12. Tiffin Talks Ghost in the Machine #3
“So what are you doing out?” he asks again.
She can’t tell him the truth. As far as she’s concerned, she hasn’t seen Andrew Eastman tonight. “I forgot some materials in my classroom.”
Rhode says nothing and Simone wonders if he knows she’s lying.
“Listen.” His tone changes and she stiffens.
He knows. Rhode saw East go into the Schoolhouse while on his way to meet Annabelle at the Teddy.
Why hadn’t Simone considered this possibility?
“I’d really love to take you out this weekend.
We could go somewhere nicer than the Alibi.
The kids said the Hobgoblin was good. Or the Wooden Duck?
Would you like to do that on Saturday night? ”
Oh my god, Simone thinks. Rhode is asking her on a date.
“I’m not sure it’s allowed?” Simone says. “Two teachers on a date?”
“It’s not not allowed,” Rhode says. “I looked into it. The Wullys met when they were both single teachers here and now they’re married.”
Simone nearly laughs. Does Rhode imagine the two of them will have a love story like the Wullys? Although they’re colleagues, Simone is way closer in age to East.
Simone has learned that, when it comes to Rhode, she has to be firm. She can’t leave any room for interpretation. “No, I don’t think so, Rhode, I’m sorry.”
An excruciating silence follows, but Simone won’t fill it. She won’t try to make Rhode feel better; that’s not her job. She has done everything wrong tonight, but this she’ll do right.
Finally, he clears his throat. “If you change your mind, let me know.”
Simone isn’t going to change her mind. “I sure will,” she says.
In the morning, there’s a new post on Zip Zap. Last night, the hot new history teacher gave “extra help” to the notorious bad boy fifth-form repeat in a dark classroom in the Schoolhouse. Or was it the student who gave the teacher extra help?
Simone wakes up with a start, her mouth chalky, her head throbbing, but oh god, the rush of relief she feels when she realizes it was just a dream.
Right? Simone picks up her phone and clicks on the Zip Zap app.
There are no new posts. She scrolls up and down to make absolutely certain.
This app is a ticking time bomb for her.
She’s new, she’s young, and the kids, at least, think she’s hot. She’s an easy target.
The best defense is an offense, Simone thinks. Should she give the kids something to talk about? Something that isn’t not allowed?
She texts Rhode. I thought about it overnight and decided that dinner on Saturday night sounds fun. If you’re still up for it?
Rhode answers immediately. Still up! Way up!
This response makes Simone think of an erection. Ew, ew, ew! What has she done?
I think we should cover our bases, Simone says. Will you please check with Audre to make sure it’s okay? I won’t feel right otherwise.
Happy to! Rhode answers and he includes the big smile emoji, which makes her cringe.
Ew.
Cordelia Spooner is at her computer reading the application of a Charlie Norton from Milton, Massachusetts: He’s obsessed with aviation, tracks every flight in and out of Logan, has a flight simulator on his Xbox, and is asking for flying lessons for his fifteenth birthday.
His essay is about facing an “excruciating” decision: Should he become a commercial pilot or an air traffic controller?
Cordelia loves nothing more than a student with a passion.
She admits Charlie Norton from Milton. She considers checking Instagram for a picture of Charlie—she just wants to see if he’s as darling as he sounds, it has no bearing on his admission, he’s already in…
but she stops herself. She might take a peek at his mother’s Facebook, however.
Is it not perfectly natural to want to see a picture of the student she’s admitting?
She goes to the search bar and types Kath —
“Cordelia?”
Cordelia jumps. Audre has poked her head into Cordelia’s office without knocking—almost as if she’s trying to catch Cordelia doing something.
Nothing to see here! Cordelia thinks, minimizing the page.
“Hey, boss,” she says, swinging around in her office chair. “What’s up?”
Audre comes in and closes the door. “Delicate question.”
Cordelia wills herself not to get splotchy. She waits.
