Page 54 of Check You Out

Gott pats her knee. “Now, now, my pet. Mr. Talbot is only doing his job and he’s doing a fine job of it.”

Shit, is this guy going to defend me?

He continues, “Now, I think there is a miscommunication here, which I think can be solved very easily.” He flashes yet another megawatt smile that sends my heart racing with mistrust. “Jackson simply used an outside source to complete his work. Is there anything wrong with that?”

My jaw drops again. I hate this guy. “Citing sources is completely fine, even directly quoting passage to back up an argument. Students were encouraged to do so, however, there is a specific format he needed to follow. Copying and pasting without that is plagiarism.” I take a breath. Damnit, I need my team lead here. “This is a violation of the school’s plagiarism policy. He got a zero on this paper and, at this point based on his performance, I am worried about his ability to handle eleventh grade. I’ve made the recommendation for summer school to make up for the gap. The hope is, he can catch up and not repeat tenth grade.”

Thank God, I’m not teaching summer school this year.

If all goes well, I’ll be spending the entire summer with Charlotte surrounded by books, drinking coffee and tea.

Ms. Hartlett’s eyes grow wide. She slams her fist against the desk, rattling my pencil holder. “What? No! You can’t do that to him. He doesn’t deserve this. He’s working this summer!”

I grasp the pencil holder to keep it from falling over and grit my teeth.

Gott reaches out to hold her hand, caressing the knuckles. “My darling pumpkin, I’m sure there’s a simple solution, and I’m sure we can workshop something so that Jackson still can spread his wings and soar.” He mimics a flying motion with his hand and looks at me. “Perhaps our boy can resubmit the paper.” His tone is more tell than ask.

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

I wish I could blink and be sitting in Triple C with her right now.

Swallowing the bile in my throat and my pride, I reply in a stiff voice, “I’m sorry but there’s nothing I can do. From all the class time he’s missed, to the lack of work on assignments, he’s not going to catch up. He needs extra instruction. I mentioned this in our last meeting.” I glance at the calendar. “Two months ago?”

Gott frowns and rises from his seat, buttoning his suit jacket. “Now, now, pumpkin, I’m sure we can have a nice conversation with the principal and solve this. Come, I’m sure he’s still here.”

“Good luck with that,” I mutter under my breath and purposefully fail to mention that the principal is on leave today.

Ms. Hartlett crinkles her nose and jerks her hand away to cross her arms. She stares down her nose at me and says, “I’m sure that will be more productive than this.” She rises from her seat and rolls her eyes. “Let’s go, pookie.” Without another word, she storms out of my classroom, Gott following along.

“Thanks for coming in,” I halfheartedly call after them. Chucking off my glasses, I rub my face with my hands and let out a groan.

My laptop dings, and I find an email.

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Subject: RE: SG is here

The offices were really nice. Definitely not moldy or gross.

FYI, super excited for our date tomorrow. BTW, you know it is a date, right? I realize I totally forgot to mention it, and I hope I didn’t mislead you under false pretense.

Eighteen hours and thirty-five minutes until my date with Charlotte. Fuck yeah!

23

Charlotte

24 Days until the Council Meeting

I’m late! I’m so fucking late!

There should be no reason for me to be late. I’ve been counting down the days and trying to find every possible opportunity to talk to Aidan. We’ve been texting every afternoon and evening once he’s done with school, but I haven’t seen him since our sign-setting-up excursion.

I miss Aidan. We haven’t even gone on a date yet, and I already miss his quiet and gentle presence, the rare flashes of that warm smile, and his soft, far-off look when he’s thinking deeply. But most of all, I miss that little chuckle he does every time I say something remotely funny.

I pull out my phone to tell him I’m on my way. That’ll cover my horrid tardiness, right? He won’t change his mind and leave.