In a Class of His Own Ch. 07

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Finally, a class of his own.
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Part 7 of the 13 part series

Updated 06/08/2023
Created 04/08/2017
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AspernEssling
AspernEssling
4,267 Followers

Finally, I had a class of my own.

Pinecrest was a K to 8 (kindergarten to grade 8) school. I met all 24 staff members at the end of August - or, rather, they met me, because I was the new guy. The principal and vice-principal were male, as were two of the teachers and the custodian. Everybody else, including the librarian and the social workers, was female.

I was equal parts keen (to start my new career) and bewildered. Luckily, these elementary school teachers treated each other like one big semi-dysfunctional family. But you don't want to hear about the job. It's enough to say that I fully expected to be working my ass off, and going without sleep. I underestimated the workload.

They gave me two Grade 7 classes. I had to teach them English, History, Geography, and Phys Ed. My partner would handle Math, Science & Tech, Art and music. There was an itinerant French teacher who came in for part of the day.

I might not have survived without my partner. Antonia was tireless, patient, and well-organized. She went out of her way to help me out. I expressed my undying gratitude every second day.

- "You'd do the same for me, if the roles were reversed." she said. "And you'll do it for somebody else, some day."

- "Did someone do this for you, when you were a rookie?" I asked.

- "No." she said. "Maybe that's why I don't want to see you go through what I did."

Antonia was 29, blonde, and had a killer smile. She also had a murderous stare - it's not always easy to keep control of a roomful of 12 year-olds, but Antonia could freeze them with a look. The kids respected and genuinely liked her.

Our principal reminded me of Colonel Klink, from Hogan's Heroes, and the vice-principal was a martinet who thought that shouting was effective. I ignored them as much as I could. But I certainly developed a healthy crush on Antonia.

She set me straight before I said or did anything.

- "I'm in a committed relationship." she told me. "Martin and I will get married, at some point."

- "Does Martin know that?" I asked.

- "Smartass." she said.

- "Thank you for telling me." I said. "Had you not, I would definitely have asked you out on my first free evening - sometime in July."

I felt tremendously lucky to have drawn Antonia as a partner - especially after the two other male teacher introduced themselves. Ed, one of the Grade 8 teachers, was about 45, and his 'glory days' were far behind him. He was married, but still had a wandering eye. Frankly, he was a bit creepy - and I'm not female.

- "Us guys have to stick together - right? We're outnumbered." Yeesh.

Nelson taught Grade 6. He was painfully shy, but he was also the only person in the building who knew anything about computers. I had trained on Macs in Teachers College, but our School Board used Microsoft/Windows stuff, so I was completely lost.

I was the girls' basketball coach. I also coached boys' soccer, hockey, volleyball, softball, and track & field. Everybody pitched in for that. Basically, I got home every night between 6 and 7, ate take-out food far too often, and then got to work, planning for the next day. Weekends were for marking, and for long-range planning.

My first break was at Thanksgiving, when I went home. I spent more time with Steve and his family than I did with my own. His parents and his sister, Sarah (not the ex-girlfriend) treated me like visiting royalty. I was exhausted when I got back to work on Tuesday, but it was worth it. You have to recharge the moral and mental batteries.

My letter-writing to Nina slipped a bit. I had lots to tell her - just less time for the telling. I also felt a bit guilty, because - busy as I was - my eyes were roving.

There were quite a few single women at Pinecrest.

I'm a male. Of course I looked. Why not? They were also busily checking me out.

- 'You've created quite a stir." Antonia told me. "I get asked about you every day."

She didn't have to tell me that. I could feel their eyes on me, several times a day. That was fair, because I had my eye on them, too.

Madame Chantal, as the kids called her, was the French teacher. I saw her long, dark hair first. She was tall - taller than me. But her most striking feature was her eyes. Sloe-eyed, was the old expression. They were slightly slanted, and dark blue - almost purple.

Chantal was thrilled to be able to speak to me in French. She was from Quebec, and quite homesick. I found her very alluring, but regretfully crossed her off my list. 'Madame' means Mrs - and I wasn't about to get involved with a married woman.

It was too bad, really. Chantal was giving off unambiguous signals. She was definitely interested in me, from what I could see: she nodded and smiled whenever I spoke to her, and did quite a lot of primping and preening. Too bad, I thought.

