Free Teach Me by Amy Lynn Steele

stopped.
                  Christina looked at me. “Are you okay?” She touched my arm, then my face. Cold sweat covered my body, and my stomach twisted, and I thought I was going to be sick. I jumped up without thinking and ran for the girl’s bathroom. I could hear Christina yell after me, but I couldn’t stop. I locked myself in a stall and leaned against the door, Cooper’s letter hanging in my hand. My heart thumped in my chest, and I was shaking.
    I wasn’t alone long. “Ali!” Christina called. She tapped on the stall door. “Let me in.” With trembling fingers, I unlocked the door. She had both of our backpacks and wore a look of concern. “Is this about the e-mail?” Her golden brows knitted together in worry.
    “Cooper,” I managed to say as I handed her the paper. I should keep this to myself but knew if there was anyone to confess to, it was Christina. I could trust her with this, and I’d need a friend who would understand and be supportive. Christina took it, eyebrows now arching in surprise, and then scanned the sentences multiple times. She looked back to me, then pulled me into a hug.
    “It will be okay,” she said, her own voice trembling. I know she’s just being nice. It will not be okay.
    The e-mail said this:
    Ali- There was a mix up. I am going to teach at Chino Prep Charter, not Chico. I will be a teacher at your school. We need to talk…I don’t know how or if…I just don’t know what to do. Cooper.
     
     
     

S i x
    Cooper
     
                  Every class that leaves moves me closer to the inevitable. I went to Chico Prep only to find out that there was a huge mix-up. I was supposed to say go to Chino Prep. As in Chino, where Ali lives. As in the school Ali attends. Not just teach there—when I received my attendance sheets, I found she was in my last class of the day and is also the senior English tutor. Which translates that not only will I be her teacher and have her in class for an hour, but I will also be required to see her three times a week while she tutors in my classroom.
                  My first question was , how the heck could this have happened? The answer was in Chico. There was a spot open in the history department, and the English opening was in Chino. The phone notifications were crossed, and the calls went to the wrong candidates. Brian Smith went to Chino to find himself in the same situation. Once they told me where I was actually supposed to be, I prayed I had heard wrong. No way I can teach at Allison’s school, but I accepted, and I have to live with my choice until I can find something new. I only had time to send her a quick e-mail, then jump on a plane. Now I face the slow torture of her entering my classroom. Sheesh , my classroom. The hardest part of this is my absolute desire to see her combined with absolute terror. I hope that I can keep my wits about me and get through the final class of the day—Ali’s class.
                  The bell rings, and the last class starts to trickle in. I don’t even want to see her face when she walks in because I don’t know if she got the e-mail I sent. I had the picture of us from this summer that she gave me in a letter—our last night together—on my desk. But it is now tucked safely in my top drawer. I sit on the edge of my desk and look over the plans I have for the first week. I decided to have the students read Dracula since it was what Ali was reading and one of my favorites—it would be a good starting point.
                  There are murmurs throughout the class. I was told by the basketball coach at lunch that all the kids in his class were talking about the young new guy—like I needed something else to make me nervous. A burst of giggles breaks out, and that’s when I look up.
                  Ali is standing in the doorway, not looking up and unwilling to move. There are two open seats in the classroom, front row and