Hey guys! I'm back from vacation. Here is chapter two!
Chapter Two
When everyone was dismissed from second period to go to lunch, I look at Ms. Matthews as she pulls out a salad in her bag. I can't help but notice how she eats. It's almost as orderly as she leads her classes.
She teaches US History classes one, two, and seven and Government classes five, six, and eight. Government isn't a popular class, but it is required. There were two teachers at Lakeview that tot government – Ms. Matthews and Mr. Wu. Who is Ms. Wu's brother, obviously. I was disappointed I didn't get Miss Matthews senior year, but I like to Mr. Wu as well. He left the school not long after that to become a police officer. Interesting job change.
I wish I knew how Ms. Matthews handles her other classes, But I will find out tomorrow. She probably handles them the same way.
"Ms. Matthews?" I say. She smiles; she could be smiling for any reason, but I assume it's because my name for her hasn't changed over the years. "How do you make everyone respects you? "Her charming smile grows.
"It's a combination of things," she says. She spins her chair to face me as she takes a bite of the red apple. "You have to demand it. Make them understand that you're in charge. When you first walked into my class, what did you think of me?"
I don't want to tell her that. That's just embarrassing. And I think she can tell from the way I don't answer right away. I bite the inside of my cheek and look away. She giggles and I clear my throat and look at her directly.
" I didn't want to mess with you," I tell her. "You looked like you might snap my phone I had it out."
"As the year went on, what did you learn about me?"
"You were respectable, but not unreasonable."
She smiles again. "Exactly. First impressions very important, but if you don't make a good first impression, you can make up for it. If you appear no nonsense and the kids will listen to you. Follow through with consequences. Set rules they must follow and make sure they do. You have to be consistent." I nod thoughtfully as I mull over her words as I bite into my peach.
"That," she continues, "and the no-nonsense-don't-cross-me-unspoken-rule gene I inherited from my great-grandmother. Though that would be considerably difficult for you to come by."
"You've always been this way?" I ask. I could see Ms. Matthews as a teenager who made sure no one messed with her.
"No," she says as she takes another bite from her apple. " I was just like any other teenager, except I was unusually shy and nerdy and because of my small personality, I was bullied a lot. This made me more insecure than I already was. It was kind of a learned quality. I had enough of being used for someone else's entertainment, so if someone wronged me, I turned colder." She chuckles once. "Holding grudges is also an inherited trait." She swallows whatever is in her thermos. By its scent I'm guessing it's tea.
"Did you inherit that from your great-grandmother too?"
"Indeed. My great-grandmother was a huge grudge holder as well as my grandmother, mother, and sister."
"You have a sister?"
Ms. Matthews laughs. "My, you are very curious. Yes, I have an older sister. She looks very much like me, she's a marine biologist, and her name is Amelia. I'm afraid her daughters have the scary grudge gene."
"Do your nieces go here?"
"One. The other is in college, Samantha. The youngest will be joining us tomorrow in Government tomorrow morning, of course you don't need to be here for that since it's not your major." I ignore that last part.
"Are you going to tell me which one she is?" Ms. Matthews laughs hysterically.
"That's for me to know and for you to find out."
"Can you tell me about her at least? Is she like you at all? What does she look like?" I realize my questions come out a little too enthusiastic.
"I'll give you one hint," she says with a playful smirk. She gives me a look of knowing, which turns into a look of smugness. "She has five vowels in her name."
I internally sigh. I can easily find out her name, but I'm not good at placing names with faces. I could go around and look at everyone's papers to find their names, I could pass papers back, I could listen to conversations to find her... This should be interesting. It's kind of a game. I'm excited.
The next day
As fifth period starts, as the seniors file in, Ms. Matthews gives them a bit of background of my presence, but I introduce myself. To get to know everyone's names, I pass back some graded quizzes. Of course, I know no one. I was hoping a younger sibling of someone I knew from my high school days would be here.
