A Lifetime Made for Two

Ch. 3 : Halfway Through

   "Have a good day Miss Coenen!" young Daisy called as she left the classroom. Only three days into the first week and already Piper had gained the respect and love of most of her students. Of course, there were still a few who refused to cooperate in class or enjoy the wonderful teaching they received every day. But Piper loved teaching and looked forward to seeing the students every class period, or in the dining hall, or just anytime they happened to cross paths. Yesterday (Tuesday) Piper had taught an advanced art class for the talented aspiring artists who were up to the challenge. For the whole eight weeks, every Tuesday and Thursday and after dinner on Wednesday she would have to be prepared for the flood of questions during the last ten minutes of the advanced classes; maybe she would reserve fifteen minutes for questions. But today was Wednesday and she was free to do whatever she wanted until after dinner. Piper's Mustang was still in the shop so she caught a ride into town with Morgan. Piper's working at SMFA was a last minute decision; she was going to continue going to college, but after someone t-boned her on a back road and totaled her six year-old Mustang she decided that going in debt for the repairs was a bad idea. So she decided to get a summer job to pay for the repairs. A friend from college had introduced her to SMFA.
    
Piper met Morgan outside Target at 4:45 so they could make it back to camp in time for dinner. 
  
"Hey, Piper! Come sit with me!" Sylvia called as Piper searched for a seat. Gladly, Piper accepted the invitation.
  
"I haven't seen you much," Sylvia said.
  
Sylvia and Piper had hit it off immediately and up until the last two days, they had talked all the time.
  
"Sorry. I've been busy."
  
"I noticed you've been talking with Michael quite a bit. And why did he wink at you at the beach on Monday when Bryce was talking about your painting?"
  
"Oh. You saw that? Well, the painting was a bit wet cause I had dropped it in the lake Monday morning and hadn't had time to dry it out completely."
  
"I take it Michael was there."
  
"Yeah. He hadn't been able to sleep so he went for a walk and ended up at the beach the same time I was there."
  
"Ooo! I see where this is going."
  
"What are you talking about?" Piper asked as her face became beet red. "We've just been talking like friends do sometimes."
  
"You're going to play that card?"
  
"Yes. That's what I'm sticking with."
  
"Ok. Two can play at that game," Sylvia giggled.

   ————————————————

    
"Shit!" Piper said to herself as she lost her flat in a puddle of mud. It was raining again, the third day that week. The dirt and pine needle trails all throughout the camp had become very muddy and slippery. Piper had avoided any parts of the trails that were too muddy and so she deemed flats a safe choice of footwear. But it had been raining hard all night and at one spot in the trail leading from Piper's cabin to the back of the dining hall there was no safe place to cross; hence the stuck shoe.
  
"Wow. I've never heard you swear before," Michael said from behind Piper. Piper had no idea anyone was near enough to hear her 'slip-of-the-tongue'.
  
"Not even a 'crap' or 'heck'."
  
"I try not to swear at all. But sometimes when I'm alone, or think I'm alone, a swear word may escape. Sorry."
  
"Don't apologize to me. Let me help you with your shoe. You can use me for balance while I get it out of the mud."
    
Piper had been balancing on one foot, and although she probably could have continued balancing, she didn't want to risk falling in the mud and getting her only pair of skinny jeans and her white and gray striped shirt muddy, so she gladly accepted Michael's offer. She rested her right hand on his shoulder as he squatted next to the mud puddle and carefully pulled her gray and now brown flat free. Luckily, the inside of the flat remained clean and fairly dry so Piper slipped her foot into the shoe, and she and Michael continued to the dining hall.
  
"Thank you for helping me with my shoe," she said to Michael as she waited just outside the women's restroom, eager to wash her flat before the mud soaked into it.

"Anytime," he replied. Then he slipped into the dining hall.
   
Before the bathroom door had even shut behind her, Piper had slipped off her soiled shoe.
  
"Oh no! What happened?" Sylvia asked as she washed her hands.
  
"I stepped in a mud puddle. But I think it will wash out. At least I didn't fall in the mud; that would have been way worse."
  
"You always find the bright side, don't you?"
  
"I do my best. No sense being upset about something you can do nothing about."
  
"But you don't just find the good in situations. You tend to find the good in people too."
  
"That's just how I am."
    
Sylvia smiled and shrugged her shoulders in agreement. The two girls walked into the dining hall together and were able to go through the food line very quickly.
    
Calvin waved the girls over to his table where Nick, Anthony, Bryce, Michael, Annie, and everyone else in Piper's cabin was already seated.
  
"So about tomorrow: we're planning to leave around 8:00. If that works for you, you can catch a ride with us."
  
"That's fine. I don't have any evening classes on Friday."
  
"Great. Don't forget. Eight p.m. tomorrow."
  
"I got it, Calvin. Chillax."
    
Soon enough, breakfast was over and everyone went to work.