Episode # 14 (5.2)
November 6, 2008 12:53 PM
“I’m going to do it!” Molly looked up from knitting as Shane marched into the living room.
“Do what?”
“I’m going to end things with Keira.” He began to pace. “Since things went down at the school, she’s hasn’t even bothered to return my calls. And you know what?” He paused, as if waiting for a reaction. Molly opened her mouth to answer, but Shane had started again, “I’m really tired of this cold shoulder treatment. If she wants to save herself, that’s fine, but that doesn’t mean she can get off being an ice queen. She’s totally overboard with this crap and she won’t even talk about it! So what, we kissed! It’s not the end of the world!”
“Ri-”
“Plus, what kind of relationship are we in anyway? She doesn’t even talk to me when she gets upset. That’s totally elementary crap and you know what?” This time she offered a shrug in response. “I deserve better.” He looked at her expectantly.
“Right?” Molly offered.
“Thanks sis!” Shane left the room, determined and feeling triumphant. Molly, left in his wake, wondered what she’d actually done to deserve his thanks.
* * *
“Decorations, Chips, Soda,” Carleen and Lynne entered the kitchen; the former was reading off a list of items to her daughter. Lynne was dressed in her apron, a cute button down shirt, and slacks. Her mother was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt with a large pumpkin. Levy, pouring coffee into three mugs, smiled at the two. Carleen offered a tight smile in response, while Lynne was slightly more affectionate.
“Good morning, Dad.” She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Carleen took one of the mugs from her husband and offered a thank you. Levy nodded.
“Is that the list for the party?”
Lynne answered, “Mom was just going over her errands for the afternoon. She wants to get the majority of the shopping done before hand.” Carleen was folding up her list and putting it into her purse.
“There’s so much set up, I figured that this would get things out of the way.”
“Do you need any help?” Levy asked.
Carleen shook her head and snapped “I can handle shopping.” Realizing the tone she’d accidentally taken, she amended, “You two have to get the shop ready. It’s only two or three stores, I’ll be back by this early afternoon.” She gathered up her purse and looked at her daughter, “Is there anything I missed?”
“Mom, you’re more prepared with that list than we’ve ever been. We’re set.”
Carleen nodded and walked over to the door, “Have a good day, you two.”
“You too,” Levy answered, poignancy in his voice. Lynne appeared to notice the strange ways her parents were interacting, but ignored it.
“Come on Dad, I don’t trust the place to run without either of us down there for very long.”
* * *
At the sound of the bell, Shane was already booking it down the hallway. He arrived outside of Keira’s classroom long before she’d managed to leave. She stopped when she saw him, looking hesitantly happy.
“Shane.” Her books were held before her chest, protectively.
“We need to talk.” He kept his face set and grim, trying not to convey any emotion. Students glanced at the two of them as they made their way to their classes. Shane ignored their looks, having grown accustomed to stares since his and Keira’s fight the previous week.
“Yeah, I agree.” A hint of a smile spread across her face.
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since our fight,” Shane started, but Keira held up her hand.
“Shane, wait. Can we do this later? Like during lunch, when we have more time?” She explained. “I know we both probably have a lot that we would like to say.”
Shane shrugged, “If that’s what you think is best.” He was slightly disappointed, having wanted to get this out of the way.
“Good, then we’ll see each other later.” For a moment, they stood across from each other, saying nothing. No tense, but definitely awkward. “We should get to class,” Keira finally weakly offered.
“Yeah, we’ll see each other in lunch.” They broke apart, both moving in opposite directions, Keira looked hopeful; Shane disappointed.
* * *
“There’s a lot of customers today, Lynne.” Levy glanced out of the kitchen doors to the bustling kitchen. “Are you sure you don’t need my help?”
“Dad,” Lynne placed her hands on her hips, “We can handle the load. But we won’t be able to throw a party without food. So stop worrying about us and start worrying about cooking.” She pushed the kitchen doors closed in her father’s face.
Levy smiled and moved back towards the pots he was working on. Charlie, there other cook, smirked at him; “Don’t you start on me too, Charlie,” Levy joked.
“Wouldn’t think of it, boss.” Charlie went back to preparing the breakfast foods for that morning.
Levy took out a large, carving knife and began making marks into a future jack-o-lantern. He was interrupted by a knock on the back kitchen door. Charlie also paused and made a move to go answer, “It’s ok, Charlie, I have it.” Levy put down his knife and moved to the door, cleaning off his hands with a dishtowel. He opened the door, expecting to find his wife, “You’re back ear--”
Tori stood there, wringing her hands. “Am I?”
