Part Nine:
"I think it's a great idea. You should do it Sydney." The feminine voice said on the other end of the phone.
"I don't know. It'll be a lot of work." Sydney said as she took a seat at her desk facing Abby who was playing on her bed with some toys.
"Will was asked to do some as well. He doesn't have to turn up to English half the time now." The girl said.
"Really?" Sydney asked, lifting her leg up and resting her foot on the edge of her chair.
"Sydney, this is me. Francie. Would I lie to you?" There was a pause and before Sydney could respond, Francie cut in. "Ok, so I have on occasion told a little white lie. Let me stress to you a white lie."
Sydney laughed. "You do realise your little white lie got me grounded for a week and my house was trashed and we had to get new carpet in the hall."
"I know, but come on, the bonfire inside was fun anyway, toasted marshmallows, Will's singed hair." Francie said with a grin that Sydney could hear through the phone line.
"Yeah I suppose." Sydney conceded.
"See! Anyway, if you don't have to go to English half the time, then you can get away from that awful Miss Gibson." Francie reasoned.
"She's left. Indefinitely." Sydney informed her.
"Oh. So you've got a new teacher?" Francie asked, a ruffling of paper was heard on Sydney's end.
"What are you doing?" Sydney asked with a giggle when she heard Francie swear.
"Trying to re-write some homework." Francie said quickly. "Back to your new teacher."
"Oh, Um, he's called Mr. Vaughn." Sydney said, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks although not really understanding why.
"You're blushing." Francie stated. "Why are you blushing?" She asked.
"I'm not blushing." Sydney snapped half-heartedly.
Francie was silent for a moment. "Fine. I'll let it drop for now. So, tell me about him. He nice? What does he look like?" Francie asked releasing a puff of air signifying her exasperation with what she was working on.
"He seems nice. He's tall; he has blondish-brown hair and green eyes and dimples. He likes Starbucks coffee and he seems passionate about English." Sydney started to rattle off.
"Is that all?" Francie asked sarcastically.
"Yep." Sydney said with a nod intentionally leaving out the little fact that he had a son. A very cute and adorable son.
"Right." Francie replied.
"What? I'm serious." Sydney replied with a grin.
"Whatever." Francie said before pausing briefly. "Hey, Will and I are coming down to visit. Probably in a couple of weeks. We're getting holidays before exams. You should be on holidays too. We'll come down for the first week. You know, check out your hood." Francie said with a grin.
"My hood?" Sydney asked with a giggle. "Who are you hanging out with now?" Sydney asked with a laugh.
"Fine. Let me rephrase it. We'll come and conduct a close inspection of the location in which you inhabit at this present time. How's that?" Francie asked rolling her eyes.
"Better." Sydney replied with a smile. "Anyway, I better go, I think Abby needs a nap before we go to the park."
"How is my niece?" Francie asked.
"She's doing ok. Mom takes her a lot to the park so you know, I think she's been making some friends. Do you want to speak to her quickly?" Sydney asked.
"Put her on. I miss her." Francie said excitement bubbling inside her.
"Sure hold on." Sydney said moving out of her seat and over to her bed where Abby yawned before looking up at her mommy.
"It's Aunt Francie Abby, you want to talk?" Sydney said offering the phone.
Abby's eyes lit up and she reached for the phone. "Aun Fanny!" Abby squealed over the phone. "Mom go school."
Sydney listened to her daughter's end of the conversation.
"Yep."
"Go park Mom."
"Bye," And with that Abby handed the phone back to Sydney.
"Hey." She said letting Francie know she was back on the phone.
"Aunt Fanny!" Francie screeched.
Sydney's mouth opened and laughter bowled forward.
"She still hasn't gotten rid of that?" Francie asked in mock anger.
"Sorry. I'll try and work on that before you get here." Sydney said, a few giggles passing through the line.
"You better." Francie said.
"Alright, I promise. Look I better go, she's about to fall asleep." Sydney said, and they quickly exchanged goodbyes just as Abby drifted off. Sydney carefully picked her daughter up and carried her to her crib for a nap.
Monday morning rolled around after an uneventful weekend for both Michael and Sydney.
Sydney sat in her designated seat at the front on the left and stared out the window. Students slowly filed in, each one looking worse than the next. 'Must have been a party on the weekend.' Sydney thought to herself when she turned to look at a few of her peers. The idea of getting drunk on a Saturday night with a bunch of people she didn't trust or know didn't appeal to her. She'd seen and experienced first hand what getting drunk could do to someone. She planned to stay away from alcohol for as long as possible.
The late bell rang and Sydney looked up at Mr. Vaughn's desk finding it surprisingly empty. She glanced up at the clock above the blackboard to see that it was already 9:07. Sydney felt disappointment but quickly squelched the feeling deep down inside her. She faked disinterest and turned to continue to stare out the window.
Seconds wore on and the minutes piled up. Sydney didn't have to look at the clock to know this; her classmates were already turning the classroom into a dance floor. Willy had pulled out a Discman and speakers that he plugged into the wall unit. She listened as each song was played, some of her male classmates trying to outdo each other with dance moves. Sydney reverted back inside herself, remembering a time when it had been that easy; to just forget about school, assessments and prospective colleges and dance and sing around a classroom. Finding there wasn't much point in dredging up the past and the present, it's difficulties in tact; Sydney opened the front pocket on her backpack to pull out her mobile. Hiding it beneath her desk she began to text message Francie.
'What are you in now?' Sydney sent.
'IT. U?' Francie replied.
'Eng. Waiting for Vaughn to get here.' Sydney sent back before glancing up at the clock to check the time. 9:12.
'Ah… Billie Cope just blew up a monitor. Gotta jet. Cya Babe xx' Francie replied hurriedly.
'Cya.' Sydney sent back.
Just as Sydney saw that her message went through, the classroom door opened and all sound ceased to exist. She looked up at the doorway to see Mr. Vaughn standing there with a frown on his face, wrinkles appearing on his forehead. "I'd like the classroom back to the way it was before you decided to re-model." He said waiting at the door for them to all fix up the desks and chairs.
Once all were seated Michael made his way to his desk. He placed his briefcase down and turned his back to the class. A howl of laughter from a jock at the back was heard and a few girly giggles from the front. A 'shit!' was heard from the seat behind Kevin, which was followed by a few snickers. Sydney read the back of Mr Vaughn's jacket. It read 'Starbucks Geek'. Sydney buried her head in her arms as a blush of embarrassment crept up her neck.
"What?" Michael asked the class as he turned back to them. "You like my jacket? I got it specially made." He stated as if it were a conversation he were having.
Kenny Matherson, in the seat behind Kevin, hit his head on the desk a few times. "Kenny?" Michael called out. "You like it?" He asked with a grin.
Kenny refused to look up. "I'll speak to you after class thanks." Mr Vaughn said before shedding his jacket and beginning the class.
Second period bell rang forty-five minutes later and just as Sydney was packing her things she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket where she quickly stashed it when Mr Vaughn had entered the room. Pulling it out she read the message. 'Will says to 'get ur freak on'… I don't think he knows what that means. Billie dropped a paper clip down the back of the monitor.' Sydney giggled at the message. 'Only Will would be oblivious to the meaning of that song.' Sydney thought. Shaking her head with a smile still stuck to her face she continued to pack up her things before making her way out of the classroom missing Mr Vaughn's stare.