Modern Day Eros and Psyche

Chapter 8

“Class is now in session.”

Jakey stood, pointer in hand, next to the dry-erase side of his art easel as the teacher. The laughably condescending look on his face would indicate a normal, let’s-play-school scenario except for two things: the legible, not-that-of-a-five-year-old writing all over the easel and Layna’s presence.

I groaned. “Are we really going to do this? I’m quite content to wallow in my anger and self-pity at the moment.”

Layna grinned. “Of course we’re going to. You don’t know what to do, so we’re going to help you.”

“Yeah!” exclaimed Jakey from the front of the makeshift schoolroom. “We’ll help!”

“You’re just excited that I’m breaking your parents’ rules and letting you play School again,” I accused. “You’d better not throw another tantrum.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault that you’re a bad student!”

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With Layna’s advice and a bit of encouragement from Jakey, I began Operation: Get Everyone Less Ticked Off. It had several outlined main goals: apologize to MB, make up with Rebecca, and maybe make up with Amy and Lydia. Maybe.

Step One: Change email password.

(I know, I know. Why didn’t I change it before? I could come up with a million excuses, none of which sound plausible now that something has gone wrong. Isn’t it funny how that works?)

Step Two: Email Not-So Mystery Boy.

I wanted to leave this step out, but a little voice wouldn’t let me. Two little voices, actually. Namely Layna’s and Jakey’s voices. It’s not as if I thought it would work; I was sure he’d ignore and probably delete it, but they thought that anything was worth a try. Darn their optimism.

Step Three: Confront my friends.

This one I actually did leave out, at least for a while. I wasn’t sure it was a good idea to talk to them yet; furthermore, I just wasn’t ready. Besides, considering the note they left me, Amy and Lydia guessed that I would be pretty angry. They just didn’t know how angry.

Step Four: Go see Rebecca.

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If I had my way, I would simply never have gone back to leadership. Unfortunately, it was a class, one that I couldn’t afford to skip or drop. Of course, Rebecca had a significant amount of control over our grades, so maybe not showing up would have had the same overall effect as the F she was bound to give me.

As I walked into the room on Monday, a feeling of dread and trepidation washed over me. The first thing I noticed was the strangely subdued state of the room. No gigglers in the back, and no one frantically running around; everyone seemed to have a task to complete and was sitting in a seat. The silence was unnerving; I couldn’t tell if it was the calm before or after the storm.

I was the thought of hiding in a corner until class finished tempted me, but these two annoying voices rang out clearly. Go! Talk to Rebecca! Now!

I slunk over to Rebecca, gaze riveted on the tips of my shoes. I stood in front of her without looking up. When it was obvious she wasn’t going to acknowledge my presence, I risked glancing up. She kept right on flipping through her papers; they flapped through the air like birds engaged in a deadly fight over bread crumbs. After a minute of daring only to convert oxygen into carbon dioxide, I spoke. “What needs to be done?”

She looked up with the coldest stare I have seen yet. I felt my body temperature drop a degree or two. “You’ve got a lot of nerve to come back here.”

I swallowed the urge to correct her mistake. It was called Operation: Get Everyone Less Ticked Off, after all. Besides, it already wasn’t going well. “Yeah.”

“Why are you here?”

“To see where I can help.”

“Like anything you do actually helps.”

Whoa, she was in rare form today.

“Besides,” she continued, “you just want to see what you can do to get me to give you that guy’s phone number.”

“What?!”

“Don’t sound so indignant.”

I wasn’t being indignant. That thought actually hadn’t occurred to me. Of course she had his contact information; she required all the contestants to give their information in case she needed to call an emergency rehearsal. “You would give me his number?”

“Of course not. You’ve done nothing to earn it.”

Huh. Had she purposefully left an opening?

“What do you want me to do?”

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I looked at the stack of papers on the desk in front of me, standing like a not-so miniature Leaning Tower of Pisa. This was not what I had in mind. Of course, it was just like Rebecca.

Apparently, there was some kind of mix up with the advertising on the tickets that was a Very Big Deal. My job? Sort through all the papers Rebecca kept in regards to advertising, ticket sales, and any other relevant information. Translation? I had to go through EVERY SINGLE packet of paperwork regarding the talent show.

Why was I doing this again?

Well, you know. Because I wanted to apologize to that guy. I guess.

I entertained the idea of finding a lighter and watching the whole enchilada go up in flames. School was over for the day, so everyone else had left. I sat in an empty room; who would know, right?

Luckily for both the stack and me, Liz, the co-coordinator, walked in. I couldn’t wipe the death glare from my face quite fast enough.

“Need a light?” she asked teasingly, a bemused expression on her face.

I sighed. “I’d love one. Unfortunately, it would not be constructive in any way, shape, or form.”

“Except that it would probably release some tension.”

“I guess.” I glanced up. “Can I help you with anything?”

She grinned. “That’s my line. I’m guessing Rebecca assigned you to do this?”

I nodded, not trusting my self to open my mouth out of fear of going on a verbal rampage.

“Let me help.”

I shook my head. “She’ll probably try to kill me if she finds out I didn’t suffer all by myself. Why do you want to help anyway?”

“Because I can, and I will. She won’t kill you.”

“That’s what you think.”

“You might as well just accept my help. It’s either that, or continue to sit here and feel sorry for yourself.”

I looked at the mound of papers again. “Alright.”

It’s not like it would be the last crazy thing Rebecca was going to make me do.

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A/N Sorry this story is taking so long to complete! I AM going to finish it though; I have a better idea now of how I want to end it, so things should go more smoothly now. :D Thanks so much for reading!