“Oooh! Damn!
Look at the time. I gotta
go!” Stephanie Teerson said plopping
her cup of coffee down onto the table with a slight splash. She rose to her feet. “I’ve got my next parent coming in, in five
minutes!
“Who
is it this time?” Alice Welled asked.
“Uh…
Jerri’s father. Mr. LeBeau.”
There
was an eruption of snickers from the other lady teachers seated around the
table of the elementary school staff room.
“What?
What is it?” This was Stephanie’s first year at Montgomery Elementary,
although it was her third year teaching.
She was still trying to learn all of the inside jokes among the staff of
this prestigious institution. She did
not see the joke in a parent teacher conference. She had been having them all week without incident.
“What
are you all laughing about?”
“Mr.
LeBeau?” Jane Leaver questioned, trying to keep her countenance, but failing
miserably.
“What? What is it?”
“Well, um…” Marie Richmond started. “You see, the thing of it is… Mr. LeBeau is
a rather, um… stimulating man.”
“What
do you mean by that?”
“You’ll
find out.” Alice said.
Stephanie
shook her head. “Bunch of gossiping old spinsters…” she mumbled to herself as
she walked to the door.
* * * * *
Ten
minutes later, Miss Teerson was busying herself filling out grade reports. When the gentle knock on the frame of the
classroom door, caused her to jump.
“Ms.
Teerson?”
For
a moment, Stephanie forgot how to speak.
She just sat behind her desk effectively gawking at the most beautiful
man she had ever seen.
“…I…
Uh… Yes… Mr. LeBeau?”
The
man nodded and entered the childless classroom. Stephanie stood up and extended her hand, which he shook. She motioned for him to take a seat in the
large chair opposite her desk.
“Sorry,
I be late. Had a little trouble at
work.” He said sitting. Work being the
containment of a potential mutant riot on the east side, before it got out of
hand. He almost had to laugh at the
absurdity of it. He was fighting hand to
hand with a rather ugly mutant, ant the thought popped into his head that if
they didn’t wrap this up quickly, he’d be late for his parent-teacher
conference.
“Oh,
that’s alright. It’s only five
minutes.” She said retaking her seat.
“Well…
where should I begin?” She asked, more
to herself as she looked around her desk.
“What can I say? Jerri’s a
gem. She’s a pure pleasure to have in
my class.”
“Das
good t’hear.”
Ms.
Teerson looked at the file in front of her that she had opened. “Straight ‘A’s’ in English, Social Studies,
History and French.” She said with a motion in Remy’s direction on that last
word.
“Wonder
why she’d take to a dirty language like dat?” He said with a smirk.
Stephanie
smiled back.
[“Haven’t
the faintest idea.”] She responded in perfect Cajun French.
Not
often one to be surprised, Remy raised a very curious eyebrow.
“Now,
I can drop my accent if need be, but nowhere as good as dat… You from d’Big Easy?”
“Nope. But my parents are. Born and Breed Bayou Cajuns.”
Remy
grinned and made a pleased noise.
‘God, he’s got a great smile.’
“Um,
so, anyway, getting back to Jerri…”
“Yes.”
“Well,
as I understand it, she’s fluent in speaking French, but not in the writing, so
we’ve been putting more of an emphasis on that for her. She seems to be rising to the challenge.”
“Why
do I hear d’beginnings of a ‘but’ in dere?”
“…However…”
Remy
gave her a wry look.
“Jerri
doesn’t seem to be doing as well in some of her other subjects, even though I
know she’s more than capable.”
“Such
as?”
“Well,
science for one, and gym class. It is
not as though she cannot perform in these classes, it just seems like she’s…
well… bored. So she doesn’t put as much
effort into the work. I know she likes
to be challenged, but at ten years old, how much could she already know about
science. And as for gym, well, the
activities we do seem to work well with the other children…” she shook her
head. “I was hoping that the two of us
could come up with some sort of solution.
But first I need to know what the problem is, and right now I’m at a
loss.”
“Mmm. Well, don’ feel too bad. T’ink I know d’reason for d’problem. Jerri’s Uncle Hank is a doctor and a
scientist. Dere’s always talk ‘bout
genetics and stuff goin’ on at our place.