“I just got a text from Mr. Rivera,” Audre says. “He wants to take Simone Bergeron on a date Saturday night, somewhere off camp.”
Cordelia exhales. Nothing to do with her and nothing to do with that abhorrent Zip Zap app. Cordelia takes a moment to process: Rhode wants to take Simone on a date? This is fabulous news! It will dash any interest Honey might have in Simone. “What’s the question?”
“It felt like he was asking my permission,” Audre says. “There are no rules against the staff or faculty dating. Rhode mentioned this was how the Wullys met, though that was before my time.”
“Yes,” Cordelia says. “I remember the Wullys at the Move-In Day cookout way back when. Ruth had been here a year or two, Kent was brand-new. They got together right away and nobody was surprised.”
“Chester didn’t mind?”
“He thought of himself as a matchmaker,” Cordelia says. “He presided over their wedding at Jewel Pond the day after school let out.”
“Hmmm,” Audre says. “I almost wish Rhode hadn’t asked. I prefer a Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell approach. What you do in private is your own business, you know?”
Yes, Cordelia does know.
“Well, I think it’s marvelous,” Cordelia says—though only in this self-serving instance.
In principle, Cordelia thinks faculty dating other faculty is a recipe for disaster.
She should have steered clear of a love interest at her place of employment because it’s distracting—and, in Cordelia’s present situation, not in a good way.
Knowing that Honey is only a few hundred yards away is torture.
“I hope you told Rhode it was okay. Did you?”
“Not yet,” Audre says and she winks at Cordelia. “I needed to check in with my voice of reason. Thank you, Cordelia.”
As soon as Audre closes the door, Cordelia texts Honey. I guess Rhode Rivera and Simone Bergeron are dating.
That’s on Zip Zap? Honey responds.
Real life, Cordelia says. Confirmed by Audre.
Three dots rise, then disappear. Cordelia wonders if Honey is bothered by this—and if so, how bothered.
New on Zip Zap: Everyone be extra nice to Chef Haz today. Although he’s a (Draft) king, he lost his most recent (Fan) duel. He par-laid an egg.
What the hell? Haz thinks. It’s no secret that Haz is a betting man.
He asks the kids who they like in Sunday’s game and would they take the points.
Haz has formed a connection with the kids that way; he knows it’s not exactly wholesome, but he has never shared a single detail about his own personal betting habits, wins, losses, or otherwise.
How then would anyone at the school know that Haz took a chunk of the money he got from young Eastman and, despite his vow to quit gambling, bet it on the Philadelphia Eagles beating Houston on Thursday night?
And then, when the Eagles were up by ten at the half, parlaying that bet on the over/under.
At the start of the third quarter, Jalen Hurts got sacked and fumbled, Houston recovered, the momentum of the game changed, and Houston ended up winning by ten, leaving Haz out twenty-five hundred bucks.
The wound of the loss was bad enough, but now he’s the hot topic on Zip Zap? Seriously?
We are extra nice to Chef on Friday morning: Davi Banerjee gives him a hug after breakfast service, and someone overhears Olivia H-T wondering if we should start a GoFundMe for Chef. ( What? Girl, no. )
In between classes, third-former Reed Wheeler passes through the Paddock just so he can tell Chef what a beast he is.
Reed expects to find Chef preparing the dough for Friday pizza lunch, but instead he spies him in some kind of meeting with Mr. Rivera.
Reed overhears Mr. Rivera say, “I have a business proposition for you.” Then Mr. Rivera lowers his voice, which gets Reed’s attention—but he can’t make out what Mr. Rivera is saying.
He does hear Chef respond with “Hell yes! Let me pull together some numbers and I’ll get back to you. ”
Reed slinks out of the Paddock undetected, grabbing a breakfast sandwich (meant for upperclassmen) on his way out.
Is this “business proposition” anything we’d care about? Probably not, we think, but if so, we’ll hear about it on Zip Zap.