Teach Her a Lesson

Teach Her a Lesson Kate Flora Encircle Publications Farmington, Maine, U.S.A. Teach Her a Lesson Copyright © 2023 Kate Flora Paperback ISBN 13: 978-1-64599-438-1E-book ISBN 13: 978-1-64599-439-8 All Rights Reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the publisher, Encircle Publications, Farmington, ME. This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, and events are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Encircle editor: Cynthia Brackett-Vincent Cover design by Deirdre Wait Cover photographs © Getty Images Published by: Encircle Publications, LLC PO Box 187 Farmington, ME 04938 [email protected] http://encirclepub.com Evan — One Today was it. He would speak to her today, tell her how he felt. He’d been watching her, waiting for the sign his attention would be welcome. Last Friday, he’d gotten it. The briefest of touches, her hand on his shoulder, her body close to his. He’d known then she was ready to stop pretending she wasn’t interested. Ready to stop treating him like just another one of the guys who vied for her attention, and finally acknowledge he was someone special. He’d about run out of patience. She was tough. Cool. Reserved. Shyer than she let on. He thought her surface confidence was only that—a gloss she put on the face the high school world saw. She was always so popular, always surrounded by people clamoring for her attention, always careful not to play favorites, guarding against someone who’d take advantage of her. The pretty ones had it hard that way. Underneath, she was like anyone else. Longing for someone who’d appreciate her specialness, but afraid to let it show. He wanted to be cool, but this was a big deal. He’d fantasized about the two of them and now it was going to happen. Beneath his tight Under Armour shirt, he was sweating. Alone in the high school bathroom, he moved closer to the mirror and lifted his arms. Navy was good. Sweat didn’t show. He sniffed. Some guys thought sweat was manly. He thought the smell was meaty. Animal. Playing soccer, he’d bump against people and carry their smell the rest of the game. He liked using his body, checking their progress, pushing them out of his way. When the game was over, though, he couldn’t wait to get home and shower. He checked his hair in the mirror. Girls told him he had nice hair. Curly, dark blond, a little long. Lighter after a week in Florida. His last girlfriend liked to touch it. Been a little jealous, saying “Vaunting aloud, but racked with deep despair.” —John Milton, Paradise Lost: Book I Chapter One Alexis Jordan shut off her “clean” rap playlist and got out of the Jeep, leaning against it as she watched the students stream off the buses and climb out of parked cars, heading into the high school. Clean-cut guys, girls in skimpy clothing looking like baby hookers, androgynous ones in oversized shirts, boys in baggy jeans with crotches to their knees, showing a wide swath of boxer. Kids of both sexes in plaid pajama pants and flip flops, looking like they’d rolled out of bed and right onto the bus, complete with bed head and half-opened eyes. Oblivious to the lovely April day, the majority of them clutched electronic devices, like robots with their controllers. On the Monday after spring vacation, none of them looked happy to be there. Wave after wave of their parents’ pride and joy, slouching, marching, striding, and sidling through the schoolhouse door. She empathized with the slouchers and sidlers, the boys disappearing into their hoodies, girls who weren’t part of laughing cliques and who were practiced at being invisible. Getting through adolescence unscathed was like surviving Baghdad outside the Green Zone. Electronics made everything more complicated. They lived in a world of texting, Instagram, Snapchat, and selfies. Carried toys that amped up their narcissism and made getting and keeping their attention difficult. Her challenge today would be settling them down and focusing their energies on something besides sex, the fun they’d been having, and what were bound to be endless discussions of a party at the Rinaldis that had gotten totally out of control, resulting in serious looting and vandalism. After a week of cleaning closets and having too much time to notice how often her husband had to “work late,” Alexis had started researching hip hop. Now she was eager to be back in the classroom, though she could already picture their eye rolls when