Washed Up

"I don't know. I've never seen her before," another said.

"She's kinda hot!" a teenage boy said causing Jeri to smile as she walked over to the open door and inviting them in.

"Hi, guys! I'm Ms. Kennedy," she said with a smile as the kids filed in.

One of the girls smiled back while one of the boys said, "Whatever."

"Okay then," Jeri said quietly as they filed on by barely even acknowledging her. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, but this was definitely not it.

"All right! Let's get started!" she said excitedly.

"Uh...you're supposed to wait until the bell rings," the boy who'd said 'whatever' told her as he slouched down in his seat.

"And you have to take attendance," the girl who'd smiled at her said, still smiling.

"Oh, right. It's my first day, so...."

"Ever?" the boy said.

"Um...yes. Ever," Jeri told him.

"Oh, great," he said with a shake of his head. "Do you even know anything about music?"

His question caught her so off guard, Jeri wasn't sure how to reply.

"A little," she told him not knowing what else to say.

She smiled then asked him, "How about you? Do you know anything about music?"

"I play in the school's jazz ensemble," he told her.

"Do you play an instrument?" she asked.

"He plays the Pink Piccolo," Jeri heard another male voice say.

The girl who'd been smiling stopped and looked adoringly at the very handsome boy in the leather jacket who'd made the comment.

"S'up?" he said to Jeri as he walked right by the girl who was staring at him. "I'm DJ."

"Okay. I'm Ms. Kennedy," Jeri told him.

"You're hot," he said with a smile.

Jeri had seen hundreds of guys just like him. She'd also 'done' a fair share of them. But now, at her age, she was not only unimpressed by the tough guy act, she found it very off-putting.

"Well, thank you. I think," she replied just as the bell rang and four more kids came screaming into the room.

"We're not late!" one of them called out as they scrambled for their seats.

Jeri's entire first day was a repeat of her first-period class. Having never attended high school herself, she had no idea how little respect teachers, and especially substitute teachers, got, and found herself questioning her decision before the final bell rang.

Keri came by several minutes after the last kids left, and then the principal stopped by to see how her first day went.

After hearing Jeri's report, the older woman said, "Why don't you take the bull by the horns and take charge? Don't sit there passively. Find something you want to do and go for it! Once they find out how talented you are, they'll be interested. Kids this age still want to learn, but since it's not 'cool' to take things seriously, you have to provide them a reason to do so."

Jeri had insisted no one mention who she was and so far, no one seemed to know. How long that might last was unknown, but for now her anonymity seemed safe. Very safe, in fact. Scarily safe even.

The next day, Jeri took the principal's words to heart and as soon as attendance was done after her first period class came in, she asked, "Who in here can sing?"

DJ raised his hand as did the girl who'd smiled so often. Jeri now knew her name was Olivia.

"All right. DJ? Olivia? Please come up here with me. Can anyone play the piano?"

Jeri looked around and when no one raised their hand said, "I guess that's up to me."

"Okay, everyone else come on up and all of you stand behind me with our two singers up close."

Jeri pulled out some sheet music she'd brought with her and set it in front of her as she sat on the piano bench. It was the very first song she ever wrote and had never been published but had always been one of her personal favorites.

"All right. I'm going to play the melody through and while I do, please look at the lyrics and the notes then sing the first stanza on my second time through."

It took quite a few bars for it to catch on, but once it did, the kids were wide awake and paying close attention. By the time she said, "Ready?" before starting over, the two singers had the tune down and sang along.

Both of them had decent voices, but DJ's was particularly smooth.

"Everyone sing along!" Jeri said halfway through.

"Nice! Keep it up!" she said as they sang through the entire song.

When she played the last note she said, "So? What'd you think?"

"That was totally awesome!" DJ said.

"Yeah, it's got a really good beat to it," Olivia added.

"So it was okay?" she asked the class.

"It rocks, Ms. K!" one of the other boys said.

"How about we do this for Spring Fling?" Jeri suggested.

"I'm cool with that," DJ told her as everyone else agreed.

She could see he was probably a good kid underneath his tough-guy exterior. He might even be tender-hearted although she couldn't be sure. Time would tell, but she had a very different opinion of him after that.

Jeri repeated the same thing for all five of her classes and got the same response from everyone. No, it wasn't their style of music, but it was kind of—catchy.

