Mr. Principal

by Summer Cooper

  Carter gave me a pointed look. “Your child is just like you.”

  I smiled. “Thanks.”

  “What makes you think that was a compliment?” he joked, and I playfully punched him in the shoulder. I gave him some room then so that he could finish, and he was done pretty quickly.

  I noted how his thighs pressed against his pants. Carter had filled out very nicely. And why couldn’t I stop checking out someone who had once been one of my best friends?

  I chalked it up to loneliness. That had to be it. And I hadn’t had sex in a year, so there was that. Not that I wanted to have sex with Carter. Sex with Carter. Sex with Carter. Now I couldn’t stop repeating it in my mind. I wanted to tell the little inner monologue in my head to shut up, but it was no use.

  Quickly, I just blurted out anything, “Thanks for fixing my tire.”

  “You’re welcome,” he said, standing up. And then we stood there awkwardly staring at each other. I felt like I needed to thank him somehow since he’d come to my rescue twice already.

  “You keep rescuing me from myself,” I said with a smile.

  “Someone has to,” he quipped. Gosh, he hadn’t changed at all. Still funny, still handsome, still... Carter.

  “Well, you’ve been a lifesaver. Maybe you can stop by one evening? I could make you dinner.”

  “That would be nice.” He moved a little closer to me and if I wasn’t mistaken, I felt a little flush. What was going on? I wasn’t attracted to... no... that was not okay. He was my friend. And Meredith’s principal!

  “So I’ll call you...” my voice trailed off as I reached for my car door.

  “You don’t have my number.”

  “Put it in her phone.” Meredith offered her hands on either side of her face as she leaned on the window with her head poked out staring at us.

  I handed Carter my phone and he entered his details.

  “Aren’t you going to invite him to Auntie Piper’s birthday party?” Meredith asked.

  “I’m already going to be there.”

  “You know Auntie Piper?”

  “Yep. Your Auntie Piper and your mom were my best friends in college.”

  Meredith frowned as if in deep thought and then said with great gravity, “If you had to choose between kissing Mommy and kissing Auntie Piper, who would you choose?”

  I know I turned beet red.

  Carter let out a loud laugh and gathered his things. “That’s quite a question, Meredith. But I have a feeling that neither your auntie or your mom is interested in kissing me.”

  She shrugged and settled back in her seat with a smug smile. “You never know.”

  “Okay, I think we’re done here. I’m mortified.” It wasn’t like Meredith to talk about anyone kissing. She always said that kissing was the grossest thing in the world. I guess she’d changed her mind.

  “Don’t be. You should hear some of the things kids share with me at school. That was pretty mild.”

  “Glad you think so,” I said, lowering myself into my car. I avoided making eye contact with him and thanked him again profusely.

  “My pleasure,” he said, heading back in the direction of his car.

  Groaning, I looked through my side mirror to ensure no one was coming and made my way back into traffic. I looked back at Meredith and said, “Umm, honey. Can we not make comments about me kissing anyone?”

  “I guess,” she said reluctantly. “But Mom, if Daddy can kiss Becca, why can’t you kiss someone else too? It’s a free country. And you better start kissing someone else now before you get too old to kiss anyone. And then you’ll just be a sad old lady.”

  “Sad old lady?” I said in shock. “Where do you get this stuff from?”

  She shrugged. “I’m just smart like that.”

  Smart would not have been the word I’d use. I probably would have used intrusive, but hey, she was only five going on six.

  The mention of Becca immediately put me in a bad mood. Becca was the nineteen-year-old that my ex-husband had married. I didn’t want to think about Tom kissing her, but Meredith had a point. I wasn’t ready to move on but at the very least I needed to start thinking about it. I was young and had a whole lot of life to live. It didn’t make sense to waste it being bitter about my divorce.

  The sun was setting in front of us. It was officially the end of the day. Tomorrow would be better I told myself. I would make sure of it.

  Chapter Three

  “This is going to be the best party ever,” Meredith exclaimed as we made our way down the street to Piper’s house.

  “I think so too. But no skipping in the street. Back on the sidewalk, little lady.”

