Author's Note: A hearty thanks to Shelle for her editing and with her help in picking a title and corresponding song for this story.
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Aldys leaned out the open window of the driver's side of her Volvo and waved. "Bye. Thanks for your help, Josie. See you tomorrow."
Josie returned the wave as she climbed into her car.
Aldys put the car in drive and headed towards the one-way exit of the student parking lot. Her mind was reeling with all that had happened that day. The goal of her whole high school career had actually happened. She was going to be valedictorian! She sighed happily, but then frowned when she thought of Mr. Coulson's hand on Josie's shoulder just before he had given her the news about being first in the class. 'Something was definitely not right there,' she mused, 'and his guilty reaction when he saw me proved it. He wouldn't have acted so self-conscious if he didn't know he was doing something wrong,' Aldys deduced.
But moreover, Aldys was worried for Josie. She seemed to be acting as strangely as Mr. Coulson, but, as opposed to Mr. Coulson, she was only 17 and wouldn't know better, or at least she didn't think so. Josie seemed almost too trusting, and Aldys worried whether Mr. Coulson was taking advantage of that trusting nature somehow.
Aldys caught some movement in her rearview mirror out of the corner of her eye. Normally, she wouldn't have even given a second glance, but something inside her told her she needed to. Slowing down at the exit of the lot, she adjusted her mirror. Her mouth dropped open when she noticed Mr. Coulson crossing the empty student lot, headed towards Josie's car.
Her mind flew back to what happened at the coffee shop, with Mr. Coulson calling on Josie's cell phone to find out why her car was still in the parking lot, and Josie's reassurance to him that everything was fine. If indeed that had been the reason for his phone call, (although Aldys had her doubts about that) then he wouldn't have needed to stay and wait for her.
So why was he still at the school almost three hours after it closed? And what did he want with Josie? Her curiosity got the better of her, and, concerned about Josie, Aldys turned left at the street instead of right, and drove the half-block to the main entrance. Aldys drove around the back of the school until she reached the back entrance to the student lot. She pulled in and parked beside the janitor's pickup truck so that she could remain undetected by both Josie and Mr. Coulson. She wanted to see with her own eyes what really happened with Josie and Mr. Coulson when they thought no one was looking.
Aldys silently got out of her car and snuck over to peek around the front bumper of the truck. Josie's car was parked facing the school about six spots down from where Aldys was parked, so she had a good view. She felt strange spying on them like this, almost as if she were betraying their trust somehow�but her instincts were telling her something was going to happen.
Her eyes widened as Mr. Coulson pointed to the passenger side door of Josie's car. Josie leaned over to unlock it and then Mr. Coulson opened the door and climbed in, closing the door behind him. Josie suddenly began looking around the school property and parking lot as if she knew someone was watching them, and Aldys crouched back behind the truck, praying she wouldn't be caught. She felt guilty enough as it was.
But after a moment passed, and she didn't hear any car doors open, she dared to peek back around. Nope, it looked like Josie had given up her search because she seemed very intent on what Mr. Coulson was saying. Then, by Josie's expression, and the way she animatedly used her hands to talk, Aldys could tell Josie seemed upset about something. Mr. Coulson was listening to Josie and nodding, as if in agreement. Aldys would have given up her beloved math medals at that moment to be a fly on the wall inside Josie's car.
Then, a horrible thought occurred to her and she tried to squelch it, but it crossed her mind that maybe Mr. Coulson was harassing Josie, and she was afraid to tell anyone about it. Aldys had seen enough Movies of the Week to know this kind of thing went on far more than anyone talked about, but she was pretty sure Mr. Coulson wasn't that type. Watching closely, Josie seemed to be quite comfortable in his presence as they carried on their conversation, so Aldys surmised this was probably not the case here.
Aldys had pretty much convinced herself that it must have simply been her overactive imagination at work again and that Josie and Mr. Coulson were simply discussing school matters. After all, they did seem to have become friends of sorts, she thought.
But then she saw something that completely shocked her. Mr. Coulson took Josie's hand in his and lifted it to his mouth, kissing the back of it softly while his eyes connected with hers. And Josie did not seem to mind! Nor did it really even surprise her, Aldys noticed, although she did blush. Before the full meaning of that event could even register in Aldys' brain, she saw Mr. Coulson lean over and kiss Josie on the lips. It was a short kiss, but Aldys definitely wouldn't have classified it as a kiss between friends. This was definitely meant to be the romantic sort; she could see it on their faces.