Eva taught grade 5. She was tall, and slender, with long, dark hair, and definitely worth a second look. Eva was also a hopeless romantic.

- "And seeing someone." said Antonia, who had appointed herself my guardian, or fairy godmother.

- "Really?" I had not forgotten Moe's lessons. Eva looked like a girl who was more than ready to dally with a Prince Charming. Or even a halfway decent frog.

Louise was Eva's grade 5 partner. She was tiny - barely 5'1" - and sweet. Long brown hair, and a slim, trim little body certainly piqued my interest. But Nelson - the computer guy - nearly swooned as she walked by. He seemed to be hyper-ventilating.

- "You like her?" I asked him.

- "She's ... uhhh ... yeah." I didn't know if he was praying, or coming in his pants. Either way, I didn't want to mess up Nelson's crush. Louise looked ripe - but I couldn't do it.

That left Suzanne, the grade 3 teacher. She was short, too, but more full-bodied. Dark hair, light eyes ... and she hit virtually every one of the signals Moe had taught me about. She was always checking me out at staff meetings. She did the hair flip, the lip lick, the eye contact, and the coy smile.

- "She's trouble." Antonia warned me.

- "What? Why?"

- "She's on the prowl. That girl is a predator. You better wear a condom, if you go anywhere near her." she said.

- "Antonia!" I pretended to be offended.

- "Be careful, Chris." she said.

Suzanne had a lovely smile, which she frequently showed me. She was considerate, and often asked if she could help me out.

- "I know Antonia is amazing." she said. "But if you ever need any advice - if you have any questions - I'd be more than happy to help."

I think I first caught my breath in late November. On a blustery Sunday afternoon, I found that I was almost a full week ahead of my class. So I wrote letters. The first was a short one to Celine - I had missed our 'anniversary' - explaining what I was doing. The second was to Nina, because it flowed easily. Writing to her was always just like talking: I told her about my school, the students in my class ... everything.

The last letter was to Moe. It was harder to write, because I didn't know how to say what I felt. But after thinking about her, and our time together, I decided to be honest - just as she would have done.

So I told her that I loved her, and probably always would. I understood - and accepted - the reasons we couldn't be together. I would always be grateful, for the lessons she had taught me, and for the memories. A bit schmaltzy, perhaps - but I mailed it as is.

***

The following weekend, I decided to treat myself to a night out. I was going to meet Antonia and her boyfriend, Martin, at a popular nightspot. Actually, it was the only popular nightspot in town.

Martin and I didn't exactly hit it off, at first. He was a bit jealous, I think. He knew that Antonia and I worked closely together. She tried to put him at ease by explaining that I was the subject of an office pool; bets were being placed about which of the single girls I would finally end up with.

- "Is that true?" I asked. "There's a pool?"

- "No, dumbass." she said. "But maybe I should start one."

It was funny - because it was partially true.

Chantal, the French teacher, had asked me to go for coffee. It was too bad that she was married. Those smoldering eyes certainly caught my attention.

Louise started a conversation with me every time she saw me, and giggled at everything I said. She was cute, and I liked her energy, but Nelson would have been devastated. And Louise's giggle wasn't as cute as she was; if I had been dating her, it would start to drive me nuts after a while.

Suzanne, was short, but shapely, and quite open about her interest in me. I could feel her eyes following me, when I entered the staffroom, or the work area where we had study carrels. You may think it odd, but one thing holding me back was what the students said - or didn't say.

These kids were remarkably open about who they liked, or didn't. They could be brutally honest. The Grade 6 students weren't unhappy with Nelson and his partner, but they were excited at the prospect of having Antonia and me next year. Our classes, the Grade 7s, weren't thrilled at the prospect of having Ed in Grade 8.

Louise was popular with them, and well-liked. Most hated French, but liked 'Madame Chantal'. They just didn't have much to say about Suzanne, one way or the other.

Martin was clearly curious, as well as jealous. "They're all interested in Chris?" he said. He seemed to find it hard to believe. I couldn't blame him: so did I.

- "You know how hard elementary schoolteachers work." said Antonia. "And most of these girls are from out of town. They aren't going to meet a guy through friends, or family. And they certainly don't want to try picking up a guy in a place like this."

"Don't forget: we run into our students - and their parents - all over the place. It's a small community. Nobody wants their love life to be public."

