Second Time Around

Chapter Two

Tony's first free period didn't come until fifth period, and when the bell rang at quarter to eleven, he dismissed the class, waited for the locker rooms to empty, and then made his way to the library. In the back corner, tucked away and forgotten by just about everyone, were copies of yearbooks dating all the way back to the mid-nineteen-sixties, when Brunswick High opened its doors.

His knees crunched a little as he crouched, but he barely noticed it these days. Years of athletics from football to wrestling took their toll on his body, but his knees paid the highest price. Overlapping scars from numerous surgeries decorated both knees, but the pain was minimal for the most part.

The yearbook from 1990 was on the third shelf from the bottom, coated with a fine layer of dust, which he brushed off as he eased the book from its slot and stood with only the slightest of winces.

1990. His third year of teaching, but only his second at Brunswick. He was about five minutes older than the kids he taught, but for the most part, he didn't have it nearly as rough as some of the other teachers who'd started that year with him. Like Ryan Collins, who taught chemistry. He lasted one year and from the things Tony had overheard in meetings as well as in the hallways, Collins lost control of each and every one of his classes within the first ten minutes of the school year, and never regained it. The administration wasn't at all shy about not asking him back.

But Tony didn't have that problem. He was at ease with the students, but never once let them forget just who was in charge. He liked working with them, got involved in whatever unit they were doing, whether it meant playing volleyball with the freshmen girls or shooting baskets with senior boys. Tony didn't stand off and watch, he participated right alongside them.

The yearbook pages were yellowed with age and smelled a little musty, but he smiled as he flipped through the senior class pages. Kelly McElroy. Tucked in between James McCallister and Nikki McEntyre. He'd forgotten just how big the Jersey hair was back in those days, but as he looked down at the picture, he realized he hadn't been lying. He did remember her.

More succinctly, he remembered one particular incident that took place in the weight room, which was where Kelly and her group of friends usually chose to spend gym class. Of course, for them, the weight room meant sitting on the sit-up mats and talking instead of actually using the weights, but the gym teachers usually let it slide. He'd only been on staff a few months, but since his fellow phys ed teachers didn't seem to mind, he wasn't about to stir up any trouble.

This one day, she and her friends were doing just that, sitting on the mats and chattering away while he was spotting for one of the boys who was there to actually lift the weights.

"Mr. Marino?" Kelly McElroy was tiny, with huge blonde hair, and she was a good student, even if gym was obviously not her favorite class.

He looked up from the weight bench and smiled. "What can I do for you, Kelly?"

She glanced down at the boy on the bench, cleared her throat, looked back up at him and said, "Can I go to the nurse?"

"What's the matter?" She didn't look pale or sick, and she'd just been giggling with her girlfriends over something in the corner.

"Well..." She glanced down at Roger VanHorn, who just stared at the ceiling while he waited for her to finish.

"Come on over here." Tony gestured to the opposite corner, where the leg press machine stood empty. He waited for her to follow him over, then he said, "What's the problem?"

She looked him right in the eye and said, "I've got cramps. Killer. Cramps."

To his horror, his face got hot. What the--She wasn't embarrassed, but he was? Talk about stupid. She held his gaze, not a hint of redness anywhere in her face. "So, can I?"