Just Like Each Other

Just like him, she left her love.

Just like her, he lost the will.

Just like each other, they were desperate.

 

“So you’ll give me an extension on that essay?” Jason asked, as he pulled his pants up. His social studies teacher Mrs. Reynolds fastened her bra, and hastily pulled on her underwear, as they scrambled to get dressed before school.

“Yeah…just give it to me next Monday. Quarter grades are due on Tuesday, but…I can get a little wiggle room.” She pulled on her shirt, buttoning it up to the very top.

“Oh yeah, and that test…can I just…use the packet you gave me. The material was just…”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll just let you do corrections. All you really have to know is know is the first two parts of chapter 1.” She waved away the comment, as she pulled up her pants. “Well, you’d better hurry up. School starts in another 20 minutes.”

Jason chuckled, and pulled Mrs. Reynolds in by her slim waist, kissing her lightly on the lips, their tongues lightly grazing each other. “Thanks for last night…” he said, smiling. She smiled  back, patting his shoulder.

“You’re a good kid Jason.” she breathed in deeply, taking a good look at him.

“And you’re an awesome teacher.”

Mrs. Reynolds sighed and looked at Jason with warm eyes.  

“Do you really believe that Jas ? I hear the gossip. ‘Ugh, she gives so much homework,’ ‘pop quizzes.’”

“No, really, don’t…just don’t listen to those kids. They’re just lazy. Can’t put in the work, so they just blame it on you.”

“Thanks Jason.” She kissed him again, and grabbed her purse as she headed out the door. “I’ll drop you off after school.”

“Sure. You staying the night again?”

“Can’t. I’m flogged tonight. But tomorrow night…definitely.” She winked, and pulled on her high heels. “And the weekends, if I can clear that meeting with the school board. See you 6th Jas?” she waved, and headed out into the driveway.

 

Jason made his bed, and tidied up the room, before stuffing his notebooks into his backpack. Ten minutes.

He looked at the picture of his parents, who’d passed away just a year back. A tear rolled down his eye, as he picked up the picture gently. They’d left him a fortune, and he’d left them nothing. He’d always been a rebellious son. Drinking and driving, going to parties, and skip school. It was only after they left him that he realized how much he needed them. 

Since then every life event only perpetuated the loss he’d undergone. Just a month back, his girlfriend had left him, and a week ago, he’d flunked a class. Yet somehow, when he stood there…wherever, with Mrs. Reynolds, everything felt whole again.

 

 

 

Mrs. Reynolds screeched to a halt into the faculty parking. Hurriedly, she gathered her belongings, and her faithful Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, and walked briskly to the high school’s main entrance. She’d been teaching at Belleview High for the past 6 years, yet the morning rush never grew old. 

She punched in her card, and flew by the main desk.

“Hello Sal-“ Wendy, the secretary started, but Mrs. Reynolds was already gone.

 

“Hey guys, sorry I’m late.”  Mrs. Reynolds smiled nervously, as she hustled into the room, casting her purse onto the homework table. “Traffic today was just insane.” She sighed deeply, taking a close look at the class. 

“All right, I’m here now. Open up your textbooks to Chapter 3. I’ll give you 10 minutes. Read through the first section. It’s only 3 pages, so I don’t want to hear any groaning.” She wagged her finger, smiling. But unconditionally, she heard a wave of groans sweep over the class. “All right, get started, chop chop!” she clapped her hands and pursed her lips as she turned to her own desk.

She took a big swig of coffee from her mug before sitting down in front of the computer.

 

 

 

Jason used to spend most of his time staring off into space during his classes. Especially first period, which was AP Chemistry. Things were different now. After growing close with Mrs. Reynolds, he had been filled with a new resolve…rejuvenated and ready to tackle whatever problem came his way. Like the one that sat on his paper.

His pencil scribbled away, writing the neutralization reaction, as he set up the compounds for titration. 10 minutes. This was a graded assignment, which meant no retakes.

He scratched his temple lightly. His forehead grew moist, and a small bead of sweat dripped off and stained his paper.

