Hidden Beneath the Mask
Disclaimer: Well two shows I do not own: "Good Luck Charlie" and "How to Rock", so try not to give me grief, as I'm not claiming them.
A/N:
Chapter 36 (Pride of an Educator)
The school felt different now as she walked through the halls and listened to her favorite teacher's lecture. Mr. Marsh was always the most awesome of the teachers, and he made her feel a lot better about having just come out with her big reveal. Currently he was standing in front of the class, making everyone play a fun 'ice-breaker' game regarding her. She had a bright, nervous smile, and was wondering what PJ would say if he saw what was going on.
On the board were two names, Molly and Skyler, and Mr. Marsh had the students voting on whether they thought she should use her real name or use Molly. Of course, everyone was drawing tally marks underneath 'Skyler', but the point was, each time they came up, they were to ask her a question about who she was. It had to be appropriate, not that the current kid at the board understood appropriate. Andy Bartlett, the always desperate kid who enjoyed asking every pretty girl out was currently asking if she was single. Mr. Marsh was snickering and the other students around her were rolling their eyes. Grace looked ready to smack Andy upside the head, Kacey and the rest of the Gravity 5 troupe were shaking their heads as Andy pleaded his case.
She put her hand to her chest and sighed, a little put off. Nobody really ever took Andy seriously, and he wasn't ever stalker-creepy, just naïve innocence. "I am flattered, really Andy, but I don't think my boyfriend would approve of me going out with another guy at this point." That, and, she did not want anyone but PJ. As far as she was concerned, he was her soul mate through-and-through, there was no getting around it. Andy lowered his arms and raised an eyebrow, his face dropped and his shoulders rose.
"You can't win 'em all," he muttered. He lifted his head and flashed a bright grin. "So who is the lucky fella?" She chuckled sheepishly and lifted her shoulders, respecting PJ's wish to not be known at this point of time. She didn't need or want the added stress of people trying to use her to get on PJ's good side.
"He wants to remain anonymous for now."
"Oh." Andy sighed and rubbed the back of his head. A nervousness fell from his lips and he quickly gazed back at her hopefully. "So if it doesn't work out, you know I'm available." She straightened her posture and frowned, she didn't think it would never work out. If they parted ways, she was pretty sure she'd fall into the same slump she was in, she wouldn't love anyone else. She smiled sadly and raised her eyebrows.
"I'm sorry Andy, he's the only guy for me. If you must know, his first name is Peter, but that's all he's allowed mention of." Considering PJ hated going by that name, nobody would guess the connection. "He also doesn't go to this school, he's a college student." Andy's jaw dropped and the rest of the class looked stunned as her smile curled up. Her happiness shone brightly off her, as it always did when she thought of him.
Andy moaned and lifted his hands mournfully in the air. "Why? Why is it always a college student?" Skyler hummed and leaned back in her seat, gently tapping her chin.
"You'll find someone Andy, believe me, it takes time…Peter is my soul mate, and well…" She bowed her head and her cheeks began turning red. "I love him." She felt Grace pat her back while the others smiled her way. "Always have, always will, no matter what…I need him in my life, I can't have anyone else." She breathed in slowly and lifted her gaze up to Andy, who was watching with a peaceful smile. She folded her arms on her desk and closed her eyes, imagining herself dancing in PJ's arms. "It'll happen for you one day, maybe you'll be in college and have some high school senior girl at your side who thinks the world of you. Just have patience…" She paused and slowly opened her eyes, moving out of her daze. "It takes time, and if it's real, once they enter your life they won't leave. Even if they do, they'll always come back to you."
"That how it was for you and Peter? Seems strange, you've been here for a year or two now at this school, and not once did you ever mention a boyfriend. At least, not as Molly."
"Sort of…" She crossed her legs and brought her hand to her chest. The class grew silent, all eyes on her. "The truth is I met Peter years ago, dated and fell in love with him. We had a very real and intimate relationship, then, Daddy had to move. Peter tried to follow, but it didn't work out, and then we moved here, I hid myself behind someone I wasn't in order to avoid all the mess that my life had become…All this time, I never thought I'd see him again, and then all of a sudden, there he is…appearing in my life. Seemingly out of nowhere. My time as Molly, the walls that I built, they all just…they're crumbling." Her eyes drifted to the window on the door and her heart skipped a beat when she saw PJ grinning and waving. Class was almost over, the school day was going to end soon, and she was looking forward to the home movie date with PJ. They were going to try and go to his place to catch a movie they rented from the Family Video Store down the road. Her lip curled into a slight smirk and her eyelids slid down. "As much as he likes to keep anonymous, he doesn't do a good job of staying out of sight. He's the sweetest man that I've ever met. I…I don't know where I'd be without him, or well, I do have an idea of where…"
"You can't shake true love," Mr. Marsh interjected happily. "It sounds like you're doing a lot better for yourself, Skyler." She quickly nodded as the teacher leaned against his seat and motioned Andy towards his seat. "You can sit down now Andy, class is almost finished." Andy nodded and moved back to his seat. "I have to admit, I'm enjoying the change, it's good to see who you really are, and not hiding behind someone you aren't. Hope to see more of you and less of Molly."
