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WEDNESDAY
No matter how early she went to bed (talking to her mom went better than expected), Kira's alarm going off at 5 freakin' a.m. had to go. Today was almost an exact repeat of the day before. Kate was running late, skipped breakfast and barely made it to her first class on time. The day didn't get any better until Calculus when she walked in the lecture hall and saw Tyler Simms saving a seat for her.
Walking up the steps past Kira's, Aaron's and Bordy's row and not having to sit with them was liberating. She was starting to feel that she finally made a real friend.
"Morning Kate," Tyler moved his backpack out of Reid's seat so she could sit down.
"Hey Tyler," Kate replied noticing once again how exhausted Tyler looked. "Late night?"
"Unfortunately," Tyler groaned.
"Did your dad have another party?" Kate asked, eager to hear any stories Tyler might have.
"Probably, but I was here last night," Tyler tried to contain a yawn but it didn't work. "Sorry," he apologized.
Kate patted his shoulder. "I know how you feel. Kira's alarm goes off every morning at five a.m."
"Five?" Tyler yawned again.
Kate's face mimicked his. Why were yawns so contagious?
"At least Kira wakes up on her own," Tyler replied. "You try being Reid's personal alarm clock every morning."
"When we were in detention, Coach Frank blew his whistle probably a foot from Reid's ear and he got right up," Kate grinned remembering Reid's reaction.
"I've tried that," Tyler explained. "But before noon Reid has selective deafness. Noise won't get him up."
"I bet if he roomed with Kira it would."
"Reid and Kira. Sharing a room?" Tyler laughed. "THAT would be priceless." (or a really great fan-fiction story – feel free to steal the idea)
They took out their homework and began to compare answers. As they went through the problems, Tyler was still smiling. Kate was feeling very confident about their new friendship. Tyler was fun, easy-going and had that relaxed sense of humor.
"I didn't see you at lunch or dinner yesterday," she mentioned casually forming a little plan in her mind.
"Yeah," Tyler clicked the tip of his mechanical pencil. "I don't like eating by myself."
"So sit with me," Kate smiled warmly as she set her plan into action. She was tired of sitting by herself or with people she hardly knew.
"Thanks but," Tyler squirmed in his seat. "A lot of people are pissed at me and I don't want to put you in the middle of that."
"I'm not pissed at you," Kate told him, making to sure to connect with those big blue eyes of his. "But I will be if you don't sit with me at lunch today."
"Kate, I would but," Tyler fumbled with words. "It's guilt by association around here. And you're too nice to…"
"Stop," Kate reached out and put her hand over his mouth. "The correct response is: I'll meet you by the south doors." She removed her hand from his mouth. "So where should we meet?" she asked.
Tyler smirked and bumped his knee against hers. "I'll meet you by the south doors."
The bell rang and class began. Mr. Pitt collected their homework and began to review for their first exam, scheduled for Friday. Kate noticed that Tyler had a brand new notebook with a large American Idol logo on the front. Dear Lord was that boy obsessed.
It wasn't until halfway through class that she realized Caleb Danvers wasn't there.
"Where's Caleb?" she whispered to Tyler.
"He's at Ashley's house," Tyler answered as he jotted down notes.
"Is everything okay?" Kate asked.
"Her dog is sick or something."
"Oh," Kate nodded as she wondered why Caleb was missing school because his girlfriend's dog was diagnosed with cancer. Was she not being sympathetic enough?
When class ended Kate began to pack up her things and was happy when Tyler waited for her instead of rushing out of the room. As they walked down the steps together Tyler slung his back pack over his far shoulder and moved so close to her that their arms brushed together.
"I told my mom you actually wanted to come over again," he began. "And she wants to know if tomorrow night is good for you."
"Sure," Kate smiled. "What time?"
"You seriously want to have dinner with my parents?" Tyler looked at her with disbelief. "Because I can always bring your stuff to school."
"Don't be silly," Kate pushed him jokingly. "I think your parents are great."
"I think you've been sniffing Sharpies with Reid." He gave her a nudge.
Kate laughed. "Tell your mom I'm looking forward to it." She nudged him back.
"You're gonna regret this." Tyler smiled and bumped her one last time.