“Come on…” he muttered, clutching a handful of his hair.

“7 minutes.” His teacher, Mr. Trevelyan added.

“Oh shut up.” He whispered under his breath, but he was sure Mr. Trevelyan had heard, as he looked up.

Just then, an epiphany struck, and he finished the equation, with 5 minutes left to spare. This was the best he’d ever done on a Chemistry assignment so far, a graded one that too.

“Very good Jason.” Mr. Trevelyan said softly, as he glanced at the paper. “See what you get when you apply yourself a little.”

“Yeah.” He said, eyes wide, and breathing heavily.

“Jeez Jas, you look like you just ran a marathon.” Mr. Trevelyan smiled, and the rest of the class laughed lightly. His shirt had been soaked with sweat, his sleeves stuck like tape to his arms. “Go out there and cool off a bit. It smells bad enough in here.” He joked, and gently nudged him out of the room.

 

 

“And in 1529, the Duchy of Pomerania-“ she started, but the bell rang. “and that’ll have to wait till tomorrow.”

Only another 5 more periods till Jason’s class, two for which she did not have to teach.

 

Mrs. Reynolds walked down to the teacher’s lounge, to grab a little snack, and found her two good friends, Mr. Frohm, and Mrs. Wesley.

“Hey Sally.” Mrs. Wesley waved.

“Hey.” She winked, walking over and grabbing a granola bar.

“Snacks are on you this Friday.” Mr. Frohm chuckled.

“Jason,” she started, but immediately corrected herself, “Tom…I’ve already bought the stuff. Don’t worry.” She gave his shoulder a tight squeeze.

“My kids have been driving me up a wall this past week. I’ve already moved the unit test twice for their Probability unit, and now they want me to move it a third time…kid’s I tell you. What don’t they understand about protocol? That things have to be done on time, and if you’re not ready, the world isn’t going to change for you.”

“Tell me about it.” Mr. Frohm spoke. “I’ve got 10 students who haven’t turned in an essay that was due two weeks ago. The AP Lit midterm is coming up and…oh my god, these kids need some discipline. Remember the good old days?”

“Tom, come on…the paddle never really changed kids anyway. Just made them scared, and docile…we just raised robots who did what they were told and nothing more.” Mrs. Reynolds said.

The other two glowered at her, but it was all superficial.

“All right, I give in. I’m only 31…I get it. I didn’t live in the 50s and stuff…but come on. Beating is something we do for animals.” She smiled, and took another bite out of her granola bar.

“You know Sally, I haven’t seen you so upbeat in a long time…what’s the news?”

“Well…my parents are coming into town to visit.” She lied. “I’ve to go and pick them up. And then, I’ve got a little vacation planned with them to Miami.”

“Oh god. Not Miami…” Mr. Frohm groaned.

“Why not?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Come on…the fucking humidity.”

“Tom.” Mrs. Wesley scolded. “Watch the language.”

“Sorry,” he raised his hands up in surrender, “look. The humidity is like, 90% own there, okay…go a little bit further north. Maybe Myrtle beach?”

“Myrtle beach? Only if you’ve got a cottage…”

“Then L.A. or something.”

“Well, I’ve already booked the tickets.” Mrs. Reynolds shrugged.

“Ah, never mind all that. The idea is to spend time with your folks.” Mrs. Wesley pointed out.

“True. I’ve missed them.”

 

 

 

The next few periods flew by for Jason. His heart quickened each time he thought of Mrs. Reynold’s class. AP Literature was no longer as much a drudgery, even with his ex girlfriend, Andrea  sitting right across from him. AP Biology, and AP Calculus rolled in smooth as ball bearings. Before he knew it, 6th period came.

He hurried down to Mrs. Reynold’s class, the first to enter. She stood there, in the center, beautiful as ever, with her wavy blond hair, and fit frame and tight legs.

“Hey Jas…” she smiled. Jason walked up to her, leaning forward, but she put a finger to his lips. “Not here.” She shook her head, and gently turned him to his seat.