The one thing she hadn't noticed was one of her third-period students videoing the class signing the song. She wouldn't have thought anything of it even if she had known about it, but she might have been a little concerned that he posted it on his Facebook homepage that night. The reason for the concern was that one of the student's parents heard the song, came in to watch and said, "Oh, my goodness. Do you know who that is?" pointing to the woman playing the piano.

"Yeah. That's our new music teacher, Ms. Kennedy."

"Uh-huh. That's...Jeri Kennedy as in pop star extraordinaire from back in the day," his mom said.

"Seriously? No way."

"Um...way," she said before taking over the keyboard and showing him his teacher when she younger than him and out on tour.

"Awesome!" her son said. "This is SO cool!"

And by the following morning, the video was well on its way to going viral.

When Keri came in at the end of the day, her sister couldn't wait to share the good news about the song and how well her day had gone as well as her newly-discovered talent.

"That's amazing!" Keri told her. "Yeah, I think DJ's a pretty good kid. He comes across all tough and hard, but I believe it's an act. There's a really nice kid deep down inside."

"I agree," they both heard a male voice say.

The sisters turned their heads in unison and saw one of the guidance counselors standing at the door holding a folder in his hand.

"Sorry. I was just about to knock when I heard 'DJ' and wanted to let you finish," he said. "May I come in?"

"Yes, sure!" Jeri said.

"Jeri? This is our senior-class guidance counselor, Lincoln Matthews."

"Link," he said extending a hand.

"Nice to meet you, Link," Jeri said returning his smile.

She did a quick 'size up' and thought he was a very nice-looking guy. He had short, very dark hair, deep blue eyes, and a set of very nice, very high cheekbones, and a body that was clearly athletic but not 'ripped' from weightlifting. He looked to be about 5'11" which was just about perfect.

"Same here," he replied interrupting Jeri's train of thought which had included, 'Perfect for...whom?'

"What brings you by, Link?" Keri asked pleasantly.

"DJ," he told her.

"Trouble?" Keri asked with raised eyebrows.

"No. More of a concern," he told them. "I've been trying to call the number he provided for parental contact, but there's no answer. In fact, the number's been disconnected. Do either of you have a number for him?"

Jeri opened her student information link and showed it to um...Link.

"Same one. Okay. He doesn't turn 18 for two more months and that means he has to have a parent or legal guardian. He's also required to live within the district and my next step is to try and visit the home which I'm now concerned may not even exist."

"You think he's living on the streets?" Jeri asked now very concerned.

"That's not likely judging by the way he looks. He's clearly got access to a shower and his clothes are always clean, so...probably not. But I am going to have to check."

"Would you mind if I came with you?" Jeri asked. She knew she'd be more than willing to help if DJ needed financial assistance, and although it shouldn't matter, he had a very nice signing voice and she couldn't help but feel a kind of natural affinity for him.

"No. Of course not. But we might not be going into the best neighborhood," Link cautioned.

"It's not like where in the south side of Chicago or east LA, right?" Jeri replied with a sunny smile. "How bad could it possibly be?"

Link smiled back but didn't answer. He'd been working with students for nearly four years now and had seen things that he would have thought belonged in places like the cities Jeri had just mentioned. Meth labs were the worst. They could quite literally spring up overnight in pretty much any location. That was unlikely but not out of the question.

"I was thinking about going as soon as the parking lot cleared out. Is that okay with you, Ms. Kennedy?"

"It's fine, but calling me 'Ms. Kennedy'? Not so much," she told him.

"Sorry. It's just force of habit. Everyone here is Mr. or Ms. and I didn't want to presume calling you by your first name was okay."

"Well, it is!" Jeri said in an upbeat tone. "Keri? Is that okay with you?"

"Sure. As long as Link brings you home," she said smiling at the very nice looking younger man.

"I don't know. Jeri is pretty cute. I may decide to keep her," he teased while smiling at Jeri.

"Ha! You'd be rueing the day in no time," she warned him.

"Fair enough. Maybe after spending some time with you I'll change my mind. But for now, I don't think I'd be regretting anything," he told her while still sporting that same, amazing smile.

"Caring, concerned, and cute. My three favorite 'C's'," Jeri teased back.

"Don't drag me into this!" Keri said. "I'm a very happily married woman."