I had a couple of drinks with Antonia and Martin, and bowed out early. The place was crowded, and there were some attractive women, but I wasn't about to try hitting on one in front of my teaching partner.

The parking lot was full, so I had left my car across the street, next to a muffler shop which was closed for the night. It was dark - no street light overhead - but as I drew near, I could see that the car parked next to mine was occupied.

There was a couple in it. The windows were steamed up a bit. But I could see, clearly enough, that they were occupying the same seat. The girl was straddling the guy, and judging by their motions, they were energetically fucking.

They were right next to my driver-side door. I decided to wait until they were finished. Teenagers, I thought. The old expression 'Get a room!' came to mind. Ten minutes is a long time to loiter in front of a muffler shop.

When they got out of the car, and began adjusting their clothes, I started walking towards them. I coughed, to let them know that I was approaching - it was dark, remember. The woman's head snapped up, and she looked right at me.

It was Eva, one of the Grade 5 teachers. We made eye contact. It was very awkward, but turning around and walking away might have made it worse.

- "Hi Eva." I said. "Have a nice evening."

- "Hi ... Chris." She was so flustered, she didn't introduce me to her boyfriend.

Neither of us said a word about it at school on Monday. But the staff Christmas party, a few weeks later, was even more awkward. It was a traditional, family thing: the older teachers brought their children, and the principal dressed up as Santa. Spouses and significant others were welcome, too.

I say awkward, because Eva's boyfriend was there - and they announced their engagement. No, it was not the guy I'd seen her with a few weeks ago, fucking in the car. I was introduced to this fellow, and wished them luck. Eva's lips were moving: she might have been trying to send me a message, but it looked as if she was praying.

I didn't say anything. All I could hope was that Eva would learn from this experience, and hopefully not cheat on this guy in future.

The Christmas holidays were two weeks long, so I drove home. I had been tempted to visit Nina, but my parents would never have forgiven me. Nina would have family obligations of her own.

In the end, I spent most of my time with Steve. He was head over heels in love with a girl named Kim, but the two of them were painfully shy with each other. Their first date had been a near-disaster.

- "They barely said a word." explained Steve's sister, Sarah. "They really like each other, though. It's so weird."

- "How do you know?" I asked.

- "Steve met her through me. We used to work together. She's older than me, but we're still friends."

Sarah was in her second year of university. Steve's little sister was 19, and finally beginning to lose her baby fat. She had always been pretty, with a big genuine smile, but Sarah had confidence issues. She was only 5'3", which didn't leave much room to hide a few extra pounds.

- "So what do I do?" asked Steve.

- "Take her somewhere where you can be physically active." I suggested. I remembered taking Moe to the batting cage. "Pool, or bowling, or something. Then you can talk about the activity as you're doing it. And she can laugh when throw gutter balls."

- "Ha-Ha." said Steve.

- "Or you could double date." said Sarah. "Take Chris."

- "Hey ..." said Steve. "That's not a bad idea. Chris can carry the conversation. He never shuts up."

- "Thanks." I said. "OK - I'm willing. But I would need a date."

- "What about Sarah?" said Steve. "She's already friends with Kim."

- "Sarah who?" I said, with a wink.

Steve's little sister punched me in the arm. But she had a big smile on her face.

We went bowling. Kim turned to be cute, and very sweet. I saw the problem immediately. She and Steve couldn't keep their eyes off each other; they just didn't know what to say. Sarah and I provided all the conversation necessary.

Kim had no trouble talking to me, or to Sarah. She was intelligent, and had a good sense of humour. We had a good time.

There was only one fly in the ointment. I finished bowling a frame, and turned around ... to find Carol standing there, watching us.

My first girlfriend. The bitch, as Moe had so aptly described her.

- "Hi, Chris." she said. "I heard you were out of town."

- "Hello, Carol." I said. She was holding her hand at an odd angle, so that I would see the engagement ring. I chose not to comment, which annoyed her.

Sarah came up behind me.

- "Hi Carol." she said.

The bitch was obviously pissed off that I hadn't asked about her ring, or offered congratulations. So she smirked at me, and completely ignored Sarah.

- "Really - now you're dating high schoolers?"

Carol always did have a talent for pettiness. How had I put up with that - with her - for almost two years?

- "Go away, Carol." I said.

- "What - no clever comeback?"