"Oh, I think Molly's gone for good, Mr. Marsh. No more the leader of the Perfs either. It's just me, another student…" It was good to be among the crowd now, she didn't really like all the attention she got as Molly, now that she thought about it. When she was in New York, she had been more reserved and withdrawn, socially awkward. Somewhat reminiscent of how she was in Denver, though she was more just the shy girl back there. "Molly was completely opposite to me…I was never the type of girl that 'she' would have ever associated with. Shy, insecure, quiet…Molly was loud, powerful and confident."
Mr. Marsh pushed himself from the desk and walked over to pat her shoulder, she smiled at him and listened to his counseling words."It's easy to hide behind a mask, it's easy to pretend to be someone you're not, someone completely opposite to who you really hard. But then, it's harder, scarier to remove that mask and break free to show who you really are. That takes confidence, that takes control, power, and dominance. As yourself, you are still that shy innocent girl that you and your friends appear to claim you to be, but you're also strong and confident enough to remove that mask." He looked back at the class and started walking towards the desk, gripping his wrists behind his back.
Mr. Marsh took a deep breath and looked up to the ceiling, his back still to the students. "As an educator I am obliged to teach you all that I can, to prepare you the best I can for life outside these walls. I want you to succeed, to be strong and confident as you all go out into the real world, because as you should expect, life is much harder once you've left the classroom." Skyler tilted her head and leaned forward, earnestly absorbing his words. Was this all a part of the lesson for the day? "There are some things that I cannot teach you, things in life that no teacher in this building can teach you." He turned around and spread his arms out like wings, sighing heavily. "Life has lessons that you learn on your own. Skyler has learned a lesson of life that no one in this building could ever teach, obviously she still has to work on things that no one needs to go into. I don't make the point of this lecture to be about her, but about each and every one of you as individuals."
He turned his eyes to Andy, leaning back on the desk and resting his left hand on the edge while pointing his right at the boy. "For instance, you Andy, may have to take time before you learn that finding love takes patience. As an instructor, I can only offer advice, guidance, but I can't teach you that lesson. It's one of those you have to discover for yourself, nobody else can do it for you." Andy meshed his brow together and looked towards his desk, nodding briskly. Mr. Marsh turned to Kacey and smiled subtly as the girl's eyebrows rose up. "You had some things that you've learned about yourself, about your friends, all life lessons that no one could teach you. All things that will benefit you, however, as you grow older and prepare yourself for the real world."
"Friends are important," Kacey agreed, "You can't always step all over everyone to get what you want. It takes teamwork, consideration, and care to get ahead, right?"
"Exactly." Mr. Marsh put his hands to his chest, smirking subtly. "I didn't teach you that. I might have pointed the way when I assigned you guys work to do together, but you learned that lesson on your own. You're still learning, even when you leave these walls, you will always be learning. I'm still learning stuff every day, especially those days when life has to grab me by the straps and shake the living hell out of me." He sighed and lowered his hand to the desk, exhaling slowly. "My point is, I'm proud of each and every one of you. I'm proud of you, Kacey, proud of Andy, and especially proud of you, Skyler. You're growing, all of you are, and while I can only do so much as an educator…it is every teacher's dream to be able to watch their students walk away from this building and to say that they believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that their student is going to excel in life and do many great things."
Skyler's heart shot up to her throat, she could feel tears welling up in her eyes and smiled cheerfully as Mr. Marsh swept his thumb across his eye. "I-I think I got something in my eyes, just a second." He rubbed his eye and cleared his throat. "Anyway…I believe that I can truly say that when each of you graduate from this school, it will be one of my proudest moments. Hell, I feel like Mr. Feeney from that old Boy Meets World show!" The class laughed at the joke and Mr. Marsh flashed a toothy grin. "I'm proud of you, all of you. Especially you today, Skyler, for having the courage to stand up and let everyone know who you truly are, to shed that mask you've been living under. As long as you keep working on moving ahead in life, I know you will go to do great things." Her cheeks turned red as the teacher lifted his head and looked towards the rest of the class just as the bell started to ring. "That goes for all of you. Now go on, get out of here and go home, class is dismissed." He waved his hand through the air and the class began making their way outside.
It felt good to hear these things, but strange, considering only half of the year had gone by. Sure, Christmas break would be coming up soon, but they still had several months to go before graduation. She walked up to him and gave him a warm smile. "Thank you, Mr. Marsh, for your words." She quickly hugged him and he chuckled, patting her back once and letting her move back. He smirked back at her and lifted his eyebrows up.
"Hey the teacher can't let the student have all the attention, right?" She laughed heartily and began hurrying towards the door, anxious to see PJ. Her instructor's words did not fail to strike her though, she never felt surer of her decision to let go of Molly than she did in class today. Maybe she could move on and be happy, maybe she and PJ could be together and she could heal. She was a broken girl, it would take a lot of work to fix the shattered pieces, but perhaps it could be done. It would just take time. There couldn't be anything more to fear. She was anxious to see what the future had in store for her as Skyler, and not Molly.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter. There aren't many chapters left, hence the daily updating of this particular story. Let me know what you thought of this chapter, your opinions are well appreciated ^_^