She paused for a second then said, "Okay, don't tell Jeff, but Link is pretty hot. A little young, but still very cute."

"Well, coming from someone as beautiful as the two best-looking sisters I know, that's very flattering," Link said playfully as well as modestly as he was well aware he was a decent-looking guy.

"I guess I'll see you when you get home then," Keri told her sister as she got ready to head back to her room. She still had an hour's worth of work to do before she could leave and this was actually perfect for her.

"Okay. See you then!" Jeri told her cheerfully.

"We've got another 5-10 minutes before the busses are gone and the cars clear out. I can leave you alone and come back if you like," Link told her.

"No, don't do that. Unless you're trying to get away from me already," Jeri teased.

"Not at all. Do you mind if I have a seat?"

"Please," she said. "So how long have you been a guidance counselor, Link?"

"This is my fourth year," he told her. "And I really enjoy it. I wasn't so sure I'd like it even after specializing in it, but it's a very rewarding job. How about you, Jeri?"

"Me? I'm just a substitute. I've never taught before so I can't say too much yet, although I had a really fantastic day today. I guess that's a good thing, right?"

"Definitely. What was so good about today?" Link asked in a way that told her he really wanted to know.

Jeri laid it all out for him and that led him to say, "Sing it for me. Would you?"

"Oh, you don't wanna hear that," Jeri said with a shake of her head.

"Actually, I would, and that'll take up just about the amount of time we need to wait so...please," he said gesturing toward the piano.

"Well, okay," Jeri said with a smile as she headed back to the piano.

"I wrote this a long time ago," she told him as she got ready to play.

"Wow! You sing and write? What are you doing subbing for a high school music teacher?" he asked unaware of who she was.

"Sometimes you do what you gotta do," was all she said before turning around and playing the first few notes.

Before she was done, Link was up and shamelessly moving around to the beat.

"That's got a kind of...80s sound to it," he told her when she was finished.

"Well, there's a reason for that," Jeri said in reply.

Link glanced at the clock then said, "You ready?"

"Just let me grab my coat," she told him.

It was another cold, raw, gray day in the Seattle area and cold was the one thing Jeri really didn't like. She loved the green the rain brought but not the endless gray that came with it.

Link walked outside with her and impressed her when he opened the car door for her. Jeri thanked him then got in and realized she had no idea what kind of car he drove; another sign of how out of touch she'd become over the years.

As the drove Link asked, "So what do you do when you're not subbing?"

"Oh, I've...dabbled in music," she told him.

"You have an amazing voice," he told her causing her to wonder if he knew.

"You've heard me sing?"

"Well, yeah. The video."

"Video?" Jeri asked.

"The one your students made of the song you sang. That had a really catchy melody."

"Oh. Okay," she said now understanding what he meant.

"You've got talent, Jeri. You should try out for American Idol or one of those shows. Who knows, right?"

"Yeah. Who knows," she replied as a ton of thoughts cascaded through her mind.

"What about you?" Jeri asked hoping to change the subject. "When you're not guiding students, what do you enjoy doing?"

"Well, for starters, I'm the wrestling coach," he told her.

"Oh, okay. Yeah, I can see that," she said with a smile. "Did you wrestle?"

"I did. High school and college," he told her.

"I have to admit I don't really know anything about it except that wrestling isn't 'wrassling' or whatever the fake stuff on TV is called."

Link laughed and told her, "You'd be amazed how much time goes into choreographing all of that 'phony stuff' that makes it so popular. But no, that's not wresting."

"What else?" she asked finding herself enjoying their conversation.

"I have a ton of hobbies, but I don't really like talking about myself all that much," he told her.

"That's unusual," she said.

"Not really. I mean, I already know everything about myself, so it's not very interesting hearing me say it."

His humor was subtle but pleasant and Jeri laughed.

"You're a really nice guy, Link. Is there someone in your life? If I'm not being too nosy, that is."

"Not at all," he told her honestly. "The short answer is 'no' while the longer one involves someone I was engaged to until a couple of years ago."

"It just didn't work out?" Jeri asked having no idea what had happened.

"No. She passed away," Link told her without sadness.

"Oh, my goodness. Link, I am so sorry," she said with complete sincerity. "That had to have been dreadful."

"Dreadful. That's a good word for it. It's very descriptive."