"See you at lunch," Kate said as they parted in the hallway.
"We're meeting by the library, right?" Tyler joked.
Kate smiled and shook her head. Her midnight hair flipped over her shoulder and swooshed across her back. She never noticed the evil eyes coming from Kira Snider and Aaron Abbot as she walked to World Geography.
Climbing to the very back row, Kate missed Pogue sitting beside her. While she waited for class to begin she decided that she'd make an extra set of notes for him. Today their teacher had a new set of slides from his visit to Egypt back in the 1970's when he was a grad student. Not that it mattered when the pictures were taken, it's not like the pyramids had changed in the last four decades. What was funny were the clothes and the hairstyles. Kate wished Pogue could have been here to see this.
After class Kate made her way to the south doors where Tyler was already waiting for her. Smiling away at the feeling of belonging, she walked over to meet him.
Nervously he bit his lip.
"What's wrong?" Kate asked crossing her arms.
"Change of plans," Tyler told her.
"What?" Kate looked over at the doors where droves of students were entering. If 'change of plans' meant no lunch, Kate was going to be very pissed at Tyler. Despite the poor quality of the food, she was hungry and skipping lunch today was not happening.
"Come on," Tyler reached down and unexpectedly took her by the hand. It wasn't the way Pogue held her hand, with their fingers intertwined. Tyler's hand wrapped around three of her four fingers, leaving her pinky dangling.
"Where are we going?" she asked, letting Tyler lead her away from the dining hall.
"To the office," Tyler replied.
"Okay?" Kate would give him the benefit of the doubt. There was plenty of time for a dining hall to office round trip.
When they got to the office, none of the secretaries were at their desks. Tyler led Kate toward the waist high spring loaded door that acted as barrier between the lobby and office areas. Passing through it Kate followed Tyler through the maze of desks to a door marked: STAFF ONLY. When he turned the knob, Kate nearly pulled her hand away as she gasped an urgent "Tyler!"
"It's okay," he told her opening the door. Inside was a kitchen, with a long picnic table and bench seats. The secretaries were having a pizza luncheon.
"Hi Honey!" Rose Simms squealed as she shuffled across the room. "I'm so glad you got my text!"
"Hi Mom," Tyler's cheeks reddened as she gave him a big hug and kiss. Kate saw a few of the secretaries 'awww-ing' at the mother and son.
"Kate! It's so nice to see you again," Rose released Tyler only to wrap her arms around Kate. "Did Tyler ask you about coming to dinner tomorrow night?"
"Hi Mrs. Simms," Kate replied half-hugging the woman. "Yes, he did and I'm looking forward to it."
"Wonderful. Wonderful." Mrs. Simms squeezed Kate tighter. "And please call me Mom."
"I think you're crushing her," Tyler said as he tried to free Kate. Mrs. Simms let go of Kate and grabbed Tyler again. "Come on, Mom!" he protested. "We only get forty minutes for lunch."
Kate grinned to herself as Mrs. Simms let Tyler go but then proceeded to straighten his tie. She almost laughed out loud when Mrs. Simms licked her thumb and started to wipe something off Tyler's face.
"Mom, stop. Please." Tyler looked over at Kate helplessly. She felt bad for him but at the same time it was nice to see how much his mother loved him. Rose shuffled over to the counter and picked up four large foam take out containers. "I made meatball strombolis," she told Tyler. "There's one for you, one for Kate, one for Caleb and one for Ashley."
"Thanks, Mom." Tyler took the containers from her.
"Thanks, Mom," Kate echoed. She had no idea that Tyler's mom would do something like this. Meatball Stromboli trumped everything the dining hall served.
"Anytime," Rose smiled at them. "Here're some napkins." She gave Kate a generous handful. "Now go eat while they're still warm."
Kate followed behind Tyler as they left the office, making a turn down another hallway.
"Does your mom work here?" Kate asked him.
"Not exactly," he glanced back at her. "She's vice-president of the alumni association. She comes up to meet with Provost Higgins once a month to go over the newsletter."
"Your mom went to Spenser?"
"No way," he laughed. "She didn't even graduate high school."
"Really? Then how did she get to be vice-president of the alumni association?"
"My dad went here."
