It was the start of a new semester for the kids at Leland Middle school which meant the parents had their hands full. Molly Shipton weaved through the crowd of parents and teachers, balancing platters of cheese and crackers. It was a parent teacher mixer and Molly was in charge of refreshments. She made her way to the snack table, set down the platters, and heaved a sigh of relief. As an active PTA member, Molly kept herself busy.
“Mmm, those look good.”
A gentleman to Molly's right reached behind to grab some fancy cheese.
“Oh excuse me,” Molly leaned away from the table to face the man.
“You're ok,” he said apologetically.
The man was taller than Molly by about a foot. He was very well dressed in a nice shirt with an inviting orange tie. And his eyes were...happy. He took a bite of the cheesed cracker and brushed the ensuing crumbs from his shirt.
“I'm Ken,” he extended a hand, smiling.
Molly immediately hid her left hand behind her back while extending the right.
“Molly,” she withdrew her hand and behind her back, began fidgeting with her wedding ring. At this moment she couldn't think of a good reason why she still wore it apart from habit.
“So, what do you do, Molly?”
“I'm a house wife. Well, I guess I should say stay at home mom. Trying to make ends meet. I have a little girl, Lea. And you?”
“A girl? I'm so sorry,” Ken chuckled. “I've got a boy. Much easier to deal with than girls. Although girls are cleaner.”
“No, no. My Lea's a sweetheart.”
There was a loud silence for a moment and then Ken spoke.
“I hope I'm not being too forward but, would you want to have coffee with me sometime?”
Molly was a little taken aback and before she could respond...
“Molly!” Caroline's fairy tale voice pierced through the din of the crowd. “Molly, could you come here a moment?”
“I'm sorry,” Molly said to Ken, “You'll have to excuse me.”
As she walked away, Molly turned back for only a moment with a shy smile.
“Let's see that report card,” Caroline's smug grin revealed her hand.
Directly in front of Molly stood Caroline Davenport, the head of the PTA and the closest thing Molly had to a friend around here. She was beautifully defying her body's natural aging with a number of remedies, the most prevalent of which was botox. Everything about her was fake down to her personality. Molly never tried nearly as hard as Caroline to keep up appearances. She never dyed her hair because she liked her natural strawberry blonde. Her mother used to call her Autumn. Caroline examined the report card Molly had handed her.
“3.75 GPA? Lea must be slipping.”
Molly held back her response. There was no arguing with Caroline.
“And my Taylor got a 4.3,” she continued, “That means I win the bet.”
Molly and Caroline had a running bet on their kids grades. Molly wasn't proud of it but when she could bring in some extra cash it helped. Alimony only went so far and desperately though she tried, Molly had yet to find a job. Of course losing was another matter. Molly pulled out the bills from her purse but was hesitant to let the money be pulled from her hand. And then Molly raised a curious eyebrow.
“How did Taylor get a 4.3? I remember Lea beating her on more than one test last semester.”
Caroline looked like a deer in the headlights. She wasn't used to being questioned.
“Extra credit.”
Not entirely satisfied by this answer, Molly reluctantly let the stack of bills be ripped from her hand.
Molly walked down the hall of the 300 building with Lea at her side.
“How many times have I told you how important studying is?” Molly said sternly. “Grades matter Lea.”
“Mom, I tried. I'm just not good at math.”
“Well you need to try harder.”
Molly had been called in to discuss Lea's failing grade on her math test. She couldn't afford for her daughter to do poorly in school. They arrived outside the classroom.
“Wait out here while I talk to your teacher. What's his name?”
“Mr. Williams.”
“Good. Now why don't you look through your math book while you wait for me?”
Lea slumped against the wall and dragged her textbook out of her backpack. Molly opened the door and stepped inside.
“Molly, what a pleasant surprise.”
Molly jumped at the sight of the man she had met at the parent teacher mixer. He had the same smile on his face.
“What are you doing here?” Molly asked.
“I'm your daughter's math teacher.”
“But I thought you were a parent?”
“I am. I'm also very talented in the art of fondue but it didn't come up in conversation,” Mr. Williams winked coyly. “Grab a seat.”