  She laughed and crossed back over to the sidewalk. We’d been pretty excited about the party for a while now. Because I worked so much and Meredith sometimes stayed after school to participate in glee club, we rarely got a chance to spend any time together except for the weekends when she wasn’t at her dad’s.

  Meredith had insisted on dressing up even though I’d told her the party was going to be super casual. She wore a tiara, a ballerina skirt, and a sequined blouse. Even her shoes had sequins across the front.

  I took her hand as we approached Piper’s door. There was a lot of raucous noise on the other side of the door and I briefly wondered if maybe bringing Meredith hadn’t been a good idea.

  My reservations quickly disappeared when Piper greeted us at the door, wearing a tiara of her own.

  “Nice tiara,” she said, high-fiving Meredith who looked at her gleefully before exclaiming, “Happy birthday, Auntie Piper.”

  Piper scooped her up in a big hug and then grabbed me too, pulling me in tight. “Group hug, group hug,” she said, laughing.

  Piper hadn’t changed since college. She was silly and a complete jokester. Finally, she let us go.

  “Oh man, did I miss free hugs?” said a voice right behind her.

  It was her cousin, Tabitha. We all called her Tabby. Tabby and Piper looked like twins. They both had short dark brown hair and big blue eyes. I think they even went to the same yoga studio.

  I hadn’t seen Tabby since my divorce. Strangely, during the divorce, none of Tom’s family had picked sides. They had remained neutral. I thought it would be weird to show up tonight with all of Tom’s family around, but Piper had insisted that I come. She told me if I didn’t come then Tom would think that I was still upset over our divorce. I’d quickly informed Piper that I was still upset over the divorce. Piper had then given me a speech about women’s empowerment and the importance of raising resilient girls.

  Her speech had fallen on deaf ears. I’d only been thinking about how fantastic I looked now, so at least when I happened to see Tom’s family there, I wouldn’t look like a frumpy sack of sadness.

  And plus, Tom wasn’t going to be there. Meredith had told me he was going to be out of town. He was taking his new wife on vacation to Hawaii. How nice for them, I’d thought bitterly. I’d then smiled secretly to myself as visions of their plane disappearing in the Bermuda Triangle danced in my head. And then I remembered that Bermuda was in the Caribbean and Hawaii was in the Pacific, so my fantasy of them getting eaten by the Kraken as they traveled to some romantic destination most likely wouldn’t happen.

  It wasn’t until my divorce that I realized how unforgiving and vengeful I could be.

  Tabby embraced me and then Meredith. “It’s so good to see you guys. How’s everything going?” She looked a little uncomfortable with the question, but I wasn’t. I had an answer prepared that I’d rehearsed lots of times to save face.

  “Great! Enjoying my freedom!” I hoped I sounded convincing.

  Tabby looked relieved. “Being married really is a drain. Trust me, that’s why I divorced my husband ages ago.”

  I gave Tabby a pointed look and shot my eyes toward Meredith. Tabby looked clueless for a second and then quickly said. “I mean, your Prince Charming is out there, honey. Just don’t marry a frog like your father.”

  “
Jesus, Tabby,” Piper said.

  “What? What did I say?”

  And then seeing Meredith’s confused expression, Tabby quickly backtracked. “I love frogs. They’re just all green and slimy. Good for dissecting.”

  “You know what? I think we’re going to get some cake,” Piper said, coming to the rescue. “Doesn’t cake sound delicious, Meredith?”

  She nodded, and I took her hand. I shook my head at Tabby as I walked by and she mouthed, “I’m sorry.”

  Same ol’ Tabby, I thought to myself. She had verbal diarrhea. Sweetest woman, but she didn’t know when to just be quiet.

  And now I’d have to have a mother-daughter talk with Meredith defending her father who was the last guy I wanted to defend right now. Gosh, maybe I should have just stayed home.

  “So, hon. Just ignore your cousin Tabby. Sometimes she says things that she shouldn’t say.”

  “Just like Danny Schultz.”

  “Huh?”

