Face the Music (8 page)

Chris
smirked and
handed me a small paper sack.  “I thou
ght you might need these
, too
.”

Inside was a bottle of ibuprofen.  A small red bow was stuck to the cap.  “Ha ha,
” I said, shaking the container.  The pills rattled inside.

“Like I said, we couldn’t have our little ones without a teacher tomorrow morning.  Happy Valentine’s Day, by the way.”

I tried to think of something clever to
say but came up with nothing. 
“Yeah, you too.”

Silence filled the room.  T
he three of us
just stood there and
exchanged awkward glanc
es.  Chris was the first one to speak.  “I should get going
.
  I have to get to rehearsal.  J
ust wanted
to get your coat back to you." 
He looked at Jake before heading for the door
.  “See ya.”

Jake remained planted against my counter, his arms folded across his chest.  “Later.”

I
followed him to the front door and
wasn’t sure if it was my imagination, or if
Chris
actually lingered a bit
too long
in the doorway before finally turning and walking away.  I
shut the door
and rested my forehead against it.  When I turned to go back to the kitchen, Jake was on my heels.

“Chris Knots, huh?  What exactly did you do last night?”

“I told you,
Emily and I went out.  It was her
birthday.”

“With Chris Knots?  That must have been some party.”  One side of his mouth folded down into a frown. 

“No, not with him.  He was
just
there.  We
ran
into each other.  Why the third degree?”

He shrugged, but it was obvious something was bothering him. 
“Just curious.  Why didn’t you call?
  I’d have come.
”

***

Monday morning rolled around
way
too soon.  I
got
to
work
with no time to spare. 
Riley and Sabrina
were sitting on the floor by my
classroom
door.  “Morning, ladies,
”
I said, putting my key in the lock.

They both
giggled and followed me in
.  Jimmy
came in behind us
, wearing an uncharacteristically
huge smile. “
Hi
, Miss Banks!  Did you have a nice weekend?”
 
He
was
awfully
friendly
for as early as it was. 

“I’m fine.  How are you?” I asked, a bit skeptical. 

B
efore he
respond
ed
, Sam came in.  He took one look at me and
busted up
laughing. 
T
he other
three followed suit.

Melody
scowled at her classmates as she strolled
in and set
her stuff down. 
“What’s so funny?” 
Sam
handed her something, a newspaper, and h
er eyes grew wide
as she read.  “No,
”
she gasped and looked at me.

“What?” I demanded. 
“What are you laughing at?” 
G
iggles were all
I got in response.

Melody held out the paper, and I snatched it from her.

Some of the Stars had made headlines.  It wasn’t all that uncommon considering how popular the show was, but I
froze
when I saw the picture.  It was Chris and me, dancing at Maury’s.  My head was leaning on his shoulder, his arms wrapped around my waist.

Chris Knots and fellow Stars were spotted hanging out at local club Maury’s on Saturday night.  The Stars were greeted by many fans, including Allison Banks, as seen in the picture above.  Knots refused to comment on his relationship with Banks.  She is the youth teacher on the set of the show…

The kids were silent and watched closely as I read.  I only skimmed through the first paragraph before ha
nding the article back to Sam.  I’d seen enough. 

“Miss Banks, I’m your favorite, aren’t I?”
Sam
asked.

Why he would choose that particular moment to ask me something like that was beyond me.  I was really irritated at him, and I still hadn’t forgotten about
last week when he
and Chris
had
laughed at me. 
It
seemed to be turning into a habit
. 

“Do you think you are?”
  I kept my expression blank. 

He nodded. 
“Yep.  Sure do.”

“
Then
that’s all that matters,” I replied candidly.

The other kids laughed.

Sam
stared
at me for a second,
confounded
, and then asked Melody if she had any ice.

“No, why?”
she asked.

“I just got burned.”

***

The snack bar was by no means the greatest place to eat, but it was conveniently located just down the hall from my classroom.  Little more than a sandwich counter surrounded by a dozen or so tables, they also sold
bottled water, soda, chips
, and
an assortment of other snacks.

I grabbed a tuna salad on wheat and
a copy of the newspaper
.  Wanting
to
study
the article in private,
I planned to eat alone in my classroom,
but
Jake
caught up with me first.

E
ying
my
paper
, he grunted.
  “So, you’re famous now, huh?  You and the big Superstar?
”
 
A hint of condemnation touched his voice.

“What are you talking about?  I told you, he was there, so were we.”

“But he brought you home,” he pointed out.

I rolled my eyes.  Jealousy on Jake was so unbecoming, e
specially when there was no
reason
for it. 
“Yes, Jake, he brought
us
home.  He was being nice, saving us a cab
fare
.”

Jake’s brow wrinkled. 
“A cab? 
Where’s
your car?”

“It died.  But even if it hadn’t,
Emily and I
had been
out drinking.  D
on’t you think it was best for us
to
not
be driving
?”

He
held up his hands in resignation.  “Okay, okay, no need to get snippy.  I believe you.  Just lookin’ out for my gal.”

“I’m not your gal, Jake.”

He looked at me for a long second.  “You could be, you know.”  His voice was nothing more than a whisper.

“Jake
, don’t.”  This was starting to get really old. 

He laughed.  “I’m kidding!  Seriously, though, w
hat happened to the
car?”

I’d inherited
my grandmother’s
Toyota
several years ago when Mom
finally
decided
Grams
shouldn’t be behind a wheel anymore
. 
It was a clunker even
back
then.

“It
started making these weird sounds.  And it smelled bad.  And then it stalled one morning while I was on my way to the store.
  I had to have it towed.
”

“Did you take it to a shop?”

“Sure did.  Paid the guy
two hundred dollars to find out it wasn’t worth fixing.
”

“Ouch!” he said.

“Yeah.  It sucks, but
at least
the city has
public transportation.”
  I didn’t miss the expense of owning a car, but it sure had been convenient when I needed it.

I took the roundabout way back to my classroom but stopped when I heard Cynthia throwing a fit.  I peeke
d inside the rehearsal room.  “What part of this i
s so diffic
ult for you to understand, Riley?  Step-step-turn-kick
.
”  She demonstrated the move while poor Riley looked like she was on the verge of tears. 

It took everything I had to not march in there and tell Cynthia what part of my anatomy she could kiss.  I d
on’t care if you’re queen of the damn universe
, you don’t treat people t
hat way.  Especially children.

Chris stepped between them. 
“Give the kid a break.  We can’t al
l be perfect like you, you know.
” 

Amen to that
.  I watched with interest as Cynthia spun around and sneered, “It’s not lik
e this is rocket science, Chris!  She keeps running into me!
”

“Like you’ve never screwed up?  Remember last week?”  I wondered what had happened.

The choreographer stepped forward, reclaiming control of the group.  “Okay, everyone, let’s all take a deep breath and start from the top.  Remember this is a team effort, we need to work together.”  He clapped his hands, marking the tempo.  “Five, six, seven, eight.”

***

“Allie!  Did you see the paper this morning?” Emily
attacked me
as soon as I opened the
door.

“Yeah, I think everyone saw it,” I muttered. 
“The kids gave me a hard time.  Y
ou know where their heads
are
.”