Title: Not Okay

Author: Darley1101

Rating: PG-13

Choices Book: High School Story 3

Premise: MC tells Ms. Maddox how she feels about her father and Emma's mother. (Told from Ms. Maddox's point of view. Side Note since my MC is named Brittany that is the name I went with. She is also dating Michael in my game, so that is also the direction I took here.)

Author's Note: If you are in favor of the relationship between "Scott" aka Dad and "Julia" aka Emma's mom then you may want to slowly back out of this story. I am anything but okay with the idea of the two. Most of my disdain stems from how unlikable I find Julia. I digress. Let's get back to my little story. I hope you enjoy.

Chapter One: Something's Not Right

One of the hardest parts of being a teacher is figuring out when to talk to a student and when to take a step back. It was a bit like being a new parent, when you're trying to decide when to hold on and when to let go so the kid could learn from their own mistakes. At least that was how it felt to Diana Maddox. During her six years of teaching, any time Diana had seen a student struggle her first instinct had been to jump right in and offer to fix the problem; which became a problem itself. She'd had to learn the hard way that more often than not kids needed to fail so they could succeed. There were times, with certain students, where she couldn't bear the thought of them struggling. Sophomore Brittany Andrews was one of those students. Diana would like to think her interest in Brittany was because the sixteen year old was a sweet kid, and not because Diana had had a massive crush on Brittany's father in high school. Either way, when she seen the usually smiling girl sitting as far from her friends as possible, with a clenched jaw and what appeared to be unshed tears shimmering in her eyes, Diana knew she had to step in.

As the bell rang, announcing the end of home room, Diana rose from her seat and signaled for her class to wait before rushing out the door. "Don't forget that the school bake sale is next week," she announced in a loud, clear voice. "We still need volunteers to help sell, as well as donations of baked goods. And remember, if you help at the sale you will receive 10 extra credit points. I know, I know that's not a lot but…" her gaze settled on Morgan, "for some of you it could be the difference between passing and failing." She bit back a grin as Morgan dramatically rolled her eyes and tossed her bright blue hair over her shoulder. Her grin waivered as she noticed Brittany hanging back, letting her best friends Emma and Caleb file out the door before taking a step in that direction herself. "Brittany, could you come here for a moment?"

The teen froze for a moment, her blue eyes widening. "Um, sure, I guess so." Brittany wrapped her arms around her middle and started shifting from one foot to the other. "Am I in trouble for checking my phone? I know I keep saying it won't happen again but this time I mean it. See, I got into it with Michael before class and I didn't want to leave things like that you know? And so when he text me…I had to check-"

Diana held up a hand, silencing the anxious teen. "Brittany. Stop. This isn't about your phone. I promise." Not this time, at least. Plus, the girl wasn't nearly as sneaky with that phone as she thought. Diana could always tell when Brittany was texting in class and from the little smiles that usually lit up her face it wasn't hard to figure out that it was her boyfriend Michael texting her.

"Oh. Okay." Brittany's brow creased.

Diana gestured toward the desk right in front of her own. "Could you take a seat?" The frown on Brittany's face deepened. For a moment it looked as though she were about to protest, only to decide to obey. "The reason I asked you to stay is I couldn't help but notice you haven't been sitting in your usual seat. Did something happen with Emma or Caleb?"

"Caleb?" Confusion clouded Brittany's bright blue eyes. "I'm not upset with Caleb."

"And Emma?"

A loud sigh escaped Brittany's lips. "It's complicated." Her lower lip trembled a bit as her shoulders hunched forward.

Teenage girl drama was always complicated. It could range anywhere from not returning a borrowed hoodie to 'she talked to the boy I like.' Neither of those scenarios seemed to fit either Emma or Brittany though. Both had boyfriends and their style of dress was vastly different. "I hope you realize that you can talk to me. About anything. Including complicated best friend issues." Leaning forward on her elbows, Diana smiled gently, her caramel colored eyes softening.

"I know." Brittany tucked her chin against her chest. When she looked back up there were tears glimmering in her eyes. "I'm going to seem like a really selfish bitch Ms. Maddox."

Diana blinked. Brittany Andrews was one of the least selfish students she had ever taught. "I seriously doubt that Brittany. You're always stepping up to help your friends."

"Yeah, well you're wrong. I am. I'm a really selfish bitch." A tear trickled down her cheek. "Just this morning I told Michael I didn't want him talking to Maria anymore. That I wanted him to quit helping with the morning show."

That did not sound like the girl Diana knew. "And why did you do that?"

"I don't know!" Except there was something in her voice that said she did know. "No. Wait. That isn't true. I don't like how they have these little inside jokes and how they sometimes do things but they don't tell me unless I ask."

Oh boy. Boy drama was involved. Just not with Emma. The female in Diana wanted to ask if Brittany thought there was something going on between Michael and Maria, even though anyone with eyes could see how head over heels the Harrison boy was for Brittany. Not to mention, Diana was pretty sure Maria wasn't the type of girl to make a move on a friend's boyfriend. "Have you tried talking to them?"

"Not really. I don't think I could handle it if they told me…" Brittany burst into tears. "I'm so stupid. Michael and Maria aren't even what's bugging me. I know there's nothing going on."

"Okay," Diana said gently. She reached for a tissue from the box she kept at the edge of her desk. "So if you're not upset about Michael and Maria, then what are you upset about?" Rising from her seat, Diana walked over to Brittany. She pressed the tissue into the girl's hand. "And don't tell me its nothing. Something obviously has you upset."

"You're going to think I'm being stupid," Brittany hiccupped.

"I doubt that," Diana soothed.

