By the time Lizzie got to school that morning, the news
about her and Scott in the shower was all over school. It didnt matter how early she got there, everyone was already looking at her funny as she walked through the hallway. She went to Scotts door and put her hand on
the door.
"Hey! Isnt it too early for a nooner??" A jock jerk yelled from across the hall. A group of students laughed loudly at him. Lizzie gripped the doorknob tightly as she tried to ignore them. She then took a deep breath as she opened the door. She went in and shut it behind her. She looked over at Scott, who was at his desk.
"Everyone knows." She said.
"I know." Scott said.
"What do we do?" She asked as she went to the desk.
"I don't know." He said." Steven will no doubt want to see us both."
"No doubt." She sighed. She felt tears coming down her face. "I thought something interesting might happen when I came back to school here but I never thought it would be this." She wiped the tears off her face with the edge of her sleeve. "I never expected this."
Scott went to her and he stiffly hugged her. There was no telling if Cheryl Holt had managed to put any type of recording device in his office. So far she hadnt but he was never quite sure.
"I been thinking." Lizzie said as she pulled away. "So what if they know? So what if some don't approve? So what if some people laugh? People laugh at anything you do anyway." She said. "I know I said we could fight this last night, and say it isnt true, but what would be the use? I want to be with you Scott, and I know based on the charm bracelet that you want to to." She said looking at him. "Do you feel the same way?" She asked. "Do you want to do what I'm gonna do and say, screw them. I am going to date Lizzie McCarthy! You may laugh, you may disaprove, but thats gonna be the way it is. Deal with it." She said passionately. "What do you think?"
"I agree with you totally of course." He said. He grabbed her hand. "What will you say when Steven asks to see us, which will inevitably happen any second now?"
"The same thing I just said to you." Lizzie said.
He sighed a big sigh of relief. "I don't see what the big deal would be anyway. It's not you can be fired for dating a colleague right?"
"Right." Lizzie said. A knock came at the door. The duo turned and looked.
Scott cleared his throat and looked at Lizzie. She nodded.
"Come in!" He said.
Louisa opened the door. She looked at them both.
"I'm sorry, am I disturbing you?" She asked.
"No." Scott and Lizzie said.
"Steven wants to see you BOTH." Louisa said.
"Color me surprised." Lizzie dryly said.
"Wait." Scott said. "Tell him we'll be there in a minute."
"Sure." Louisa said closing the door. "Don't do anything I wouldnt do..." She muttered.
"What are you going to do about Cheryl Holt and Dana Poole?" He asked. "You said you were going to take care of it, and I said not to." He paused while trying to think of how to phrase his question. "I gather you still plan to do something."
"I am." She said. "Dana Poole will be left alone. Shes leaving anyway. Don't worry. Our little revenge will be achieved through quiet means." She smirked.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning it won't be at a school assemblay, but everyone will know when it happens." Lizzie promised. "Lets go, we can't keep him waiting for much longer. He might send the gestapo back out." She said opening the door. She grabbed his hand when he hesistated. "Come on."
She led him out into the hallway, hand in hand. She held his left hand as they walked down a virtual gauntlet of students laughing or whispering. They reached the office.
Lizzie looked into the crowd. She could see Cheryl there with a small camera. Lizzie resisted the urge to throw a dirty gesture in her direction. A picture of her giving a student the finger was the last thing she needed up on the site. She ignored her as she went inside the office door. Scott looked out over the crowd. "Don't you have a class to go to?" He barked. Some students ran into their classrooms while some simply ducked around the corner. Scott knew this was so because he saw out of the corner of his eyes, the students gathering back at the doorway. Scott and Lizzie saw Lauren and Harry going through their mail. They looked up at them.
"Morning." Lauren said as they walked by.
"Morning." Lizzie said as casually as she could.
"How are things?" Harry asked, for once having no idea what to say. They themselves saw Scotts picture on the site after they got home from Lizzies birthday party.
"Fine. Good." Lizzie said.
The door to Stevens office opened.
"Lizzie, I want to talk to you alone first." Steven said. "Scott I need you to go to the gymnasium with security to investigate evidence of a break in last night."
"Okay." Scott said looking at Steven, clearly glad to be anywhere but in the office at the moment. "Lord knows who will take me seriously now." He said to Lizzie.
"They will." Lizzie said. "You're a people person." She said.
He turned and went out the door. Lizzie took a deep breath and went inside Stevens office.
"Close the door." He said.
Lizzie closed the door. Lauren and Harry put the mail back where they found it. They hadnt been looking at their mail. They had acutally gone earlier at the post office.