"Cool. So you're carrying on the Simms legacy."
"The Simms legacy," Tyler's lips pursed together in a half-hearted smile. "And what a legacy it is."
They turned down another corridor into a part of the building Kate wasn't familiar with. "Where are we going?" she asked.
"The varsity baseball field."
Going through the strange hall and out another set of doors, Tyler showed Kate the way outside to the fields. They sat in the metal bleachers and Tyler handed her one of the containers. He set the other two down beside him and opened up the last one for himself.
Kate opened hers too, releasing a delicious aroma.
The sun was shining brightly overhead as Kate ate lunch with Tyler. They didn't talk much, mostly commenting about how good and messy the stromboli was. Everything from the crust to the thick mix of cheese, sauce and meatball was incredibly tasty. Mrs. Simms certainly made generous portions. There was so much, Kate didn't think she'd be able to finish the whole thing but she did.
She made an absolute pig of herself but Tyler was doing the same thing. They laughed at each other's messy faces. Tyler even managed to get sauce in his eyebrows.
Leaning back on her arms to stretch out her bloated belly she smiled into the sky.
"Did you want to study for the calc test after school?" Tyler asked as he scraped some extra cheese from the bottom of the container and sucked it off his finger.
"Sure," Kate agreed. "Do you want to meet in the library?"
"Well," Tyler smiled. "I was hoping that you'd come with me and Josie Wesley over to Reid's house. You know Josie, right?"
"Yeah," Kate nodded happily. "So this is like our own little calculus study group."
"Maybe. Reid and Josie are allegedly working on some project." Tyler's tone gave Kate the impression that he doubted Reid's story, which Kate didn't fault him for at all, even though she knew the project was real. "And since they're both in our calculus class I figured after they were done with their 'project' we could all review."
"Sounds good to me." Kate was delighted that Tyler asked to her to hang out after school. This was how she envisioned her Spenser experience would be; a school full of smart, friendly, welcoming students. "Let me know when and where to meet you."
"I have to do a couple things right after school," Tyler said as he wiped off his hands. "Why don't you give me your number and I'll text you." He reached into his pocket and took out his phone. "It'll probably be sometime after three so you'll have plenty of time to get changed."
"Perfect." Kate smiled as she gave Tyler her cell number.
They packed up their lunch and parted ways as Kate took the empty containers and napkins to the nearest trashcan while Tyler took the extra strombolis to his car. As Kate entered the building the end of lunch bell rang and she headed for chemistry. Of course, she wasn't familiar with this section of the building and immediately got lost. She backtracked, or at least she tried to but ended up getting even more confused.
She looked around for someone she knew. A sea of unfamiliar faces washed past her and so Kate went into the nearest classroom to ask a teacher for help. The room she chose was a large lecture hall with a wall of students staring down at her. Kate bowed her head to keep herself from feeling like a great big fool. How did she manage to get lost in the first place?
Kate approached the woman at the desk who seemed surprised to see her coming. "Can I help you?" she asked.
"I'm new here and I got a little lost. I'm looking for the science wing," Kate said as quietly as she could.
"Oh," the woman smiled. "I'm subbing for Mr. Dunn today. Let me find someone to help you." She walked toward the center of class.
Kate wanted to reach out and stop her or scream "NO!" but the teacher was already asking for a volunteer to help Kate find her classroom.
The teacher's request was met with low murmurs but no volunteers. She wanted to die on the spot.
Then finally a lone hand rose into the air. The student got up from their seat and began the decent to the front of the room. Kate sighed when she saw who it was.
Edison Montgomery
She had to be shown to her class by a freshman.
As they walked out into the hallway, she noticed he was looking very smug. He didn't say a word though so Kate walked beside him mumbling a soft, "Thank you." They'd gone about ten feet when he stopped and pointed to a plaque on the wall which read Science Wing with a large arrow pointing toward a set of double doors.
Kate cringed. If she had walked another dozen feet she would have found that herself.
"The pleasure was all mine," Edison replied.
Kate walked quickly down the hall and into Jackie Chan's classroom. Taking her seat beside Bordy, the bell rang just as she set her backpack on the floor. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"Fine," Kate replied as she got out her pen and notebook.
