalk. Now a small black car was there.
I entered the house and stepped into the kitchen as I usually did. A familiar voice reached my ears. "I am really surprised." Mrs. Bates was saying. My mom was sitting across the table from my math teacher, each one with cups of tea and a plate of cookies sitting before them. Mrs. Bates was facing my direction when I entered. "Ah, here he is now."
Mom turned in her chair and gave me a smile that did not touch her eyes which were pinched in worry. "Have a seat Jack."
I had trouble meeting Mrs. Bates gaze, suddenly worried she had decided against keeping our shared secret. "What's this about?"
"Your teacher called me and said that you nearly failed your math test." Mom said as I found my seat.
I looked at Mrs. Bates. "That bad?"
"D." Mrs. Bates answered, "I graded them during my work period today."
"Holy sh..." I stopped myself before finishing the word catching my Mom's glare.
"I understand you have taken on extra work and Ms. McGentry is in your life now." Mrs. Bates said.
"You mean Polly? I have to call her Mom, Mrs. McGentry at work." I said
"Yes, Polly. It's a lot to adjust to in just a few short weeks, has it even been a month?"
I shrugged not bothering to calculate the time since I knew that a majority of the reason for my poor performance was my own nosiness and so did Mrs. Bates. Her presence here meant she was probably trying to help. "I forgot about the test. I have so much stuff in my head."
Mom turned to Mrs. Bates. "Is there any way he can take the test again?"
"I don't know. That would not be fair to the other students would it?" Mrs. Bates took a sip of her tea looking at me over the rim. "Most of the students who score this poorly would take another chance if it were offered."
"Most of those students did not have straight A's on all their previous tests." I argued.
"Touché." Lisa gestured toward me with her cup.
Mom looked between us, she rarely missed anything. "You called me for a reason, Mrs. Bates."
"Selena. Call me Selena, please."
Mom smiled. "Selena, why are you here then?"
"As Jack says, this score is an extreme anomaly, I want to work something out. Perhaps some arrangement can be reached that will justify a reexamination."
"Arrangement?" I asked.
The look Mrs. Bates sent me was familiar. It reminded me of Polly when she watched me while surrounded by a bunch of friends. A look that said if I could read her mind I would blush from head to toe. With Polly it was irresistible, on Mrs. Bates it was scary. What was she doing?
"I will be placing my career at some minor risk to achieve this but it may be worth it to me if I could borrow your son on occasion to accomplish a few minor tasks around my house. I live alone and repairmen are expensive and I also worry about giving them access to my person. They could take advantage of my vulnerability in ways I am not comfortable."
Mom nodded. "You would like some help around the house? Had I known you live alone we could have helped regardless of Jack's grades."
"That is very kind and I suppose I only have my pride to blame but I want to offer something in return. This presented such an opportunity." Mrs. Bates smiled and took a drink of her tea.
"I'm not sure how this solves your fear of men having access to your person." Mom said. "Jack is nearly fully grown."
"I have had the opportunity to observe the way he treats Polly and I am confident in his gentle nature." Lisa smiled at me. "I'm sure I can handle Jack."
Mom turned toward me. "What do you think, Jack?"
"Sounds fine to me." I said though I had a feeling Mrs. Bates had other ideas than unclogging sinks.
"Good." Mrs. Bates rose from the table. "Let's exchange phone numbers and then we can work out a time."
"Thank you." I said with Mom echoing me.
Mrs. Bates left and Mom turned on me. "You need to be careful around her." Like I said Mom missed nothing. "Don't do anything you aren't comfortable with. Better yet, don't do anything that Polly is not comfortable with."
I straightened in surprise. "Polly?"
"Yes, that woman reminds me of Lisa, but more desperate. Promise me you will not keep secrets from Polly."
"I promise Mom." I was privately glad she extracted such a promise after my encounter in Lisa bedroom with Mrs. Bates and not before. It was a thin justification but a necessary one.
"Good. I love you. Now go study."
"Love you too."
If being an adult means handling a job, school, and a relationship, then count me out. Things were starting to slip, and I was starting to pine for my bed each night like someone 30 years my senior. The job at Lisa's firm was fascinating and holding the bulk of my attention but the other things, most notably high school, had begun to suffer. Polly was my highest priority but she was so busy there were never any hurt feelings when I was not back from work until 7 o'clock in the evening, and a few times she ate with my family which was always special. Unless my Dad was there, then it was just embarrassing.
I was pounding away on the keyboard one Saturday morning at the Craddock offices when the phone rang. "Hey Jack, this is Polly."
"Hey gorgeous, how are you?"
"A little panicked at the moment, are you at Mom's work?" She asked.
"Yes, why?" I said.
"Is Mom there, I need her help?" Polly asked.