Mr. Williams slid a chair out for Molly. She set her purse down as she sat. Mr. Williams sat casually on the edge of his desk. With her hands in her lap Molly stealthily slid her wedding ring off and palmed it.
“I'm concerned about Lea,” said Mr. Williams. “It's more than a poor grade on one test. She seems...distracted. If you don't mind me prying, is everything alright at home?”
“It's...complicated.”
Mr. Williams reached for Molly's hand sympathetically.
“If there's anything I can do to help,” he withdrew and stood up inviting Molly to do the same. “Tell you what. I run an after school tutoring session. I think Lea would really benefit from it.”
“That would be wonderful. Thank you Mr. Williams.”
“Call me Ken. Look, I know its not coffee, but I'm chaperoning the school dance in a couple weeks and I figured since you're on the PTA you'd be there too...”
Molly blushed and began walking to the door.
“Thank you again, Mr. Williams.”
“Before you go...” Mr. Williams trotted over to Molly and handed her a piece of notebook paper. On it was a very detailed sketch of Mr. Williams dressed as a wizard. Numbers and variables flew from his wand.
“Lea may need some help with math but maybe she has other talents that should be nourished as well.”
That night Molly sat alone at her dining room table, drinking a glass of wine. Her wedding ring lay on the table in front of her. The drawing of Mr. Williams smiled up at her. Suddenly she was aware of how quiet it was. She stood, walked over to Lea's room and peeked in. Her daughter's face was buried in a math book. Molly knocked gently on the door before entering.
“Hey sweetie. How's it going?”
Lea shut her book and looked up at her mom. She rubbed her eyes sleepily.
“Fine.”
“You understanding it all?”
“Some of it.”
Molly shuffled across the carpet towards Lea's bed and set the drawing down in front of her. The girl's eyes widened with embarrassment.
“I know I should be paying attention in class. But my mind wanders...”
“Sweetie, this is really good. I didn't know you could draw like this.”
“Its just a doodle.”
“Well Picasso had to start somewhere, right?”
Molly pulled Lea in for a hug.
“What do you say you and I go to an art museum? We don't spend enough time together.”
“What about school?”
“School can wait.”
Molly kissed Lea on the head and walked toward the door.
“Get some sleep, sweetie.”
“Fancy seeing you here Ms. Shipton,” Mr. Williams mimed removing his hat.
Molly returned the favor with a curtsy.
“Mr. Williams.”
“Call me Ken.”
He smiled at her with his eyes and she smiled back. The school dance was 50's themed, a sock-hop. Molly wore a pink poodle skirt; she and Lea had worked together to design matching outfits. Mr. Williams looked cute with his high socks and rolled up sleeves. Molly looked out at the sea of adorable children, trying to pick Lea out of the crowd. The music began to pick up, “Twist and Shout” started to play.
“Oohoo, I love this one,” Mr. Williams grabbed Molly's hand and began to tug.
Molly shook her head reluctantly.
“We can stand here and shout,” Mr. Williams yelled over the music. “Or we can get out there and twist!”
Molly gave in and let herself be pulled onto the dance floor amongst the children. For a long moment Molly lost herself to the fun. She hadn't let herself really feel since her divorce. She was a mom first. But she had to admit, she missed the feeling. Her reverie broke at the sight of Caroline in her store bought outfit. She tapped on Mr. Williams shoulder and leaned in.
“I need to borrow Molly for a moment.”
Mr. Williams smiled and released Molly. He twisted towards a group of girls who laughed at his dancing.
“It seems Taylor did a little better than Lea on the math test,” Caroline taunted in a singsong voice. “A+ better.”
Caroline smirked and held out her hand for payment.
“Caroline, the betting has to stop. What kind message are we sending to our kids?”
“That winners prosper. Why the sudden resignation?”
Molly's eyes inadvertently wandered to Mr. Williams. He smiled at her as he towered over the children.
“Oh I see,” said Caroline. “Fraternizing with the faculty?”
“Fine, you like gambling so much? How about this? If Lea does better than Taylor on the next math test, then we stop this betting and you step down as head of the PTA. Otherwise, I'll quit and never breath a word of it to anyone.”
