PART THREE – THE GREEK COMEDY

"What the hell was that?" Regina yelled at Robin as they entered the staff room on a Thursday afternoon a few weeks later, not even trying to keep her voice at a reasonable volume.

"What the hell was what?"

"That shit you just pulled. It was way out of line."

"I'm sorry, but I don't see what the big deal is." His slight chuckle enraged Regina even more.

"Guys, what the hell is going on?" Emma got up from her table to approach the two and looking back and forth between them. Regina was seconds away from spitting fire while Robin looked amused.

"Ask her." Robin said, sitting against one of the tables and crossing his arms.

"Regina?"

She leaned forward on the kitchenette counter, bracing herself as she took a breath. "Per the school board's demands for more interdisciplinary collaboration, my AP history class partnered with his AP literature class to study Greek tragedies and comedies. Everything was fine until we started reviewing Lysistrata today." She pushed herself off the counter and turned around to face Emma and Robin.

"Which one is that?" Emma asked, not up-to-date on her Greek plays.

"The one where the women decide to withhold sex from the men until they end the war," Robin clarified.

"Okay….and?"

Robin picked up the story from there. "Well, the guys in the class were being typical teenage boys and making comments, mostly whining about how they didn't get it" Robin started to explain. "So, I thought it would help them take it seriously if we read the play out loud like it's meant to be read, because it is a play after all." He paused to send a sideways glance at Regina, before continuing. "That way they could see the power behind the words and appreciate its message."

Regina interrupted him. "Which would be fine, until the scene where Myrrhine tries to seduce her husband. Given the nature of the scene, Robin thought it would be more appropriate for us to read it instead."

"Well, yes, I figured it wouldn't be the best idea for a student to be acting out a scene about 'wanting a fuck'."

"Then maybe you shouldn't have suggested they act it out in the first place! This is not what we discussed when we planned the unit. They were supposed to read it on their own and then come to class for a mature discussion about the play, the role of women in classical antiquity, and an example of early feminism in literature and politics. Not some twisted game where you humiliate me in front of both our classes. Not to mention my son is in your English class. It's embarrassing enough for him to have his mother teaching this material in front of him and his friends, but then you pull this shit. Plus, my mother will probably hear about it. I had to fight the school board to even let us teach this play, but they saw the educational value in it and reluctantly approved it. Now my mother will probably get a complaint from an angry parent because her kid's teachers were yelling about fucking and erections in the middle of class. I don't need to deal with that on top of everything else over Christmas dinner with my parents." Regina was fuming.

"Look, Regina, I'm sorry. Maybe I didn't think it through, but I truly thought the students would be able to handle the material and that it was the right call to have us read that scene instead of them. And, I thought you would be able to be a professional about it – hell, I know you were in this play back in college so I really didn't think you'd mind. I didn't intend to embarrass you. I honestly didn't think it was a big deal. If it's an appropriate play to have them read as a class assignment, I didn't think it would be that far-fetched to read it out loud during class."

"Of course you didn't. You never think anything through. But you know what? It's fine. The unit's done, and at least winter break starts tomorrow so I'll get a two week reprieve from dealing with you and your shit." Regina turned and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

"Wow…you really fucked up."

Robin looked over at Emma, almost forgetting that she was there. "Yeah, I guess I did."

"So what are you going to do?"

"Nothing." Robin shrugged and grabbed a cup of coffee. "She's made it perfectly clear how she feels about me, and I have to say the feeling is mutual."

Robin quietly knocked on Regina's office door. "Come in," he heard her call from inside the room. She briefly looked up from grading papers when he opened the door, but quickly resumed her task. "What do you want?".

He stepped inside and closed the door behind him, leaning against it. "I wanted to apologize again, properly, for earlier."

She didn't look up. "Really? Because you didn't seem to think you did anything wrong. What changed in the last hour?"

"Nothing, I suppose."

"Then again I must ask, why are you here?" She stared at him expectantly.

"You seemed really angry. I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

"I was angry. I still am. But, I'll be fine."

"Are we okay?"

"Robin," she looked up exasperated. "There is no 'we.'" He nodded as she looked back down at the pile of papers on her desk before he walked out of her office, dejected.