The Mermaids' Mate

Chapter 14

~Biology class the next day~

"Good morning, class! I'll be subbing for Ms. Jay today. She's out sick. If you don't know me, I am Mrs. Barnes." I rolled my eyes when I saw her. She is my study hall teacher. She was very annoying. When I first entered her classroom, she seemed a bit shocked. And now she has referred to me as her "POC student." She was also one of the few human teachers in school. "Before we start, let me remind you that the Valentine's Day dance is on Saturday. Due to a medical emergency with our event person, we couldn't do it last Saturday. Hopefully, I'll see each of you there. We have been working hard to make this the best dance ever." She added with a joyful sound in her voice. My gods, she's annoying. I rolled my eyes. "Unfortunately, we will not have a taco truck due to cost. I sincerely apologize, Nexy."

Bitch what? "That's fine with me," I mumbled, confused about why she called me out.

"I understand that you're upset, and in this school, we try to be as inclusive as possible, despite the very tiny population of minority students we have here." She continued. I mean, she was right; this was a wolf town. Most of the students who go here are wolves and they're all white. "But believe me when I say I did try to get some fried chicken 'cause Damien's dad shut down my taco truck idea, but he still said no."

Damien's dad? Did he provide the funding for the school? It made sense. This school was top-notch. It almost reminded me of some rich private school. They even had a pool. How cool was that? I looked over at Damien and shook my head, disappointed. "That's not very inclusive of Damien's dad. But as long as I don't see any damn potato salad with raisins. I'm fine with whatever."

"Oh, I bet your mom makes the best potato salad." She clapped her hands so cheerfully.

"Actually, no. My mom can't cook to save her life." Probably cause she grew up in the fucking ocean and can only make raw fish. "But my dad can. He's the one who taught me how to cook."

"Oh, speaking of your dad. He did an excellent job fixing my lawn. Some crazy drunk person drove through it two weeks and destroyed it." Are you sure that wasn't you? You seem a little drunk. "So, if anyone is looking for a landscaper, I highly recommend Nexy's dad. His name is Jose Martinez, he doesn't speak English, but he was very nice, and my lawn looks even better."

I was trying so hard to hold in my laugh. "Martinez is my last name. But my dad doesn't do landscaping." I replied. Melissa had her head on the desk, shielding herself with her arms cause she couldn't stop laughing. "Anymore..."

"Oh, I apologize. I saw the last name Martinez and assumed that was your dad." She said. I couldn't tell if she was sorry or just embarrassed.

"No, that's fine. I'm all about promoting small businesses. So thank you for supporting a Latino-owned business. I'm sure that man will get many clients thanks to you." I replied with a smile.

"I did write about him in the school's blog for all the parents to see." She replied with a smile.

"Let's hope Damien's dad will read it and hire him to do landscaping at his house. Lord knows he needs it." I shook my head. Damien's house was very fancy looking. It was a very Victorian-era home. It was big for a two-story house. But it needed some flowers and a pretty garden, not just grass and trees. His parents being the Alpha and Luna, I'm sure they had no time to take gardening as a hobby. But my goal was to upset Damien about his boring lawn, but he didn't look upset. He was smiling at me.

"Oh, that reminds me. I got you something." She said, reaching into her bag and pulling out a tan envelope.

"You got me a gift?" I asked. Hopefully, it was a bomb so that I could be done with all this.

"I hope you like it. It's something I know your people agree on." She said, placing the envelope on my desk. And she's back to being racist. "Go on, open it."

"Do it," Melissa whispered, curious to see what was inside. I opened it up, and a small poster was inside with the letters ACAB written on it.

"No way." I pulled it out. There was also a small pin inside with the same letters. I took the pin out and clipped it on my shirt.

"Go on, show the class." She said cheerfully. I flipped the poster around and showed everyone. Many didn't know what it meant. "And what does it mean?"

"All cops are bastards," I said with a smile. My dad will have a kick out of this when I tell him. "You know what, Mrs. Barnes. I like you. I will hang this poster next to my Eat The Rich poster and anarchist flag. So thank you."

"You're so very welcome. I help out all my students as best as I can. I offer many resources in this school to help out everyone. I understand that many, and I mean many students here, their parents make over six figures a year and don't require any help. But there are students, like yourself, whose parents barely get by."

"My parents are doing fine. But where are you going with this?" I asked. Why was she putting me in the spotlight?

"Well, statistically speaking, you are more likely to become pregnant at a younger age." She began.

"Ouch, she went there," Melissa mumbled. Did she know? About my pregnancy? It was probably in my medical file somewhere. Is this where she was getting this from?

"We offer classes here to practice safe sex, or even abstinence. You don't want to end up with a terrible baby daddy." She continued. What if I'm the terrible one since I walked out of my daughter's life? "I'm sure you don't want that. One of my students from my old school was also Latina like you and had two baby daddies by the time she was nineteen, and both of her baby daddies were in prison."

"Two baby daddies?" I held out two fingers, and she nodded. Nothing I love more than being another statistic. "It looks like I'm lacking behind then. Cause two? Those are rookie numbers. I gotta pump those numbers up."

"Nexy," Melissa whispered, placing a hand on my thigh. "Don't. It's okay."

"We do offer parenting classes as well. You are free to join whenever you want. You already know where my classroom is."

"Thank you, Mrs. Barnes," I said with a fake smile. She was still a racist bitch, but I'm keeping the poster she gave me.

~

"She said what to Nexy?!" Amy shouted during lunch. "That racist bitch."

"Keep your voice down!" Mike hissed at her. "We were all shocked when she said that." He turned to Damien, who looked very upset. It looked like he wanted to say something but was too shy to.

"She was right. Is that why you're so insistent on sleeping with Damien? Cause you want to trap him with a baby?" Tasha snapped at me.

"Don't fucking start, Tasha." Damien sighed, running his fingers through his hair. I know the thought of us having kids together always crossed his mind.

"Don't piss off Damien, Tasha." I sighed, frustrated. He was becoming increasingly irritated with Tasha, and I needed to keep them together.

"How about we go dress shopping today?" Amy asked, changing the subject. "We can also help Tasha look for a dress for the school dance." Amy rolled her eyes, as did I.

"That's a good idea. I bet you look pretty in dresses, Nexy." Melissa said.

"I do like dresses," I muttered. Too bad I couldn't afford them.

"It's settled then! We'll pick you up after school!

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