"Sorry, the place is a ghost town, what's up? Can I help?"
"Oh would you? I left my performance leotard at home and the coach wanted to do a dress rehearsal. Can you bring it to me?"
"Ok, where is it and where are you?"
"It's lying on my bed and I'm at the school gym. One of the side doors is open today so we can practice."
"I need a break anyway, I'll be right over."
"Thanks Jack, your awesome."
"It will cost you a kiss." I said.
"You can have two." Polly laughed and hung up the phone.
I arrived at Polly's house a few minutes later. I went to the back door and found the hidden key, though unusually the deck door was unlocked. I ran upstairs to Polly's bedroom and saw the dark purple leotard laid out on Polly's bed spread. I started to leave but heard an odd sound coming from down the hall. I stopped and strained to listen. A whirring sound repeated itself at regular quick intervals and it seemed to be coming from Lisa's bedroom.
I stepped closer wondering if the house was empty. The door to Lisa's room was closed but not latched. The sound was definitely coming from there and I thought perhaps something had been left running unintentionally. I slowly pushed open the door and looked around the room. My eyes wandered across the familiar furniture and saw nothing on first glance but then caught movement from the bed. I sucked in a breath at what I saw. Lying on the bed was a woman, her arms and legs spread toward each corner of the bed. She wore black stockings with black high heels, a matching garter belt, panty set, and shiny black opera length gloves, otherwise she was nude. Her modest breasts had flattened against her body unrestrained by a bra. Silk cords connected each of her limbs to the posts of the bed. My eyes roamed up her body until I found her face gagged with a large white ball and I froze. It was Mrs. Bates, my math teacher.
I took a step forward thinking something terrible happened but she shook her head in a panicked jerk and looked toward the archway. I followed her gaze and discovered the source of the noise. Inside the cavernous bathroom room was Lisa and she walked briskly on a treadmill. She wore headphones and faced the wall. I looked back at Mrs. Bates who was staring at me wide eyed and fearful. Lisa was in her workout clothing and my math teacher was tied topless to the bed in lingerie. Things started to slide together in my brain. I looked back over the room again and noticed details I had previously overlooked. There was a phallic object lying between Mrs. Bates spread legs, it looked to have been placed just out of reach. Mrs. Bates though obviously scared by my appearance had not been struggling or thrashing upon my arrival. This was all consensual and I was the intruder.
I turned and fled like a startled rabbit. By the time I had reached my car my breath was coming in ragged gasps. "What am I going to do? What am I going to do? Oh god. Oh god." I said as I put the key in the ignition and drove away as fast as I dared. My mind did back flips around this new information. I knew that Lisa had little love for men, but Mrs. Bates, I guess the 'Mrs.' part was in error. Sure she was older than most single ladies I just never realized she had an attraction to women. Hold on a second, maybe it was the ropes and stuff, maybe that was what she was really into? I understood all too well how such things could arouse and inflame the mind.
Do I tell anyone? If I told Polly, she would tell Lisa which would be bad. If I told Mom or Kat it would similarly get back to Lisa. "Argh! Curse my stupid curiosity. Why did I have to be so nosy?" I yelled into the empty car.
I ran into the school and handed over Polly's leotard. Luckily she was too busy to notice my nervousness. She gave me two quick pecks on the lips and dashed away toward the ladies locker room. I hopped back in my car and went to the office, waiting for Lisa to arrive and give me the biggest cussing ever.
I spent an extremely unproductive two hours at the office. I paced back and forth from the window overlooking the parking lot and my desk once every fifteen minutes. Lisa never arrived. No one called my cell. Nothing happened at all. I might have thought it a dream except I had now placed Mrs. Bates in a very different category in my mind. She had gone from simple math teacher to, "Wow she's really hot beneath those conservative suits."
I waited and waited for something to happen. All through Sunday I waited for a tap on the shoulder from Lisa or Mom but nothing happened. Polly and her mother ate Sunday dinner with us and Lisa acted completely normal throughout. Mrs. Bates must have kept the incident to herself.
I had math class on Monday morning, that would answer all the questions. I was beginning to wonder if I had imagined it. I walked into the room as close to the bell as possible to avoid any chance of speaking with her alone. I avoided her eyes but saw that she wore her usual conservative skirt and blazer with a cream colored blouse. Everything was normal.
"Ok class, I hope everyone has studied hard, I was nice enough to give you the weekend." Mrs. Bates said as she walked down the aisles handing out a test. I felt like pounding my head onto the wooden desk. I forgot the test. It seemed so clear now and I even remembered my intention to study most of Sunday evening. My job and the sight of Mrs. Bates bound and gagged had driven it all from my mind. I was staring at a page with symbols and numbers that seemed to move around as I watched them. With unsteady hands I began to work through the problems.