Plus we got a lot of mechanical stuff and computers lyin’ around. She probably jus’ use to getting’ dis info
on a daily basis at home. But don’ get
me wrong. Dat ain’t no excuse for her
not t’be doin’ her work. She an’ I
gonna have a talk about dat later.
“Or,
perhaps I could have a talk with this Uncle Hank and find out just what level
he thinks she’s at.”
“Dat
could work too. As for d’gym… again,
d’kind of workouts we have at our place you wouldn’t be findin’ in no grammar
school. Eider me or her Uncle Logan or
someone else always be workin’ wit her.”
“Jerri
talks a lot about your family. I always
overhear her talking about her Uncle this and her Aunt that. I must say I’ve lost count. Just how many brother’s and sisters do you
have Mr. LeBeau?” She said with a
smile.
Remy
returned it. “Well, d’Aunts an’ Uncles
Jerri be talkin’ ‘bout ain’t my blood.
Dey fam’ly jus’ d’same, but… well, we sorta got a communal thing
happenin’ over at our place. Always at
least twelve people livin’ dere at any one time.”
“You
live at the Xavier Institute, right?
Isn’t dat a school?”
“Sometimes. Use'ta be.
Now it’s more of a research place.
But we do teach dose dat need teachin’.”
“Mutants?”
“…What
make you say dat?”
“Well,
partly because of Jerri’s tendency to jump up and defend mutant rights at the
drop of a hat. Partly because I know
Charles Xavier is a mutant activist and, well… the sun’s almost completely down
and you’re still wearing sunglasses.”
“Would
you believe me if I said I had sensitive eyes?” Remy said with a toothy grin.
“Uh-uh.”
She replied shaking her head.
Remy
removed the glasses.
“Well…
that’s something you don’t see everyday.” She said peering into the
red-on-black eyes.
“Speak
for yourself.” He said with a chuckle.
Stephanie
covered her mouth with both hands.
“Oh,
I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to—I mean I
just—I’m not really use to…”
“Don’
worry ‘bout it.” Gambit said with a genuine smile. “Long as your reaction ain’t t’try and vaporize me, I’m okay wit
it.”
‘Do I want to vaporize you… no… Melting into your arms is another matter.’
* * * * *
Each
Parent Teacher Conference was allotted forty-five minutes on the schedule, but
no interview ever took that long. In a
worse case scenario it would take thirty minutes, leaving the teacher at least
another fifteen for the teacher to relax and prepare for the next parent…
deciding how and what to talk about and such.
It
wasn’t until there was a knock at the classroom door that Stephanie Teerson
realized that she would have to wing it during the next conference. She looked up to see a short and slightly
portly couple standing in the doorway, and noticed the gentle speed with which
Mr. LeBeau reset his glasses.
“Oh,
Mr. And Mrs. Belamy! Oh, my goodness, I
didn’t even see the time!”
“Are
you ready for us?” The gentleman asked.
“Uh,
yes! Could you give us just one more
minute please?”
“Of
course.” Mrs. Belamy said and the two
of them stepped back out into the hallway closing the door behind them.
“I’m
sorry to have kept you so long, Mr. LeBeau.” She apologized standing up. He did likewise shaking his head.
“Don’t
worry about it. Never enjoyed a P.T.
conference so much.”
She
blushed.
There
conference had indeed taken much longer than it needed to. The part that actually concerned Jerri’s
conduct and class work took only maybe ten minutes of that time. Their conversation had quickly developed a
tendency to stray.
Remy
was quite surprised at himself. While
he never had any trouble speaking to women, he was usually very guarded in what
he said. He was amazed at how open he
was being with this lady. He found her
exceptionally easy to talk to.
“Well,
I’d better get goin’. Jerri gonna think
we’re plottin’ her doom.”
She
laughed and shook the hand, which he had extended.
“So…
you’ll tell Dr. McCoy, I’ll be in touch.”
“Sure.”
He said with a nod.
‘Lucky fur ball.’