  “Danny always talks about gross things, so Ms. Weatherly makes him apologize or takes away one of his stars.”

  I nodded, glad that she at least understood the point I was trying to make. “Well, yeah. Like that. Except that Tabby is an adult so we can’t put her in time out.”

  Meredith giggled. “That would be funny. I’ve never seen an adult in time out before.”

  “Well, if Aunt Tabby continues saying things that she shouldn’t say, that’s exactly what’s going to happen to her.”

  Meredith giggled some more and then Tabby popped up again. She looked relieved that we were laughing.

  “So have I been forgiven?” she asked Meredith.

  Meredith nodded. “But be nice or you’ll have an adult time out.”

  Tabby laughed, looked unsure and then said to me, “Oh man, she’s serious, isn’t she?”

  “Like a heart attack,” I said reaching for a slice of cake and handing it to Meredith. “She’s one tough cookie.”

  Meredith greedily took the cake out of my hand, helped herself to a big bite and then said with a mouthful, “I am one tough cookie, but I looooooovvve cake.”

  Tabby couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah, you’re a tough one. Just like your mom. Hey, how about after you finish your cake I’ll take you out back to see your other cousins? They’re about to watch a magician.”

  Meredith immediately stopped talking and her eyes went wide. “Magic? Like a real live magic show? Like in Vegas?”

  “Where’d you hear about Vegas?” Tabby asked incredulously.

  “Becca talks about it all the time. It’s like her favorite place. She said she’ll take me there when I turn sixteen.”

  My eyes widened, and I was a second away from losing it, when I guess Tabby noticed and cut in.

  “Las Vegas is for older people. You can go when you’re twenty-one.”

  “But Becca goes all the time...”

  “Well, Becca is just a special kind of person,” I heard Tabby say as she led Meredith away.

  I was so busy standing there seething that I didn’t notice when someone joined me. It was Piper.

  “You okay? You’re frowning. Since when does cake make anyone frown? It’s a happy food.”

  I shook my head. “Apparently, Becca told Meredith that she’ll take her to Vegas when she’s sixteen.”

  Piper laughed. “Are you kidding me?”

  “Yes, I’m serious.” My voice grew deep as I became even more upset.

  Piper noticed and said, “You look like you’re about to explode. Take it easy. You have about ten years until then and by then, Becca will be older and wiser—”

  “We can only hope,” I growled.

  Piper laughed again and said, “Okay, maybe not wiser, but I’m sure she meant that she would take her to shows and fun family-friendly things. I doubt she planned to take her to a male all-nude revue and then out for nonstop drinks.”

  “I don’t know Becca, but just from what I hear about her, I sort of feel that’s probably something she would definitely do.”

  Piper considered her next words carefully. “Becca is pretty much an airhead but she’s really good with Meredith.”

  “And how would you know that?” My question came off as accusatory. Was my best friend hanging out with my enemy?

  Piper looked guilty before saying, “We went to the spa together when I got back into town.”

  I knew it was stupid, but I felt betrayed. Not only was Becca now married to my ex, but apparently she was also hanging out with my best friend. I didn’t even have time to spend time with my best friend. How dare she.

  “She has some nerve spending time with you,” I growled. “And I can’t believe you let her spend time with you! What were you thinking? Whose side are you on?”

  Piper held up her hands, as if trying to defend herself from my verbal assault. “I’m on your side. Always have been. I never wanted you to date Tom. Remember?”

  She was right. When Tom would run into Piper on campus, she went out of her way to ignore him. They weren’t exactly close. She said that he was a jerk to her growing up and still a jerk now. I’d refused to believe her. He’d been so cute and so mature.

  I didn’t start dating him until about six months after we’d met, and I remember Piper saying, “Oh well, I tried to warn you. He’s a douchebag. You’ll see.”

  I’d ignored her warnings. Tom and I did the long-distance thing for a few years after he graduated and once I’d graduated we’d moved in together and gotten married shortly after that. I’d thought Piper would have been thrilled that we were no longer just best friends, but also sisters.

  But no. She had said, “Oh well, you’ve done it now,” when I’d showed her my engagement ring.