“Fine by me. You must be stupider than your daughter.”
Molly steamed. No one talks that way about Lea. Without thinking Molly charged forward and swung her fist. But it stopped. Mr. Williams was there grabbing her arm. Molly was furious with him for stopping her, even though she knew her anger was displaced.
“Woah woah what's going on here?”
“Let go of me,” Molly breathed through gritted teeth.
Caroline scoffed.
“Now who's setting a bad example. And don't think I don't know what's going on between you two. Which reminds me Molly, I stumbled across an interesting tidbit in the school's database. Did you know Mr. William's here is a married man?”
Caroline was grinning from ear to ear. Molly turned on Mr. Williams, eyebrows furled.
“Is that true?” Molly asked as sternly as possible.
He relaxed his grip.
“Well, yes. But Molly...”
She didn't wait around to hear him out.
“Thanks for coming in Molly,” Mr. Williams welcomed Molly into his office. Lea and Taylor were already waiting inside.
“Let's just get this over with. Where's Caroline?”
As if on cue the door burst open. Caroline was foaming.
“How dare you accuse my daughter of cheating?” she roared. “This is some kind of conspiracy isn't it? I knew you'd somehow be behind this. I'll have you fired!”
“You're right,” Mr. Williams retorted calmly. “It would be unethical of me to falsely accuse your daughter of cheating. Unfortunately that's not the case.”
He turned to Taylor. Taylor sighed.
“I cheated, mom.”
“She put you up to this didn't she?” Caroline nodded toward Molly.
“Mom, you're not listening,” Taylor continued, “You never listen. You push me so hard to get good grades, you never stop to see how it effects me. I suck at math. I cheated off of Lea's test.”
Caroline was speechless. Molly smiled.
“Which brings me to my next point,” said Molly. “How was Taylor's GPA so high? No offense Taylor, but you weren't exactly an A student last semester.”
Taylor rolled her eyes.
“Report cards don't lie, Molly,” Caroline retorted.
“No,” replied Molly. “But people do.”
“And how could you have possibly known about my marriage?” Mr. Williams asked. Then to Molly: “My wife and I were legally separated over a year ago, the divorce just isn't finalized yet. It's...complicated.”
“It's okay,” Molly placed a sympathetic hand on his arm.
Molly motioned back to Caroline.
“Those are personal records. You shouldn't have access to them.”
“Well bravo,” Caroline scoffed. “You've figured me out. Being head of the PTA has certain privileges. So I altered a few grades and accessed some personal files. Who's going to believe the mother who slept with her kid's teacher in exchange for a grade?”
“But that's not true!” Molly protested.
“It's true if I make it true,” barked Caroline. “I do have a bit of sway around here.”
“Well that's the thing I forgot to mention,” said Mr. Williams. “Cheating is a serious offense. I'd be required to have the principal included in a meeting like this. On speakerphone.”
Caroline's eyes widened as the voice crackled from the phone.
“Mrs. Davenport. My office. Now!”
Mr. Williams, Molly, Lea, and Taylor were on the front lawn of the school as Caroline was escorted away.
“I'm sorry about cheating,” said Taylor. “You think I could come to your tutoring sessions?”
“Absolutely,” said Mr. Williams.
“Taylor! Now!” Caroline screamed at her daughter.
“Gotta go. See you tomorrow Lea.”
Lea was sitting on the grass sketching something. She paused to watch Taylor run off.
“See ya.”
“Well,” said Mr. Williams, “It looks like the school's gonna need a new head of the PTA. I hear its a paid position.”
Molly smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder. Lea finished her sketch and stood up. She held it out for Mr. Williams and her mother to see. It was a caricature of Caroline foaming at the mouth with rage. They chuckled.
“How much you wanna bet you're kid's a better artist than mine?” Mr. Williams joked.
Molly shoved him playfully then he pulled her in for a kiss.
“Mr. Williams, not in front of Lea.”
“Call me Ken.”
Lea bent down and picked up her backpack.
“Gross.”
Parent-Teacher Association was written by Daniel Weinell.
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