- "Just go away." I said, and I turned my back on her. I almost bumped into Sarah, who was right behind me. Her hand was raised, middle finger pointing up. Her mouth was open, too, with her teeth bared, as if she had just finished mouthing the words 'Fuck you'.

She looked so funny, I started to laugh. Sarah held her pose for another second, and then she started laughing, too.

Carol must have stalked away, in high dudgeon. When I looked back, she was gone.

- "Sorry about that." I said.

- "Why? Because she's so nasty?" said Sarah. "Not your fault. Though ... I don't understand how you went out with her for so long."

- "You know what? Neither do I."

The double date was a success. After the bowling, we went for a drink, and finally loosened Steve's tongue a bit.

- "Thanks, man." he said, after we had dropped Kim off.

- "I really like her. She's a sweetheart." I said.

- "Couldn't have done it without you." he said.

- "Hey, the credit goes to your sister." I said. "It was her idea. Plus she was funny as hell."

- "Bet you say that to all the high schoolers." she said.

Sarah was cute, and she made me laugh. But she was only 19, and she was Steve's sister. It wasn't going to happen.

The rest of my Christmas vacation flew by. Steve did find time to tell me that Moe was seeing somebody.

***

In January, Chantal asked me out again - twice. I turned her down. I didn't come straight out and say 'I don't go out with married women'. Instead, I made excuses, but I did hope that she'd get the message. Perhaps I should have been blunt, as Moe would have done.

Eva avoided eye contact with me. Louise picked up on my signals, and backed off. That left Suzanne as a possibility. In the end, it was Moe's advice that carried the day.

'Why don't you just ask her out? Spend some time with her, have fun ... maybe get lucky, and then find out if she's the right one for you.'

So I asked her out. We had a couple of drinks, and then a fancy coffee and dessert. She was lively, and interesting. Her dark hair and light eyes were very appealing. I wasn't sure, though, if I was into Suzanne.

I took her out for dinner a week later. That was when I finally realized why I was so hesitant. Suzanne talked - all the time. Regardless of what Steve says, I don't have to dominate the conversation. I am often quite happy just asking questions. But I do like get a word in from time to time.

Maybe that was just Suzanne's style, and maybe she expected me to be more assertive - to go ahead and tell her all about myself. The second date just confirmed for me that there was no long-term potential between us.

Suzanne suggested, near the end of the meal, that I might like to have coffee at her place. At that moment, I decided to do her the courtesy of being honest.

- "You're a lovely girl, Suzanne. You're bright, and interesting. But I don't think we would make a good couple. Actually, I'm pretty sure that we wouldn't. So I'm not going to ask you out again. I'm sorry - but that's how I feel."

She didn't take it very well. Maybe I could have expressed it more diplomatically. I think she was insulted. At school, thereafter, she wouldn't speak to me directly.

Oh well.

I probably should have expected it. The whole staff soon learned that we had been out on a date. Most didn't say anything to my face, but I'm sure we were the subject of quite a bit of gossip. Suzanne told her friends that she had been the one to break it off, because I was a little too vain and self-centred.

I didn't say anything. After her story, it would just sound like sour grapes, anyway. Besides, Suzanne had known most of the staff for a few years, and I was the 'New Guy'.

- "Too bad." said Antonia.

- "Not really." I said. My partner got the true version.

- "That little ..." Antonia was ticked off at Suzanne on my behalf.

- "No harm done." I said. "Unless I just cost you the pool, or something."

- "Nah." she said. "My money was on Chantal. I saw the way she was checking you out. And the way you sneak a peek at her every now and then."

- "Looking is one thing." I said. "Doing is another. Actually, Chantal asked me out a few times."

- "And you turned her down? For Suzanne?" Antonia was perplexed. "I don't understand you, sometimes."

- "What?" I was slightly offended. "Antonia, I would never do that."

- "Do what?"

- "Go out with a married woman."

- "What?" said Suzanne. "Where did you get the idea that Chantal is married?"

- "Madame." I said. "The kids call her 'Madame' - that's French for Mrs.."

Antonia started laughing. She couldn't stop.

- "You - you're such a rookie. That's it: from now on, I'm not going to call you Chris anymore. I'm going to call you Rook. You're such a dumbass."

I didn't get it. That just made her laugh harder.

"Look, Rook - what do the kids call me?"

AspernEssling
AspernEssling
4,267 Followers