𝐇𝐨𝐭 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫

𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐄𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭

May 4th, 1985

"You can't hide from Evelyn and Ted forever. They'll be at graduation, you know." Steve's words penetrated my brain through the brief silence of our shared bathroom.

Today was graduation day for the class of 1985. It was not only hard to believe Steve was graduating, but it was very difficult of me to choose to show up. I had my own set of problems awaiting me at that ceremony. With one being my coworkers and the other being my student, I was trapped.

I had to show up at the ceremony because not only can I volunteer myself to tutor, but I can also volunteer myself to fill in Miss Click's spot for graduation. Usually Miss Click has to stand at the end of the stage and congratulate the new high school graduates, but this year I mistakenly opted myself in.

The familiar tightening of my chest returned as I thought about what was yet to come later today. Possibly a lot of looks and stares from Billy, a very stern and prejudice conversation with Evelyn while Teddy is at her side like fearful prey.

It wasn't until I heard frustrated whimpers coming from my left when I noticed Steve next to me. He was fixing his black tie as best as he could while staring at his reflection.

I stopped myself and thought after fixing a few strands of my dark hair to blend in with the rest of it. Steve was partially right, but I was in no shape to face either one of them. When I would see either Evelyn or Teddy in the hallways of the school, I would always take a detour in a different direction.

For an entire week I've dodged their presence by ditching the library and not going to the break room for lunch. I've even ignored the evening phone calls from Evelyn just so I could avoid the troubling sound of her voice. I was sure after what she had seen last week, she could be very irate. Which is why I tried to get away from them as much as possible; in fear of being hated by my own friends.

It was like everything exploded before my very eyes and splashed back in my face. Not only did I feel like I screwed up with Evelyn, but I felt like I hurt Billy mostly.

By the looks of things, he was completely devastated the week before when I ended our short lived romance. But he couldn't have been too devastated since he passed his finals the day after, which made his grade point average high enough to graduate. Although he had taken his final, he didn't stay too long before he disappeared again only to come in a few days later to see his last grade in his high school career, which was an almost perfect score.

I sighed at the thought.

Not only do I get to see Evelyn and Teddy at graduation, but I also get to see Billy after he's been taking multiple pages out of my book on how to avoid people, most importantly me.

"I know." I mumbled through my freshly glossed lips.

"In a way, this is gonna be the best graduation ever. You're gonna suffer bad." Steve said in a perky tone.

"-Not as bad as your preschool graduation where you soiled your pants." I released a humorous giggle, trying to lighten the wave of nausea that had taken over my stomach due to nerves.

"That was apple juice. That rotten bastard, Tommy, did it." He said in a defensive manner.

He then caught himself in the mirror and took in a mellow breath before smiling.
"Anyway, you're gonna get a beating from Evelyn and Ted while you're also getting a death stare from Billy. I'd say that's killing multiple birds with one big fat stone."