On a normal day being unprepared for a math test would be no big deal, instead of an 'A' I may have pulled out a 'B' but today with the constant sense of Mrs. Bates' attention drilling into my skull I could not focus. Twice during the hour long class I looked up and found myself staring directly into Mrs. Bates brown eyed gaze, I turned away each time with the memories of her loose brown hair splayed out onto a pillow and a large white orb wedged into her mouth. Both times my hand was shaking so much I had to erase much of my work since it so illegible not even I could read it. When the bell rang I was not surprised to find many problems still incomplete.
I grabbed my backpack and made for the door as quickly as I could without drawing suspicions from my fellow students. It made little difference though. "Jack, please stay behind, I would like a brief word."
Ollie caught my eye and he could not have missed the terror in my eyes. "You ok, dude?" He asked.
I swallowed. "I'm..." My voice rasped in a whisper. "I'm fine, just fine."
"Ok, see you at lunch." Ollie glanced over my shoulder at the teacher and then quickly walked outside.
I returned to my seat and crossed my arms over my chest to hide my trembling hands. As the last student exited Mrs. Bates walked to the door and turned the lock with an ominous click that echoed through the empty room. She then sat down on her desk her skirt pulling tight across her legs revealing more of her black nyloned legs. "We need to talk." She said quietly and without anger.
"I'm sorry, I did not mean too..."
Mrs. Bates waved the frightened statement away with a flick of her hand. "Lisa was careless, we made certain assumptions that were incorrect. Did you speak to anyone?"
"No. No one." I said.
"Not Polly, or your Mom?" She asked with raised eyebrows.
"No, no one." I said with a small measure of hope this could be put behind us.
"Well that's good." She looked at the ceiling. "Thank the maker I did not mention it to Lisa." She looked back at me. "I almost said something to her expecting you to run off and tell Polly."
"No, I could not."
Mrs. Bates looked strangely at me for a moment. "Could not? Why couldn't you? Seems like something teenagers would get a good laugh over. No matter that it would cost me my career."
"I did not know it could get you in trouble, that's not the reason I kept it to myself." I answered.
"What is the reason?" She asked.
"Well, one reason is that you are my favorite teacher." I began.
Mrs. Bates crossed her legs and smiled. "That's nice to know."
"And the other reason is..." I paused and took a breath. "...I sort of get it."
"Get it?" She said cocking her head to the side.
"You know, I get it. I get what you were doing." I responded not know exactly how to express my thoughts.
Mrs. Bates pinched her lips together in thought. "You're awfully young..."
I don't know why I said it, perhaps it was an attempt to reduce my favorite teacher's embarrassment. "I love it when Polly ties me up. I get it."
Mrs. Bates back stiffened and her eyes went wide, she stared at me for several seconds as my heartbeat started to accelerate. Then her head cocked over and she looked at me from my shoes to my hair. I felt like I was being sized up for auction. "I can definitely see it." Mrs. Bates said starting to grin slightly.
It was my turn to be surprised. "See what?" I said slowly looking toward the door in hopes of escape.
"Oh nothing, let's agree not to discuss this again and keep it just between us."
I nodded so hard I heard my neck popped from the sudden movement. "I agree to that."
I left Mrs. Bates classroom wishing we had talked before the test, I remembered several easy errors I had made and knew that this would be likely my worst grade ever.
* * *
The remainder of the school day was normal. The school was now used to Polly and I being together so we were no longer the topic of deep conversations or long sighs by the younger girls who saw us together. I often caught Polly at the tale end of her lunch and most of her coterie of friends had started working together to allow us a few moments of privacy, they were some good friends.
After my brief rendezvous with Polly I spotted Ollie leaning against a nearby wall where he was obviously waiting for me so I stepped closer. "What's up?"
"What did Mrs. Bates say?" Ollie asked though I could tell he was just making small talk and he wanted to discuss something else.
"She is concerned about my work, I'm starting to slip in my studies since I'm so busy with my job." I lied, sort of, the test was a complete disaster and half the reason was all the time I had been losing to work.
"How's that going, the job I mean?" He asked though he was definitely trying to work up the courage to ask something else.
"It's really interesting and that's why I've put so much time there." I decided to get it to the point, the bell would ring soon. "What's this about Ollie?"
Ollie took a deep breath and combed his fingers through his blond highlighted hair. "Look, I've had a lot of fun with girls and I was sure that's all I ever wanted, but..."
I raised my eyebrows.
"I've watched you and Polly these last few weeks and I think maybe I'm missing something." Ollie said in a voice barely audible above the general din of the hallway.
"You would like to have a steady girlfriend, is that it?" I asked.
