Page 94 of The Tattered Gloves
EVERYTHING IS PERFECT.
That was my exact thought after walking back into school the day after New Year’s.
The bookstore was in good shape, Addy’s hair salon dreams were coming true, and I had the best boyfriend in the world.
What a difference a few weeks could make.
I didn’t even care that my dingy red gloves still remained glued to my hands. I was happy… truly happy. For maybe the first time ever.
“My life sucks,” Allison announced as we sat down to lunch after making it through our morning classes.
“A whole four hours back at school, and your life is already that bad?” I asked, setting down my tray on the table we’d taken over in the cafeteria. I hadn’t had any time to pack a lunch this morning after accidentally sleeping in. After two-plus weeks without an alarm, waking up early was a harsh adjustment, and I’d pressed the snooze button more than once.
“Well, for one, I have a new teacher in Spanish.”
“What happened to Mrs. Decker?”
“Caught her husband cheating on her with the cleaning lady. Moved back to Connecticut to live with her mom.”
“Whoa,” I said. “Sorry I asked.”
She shrugged. “She’s young and pretty cute. I’m sure she’ll be fine. It’s me who’s going to fail miserably! This new guy — Mr. Lee — is insane. He’s convinced Mrs. Decker did us a disservice by teaching at such a slow pace, and he has now completely redone the syllabus and assigned, like, a billion hours’ worth of homework. Oh! And we’re not allowed to speak in English. Ever.”
I was having a hard time seeing how Mrs. Decker’s failed marriage really compared to Allison’s new homework load, but as a friend, I did commiserate.
“Like, ever? Because, unless you haven’t noticed, you’re speaking it right now.”
She gave me a hard stare. “You know what I mean! In class! We’re not allowed to speak it in class, which is going to be impossible for me because, so far, I only know how to count to one hundred and say my name.”
I laughed. “Wow, I hate to say it, but maybe this new guy has a point.”
“I knew I should have taken Spanish as a freshman.”
“That’s what the rest of us did.”
“And to make matters worse,” she went on, “Eddie has a new girlfriend. And get this, she’s a freshman.”
Taking a bite of salad, I asked, “How did you find this out?”
She’d obviously had a much busier day than me.
“I saw them making out between second and third period.” She pouted.
“Oh. Well, that’s… gross. Here, eat something,” I suggested, pushing her slice of pizza toward her.
“I can’t. Everything is too horrible.”
“Has anyone told you that you’re sometimes a little overly dramatic?” I said, taking a bite of my own slice of pizza. It wasn’t great, not like the stuff Addy made from scratch, but it wasn’t terrible either.
“You,” she answered. “Quite often actually. And you’re right. I swore, I was going to live in a boy-free, drama-free bubble, and here I am, back on the crazy train on the first day back. I just need to refocus.”
“And how are you going to do that?”
“Well, for starters, I’m going to go find that Mr. Lee and figure out how I can get some one-on-one tutoring or extra credit.”
“And Eddie?” I asked, knowing she was still annoyed.
“I’m going to avoid him like the plague.”