“So, how was your day?” she asked. As the day went on, students took longer and longer to get to their classes, so she usually found time to chat with Jason.

“Great. I just went up a whole letter grade in Chem. Bio and Lit are coming along pretty good too. How about you?”

“Oh, same ole, same ole.” She smiled, drumming her fingers on his desk. “Hey, so I checked my email on my phone…looks like they’re postponing the meeting from Saturday to Monday. I’ll be able to spend the night Saturday…and Sunday…we’ll do something special.”

“And of course…” Jason hinted with a smile.

“Yes…and of course, what we usually do.”   

 

The rest of the class filed in and Mrs. Reynolds stepped back from his desk just in time.

“Come on in, get settled.” She ushered the kids in. “Uh Max?” she said, looking over a short brown haired boy that just entered.

“Yeah?” he looked up from his cellphone.

“Put that up here please. You’ll get it back after class.” She pointed to the homework table. Max sighed, and tossed his phone onto the table, dragging his feet over to his desk.

“You know the rule…I see it, it’s mine.” She smiled, and then winked at Jason, who’d texted quite openly more than once, much to the frustration of the others.

“All right, take out your Thematic Essays from Monday, and pass them up.” She looked out at the class.

Everyone except Jason had their essays ready.

“And where’s yours Jason?” she asked. She flashed him a look, asking him to play along.

“My dog ate it.” He smiled back.

“Very funny, but it’s not going to stop you from dropping an entire letter grade.” She said sternly, but it was all flak, and Jason knew it.

“Open up your books to Chapter 3. I want you to read the first  section. I’ll give you about 10 minutes. It’s not very long. We’ll discuss them after you’ve finished.”

And once again, for the 4th time that day, a wave of groans spread out over the class.

“Come on, come one. It’s only 5 pages. Here’s the deal. If we get through the lesson, and we’ve got time to spare. I’ll show you guys something from SNL.” She said, and nodded to the students. “Jason, can I speak with you for a moment.” She called him forth with her finger.

“Yeah?” he whispered, walking up. There was pin drop silence within the class, so Mrs. Reynolds spoke in a low whisper.

“You know, I was just…saying that…”

“Saying what?”

“The essay thing.” She said.

“Oh yeah, it’s fine. I get it.” He whispered. “I’ll get it to you Monday.”

“Thanks.” she said and sent him back to his desk.

The ten minutes passed uneventfully, and Mrs. Reynolds asked her questions to the class, most of which were answered incorrectly. Students either dozed off, or didn’t bother to read the assigned section, and she knew that. But the class was still well behaved, and as promised, they watched an SNL skit at the end.

The bell rang. As the students got up to leave,

“Hey Jason.” Mrs. Reynolds whispered, calling him back.

“What’s up?”

“So, what do you want to do this weekend?”

“Uh…”

“How ‘bout something at the Olive Garden? Then we can watch a movie…”

“Movie first.”

“Well movie first it is…”

“So, what’re you doing with your parents?” he asked, a little louder this time. The room was empty.

“Oh, we’re just making a little trip down to Florida…Miami specifically.”

“Little trip? Florida isn’t a little trip…” he chuckled.

“Well, we aren’t staying there very long. Parents have always wanted to see Miami, so…my schedule finally worked out, and I was able to get a ticket.”

“Hmm.” He nodded absently.

“So, come down here at around 3:05, and I’ll take you back home…” she said. “Jason…” she said, eyeing him seductively, “I said tomorrow night…”

“Hey, don’t get your panties in a bunch, if you’re even wearing them.” He smiled, putting a hand on her waist.

“You’re too funny. Get outta here.” She shoved him out of the room, laughing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“So, how’d it go?” Mrs. Reynolds asked, as they got into the car. The day had gotten by quite smoothly for the two of them.

“Pretty good. Like I said, my grades have been improving.”

“That’s good.” She smiled, putting her purse in the back seat. She fastened her seatbelt, and started the car.

“You?”

“Me…what? Oh…oh my gosh…sorry. Yeah, my day went well. Not too many meetings, it was nice.”

