CHAPTER 2: TEACHER'S PET
by
ETHERCOOKIE
Marie's Diary - September 7
I am currently in a state of panic. OK? OK. Thank god I got that out. I've been hiding it all week. On Monday night, I was sweaty and had butterflies in my stomach. On Tuesday night, I couldn't sleep. Not a wink, as the Professor would say. I just paced around and kept Kitty up, and when I realized I was keeping her up I went into the bathroom and just practiced all the moves I know, over and over and over again, like a maniac in a nightgown at one in the morning, watching myself in the mirrors. Damn. Damn. Now it's just an hour away from my first class, and I think I'm gonna go vomit. Be back in a second.
OK. Back. I didn't vomit, I guess because I didn't eat breakfast this morning. I hope I don't faint or something. I hate Storm for dragging me into this. I hate Logan for being so sneaky and setting me up for it. Damn them all.
Yeah.
That just sounded kind of silly.
OK, I have to relax. It won't be so bad. If I can't do it, then I won't have to. We agreed on that. We all agreed on that. We shook hands over it. Storm told me last night that I currently have ten students in my class. Ten. God. I can hardly handle civil conversation with one. How can I handle teaching ten kids my age? How can I do it? Sure, it's just self-defense, but still. I mean, in a weird way, karate is kind of personal. I hope I don't have to actually touch them a whole lot. I hope they learn well from watching.
What am I going to wear?
I guess just loose pants and a t-shirt. I don't have a uniform or anything. Have to pull my hair back. I hate that. Kitty told me she bought a special outfit just for my class. Two dollars says it's pink, stretchy, and from the Gap. With 'FLIRT' across the ass or something silly like that. Kitty is kind of friendlier to me since I gave her that spellbook, but she can't break her addiction to expensive pink stuff you usually find on Barbie dolls. Oh, yeah, and Kurt is in my class. Excellent. I can only imagine what kind of tricks he'll pull.
Storm told me to ask Logan for advice on teaching. I think she was kind of being ironic. I mean, he's not exactly the most caring and loving teacher I know. In fact, he's kind of brusque and to-the-point in all his classes. Actually - you know - she may have a point. Logan doesn't have kids flocking to him for lollipops, but he's never had an unruly class yet. I may have to try that method. I can't imagine myself smiling and playing the Name Game.
Ouch. One hour and forty-five minutes.
If I don't eat I may pass out.
What I need is a cigarette.
If Storm smells me smoking this, I'll be in hot water. Damn. I try smoking straight into a fan, but I think they suspect. What am I saying - I know they suspect. Kitty came right out and told me on her birthday. They're all worried, she said. Worried over a Pall Mall. I know it's unhealthy and all to smoke, but I can't help it. I found one of Logan's lying around about a month ago and I just felt like trying it. I mean, I'm seventeen. And then it just calmed me down so much I kind of started buying my own. Luckily, the cashier at the E-Z Mart never even asks my age. I could get away with anything there. What a jerk.
I should stop, though.
I will.
But right after this class . . .
Marie, dressed in a pair of loose black pants and her favourite Nine Inch Nails concert shirt, walked down the hall towards the gym, the space she'd been assigned for her class. She had her hair pulled back in a tight, bouncy ponytail, which she hated. To compensate, she'd put on extra dark eyeshadow, and a new shade of purple lipstick. Her students just better not mess with her. Clutching a water bottle in one hand and an attendance sheet in the other, Marie turned the corner and let her eyes flick up to the clock on the wall. Fifteen minutes until her class started. Marie wasn't sure whether or not she'd still be a functioning human being by the time four o'clock rolled around.
Marie, unaccustomed to wearing sneakers instead of boots, stumbled over one of her laces. "Damn!" she hissed, kneeling down to tie it. Her face burned. "This is the stupidest thing Ah've ever done - if Ah could take it all back Ah would -"
"Havin' trouble, kid?"
Startled, Marie looked up. It was Logan, lounging against a nearby doorframe with a soda in his hand, watching Marie amusedly. She flushed angrily. "Where did you come from? You can't just pop out from behind doors like that. You scared me to death." Angrily, feeling chagrined, Marie bent her head over her shoe and concentrated on tying unusually tight, firm double knots.
Logan came to stand above her. Marie smelled his faint cigarette-and-oil scent. "Hey, I didn't mean to frighten you," he said, sounding apologetic. "You just look a little tense, that's all. What's wrong, halfpint?"
"Mah lace came untied," Marie mumbled, with as much dignity as she could manage.
"You're not in your fishnets today," Logan observed, and then his eyes lit up with understanding. "Oh. Right. Class at four."
"And it's all your fault." Standing up, Marie drew herself to her full height. She felt a little foolish in her baggy clothes and bouncy hair. She could tell Logan was finding her a little bit comical. "Ah'll never forgive you. Ah hate this whole mess."
"Well, you could have refused," Logan pointed out, logically. Marie fumed silently. "And all I said was that you're a damn good fighter. That's all. I still hold to it, and I never made anyone put you in charge of a class." Logan smirked a little. "To be honest -"
"Ah know, Ah'll make a horrible teacher and everybody can laugh at me, poor little troubled Marie," Marie spat. She paused, a little disconcerted. Her words had come out angrier than she'd meant them to be. Still, she continued. She couldn't help it. "Ah know all Ah am is the kid everyone pities, the girl with no friends who needs to recognize her potential. Ah've heard it all. This class is just another gag to try and make stupid, antisocial Marie into a happy, well-adjusted member of society. Well-" Marie flung out in a sudden fit of rage - "I'll be damned if that happens!"
There was a long moment of silence.
"Wow." Logan, seeming uncomfortable, scratched at his neck. "Wow, kid. I had no idea you felt that way."