"Nows our chance to hear whats going on." Harry said as he maneuvered close to the door.
"Can you be more obvious?" Lauren asked. "I'm just happy I talked you out of that 'glass on the wall' idea."
"Its real hard to dupe Harvey out of his room for minutes at a time." He said. "I'll translate for you."
Inside
"What would you like to talk to me about?" Lizzie asked brightly.
"I think you know." Steven said turning his laptop computer toward her. It had the picture of Scott in the mirror. "I'd appreciate you telling me the whole story."
"Well I decided I wanted to teach in second grade.." Lizzie said still playing "dumb".
"No, no." He said. "The story about you and Scott and what may or may not be going on between you two." He caught something in the corner of his eye. He thought he saw a flash of clothing. He got up and went to the door.
"Ah crud, we've been caught." Harry said backing away as he saw Steven coming to the door. "Go to plan b."
"Whats plan b? I wasnt aware we had a plan a?" Lauren asked.
"Run!" He said. Steven opened the door and caught Harry by his shirt sleeve.
"Where do you think you're going?" He asked.
"Teach a class. Thats what we're here for. To educate the youth of america..." He stopped when he realized Steven wasnt buying it. "Damn clothes." He said. "I should have come nude today."
"Harry?" Steven said. "And Lauren? I thought you knew beter than this. Listening in." He shook his head. "You might as well come in, I want to try and keep this thing under control. If I can. "
Steven waited while Lauren and Harry looked at each other.
"What about our classes?" Lauren asked.
"They'll wait for five minutes." Steven said as he stretched his arm out. "Get in there now."
Lauren and Harry went into the office and found a seat. Lizzie looked at them both and then at Steven.
"I am trying to keep this as internal as possible." Steven said off her looks. "You were saying?"
"Scott taught me political science as you well know." Lizzie said. "We got close over senior year. We had a lot of the same philsophies. We had very interesting conversations. Most of my classmates thought it was bizzare to say the least to be friends with who they considered to be the coldest man in school. I knew different. It changed somewhat in the last few months. He was seeing this woman who was the typing teacher at the time, Vanessa Stone." She continued. "He was absolutely enamored of her. Really truly in love. In fact," She looked at Lauren. "you should know that I know that he was attracted to you for a bit and asked you out." Lauren nodded as she remembered. "He only did that cause you look almost the same as she did when she was your age. You reminded him of all the good times and thankfully none of the bad times." Lizzie added. "She
was cruel to him, she cheated on him all the time and abused his trust and used his credit cards. Charged them to the limit. Eventually he discovered what she was doing and dropped her like that. Even though he dumped her, her it still hurt him." She took a deep breath. "I went to talk to him one afternoon the week before finals. He needed someone at that time, and I knew it. Anyway we came so close to almost kissing so many times. Someone must have found out because it ended up in the underground high school tabloid newspaper. Think Cheryl Holt with a press, and thats the way it looked. There were rumors that we were lovers. We werent, but it didnt stop people from whispering." She took a breath. Harry handed her a small paper cup of water from a pitcher he was sitting next to. She sipped it. "Thanks." She crumpled the cup. "Anyway then I came back. I was taking a shower and he stumbled upon me. Thats all that happened."
He nodded. "I have to ask you. Are you and Scott an item?"
"Why would you need to ask that?" Lizzie asked.
"There might be a small issue about two colleagues seeing each other." Steven said.
"So what?" Lizzie asked. "Look at these two." She said gesturing to Lauren and Harry. "These two make out like horny bunnies and nothing is said about them."
"Hey." Harry said. "That was uncalled for!"
"Quiet Senate." Steven said. "This is more of dating a colleague in a higher position than you."
"Is that it?" She asked. "Big deal."
"It wouldnt look good if you dated." Steven said. "You can have one or the other, but not both."
"Fine." Lizzie said. "I quit."
"What?" All three said.
"You heard me. I quit. I'd rather give up this job than the chance I might have with Scott." Lizzie said. "Consider this my one week advance notice." She said going to the door. "My resignation will be in at the end of the day."
"Wait a minute!" Steven said as Lizzie went out the door. She didnt listen to his pleas to stop. She met up with Scott in the hallway. Some of the students were still there. Lizzie grabbed the sides of his head then pulled him to her. She placed her lips on his and gave him the most passionate kiss she could muster at the moment. She pulled back from him. "See me at my office." She said. She then lightly squeezed him and pushed him aside. She walked dramatically out the front door. She was about to wave to the building but then decided against it. She turned and walked away. Scott ran out the door and stood on the steps. By that time, however, she was gone.