In class Miss Matthews has them do a worksheet, but I don't have to help because it's not history. I think it's best these people know who I am anyway. I told them I'd do my best to help anyway.
Is Ms. Matthews' niece in this class? I look at all the girls' names to find one with five vowels. There aren't any. Four vowels or three. Brittany, Jessica, Ophelia, Desiree, Lucille...
At the end of class, students gather their things and walk into the hall, which swells with people. The talking gets louder as well as the annoying screams of random kids. Can I call them kids? The seniors are three years younger than me, but the freshmen are approximately six years younger.
Ugh. I'm twenty two. I recently turned twenty two and I still don't have anyone. I will be a sad looking sob if I'm the only dateless person at my sister's wedding.
Damn it Beatrice. You and your perfect fiancé. And here I am without a girlfriend. I haven't had a date in five months. I don't think it would sit well with anyone if I asked Ms. Matthews, especially since my minuscule crush on her has long disappeared.
"She wasn't in that class," I say. Ms. Matthews's head shake confirms my suspicions. So her niece would be in this coming class.
Oh my- Are you kidding me? My assumption was just a guess. I neglected counting the vowels in the girls' last names. Wow. I am an idiot.
I examine the list of names I found for period six for five vowel names. My choices are: Jennifer Powell, Cameron Johnson, Makenna Jenkins, and Nicole Thomas. I have my work cut out for me.
The class fills in with only a few students absent. Ms. Matthews introduces me and I go up in front of the class to talk briefly about myself. No one in particular stands out, no one looks like they could be Ms. Matthews's niece. But that doesn't mean much. Ms. Matthews's niece doesn't have to look like her maternal family.
"Are there papers you want me to pass back?" I ask hopefully. I stand straighter, but Ms. Matthews ignores my request.
"It's okay," she says. "I got it." She flashes me a smug expression. She's am she flashes me a smoke expression and she fusses me a smoke expression. She's smirking and she swiftly spins on her heels to hand back papers. I try to sneak a glance at the names on the papers she passes back. No such luck.
"We will be working on a worksheet today. All the answers are in your textbook." I carefully and non-creepily watch all the students- Okay, all the girls. Ooh. That does sound creepy.
This is incredibly frustrating. Growing up our grandmother gave Beatrice Nancy Drew books and I got the Hardy Boys. Admittedly, I never read them and I have them to Beatrice. I regret not reading them now because I do not know how to solve this mystery. I can't call my sister now... But I do have deductive reasoning.
Which girls are working the hardest? Row one seat two, row two seat five, row four seat three, and row six seat one. Now if only I could find a seating chart. Ms. Matthews is organized, she must have one around, but I can't snoop when she's sitting next to me.
"Can you give me another hint?" I say as we watch the class work. She looks at me with a look that says you're-not-getting-that-lucky. She shakes her head. I sigh, feeling my excitement fall.
"It's either Jennifer, Makenna, Nicole, or Cameron," I tell her. She gives me a slight smile.
"Well done. Have fun figuring out which one."
There's no chance she'll give me a seating chart now. She's right. I'll just have to figure it out for myself. I'm very intelligent, so all I have to do is- Of course. Ms. Matthews's niece will be exceptionally smart. I can look at already graded work and see how has the highest scores and grades.
I haven't figured it out by the end of class, damn it. I guess I have the next sixth period to think it through.
Ms. Matthews gets the video ready for History as the class leaves. I notice two girls towards the back linger for a moment.
"You got a perfect score again Makenna?" complained a brunette girl to the other.
The girl she is talking to-Makenna-turns to Brown Eyes and says, "I can help you study." Her voice reminds me of glass, kind of sharp, but her words come out smoothly.
Brown Eyes reluctantly agrees and petulantly walks out of the room.
"Even after she told our entire fifth grade class you liked Garrett Baker?"
Makenna shrugs coldly. "I'm trying not to hold grudges. The rest of my family has got that covered."
I found Ms. Matthews's niece.