“It
was nice meeting you Mrs…”
“Miss. The Ms. is a Miss.”
“Miss
Teerson.”
“Likewise.”
Remy
nodded again and started to walk down one of the isles.
He
stopped half way.
“Um…
Miss Teerson…”
* * * * *
“Pearl…”
Stephanie started, sitting down in the teachers lounge. It was nine o’clock and she had just
finished her final conference of the day.
“You’ve been teaching here a long time haven’t you?”
“Twenty
three years.” The fifty something year old teacher answered. “Since the doors opened.”
“So
you’re pretty up on all of the rules and regulations?”
“I
helped write most of them.”
“…Does…
Does the school have any policy against parent-teacher social interaction? Outside of school I mean.”
Pearl
Dool put down the cup that she was about to take a sip from.
“Come
again?”
“Dating,
Pearl. Does the school have any policy
against a parent and a teacher dating?”
“Each
other?”
“Pearl!”
Pearl
smiled and slowly shook her head. “No
policy that I know of. This school’s
always been pretty liberal. As long as
you’re not doing anything illegal or something to embarrass the school, the
board is pretty open.” She took a sip
of her coffee.
“So…
might I ask to what this line of questioning pertains? Or rather, to whom?” She asked trying to
hide a grin.
“…Mr.
LeBeau asked me out.”
“WHAT?!?”
Jane
Leaver had been walking behind Stephanie while she was speaking.
Stephanie
looked up, plainly.
“Mr.
LeBeau asked me out.”
“He
asked you.”
“Yes.”
“Are
you sure it wasn’t the other way around?”
“Of
course not!”
Jane’s
jaw hung open. While she and some of
the other teachers joked and prodded about Remy LeBeau’s good looks, every one
of them, even some of the married ones, had the high school fantasy that he
would ask one of them out. Although he
had flirted with three out of the four past teachers Jerri had had during her
time at the school, (Mr. Needleman probably wouldn’t have appreciated it.) none
had ever imagined that he would actually ask one of them. What would a man who looked like that, want
with a simple schoolteacher?
“Consider
it ‘beginners luck’, Jane.” Pearl said with a smile. She sipped her coffee.
Jane narrowed her eyes at her wryly.
“So
what did you say?” Alison asked, coming in on the conversation. The small crowd of teachers that had taunted
her earlier had re-gathered.
“I
told him I’d think about it.”
They
just about fainted dead away.
“You’ll
think about it! What is there to think
about?!”
“A
lot of things. Besides, I didn’t want
to seem too eager.”
“But
you at least gave him your phone number, right?”
“I
was going to offer but he said he didn’t want to pressure me, and that I should
call him if I feel like it.”
Stephanie
looked around at the sea of drop-jawed faces.
The looked like a school of slack jawed fish.
“What!?”
* * * * *
One
week later, Stephanie sat with her legs curled up beside her on the couch. She wearily flipped through the television
channels.
‘When Harry Met Sally… Sabrina… Ever After… Don Juan Demarco…?!’
She
looked up.
“Is
someone trying to tell me something?”
She
sighed, put her Date Book on her lap and began flipping through it. She picked up the phone and dialed.
“Xavier
Institute. Your quarter.”
“May
I speak to Remy LeBeau, please?”
“Sure,
just a minute. REMY! PHONE!”
Stephanie
pulled the phone away from her ear as the man on the other end yelled. She brought it back to her ear in time to
hear the short conversation on the other end.
“Mon
Dieu, Bobby! ‘Was jus’ on d’other
side of d’room!”
“Then
you should have gotten here faster.”
To
stop herself from laughing, she pressed her lips tightly together as a short
string of Cajun expletives exploded on the other end of the line.
“‘Lo?”
“Mr.
LeBeau?” She said, the remnants of her restrained laughter now escaping. “This is Stephanie Teerson.”
“Miss
Teerson?”
“Stephanie…
please.”
“Den
it’s Remy.”
“Deal.”
“Kinda
late t’be callin’ ‘bout school business.”
“Well,
it’s a good thing this isn’t about school business then…”
One
the other end of the line, Remy gave a wide grin.
The
End