Jeri wanted to ask what happened, but realized he'd tell her if he wanted her to know. She could also ask Keri so she didn't press the issue.

"Okay, we're getting close," he said as they turned into a part of town that wasn't exactly rundown, but it was clearly a poorer kind of neighborhood.

"We're looking for 47396 284th Street and we just passed 390 so...."

"There it is!" Jeri said when she saw the house number. The '7' was turned upside down and the house was very old and the lawn needed mowing. There were four cars parked in the tiny driveway and as they pulled up to the curb, the sound of loud music coming from inside hit them as the bass thumped loudly all the way to the street.

"Please don't tell me he lives in there," Jeri said now very concerned.

"I guess we'll find out soon enough," Link said. "Do you wanna wait here?"

"No, that's okay. I'll go with you," Jeri said as she unbuckled her seatbelt.

She went to open her door when Link said, "Uh-uh. Don't even think about it."

Jeri pulled her hand back quickly, smiled, then waited for him to come around and open it for her. He offered her a hand then shut the door.

"You ready?" he said over the sound of the music.

"I wonder how often the cops get called?" Jeri hollered back as they headed up the sidewalk to the front porch.

"Not often enough," Link yelled back.

Knocking on the door wasn't enough. Link ended up banging it with his first numerous times until someone finally opened it.

"Yeah?" a scruffy-looking 20-something said.

"Hi. We're looking for DJ Ryan. Is he here by any chance?"

"You a cop?" the scruffy guy asked.

"No. We're from his school."

"Hold on."

They heard him scream, "DJ? Yo! Front door!"

A minute later, DJ appeared with ear buds in his ears and a look of fear on his face.

"Am I in trouble?" he asked after closing the door.

"No, not at all," Link told him. "We...I...I've been trying to call the number you gave us for your parents and it's been disconnected. Are they here by any chance?"

DJ glanced at Jeri then back at Link before saying, "No. My dad's dead and I haven't seen my mom in maybe four or five months."

"Do you live with an older brother or other family member?" Link asked.

DJ broke eye contact before finally saying, "No. These guys are in my band."

"You have a band?" Jeri asked.

"Well, kind of. We haven't played any gigs, but we practice a lot and we're looking, you know."

"Here's the problem, DJ. Until you turn 18, you have to have a legal guardian. Is there anyone living here who fits the bill?" Link asked.

"No. They're all over 18, but they're just friends."

There was a moment of silence before DJ said, "I'm gonna be 18 in like...two months. Does this really have to be a big deal? I mean, you're not gonna like call child protective services, are you?"

"I don't really have any leeway," Link told him. "Now that I know, I'm legally required to report this. I'm really sorry, but if I don't I could...."

Before he could say 'lose my job' DJ said, "That's cool. I get it. Do what you gotta do."

He wasn't angry. He was just resigned to his fate, and DJ had been down this road before with his drug-addicted mother. He'd been in a half dozen foster homes over the last three years and knew if he had to spend two more months in one he could handle it.

"Link?" Jeri said. "Can I talk to you?"

They excused themselves and stepped off the front porch where they could talk privately.

"Could I serve as his legal guardian?" she asked.

Link stared at her for a second then said, "Are you asking hypothetically or are you seriously thinking about doing this?"

"I'm serious but I don't have my own home right now. I've been living with Keri, but I could definitely get my own place."

"You'd need to get DJ's permission then find a lawyer who could get you in front of a judge in short order. In the meantime, I still have to report this," he told her.

"Isn't there any other option?" Jeri asked her eyes filled with concern.

Link glanced back up at the boy on the porch then said, "Well, I guess I could take him in temporarily. I don't have the money to hire an attorney, though, so even if I did agree to do it and DJ was okay with it, it would be a moot point."

"What if someone had the money and was willing to help?" she asked.

"Jeri, we're talking a couple thousand dollars or so. Lawyers aren't cheap."

"I know. But if you could get the money, would you do it?"

Link ran his hand around the back of his neck, looked over at DJ again, then said, "I got into this line of work to help kids, so...sure, I'd do it. But unless you've got a coffee can filled with cash...."

Jeri was so happy she threw her arms around the handsome young guidance counselor and said, "Thank you, Link!"

He loosely hugged her back and said, "You're...welcome?"

"You go ask DJ and I'll make some phone calls, okay?" she said excitedly.