* * *
“Alicia,” Shane whispered. Alicia glanced over at him, then quickly looked back at her paper as their teacher, Darren Link, moved down the aisle between their rows of desks. As soon as he was passed, Shane was back to whispering in Alicia’s direction. “Alicia.”
She turned to him and hissed back, “What.”
Darren coughed and Alicia went back to their assignment. As she struggled to come up with an answer for their quiz, a piece of paper sailed into her head. She kept her cool, shooting a glare at Shane instead of openly yelling at him. Shane motioned down to the paper that now lay at her feet. Alicia muttered and dropped her pencil, pulling both pencil and paper back up in a smooth motion.
I’m going to talk to Keira today, Shane had scribbled. When she looked over, he was staring back expectantly. Keira slid the paper under her test as her teacher walked by once more. Waiting till he’d gone to help another student, she pulled out strip of loose leaf out and wrote back.
She tossed it aside, landing it in Shane’s lap. He opened up the sheet and read her own writing, What r u gng 2 say?
Alicia was filling in another blank on her paper when the note flew at her once more. It landed by her hand, but before she could pick it up, she noticed someone was standing next to her. She looked up to see Mr. Link staring down. “May I see that please?”
Shane sunk into his seat, while Alicia handed over the paper. Darren opened it up and read its contents. He raised an eyebrow, “Let’s try focusing on our work, shall we?” Alicia nodded, her face burning with embarrassment. Darren kept the note and walked to the front of the room, studying his students as they continued their assignments.
* * *
“Tori?” Levy stared at the young woman standing in the doorway.
She smiled, although she continued to rub her hands nervously. “Mr. Hathway.”
“Wh-What are you doing here?” Levy glanced back at Charlie, who was looking over curiously. He stepped forward and Tori quickly backed up to make room. Levy closed the door and they stood in the small alley behind the coffee shop.
“I needed to come see you.”
“Why?” Levy felt incredibly nervous, although he was attempting to cover up this emotion. The young woman’s eyes were watching his every move. “I,” he coughed, “mean you are more than welcome to come into the shop anytime. We talked about that already.”
She flew forward and landed a kiss. It was quick and she pulled back almost immediately. She stepped back, looking ashamed. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have. I just,” She looked up at him pleadingly. “I can’t get you out of my head.”
* * *
Shane caught Alicia’s shoulder as they walked away from class. “Sorry about that.” He bit his lip, looking genuinely sorry for what happened.
“I could kill you.” Alicia muttered, “Honestly.”
“At least we didn’t get in trouble.” Shane’s tone was hopeful.
“Oh, at least.” She rolled her eyes. “What are you going to do about Keira?”
Shane was happy to return to the earlier subject. “I want to break things off.”
“After one fight?”
“Well, yea, after she went off on me during school, I would say things kinda sucked in our relationship. But you had me thinking about stuff. I don’t know if I can stay in a relationship where I can’t be physical, ya know?”
Alicia watched him, “Physical?”
“Like, even kissing. What we have is elementary, ya know. I want to at least be able to get a good morning kiss, show some form of affection. The whole thing is really childish, I’m just done.”
Alicia shrugged, “I can see where you’re coming from, Shane. How do you think she’s going to take it?”
“Yeah, don’t know. She wanted to talk too, so maybe we’re on the same page.”
“Or maybe you’re about to break her heart,” replied Alicia as the two entered the lunch room. Keira was standing by the door, patiently waiting. Her face lit when she saw Shane and she waved him over to a table she’d saved. Alicia glanced at her friend, “Oh yeah, she’s totally on board the breakup train.” Shane looked shocked and bothered.
* * *
Jason looked up at the sound of knocking; Darren stood in the doorway. “Hey, what’s going on?” Jason pushed aside his papers and walked over to his colleague.
“I have a question for you.”
“Ok, hit me.”
“Your last name is McCaulley, right?”
“Last time I checked.”
“So that would make Alicia McCaulley...”
“My little sister,” Jason responded. “Why, You have her?” Darren nodded. “Wait, don’t tell me she did something wrong.”
Darren laughed, “Eh, not really. I thought I had caught her cheating today.” Noticing the look on Jason’s face, he quickly added, “But she was only passing notes with Bennet.”
“Oh Shane? Yeah, those two have been tight for years now. So you confiscate the note? Anything juicy?” Jason paused. “Anything an older brother should be worried about?”
“Nah, it was nothing big.” He regarded Jason, “Must be hard to start at a school with your little sister.”