"Well-" Marie wasn't sure what to say. "Well, Ah do."
Logan studied her, his eyes mixed with surprise and - could it be? - understanding. He seemed to be thinking deeply about something. Marie was suddenly aware of how close Logan was, even though he was a oood arm's length away. The cigarette smell grew stronger. Marie, blushing now for no real reason, felt her heart speed up beneath her t-shirt pocket. She focused on the ground and tried not to notice the muscles in Logan's arms. She wasn't sure why this was something she needed to ignore. She'd never had to before.
Logan sighed after what seemed a million years, breaking the silence. He shifted. "Well. I don't know what to say, halfpint. If I had known you felt this way, I would have - I could have -" Logan stopped, awkward. Marie wasn't sure she could think of a single thing to say to him. "Listen, kid. Do you wanna come to see me this evenin'? Just to talk things over, I mean," he hastened to add, as though he'd thought Marie would take it a different way. "Thing is, I kinda understand what you're goin' throough, so . . . " he trailed off.
"Um. OK," Marie agreed, still not looking Logan in the face. "How about seven?"
"Sounds good."
"Where?"
"The kitchen, maybe?"
"OK."
"Well. Good luck with the class. Knock yourself out. Knock them out." Logan looked at the clock again. "Better get going." He walked past her, patting her shoulder as he went. Marie stiffened slightly. "See you later."
"Yeah," Marie managed to say, and then, on impulse, turned around. "Logan?"
He turned.
"Got a light?"
Logan didn't say anything. Just turned around and kept walking. Feeling a little crushed, and extremely confused, Marie looked up at the clock. Ten minutes till four. Slowly, feet dragging, Marie picked her water bottle up off the floor and continued towards the gym.
Marie, hoping her sweaty palms and trembling knees didn't show, nervously patted at her ponytail and surveyed the ten students standing obediently in front of her. No - make that eleven. A new one popped up at the last moment. There was Kitty, of course, in a light blue outfit that looked more suitable for running track or going to work out with a bunch of bulimic housewives. Kurt, looking annoyingly amused. Bobby, who probably just came because everyone else prodded him to do it. And Jubilee, with her smooth dark hair and willowy body. The other seven were strangers to Marie - first-years, she supposed. A blonde girl with too much lipstick, a tall, gangly boy, a girl with braces and glasses, a girl with a sullen pout of her face, a redheaded boy who was shorter than anyone else, a black-haired girl with a pentagram pendant, and a boy who looked half asleep.
Marie took a deep breath. "Did everyone bring a water bottle?"
The blonde timidly raised her hand.
"Well, next time you really need to. Believe me. You're gonna begging for it at the end of class."
The blonde girl shrugged and whispered something to the girl with glasses, who giggled. Marie felt her face flush uncomfortably. She wished Kitty and Kurt and Bobby and Jubilee weren't here - it just made things even more embarassing and complicated.
Marie raised her voice. "All right! This is a self-defense class. What we're learning here is how to defend ourselves." Well, duh, Marie. There was a snicker. Marie continued. "Ah expect you all to pay attention to me, because otherwise - you - uh - really can't learn anything at all. And no fooling around. We're gonna begin with a few excercises, just to get ourselves relaxed and loosened up. So - just get into a position that feels comfortable -"
There were several snickers this time. Marie, face hot, fought the temptation to run out of the room in tears. This was going to be a long class . . .
"Marie! Hey, Marie! Like, wait up!"
Marie grudgingly stopped. Usually she would just ignore Kitty, but Kitty had actually proven to be a lifesaver in the class. When the other students saw her obediently following Marie's instructions, it calmed them down. A little bit.
Kitty, dressed in a pink camisole and jeans with freshly towel-dried hair, ran up beside Marie, a little breathless. "So. I think that went, like, really well. Don't you?"
"Ah guess. Nobody died." Marie continued walking. She had changed back into her usual outfit as well - dark skirt, see-through lace, green turtleneck, big boots. Her hair was loose around her face again. "Ah just hope half of them drop out before next Wednesday."
"Well, like, I don't think they will. The Professor doesn't, you know, encourage dropping classes." Kitty fingered an earring. "So. Marie."
"Yeah?"
"I was, like, wondering - you know how you said you'd like help me with those spells?"
"Yeah . . . "
"Is tonight, like, good for you?"
Marie was silent, thinking fast. Tonight wasn't good, but only because of Logan. Marie didn't really feel like telling Kitty that she was going to have a heart-to-heart with Logan. Somehow, she had a feeling Kitty might make this into something more than what it was. Marie scanned her mind for a good excuse. "Um . . . "
"Oh. It's not?"
"Well - Ah mean - Ah am a little busy - maybe tomorrow, after school?" Marie suggested.
"Yeah, OK." But Kitty seemed a little crestfallen. After a moment, she asked, "So, like, what are you doing? Homework or whatever?"
"Sort of."
Kitty's interest was piqued. "Seriously. Are you, like, going on a date?"
"No," Marie snapped. "It's just homework, like you said."
"Oh, like, sure," Kitty drawled, sounding unsually annoying to Marie. She winked. "Who is it?"
"Kitty!" Marie stopped dead in her tracks, gritting her teeth. "If you don't mind, Ah've had a kinda hard day here. Ah just want to relax and study in peace. Please?"
Kitty shrugged. "Whatever. Like, it doesn't bother me." She went off down the hallway in the direction of their room. "See you tomorrow! Like, don't forget!" she called.
"Ah won't," Marie said grudgingly.
"Oh, and Marie."
"What?"
"Have fun." Kitty tittered and dashed off, ponytail bouncing.
Marie fought down the urge to yell something rude back at her. Sometimes, that girl - Marie took a deep breath. She had to learn to relax. Slowly, trying to be calm, Marie continued down towards the kitchen.