Thanks for the reviews everyone! Turner and co will be turning up really soon…promise :) Oh, and does anyone know, does Feeny have reading glasses?
The next day found me entering my new home for the next however long it took Henderson and I to sort this mess out. It was tiny, and cramped, reflecting the Philly Police budget. I already longed to be back in my own apartment, with my best friend Wendy, my comfy sofa and my satin sheets.
"Chin up, Carter. Look on the bright side, you get to try and impress a bunch of horny teenage boys, isn't that your fantasy?" I gave Henderson a look. "Whoa, alright! Sorry."
Henderson looked kind of funny out of uniform. Dan Henderson and I had been in the force together since the academy. He really is a great guy, but he knows exactly how to rub me the wrong way.
"Why me, Henderson? Why not you, huh?"
"Cos you look so sweet and innocent…" Henderson ducked quickly to miss my playful hit.
"So how's Tina with this?" Tina is Henderson's wife.
"Pretty pissed – I mean, I'm gonna miss our anniversary. She wasn't exactly speaking to me when I left this morning."
"Sorry, bud. I hope things work out." I was a little concerned – Seemed Henderson and Tina fought more than got a long now a days, and they'd only been married 6 months.
"Bulldog gave me a credit card for expenses," Henderson said grinning at me "So, how bout some pizza?"
The next morning I took longer to dress than I had ever in my life. Inspector Green from plain clothes had set me up with a whole pile of "teenage clothes". I figured she probably knew what she was doing, given that she had two teenage daughters, but now looking at the clothes, I began to wonder. There was definitely nothing here I would ever have worn to school. Finally settling on jeans and a well-fitting black shirt, I then put on a little makeup, and pulled my shoulder length dark hair back in a ponytail. Checking myself out in the mirror I had to admit I did look like I was back in school again. Scooping up my books and bag the transformation was complete.
Henderson dropped me off at the front gates of John Adams High in the rental car we had for the duration of this investigation.
"Now, enjoy school, honey. And remember, home by 5." Luckily for him I'd had to leave my gun at home.
First stop was Principal George Feeny's office. The crowded halls took me right back to my days at school. And reminded me that I really did not want to be here.
"Hey, watch it!" I exclaimed, as a group of boys nearly bowled me over. Not one of them even bothered to look at me. Then I realised, this was probably just as well – I was supposed to blend in.
I must have wandered the halls for a good ten minutes looking for Feeny's office. The halls were all empty when I finally stumbled across the door with the word "principal" attached to it. Knocking briefly, I entered the room.
The older man sitting behind the desk looked up from his papers and glanced at me over his glasses. "How can I help you?"
"George Feeny?" I asked, fairly sure that he must be, but given that Feeny was the only one who knew who I really was, I didn't want to blow this from the get go by telling someone else.
"I prefer my students call me Mr Feeny, Miss…?" he informed me, waiting for my name.
"PC Liz Carter," I replied. "Philadelphia PD."
Feeny looked me over. "Really? Well, you've done a great job. Never would have picked you. You must…"
Feeny was obviously getting a thrill out of this undercover thing, and that was always a bad sign. When the anyone from the public starts getting excited about knowing what the police are up to, they start to get loose with information, and next thing you know, cover's blown.
"Mr Feeny, if you don't mind," I interrupted, "I must get on with my job. Now, I believe you were to sort out a timetable for me?"
Feeny pulled himself together, "Ah, yes, Right Miss Carter, I mean, Miss Walters." Oh, that's right, my new name. Rachel Walters – thank goodness Henderson's suggestion of Bambi had been turned down…
"Now, here we are. Right, I've put you in these classes. Now, if you need to change at anytime, to help with the investigation, just let me know. I want this lot caught just as much as you, if not more. I do not like my students being put at risk."
"I understand that, Mr Feeny. And we'll be doing our best to get this sorted as quickly and quietly as possible."
Feeny sent me off to my first class. This time I got directions, and managed to find it without too much trouble. I peeked through the glass on the door, eyeing up what I was in store for. They all looked pretty harmless… it made me wonder if the information we'd had was accurate. The worst any of them were doing was writing each other notes ... hardly a criminal offence. The teacher seemed to be captivating most of the class. He sat on the edge of his desk, waving his arms about as he spoke. He really was quite handsome…
"What do you think you're doing out of class?" I jumped at the voice behind me, and spun around. There stood a blond woman, glaring at me.
"Uh, sorry, Miss…Won't happen again,' I replied, reaching for the door handle.
"Dead right it won't," she pulled out a pink detention slip book, and began to write. "Name?"
"Uh, Rachel. Rachel Walters. But Miss…"
"Thompkins, and don't but Miss me. You're out of class, unless you have a note excusing you from.."
"Look, I just came from Mr Feeny's office. I'm new here, on my way to my…."
"Yeah, and I'm the Queen. Nice try, Missy, but that one isn't going to work on me!"
What a snotty cow, I thought. And this is educating our youth?
"Look, if you would just listen for one second…"
"No, you listen to me, I …"
By now our voices were pretty loud, and a few kids had appeared from nowhere and gathered to watch us.
The door to the class I had been looking in flung open and there stood the teacher.
"IS there a problem here, because I am trying to teach…Oh, Kat. Hi." The expression on his face went from anger to 'oh, crap, wish I hadn't come out here'. He backed up, into his class, looking at Kat as if she were going to bite.
"Jonathan," she said curtly. "No problem, I'm just giving this girl a slip for being out of class."
"Right, just give me the slip then," I sighed. I looked at the form Feeny had given me to give to my new teachers, and comparing it to my timetable, looked up at the male teacher. "Mr Turner, I presume. Rachel Walters. I'm in you class." I handed him the form.
I saw Kat's shoulders literally sag. It was as if she really enjoyed giving out pink slips. Then her face started to go a little red, until she looked like an oversized tomato.
"Well, then, I guess that's sorted," and she walked off.
"I'm really sorry too, cow," I muttered sarcastically under my breath. I think I caught the faint sign of a smile on Turner's face, but I couldn't be sure.
"Come on in then, Rachel."
I slipped into a seat at the back of the class, but this didn't stop everyone from staring at me. I don't think this was quite the "Calm and Quiet" that Bulldog had been looking for. And to make matters worse, instead of just letting me sit there…
"Class, this is Rachel Walters. Rachel, why don't you tell us a little about yourself?"
Now is this not the question that everyone dreads, first day at a new school? Trust me, does not help when you are not you.
"Uh, right," I said, grasping for some words. "Um, I've just moved here from…Richmond….uh, with my family."
"Okay, how about telling us your interests?"
"Interests? Well…I like uh basketball…and um, partying," I replied. That got a laugh – nice save!
"Well then," Turner spoke "let's get back to the party I call English Lit."