“How so?”
“Well, all of her friends probably grew up with you, right? That doesn’t make things strange for you?”
“Nah, I never really liked her friends much anyway,” Jason grinned. “They’re used to me being a grouch so it works with the persona I’m crafting here.”
“Ah, so you were always planning ahead for the future.”
“You could say that.” Jason smirked. Darren glanced at the papers lining up on his desk, “Isn’t this supposed to be your lunch?”
Jason shrugged, “I have to catch up on some assignments. I really want to get this stuff back the next day--”
Darren laughed, “You really are new to all this. Look, the kids are going to understanding if you they don’t get stuff back immediately. The rest of us have been training them well. You should try relaxing a little and,” He glanced up at the clock, “Using the last twenty minutes of this period to catch some lunch. Let’s go.” Darren flicked off the lights in the room.
“But..”
“And no buts, we’re moving out.” Darren grabbed Jason’s arm and led him from the classroom.
* * *
They sat in relative silence; Shane picked at his food, moving things back and forth on his plate, but not really eating anything; Keira nibbled on a roll. With a sigh, Shane dropped his fork unto his plate; “Keira, we need to talk.”
She put down her roll gently, “I agree.”
“It’s about what’s been going on between us.”
She nodded, “Like last week?”
“Well yea.”
“Shane, I’m sorry. Last week I was uber dramatic. I can’t even believe I broadcasted our issue in front of everyone.”
“Yeah, that sorta sucked,” Shane agreed.
She shook her head, “I’ve heard so many people talking about it.”
“Keira, I don’t think our public fight is the problem.”
“No, it’s not, but I wanted to get that off my chest. Shane, I also wanted to say that I forgive you.” She had a bright smile, “And I am willing to work things out.”
Shane’s eyes widened. “You forgive me?”
“For what happened at my house. I know that you didn’t mean any harm. That’s what you wanted to talk about right?”
“Well yeah, but Keira, you don’t understand.” She cocked her head slightly, a little confused. “I was upset about our fight, but I don’t think I can do this anymore.”
“Do what?”
“This,” he motioned between the two of them. “Keira, I want someone who’s going to give a little. You’re all about your ‘saving yourself’ stuff, and that’s great. For you. But I need someone who’s going to show me some affection. Keira, I think we should break up.”
* * *
“Tori, I’m married.” Levy calmly explained, although he felt a rush of emotions within him.
Tears began to form in her eyes, “I know, I do. It’s just, I think about you all the time, Mr. Hathaway.” She wiped away a stray tear, “You’re always on my mind.”
Levy tugged at the collar of his shirt, feeling terrible that he had caused her to cry. “Tori, you’re beautiful, absolutely stunning. Anyone would be lucky to have you.”
“Just not the one I want, right?” She sniffled, looking absolutely distraught. Levy stepped forward and pulled her into a hug.
“You’re going to make someone really happy, I promise. It’s just that I’m married.” He tried to explain, though his tone had taken on a pleading note.
“What-What would happen if you weren’t married.” She pulled back ever so slightly to look up at his face. They paused for a moment, then briefly they shared another kiss. They were interrupted by the sound of a door opening.
“Dad, you out here?” Both jumped back as Lynne emerged from the kitchen. She paused when she saw Tori standing with her father. “What’s going on?!”
* * *
As the two other teachers left the room, Jason and Darren were still laughing about the war story that had been told. “Please tell me this isn’t what I have to look forward to? I have no idea how I would handle a student like that.” Jason smirked, picking up his trash to toss out. He offered his hands out for Darren’s bag and the other man gave it to him with a thanks.
“Don’t worry Jay. You learn how to handle it after awhile.”
Jason turned after tossing the trash, leaning against the counter in the faculty lounge. “Here’s hoping.”
Darren got up with his mug and brought it over to the sink. “After awhile, it becomes second hat. The kids no how you handle things and respect you for it.”
“So I just have to wait for issue one to arise and hope things go from there.”
Darren smirked, “More or less.” He reached passed Jason to get the paper towels; Jason made a move to step back, but the counter blocked him. Instead Darren brushed up against him and for a moment there eyes met. Neither moved and silence fell between them; Darren finally grabbed the paper towel and dried off his mug. He nervously checked his watch; “Wow, look at the time, I should get to class.”
“Oh, yeah, I have those papers.”
“Yeah, right. Hey, I’ll catch ya later.” Darren left the small kitchen and walked out of the room, leaving behind a confused Jason.
Posted at 11/06/2008 by beck | Comments? (0)