  I remembered getting upset with her and not speaking to her for a few days. But then Carter had told me that I was being silly... that Piper had never been a fan of her brother so it shouldn’t be a surprise that she wasn’t ecstatic that I was marrying him.

  Carter had been right, of course, and come to think of it, he had helped resolve every squabble I’d had with Piper over the years.

  “Deep in thought, I see. If you’re trying to decide between the chocolate cake and the plain vanilla, just go with the chocolate.”

  Speak of the devil... I smiled as I turned toward Carter.

  “Hi, you look...” my voice trailed off. “Great. Very clean.” Very clean? Did I just tell Carter that he looked clean? What was wrong with me? Had getting a divorce also lowered my IQ?

  Carter laughed and said, “Thanks, I think. You look very clean too.” He took a moment to study my figure and I couldn’t help myself. I did a little turn. I was wearing a stunning red bodycon dress that I couldn’t fit into a year ago. It had been a birthday gift from my mom who had a fantastic sense of fashion. Unfortunately, at the time she’d bought it three sizes too small. I’m pretty sure it was her passive-aggressive way of telling me to lose weight.

  Well, my divorce had accomplished what dieting and exercising probably wouldn’t have. I was down four sizes and had gotten my mom to take the dress in a little. She’d been ecstatic.

  “Being fat didn’t suit you,” she had chirped happily.

  My mom could be as blunt as she could be passive aggressive. Dad, of course, had also chimed in. It’s like he’d waited until I was an adult to have an opinion about everything I did.

  “She’s right you know. No one wants a wife with a double chin. You can’t find a husband that way.”

  “Who says I’m looking for another husband?” I’d regretted stopping by then. I should have just eaten oatmeal for dinner every night for a week to afford an actual tailor.

  Dad had replied, “Women need men. You’re no different. You’ll look for another husband soon enough.”

  Mom had looked at dad and then at me and said deadpan, “Women need men like I need a hole in the head.”

  We’d shared a smile. That was probably the only thing my mom and I had shared in my entire adult life.

  I tu
rned my attention back to the present and with it, to Carter who started clapping slowly.

  “That is a very sexy dress.”

  “Thank you,” I said, feeling like a billion dollars. I was pretty plain with unremarkable brown hair and unremarkable brown eyes. I was average height and kind of just average all around, so it was nice to feel beautiful. I hadn’t felt that way in a long time.

  Feeling good, I chatted with Carter. We helped ourselves to some cake and were about to take a seat when the doorbell rang.

  I didn’t see Piper and all the other guests that were near the door ignored it, so I made my way to it.

  I opened it, saw who was standing there, and closed it back forcefully and then I walked away.

  Carter was apparently the only one who noticed, and he looked at me funny as I plastered a smile on my face, grabbed my slice of cake and sat down next to him.

  “Who was at the door?”

  “Nobody.”

  “You sure, because I thought for sure I saw—”

  And then the doorbell rang again. This time one of Piper’s friends went to answer it. I frowned. Now someone wanted to answer the door. Great.

  “So Carter, tell me about what’s going with you? Are you seeing someone?”

  “Well, actually...” he started talking but I wasn’t listening. I was too tense and busy listening for the two people I’d slammed the door on.

  “Tom’s here,” Carter said suddenly stopping his story that I hadn’t even been paying attention to. He was looking past my shoulder, just to the right of me.

  “No freaking kidding,” I mumbled, sinking down in my chair as if that would help make me invisible.

  “And he’s brought someone?” Carter said rising a little bit out of his chair to be nosy.

  “His new wife,” I growled.

  “Wife? She’s just a child.” Carter’s voice was incredulous.

  “She’s nineteen.”

  Carter grimaced. “Tell me she’s not also his secretary? I always thought Tom was a walking cliché, but even that would be too formulaic for him, I would hope.”

  “Meredith said they met in the grocery store.”

  “Really?” Carter said sitting back and looking away from Tom and Becca. He was smiling now. “Did they bond over feta? Did he sweet talk her in an aisle surrounded by sausage and bacon?”