"You look a little…," Bordy paused. "Angry."
"I'm fine," Kate repeated not want to relay her embarrassing moment to anyone.
"Okay," Bordy shrugged.
Their lesson for the day involved a practice test. There were half a dozen problems and Kate struggled through most of them. This was frustrating since she'd done all the assignments with ease. These problems weren't from the textbook though, they were direct from the brain of Jackie Chan.
When time was up they switched papers with their bench-mate as he reviewed the answers. Bordy got every one right but Kate knew she didn't. Glancing over she saw Bordy correcting her work.
At the end of class they were given a few minutes to look over their papers and ask questions. Kate didn't even know where to begin. She'd gotten two of the problems completely wrong, a third she had the wrong atomic weight and a fourth she'd made a dumb mathematical error. Only getting two of six problems correct was not a good sign. Thankfully this was only a practice test.
After class Bordy caught up to her in the hallway.
"Hey," he said as he matched her pace, which was quick considering she had to get over to the language wing. "If you need help with chemistry," he paused. "I could, um, help you out."
"Thanks Bordy," Kate patted his shoulder. "I may take you up on that." Though in her mind, she planned on asking Pogue for help first.
"Cool," Bordy grinned. "Let me know."
"Will do," Kate turned down the hall and continued on her way to class. She was just a few classrooms away when that girl Sam, with the pigtails stopped her in the hallway.
"Hey! Where's your pin?" she asked blocking Kate's way.
"What pin?" Kate asked even though she knew exactly what pin Sam was talking about.
"Your TAP pin," Sam's arms were crossed over her chest. "You signed the pledge, right?"
"Nope." Kate tried to step around Sam, but the girl moved with her.
"Lucky you, I happened to have one with me." She produced a sheet of paper from out of nowhere. Kate could see The April Pledge written in beautiful script decorated with a vine of colorful flowers. It was followed by a large paragraph, some bulleted items and ended with a signature line at the bottom of the page.
"Thanks," Kate took the paper from her hands. "But I'm going to be late." With that she stepped past Sam and into her classroom just as the bell rang. Outside, she saw Sam go into a neighboring classroom. Kate crumpled up the paper and dropped it into the paper recycling bin. There was no way she was signing that stupid pledge especially now that she knew Tyler. She wondered what he thought of the whole thing. Maybe she'd ask him this afternoon.
Kate smiled contentedly. Finally she had a friend and hopefully soon she'd have a boyfriend too. She spent most of the class hand copying her World Geography notes and the practice test in Chemistry for Pogue. Only three days to go until Saturday.
The end of the day bell was like music to Kate's ears. She couldn't wait to meet up with Tyler and Josie. Rushing out into the hall, she was met by the roadblock of Sam and two other girls.
"I'll take your signed pledge now," Sam said holding out a TAP pin.
"You know," Kate let out a tired breath. "I'm not signing it."
"What do you mean, you're not signing it?" Sam glared at her.
"Everyone is signing it," the blonde beside Sam said.
"Everyone," the blonde beside the blonde emphasized.
"Look, Tyler is a really nice guy," Kate told the trio of girls. "He doesn't deserve to be ostracized like this."
"We're not ostracizing him," one of the blondes said as she and the other blonde traded aghast expressions. "That would be cruel."
"April would never want anyone to blacklist him. If you want to talk to him or study with him that's fine," Sam told Kate. "The April Pledge is a solemn vow to refrain from any sexual activity with him, so," Sam handed her another piece of paper. "Once you sign it, we'll pin you."
"I think it's nice that you're allowing me to talk to him but I'm perfectly capable of making my own choices," Kate replied icily. "And I'm choosing not to sign that stupid piece of paper." With that Kate walked away from the three girls.
"What a bitch," one of them remarked.
But her comment bounced off Kate. It didn't matter what those girls said about her. Kate knew they would talk no matter what she did. But talk didn't take much effort. Friendship, on the other hand, did take effort. If Tyler was willing to be her friend, she was going to do right by that. Sam and those other girls could kiss her ass.
So as she walked back to her dorm, the only dilemma on her mind was whether or not to return Tyler's clothes today or wait until she'd washed them.
Coming up - A Visit to the Reid's House