“I really should get my driver’s license.”

“You really should.” Mrs. Reynolds added as they turned out off the school campus. “Driver’s ed sign ups are like next week.”

“Naah. I’ll give it some time.”

“Well, that Mercedes is going to keep picking up dust in your garage unless you start using it.”

“Don’t know what my parents would have said.” He sighed, twiddling his thumbs.

“Hey, don’t worry about that.” she said softly. “They left all that money and everything for you. Who else?”

“You and me.” Jason smiled.

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous. We are not getting married.”

“yet.”

“Yet…fine. We’ll leave it at that.” She laughed, pulling up at the intersection.

“Oh shit.” Jason swore.

“What?”

“It’s Brett’s car. Behind us.”

“You know…Brett Falkner?”

“Damn it. Get down.” She pulled his head down, under the line of sight. Brett’s car, a maroon Honda pulled up behind them. “come on, come on.” She drummed her hands on the steering wheel, waiting for the light to go green. “Fuck this.” She said, and took a right turn into the neighborhood next to them, driving up the road.

“Coast clear?”

“Coast is clear.” She said, and Jason sat back up.

“Phew, that was close.” She looked over at Jason.

“Yup.”

“So…yeah. We were talking about the car. Heeeyyy…” her face lit up.

“What?”

“The parking lot will be empty tomorrow, and on the weekend. I’ll teach you the basics…for driving, so you don’t look like a total rookie when you go in next week.”

“Fine.” Jason grumbled.

“Oh cheer up.”

Mrs. Reynolds took a left, pulling into Jason’s neighborhood.

“And there we go.” She smiled, stopping in front of his house.

“All right, thanks.” He said, picking up his bag from the back seat.  Just as he was about to get out, Mrs. Reynolds caught his arm, looking into his eyes. She didn’t have to say a word. Jason slid back in, and pulled her face towards his. He could smell her peach perfume, and  felt him self become enveloped by it. As her lips touched his, the flavor of strawberry leaked into his mouth. Their tongues swirled about inside each others mouths as two eels in a tub. Jason closed his eyes, and was encapsulated by bliss, as he kissed her deeply. He put a hand on her knee, running it slowly up her leg, under her skirt. They continued to kiss, he softly chewed at her lips with his own, tasting her sweet scent.

“Oh…damn it. What’re we doing.” She said, snapping out of it. “Sorry…here,” she rummaged through her glove compartment and found a napkin, handing it to him. “Wipe it off…the lipstick…sorry.” She muttered.

“That’s alright.” He winked, and gently wiped her lipstick from his mouth. “Tomorrow night…”

“So, you up for the driving lesson? With me…”

“Well you are one hell of a ride…in bed. I guess it can’t be too different on the road.” He laughed as he got out. “See you Mrs. Reynolds.”

“Bye Jas.” She winked, and drove off.

 

 

 

Jason slammed the brakes to Mrs. Reynold’s Ford Escape.

“Ease into it…what’re you trying to snap my neck?” Mrs. Reynolds joked, grabbing his shoulder.

“It’s my first time!” Jason yelled, “sorry…”

Mrs. Reynold’s sighed.

“Alright, that’s enough for today. We’ve been going for the past 40 minutes. Just make a left around that lamp post, and I’ll take over.”

He did so, and they switched seats.

“That all you can east pasta deal…not worth it. Friend from AP Psych told me,”

“Once you get to the restaurant, you’ve got 20 minutes to eat whatever you want, and then you’re full. Jason, AP Psych is still a social studies course.” Mrs. Reynolds finished.

“Okay.” Jason waved his hands around. “I’ve been waiting to try their lasagna. Who’s buying?”

“I-“

“Never mind. I’ll buy.” Jason put his hand up reassuringly.

“Okay, you’re the man. But I’ll bring my wallet just in case.”

 

 

 

 

“Mmm. The Alfredo is perfect on this linguini…” Mrs. Reynolds closed her eyes, savoring the bite. They were in the Olive Garden, and contrary to their initial idea, the All-You-Can-Ea