Page 53 of Check You Out

“Small, but compact,” he remarks. His gaze falls on a poster of All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson behind me, and he studies it for a few seconds. I grip the armrests of my chair, bracing myself for whatever insult he’s thinking about one of the most banned books being up on my wall. “You must read a lot.”

I nod, skeptical that some other insult is coming. “I do. Do you read?”

“Oh yes. I read books. Mostly thought-provoking books. I guess you could call them self-help books. Reading should be used to improve one’s life.” Gott leans back in his chair, and I note that he doesn’t ask me about my literature preferences.

Eighteen hours and forty minutes until my date with Charlotte. I can do this.

Chewing on the inside of my cheek, and adjusting my glasses, I fully put on the persona of Mr. Talbot. He stands tall and doesn’t take shit from parents. “I prefer fiction. But I’m always open to trying. Any recommendations?”

He lifts one shoulder. “Uh, I just read something about habits, but I didn’t get past the first chapter. I just don’t have much time to read.” He rolls his hand. “With running a county, and I’ve been so busy planning and renovating my office.” He winks at me. “There’s so much important work keeping the county running for the people.”

Ah, a self-help fan who doesn’t actually read.

“Really?”

Gott grins and continues without any encouragement from me. “The whole thing needs to be gutted. The carpets have asbestos. The walls are filled with mold. I’m trying to get the place condemned.” He nudges his fiancée. “My pumpkin here has worked in construction, Her insight on design is so enlightening. She’s been so helpful in telling me what we should do.” Ms. Hartlett smiles but does not look up from the phone. He shifts forward in the chair. “I’ve got an amazing contractor lined up who’s going to make it all so incredibly beautiful. Pumpkin here recommended him.”

“Very nice,” I say, trying to hide the slight waver in my voice. “Pardon me, I just have to check something. I’ll just be a second.”

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Subject: SG is here

He’s engaged to BH. What did the county offices look like when you visited SG? Were they moldy?

Ms. Hartlett slams the phone on the table, breaking my concentration and making me wonder how she did that without breaking her screen. She lets out a huff and crosses her arms. “I still don’t understand why we’re here.” It must kick up some sort of dust, which tickles my nose.

“Excuse me,” I manage to get out before I sneeze.

“Gott bless you.”

My jaw drops. “What did you just say?”

“I blessed you.” He peers at me. “It’s a normal thing to do when someone sneezes.”

“You said, ‘Gott bless you.’ As in, you used your own name to bless me.” I adjust my glasses and look him up and down. “People usually invoke some sort of god or just say ‘bless you’. I don’t go around saying, ‘Talbot bless you’.”

Gott flashes one of those fake megawatt smiles. “I didn’t say my own name. You must have misheard me.”

Great, he’s gaslighting me.

Sighing, I make a mental note to tell Charlotte about it later. “Moving on. We’re here today because Jackson copied passages directly from a Wikipedia article for his book review. This is plagiarism and against school policy.” I pull out a paper with the policy memo stated clearly and read it aloud.

She points a finger at me. “You have no proof!”

I pick up said plagiarized paper and point to a passage. “This passage is on the Wikipedia page for Turtles All the Way Down.” I observe her stony demeanor.

Ms. Hartlett raises an eyebrow. “Ok, so he added in his work to the page after he did this paper.”

My mouth drops open. Keep it together Aidan, you don’t look good in orange and Charlotte wouldn’t date you if you punched this insufferable woman in the face. Or maybe she would. Sighing, I reply, “The page was last edited in November. This book review was assigned two weeks ago. He did not read the book, and he turned in incomplete work, in addition to the plagiarism.”

She shrugs. “It doesn’t matter. Jackson doesn’t need to read books to become successful in life.” Her face softens into a smile. “He’s going to take over my brother’s business and work with him. He needs to know practical things, like math and building things.”

I clench my jaw and lower one of my hands under the desk, pulling my fingers into a fist.

Eighteen hours and thirty-seven minutes until my date with Charlotte.