"My mom died in a car accident when I was twelve," Brittany whispered. "It was really hard on my dad. I mean, it was hard for me too but my dad...he stopped smiling and joking around. It was like he was just going through the motions of doing what he had to do for me. And for a while there I didn't think he would ever laugh or smile or joke around again." She sucked in a big gulp of air. "When we moved back here he started acting like his old self. He's cracking jokes. He's smiling and laughing. He's even working on that stupid train collection of his again."

A lump formed in Diana's throat. She had known that Scott's wife had died in an accident. Cedar Cove wasn't such a big town that people lost touch with locals who moved off. Caleb Mitchell's mom had been the one to tell her about the accident; how Scott's wife had been driving home from work when some drunk hit her head on. A lot of people had expected him to move home right after. Instead he had waited almost four years before returning to his home town. Even after his return he had kept to himself. Rumor had it he went to work, then home to be with his daughter. He had no social life to speak of. Which was strange, considering how many of his former friends still lived in Cedar Cove; some of whom had kids that Brittany ran around with. "Are you worried that he's going to move on and forget about your mom?" It about killed Diana to ask the question but at the moment it was the only thing popping in her head.

"No. My dad loved my mom Ms. Maddox and I know that will never change. Just like I know that my mom would want him to be happy. I want him to be happy. Just not with Emma's mom."

And there it was, the reason for the emotional turmoil ripping through Brittany's life. Diana didn't know why she hadn't thought of that. Scott Andrews and Julia Mason had been the talk of their high school back in the day. Or maybe their relationship had only mattered to Diana because she'd had a ridiculous crush on Scott and hadn't understood what he seen in Julia. "Is there something going on between your dad and Emma's mom," she asked cautiously. This was starting to go in a murky direction. There was a fine line between helping a student and butting into personal matters.

"God, I hope not." Panic was starting to color Brittany's face. "I know that's what Emma wants but…"

"But that's not what you want," Diana finished.

"Right."

"Have you tried telling Emma that you're not ready to see your dad with someone who isn't your mom?"

Brittany let out a sigh. "It's not that Ms. Maddox. I swear it isn't." Shifting in her seat, Brittany started shredding the tissue. "I would be okay with my dad dating and maybe even eventually remarrying. Like I said, I want him to be happy. It's just…" she hesitated, "…have you ever met Emma's mom?"

"I have."

"Right. Of course. Parent teacher conferences." Brittany shook her head, strands of golden blonde hair sticking to her tear dampened cheeks.

"Actually, her and your dad were a few years ahead of me in high school," Diana chuckled.

"Really?" Diana nodded. "Huh. How did I not know that?"

"Because teachers don't usually discuss their personal lives with their students," Diana pointed out.

Brittany shrugged. "Right. That makes sense." She tucked her lower lip between her teeth. "So you probably understand why I don't want my dad with her. It just seems like she can't get her act together, you know? From Emma's said her mom didn't know how to function after her parents divorce because her mom had let her dad do everything."

"A lot of women struggle to get back on their feet after a divorce Brittany." That was something Diana knew about all too well. Granted, her ill-advised marriage had only last two years and part of the reason they had divorced was because Diana hadn't wanted to quit teaching to stay home and start a family.

"I know that! I'm not holding that against her. It's just from what my dad has said she was like that in high school too. Shouldn't she have figured out how to adult by now?"

There was nothing Diana could say to that because Brittany was right. By 40 most people, especially people with kids, had figured out how to make decisions. Julia was not most people though. Back in the day it had been a running joke that Julia was so indecisive that she would probably stand in a burning building and die from smoke inhalation while waiting for someone to tell her what she should do. Diana didn't know if Julia was still that way or if the struggling was due to learning to live without her husband around. "I think that some people take longer than others to figure things out," she said cautiously.

"That doesn't change the fact that my dad doesn't need that in his life. He needs someone who already has their shit together." Frustration tainted Brittany's voice. "I keep trying to tell Emma that I don't think it's a good idea to hook our parents up but she won't listen. She just goes on and on about how her mom finally looks happy and how maybe one day we can be sisters."

"Okay. So if Emma isn't listening, have you tried talking to your dad about how you feel?"

"No. I can't. For some reasons he's all stupid over Julia." Brittany rolls her eyes. For a moment it looked like Brittany was going to laugh but the giggle quickly became an odd sort of sob. "I wanted to talk to Michael about it, you know? I wanted him to tell me it was all going to be okay, that my dad wouldn't really be stupid enough to…to…get serious with someone like Emma's mom. He wasn't listening though. He wanted to talk about some idea Maria had for their show." No doubt that had been what caused the whole blow up over Michael's friendship with Maria. God, Diana did not miss being a teenager. "It feels like how I feel, what I need and want, don't matter to anyone. And that makes me think I must be selfish or something, right? Because if I wasn't wouldn't people listen? Wouldn't they understand where I'm coming from?"

"I don't think you're being selfish." Diana smiled gently. "Listen, I know all of this seems impossible right now and that nobody is listening to what you're saying but keep trying. Keep telling them how you feel. They're going to hear you." At least Diana hoped so. Giving advice was not something she excelled at. "Now, why don't you stop by the bathroom, splash some cold water on your face and then head to science."

"Thanks for listening Ms. Maddox," Brittany whispered before wrapping her arms around Diana's waist. Diana hesitated for a moment before patting the girl on the back. "Seriously, just having someone listen really helped."

"Any time Brittany. I'm always here to listen." Diana scribbled out a pass and pressed it into Brittany's hand. She stared after the girl for a moment before reaching for the phone on the corner of her desk. She picked up the handset and pressed '0.' "Hey," she greeted the front office secretary. "I need you to schedule a conference with Brittany Andrews father. The sooner the better."