Chapter 4
Ellen smiled to herself as she watched her fourth period class drifting into the classroom and she wondered which one of the boys would appear at her desk with her daily present. It was early November, almost a month since the encounter in the reference room of the library, and since then, she had come to look forward to her fourth period class as the most enjoyable part of her day. Not only did the students seem to be sincerely interested in her lessons, but all of the boys in the "in" crowd, the ones she had so feared at first, had become model gentlemen. In fact, she almost felt as though she were being courted again. Each day, before class, one of the boys seemed to turn up with a little present ... not anything valuable, she had seen to that! ... but little tidbits of information from psychology journals, or interesting books to lend her, and once, she had even been given some homemade cookies.
At first, soon after the experience in the library, Ellen had been afraid that the boys were trying to bribe her into another trip to the reference room, but she quickly discovered that there was nothing but respect in their gestures. Even Tom, who had seemed a little unruly for a day or two afterward, was now as docile as a lamb. The beautiful teacher was certain that it was all Sid's doing and she couldn't help but wonder what the dark-haired youth had told the others to inspire their lovely treatment of her.
By now, however, she didn't really care. She was pleased and happy with the class, and the other teachers could barely believe the success she was having with the school's problem children. One teacher, the same man who had warned her against them on her first day, had finally asked for her secret method in dealing with the troublesome little clique. Certain she was blushing furiously, she had muttered something about "faith in human nature" and then had not known what to say when the man had started laughing nastily. Well, it didn't matter what he thought, she decided. As long as she could keep the lessons running smoothly, without fear of being physically attacked by one of the boys, she was contented.
In fact, there was only one thing wrong with her fourth period class ... the two girls of the little group. As the boys had become sweeter and more considerate, Edie and Merrilee had seemed to grow more and more angry. Ellen was almost certain that the two girls didn't know about what had happened that afternoon in the library ... but only because she had already heard them say every cruel and biting thing they could think of, well within her hearing, and Ellen had heard nothing about her liaison with Tom and Sid.
The two attractive teenage girls, who had formerly been the focus of all the masculine attention in the little group, now seemed determined to avenge their fall from favor by making Ellen's life as miserable as they could. Each day, the redheaded teacher could count on the girls to try to disrupt the class by chattering, passing notes and asking her insulting and insinuating questions that had only the barest connection with whatever lesson she happened to be discussing. Luckily, Ellen knew she could depend on Sid and the other boys to squelch most of the petty disturbances.
Still, the beautiful young teacher would have liked to be friends with the girls as well as the boys in the "in" group. Edie and Merrilee's attitudes had begun to rub off a little on the other girls in the classroom, and, though the tension was still slight, Ellen was nevertheless uncomfortably aware of the feminine jealousy present during her fourth period. Although she would have liked to be able to explain to the two girls that she had never intended to damage their positions with their boyfriends, the shapely redhead knew it would be wiser to just remain silent and hope everything would pass over. At all costs, Ellen was resolved to maintain the outward appearance that this was an ordinary class, just like any other ... no one must ever know or suspect what had happened to her that afternoon in the library. It was her only chance to escape a repetition of the obscene, humiliating episode.
"Mrs. Ames, can I bother you!"
Ellen's head jerked around from where she had been staring at the papers on her desk, her eyes wide with surprise at the sound of the soft, young, feminine voice. Beside her stood the tall, blonde Edie, looking unusually demure and subdued, her hands wrapped around a rolled-up magazine. Ellen was startled and apprehensive at the girl's unexpected appearance at her desk. It was the first time the girl had spoken privately to her since Ellen had taken over the class, and the auburn-haired teacher couldn't help but wonder about the impulse that prompted Edie to suddenly want to talk with her. Still, the teacher chided herself, it was silly to be so suspicious. This might be the perfect opportunity to patch things up with at least one of the female troublemakers.
"Of course, Edie, what can I do for you?" she answered, smiling warmly up at the slender blonde and hoping that her true feelings of skepticism did not show through the friendly expression.
The lovely student smiled back at her teacher with equal warmth and placed the magazine on Ellen's desk. "Tom brought this for you. It's this month's 'Psychology International.' I asked him if I could bring it up to you," the girl said. Edie's tone of voice was so sweet that Ellen barely recognized it as belonging to the same girl who had been delivering such acid-tongued remarks for the past month.
"Well, that's very thoughtful. Thank you, and him, too," Ellen said cautiously, still uncertain of the reason for the girl's radical change in attitude.
"Um, I'd like to ask you about something too ... " the girl said nervously. Oh God, here it comes, Ellen thought to herself. Tom must have told her what happened and now she's going to drop some kind of bomb on me. The teacher sighed quietly, then turned back to Edie. Her face expressionless, Ellen said softly, "All right, Edie, let's get it over with. What is it?"
"Oh, Mrs. Ames, I don't blame you for what you must think of Merrilee and me, but I just wanted to tell you that we're really sorry," the girl blurted out, her expression worried and seemingly sincere. "Now, after we've goofed around for so long, we're just beginning to realize what a really great class this is. But, we're so far behind ... "
Ellen glanced down at the grade book in front of her and she saw that Edie was speaking the truth. Both girls' grades had been getting consistently worse and they were both in danger of failing the course. Perhaps the two girls were sincerely interested in trying to pull their grades up.
"Well, what do you think we should do?" Ellen asked carefully.
"Gee, I hate to ask you, but do you think we might be able to come after school some day and just go over some things with you so we'll know exactly what we missed," Edie answered, hurriedly adding, "Just whenever it's convenient for you."
Ellen couldn't quite shake her skepticism about the girl, and she wondered if Sid had not been putting some pressure on Edie and Merrilee. Nevertheless, she quickly decided, it would be easy to find out how sincere the two girls really were. "All right, how about this afternoon?" Ellen said suddenly.
"Oh, well, Merrilee's got cheerleader practice today ... " the girl hesitated, then smiled brightly. "Never mind, I'll just come and then I'll tell her everything you tell me! Okay?"
"Fine. I'll see you at three-thirty," Ellen said, smiling briefly at the girl before the tall, blonde student returned to her desk.
Despite her misgivings about the girl's motivation, Ellen felt warmed by the idea that Edie had taken the trouble to humble herself before her, the very woman who had undermined Edie's social position. Perhaps, like Sid, the lithe, blonde girl was actually very mature for her age. Ellen knew for sure that she would never have been able to do something like that when she was in high school and, even now, if another woman took Richard away from her, it would be difficult to be as gracious as Edie had just been.
Richard ... His name popped into her mind lately more times than she wanted to admit and she didn't want to think about him now just as class was about to begin. It had been such a long time now, almost two months, and she hadn't answered his letters or calls since the unwanted experience in the school library. What could she say to him after that? ... Probably he already did have another woman and Ellen would have to be gracious to her someday ... maybe in a divorce court. The thought brought tears to her eyes and she quickly blinked them back ... If only she knew what to do.
Suddenly, her stream of thought was brought to an abrupt halt by the ringing of the bell, signaling the beginning of the class. Pushing her personal problems to the back of her mind, she rose from the desk and smiled toward the little group that had re-gathered in the back corner and then at the rest of the class. To her delight, the students, all of them for a change, smiled back.