"Yeah, but I just don't know who to ask."
I thought back to recent weeks. "I know Kristy likes you."
Ollie's eyes went wide. "Kristy? Really? How do you know that?"
"Polly mentioned it." I decided not to mention the actual content of the conversation which involved certain female undergarments.
"You never told me." Genuine heat rose in Ollie's voice.
"Honestly, I knew you weren't into anything serious, you did date her once or twice."
"Yeah, they were good dates too, she's a great kisser." Ollie said in dreamy remembrance.
"There you go." I hefted my backpack onto my shoulder and slugged Ollie in the shoulder. "See ya."
* * *
After spending a couple of hours at Lisa's office I returned home to a strange car parked in my usual spot. Our house had become a parking lot now that we each had a car and my spot was at the curb next to the sidewalk. Now a small black car was there.
I entered the house and stepped into the kitchen as I usually did. A familiar voice reached my ears. "I am really surprised." Mrs. Bates was saying. My mom was sitting across the table from my math teacher, each one with cups of tea and a plate of cookies sitting before them. Mrs. Bates was facing my direction when I entered. "Ah, here he is now."
Mom turned in her chair and gave me a smile that did not touch her eyes which were pinched in worry. "Have a seat Jack."
I had trouble meeting Mrs. Bates gaze, suddenly worried she had decided against keeping our shared secret. "What's this about?"
"Your teacher called me and said that you nearly failed your math test." Mom said as I found my seat.
I looked at Mrs. Bates. "That bad?"
"D." Mrs. Bates answered, "I graded them during my work period today."
"Holy sh..." I stopped myself before finishing the word catching my Mom's glare.
"I understand you have taken on extra work and Ms. McGentry is in your life now." Mrs. Bates said.
"You mean Polly? I have to call her Mom, Mrs. McGentry at work." I said
"Yes, Polly. It's a lot to adjust to in just a few short weeks, has it even been a month?"
I shrugged not bothering to calculate the time since I knew that a majority of the reason for my poor performance was my own nosiness and so did Mrs. Bates. Her presence here meant she was probably trying to help. "I forgot about the test. I have so much stuff in my head."
Mom turned to Mrs. Bates. "Is there any way he can take the test again?"
"I don't know. That would not be fair to the other students would it?" Mrs. Bates took a sip of her tea looking at me over the rim. "Most of the students who score this poorly would take another chance if it were offered."
"Most of those students did not have straight A's on all their previous tests." I argued.
"Touché." Lisa gestured toward me with her cup.
Mom looked between us, she rarely missed anything. "You called me for a reason, Mrs. Bates."
"Selena. Call me Selena, please."
Mom smiled. "Selena, why are you here then?"
"As Jack says, this score is an extreme anomaly, I want to work something out. Perhaps some arrangement can be reached that will justify a reexamination."
"Arrangement?" I asked.
The look Mrs. Bates sent me was familiar. It reminded me of Polly when she watched me while surrounded by a bunch of friends. A look that said if I could read her mind I would blush from head to toe. With Polly it was irresistible, on Mrs. Bates it was scary. What was she doing?
"I will be placing my career at some minor risk to achieve this but it may be worth it to me if I could borrow your son on occasion to accomplish a few minor tasks around my house. I live alone and repairmen are expensive and I also worry about giving them access to my person. They could take advantage of my vulnerability in ways I am not comfortable."
Mom nodded. "You would like some help around the house? Had I known you live alone we could have helped regardless of Jack's grades."
"That is very kind and I suppose I only have my pride to blame but I want to offer something in return. This presented such an opportunity." Mrs. Bates smiled and took a drink of her tea.
"I'm not sure how this solves your fear of men having access to your person." Mom said. "Jack is nearly fully grown."
"I have had the opportunity to observe the way he treats Polly and I am confident in his gentle nature." Lisa smiled at me. "I'm sure I can handle Jack."
Mom turned toward me. "What do you think, Jack?"
"Sounds fine to me." I said though I had a feeling Mrs. Bates had other ideas than unclogging sinks.
"Good." Mrs. Bates rose from the table. "Let's exchange phone numbers and then we can work out a time."
"Thank you." I said with Mom echoing me.
Mrs. Bates left and Mom turned on me. "You need to be careful around her." Like I said Mom missed nothing. "Don't do anything you aren't comfortable with. Better yet, don't do anything that Polly is not comfortable with."
I straightened in surprise. "Polly?"
"Yes, that woman reminds me of Lisa, but more desperate. Promise me you will not keep secrets from Polly."
"I promise Mom." I was privately glad she extracted such a promise after my encounter in Lisa bedroom with Mrs. Bates and not before. It was a thin justification but a necessary one.
"Good. I love you. Now go study."
"Love you too."