Lola is Just Like Me

Chapter 05

“I wonder what the new teacher is going to be like.” My voice was drowned out by the hundreds of others in the hallway. Lola eased by in my wake, listening for me to speak.

“I know! I can only hope he’s good at it. As good as Mr. Clarke,” I agreed. Mr. Clarke had been one of the best language teachers we’d ever had. It would be hard to top his work and even harder not to miss his lessons.

We made it to the classroom as soon as possible, making us two of the first few kids in the room. However, we wouldn’t get an early glimpse of the teacher—he wasn’t there. So, we sat in the front of class, as always. Lola was perched on my desk, reading the notes we’d taken down last week. Rowdy, annoying teenagers started to trickle into the room until it was filled to the rim with gossip and bad language. Then the room fell almost completely silent. I heard footsteps, but they didn’t register at first.

Lola said, “You won’t believe it. The teacher’s here.” There was something in her tone that made me hesitate. Did I want to see who it was? Regardless, I raised my head. “Mrs. Simmons switched grades.”

***

Her lesson felt engaging, but it was most likely because we were happy to see her. Mrs. Simmons didn’t have a leg to stand on in contest with Mr. Clarke, but the novelty of seeing someone you haven’t spoken to in years, someone who used to really love you, works on your opinion of them in strange ways. Because of this, I couldn’t bring myself to leave her class, yet I couldn’t find anything worthy of saying to her. So, I lagged behind, hoping she would recognize who I was and ask me to speak with her. It actually worked.

“Tylar! I would like to hold you for a minute, if I could.” She sounded wonderfully warm and familiar. I turned with a smile— a real one— and left my books on an empty desk. Mrs. Simmons leaned against her podium and removed her reading glasses. “You don’t catch a bus, do you? I was hoping we could talk.”

“Marie is coming to pick me up. She usually does.”

She nodded, smiled, and put a hand on her hip. “You have grown so much in the past five years. How have you been?” I couldn’t help but grin. Mrs. Simmons was like an old friend. It was easy for me to speak with her.

“I’m fine,” I said.

“How’s your father? Is he doing alright these days?”

“Yes, ma’am.” My teacher nodded, and it got quiet for a moment. I threw a glance at Lola, and my heart warmed even more at the sight of her beautiful smile. “I’m so glad to see you here, Mrs. Simmons,” I said. “I had no idea you would be our replacement teacher.”

“It was kind of sudden! I had always wanted to teach a later grade, though.”

“Tell her,” Lola said, “that you thought her lesson was great!”

“Your lesson was great! You’re really good at teaching. I wouldn’t have guessed it was your first time at the high school.”

“Well, thank you! Are you still interested in reading?” I blushed, unwilling to talk about myself.

“Tell her yes!”

“Yes, I am! I, uh… I read a lot. It’s probably thanks to you,” I added carefully.

“Oh, well, I’m glad.” Mrs. Simmons appeared to float away to somewhere else. I sensed that she was no longer present, and it made me uncomfortable.

“Well,” I said, “I should probably get going. I don’t want Marie to think I’m on the bus.” I smiled at her when she came back to Earth.

“Okay, then!” I picked up my things and headed out. “Oh, Tylar. If there’s ever… anything you wanna talk about… Well, I’m here if you need to talk or anything.” My heart skipped a beat, and its rhythm strayed from its pattern.