And then the passenger door opened, and Mr. Coulson climbed out and strode back towards the school. Aldys stayed crouched, unmoving, as Josie started up her car, put it into drive, and steered it toward the exit.
'Oh my God, I was right!' Aldys thought to herself. 'Mr. Coulson and Josie did have something going on.' She had seen it with her own two eyes. She stood and walked to her car and climbed inside, although she did not start the engine. She sat in the driver's side thinking. It seemed to Aldys from this encounter that theirs was a mutual relationship, but that was a small comfort.
Josie was only 17, which made her a minor. Plus, Aldys was also worried about Josie being vulnerable and inexperienced. From what she knew of Josie, she seemed a little clueless about guys and Aldys had the impression that Josie had never had a boyfriend before, although they had never discussed it. 'Yeah, Aldys,' she said to herself, 'Like you're so experienced in these matters.'
But Mr. Coulson was, by Aldys' assessment, in his mid to late twenties. He had to be at least nine or ten years older than Josie. And as much as Aldys had always liked Mr. Coulson, it just seemed so�wrong of him to be attracted to a teenager like that. And she was one of his students besides.
She wondered about the ethics of that alone, although Mr. Coulson didn't seem the type to give anyone good (or bad) marks because of any outside factors, even a factor like this. Plus, Aldys had seen Josie's writing. She was a fantastic writer, and she was sure she had earned every one of her 'A' grades from him. Indeed, maybe one of the reasons Mr. Coulson was so attracted to Josie was because she was such a wonderful writer. Plus, Josie was very pretty and she had a heart of gold. Looking at it that way, it wasn't hard to see why he would like her so much, Aldys decided.
'But now, what do I do with this knowledge?' she wondered, starting to feel a little nauseous. She almost wished that she didn't know, because then she wouldn't be in the position of potentially having to do something about it.
She looked back towards the school. Mr. Coulson was still in there, she knew, since she hadn't seen him come out and walk toward the faculty lot, and she would have seen him from her vantage point. Should she talk to him, find out what was going on? She wondered for a moment and then discarded the idea. If she came forward to him directly with her knowledge, then he would know that Aldys had been spying on them. And she wasn't sure how he would take the news that the secret was out, since she didn't know the dynamics of his relationship with Josie.
Suddenly, a new and more frightening thought suddenly came to mind. What if Mr. Coulson was not really as nice as he seemed? What if he was one of those types that used sweet and innocent girls like Josie? She hated to think that of him, but it always seemed to be the guys that no one suspected who were doing it. And if this was the case here, then Aldys knew she could be putting herself in danger by confronting him in the deserted school.
Aldys turned the key in the ignition, and slowly drove home, lost in thought. Her mind kept going around and around in circles. What should she do? Who should she tell? But for as many times as she pondered this question in the fifteen-minute drive home, she didn't come up with any answers. Because of the turmoil she was now embroiled in, she had almost forgotten her earlier excitement about being chosen as valedictorian.
She turned the Volvo into her driveway and parked the car in the garage, and entered the house through the garage door. She kicked off her shoes in the mudroom, and dropped her bags as she passed through the laundry room. She stopped briefly to say hello to Tyke, who was lying on her stomach on the family room floor, eyes glued to the television set. Aldys shook her head, thinking of a dozen things her little sister could be doing that were ten times more productive than just watching TV. But in her current frame of mind, she just wasn't in the mood to argue with her, so she moved on. She continued on down the hall to her father's office, where he was busy at work on his computer.
He tried to work at home as much as he could so he could be there every day when Tyke came home from school. It was just the three of them now. Her mother had died when she was 12 and when Tyke was just 4. Since then, Aldys had tried to be both sister and mother to Tyke, with their father pitching in whenever he could.
"Hi Dad," Aldys greeted him with a peck on the cheek. "Sorry I'm late. Did you get my message?"
He looked up from his monitor to smile at her softly. Sometimes Aldys reminded him so much of his beloved wife. He loved her very much and was proud of how much responsibility Aldys had handled from such an early age. "Yes, I did. You know, you don't have to check in with me when you have after-school plans."
"I know," Aldys shrugged. "Well, I think I'll go get dinner started."
Mr. Wells shook his head in amazement. "Honey, I know you're busy with exams. Don't worry about dinner tonight. Why don't you just pop a pizza in the oven? I bought a couple last week; they're in the freezer."
"Okay. I'm sure Tyke will like that." She started to leave the room then turned back around to face her father, belatedly remembered she had news. "Oh, I forgot to tell you� I've been selected to be class valedictorian," she said modestly.
Her dad's eyes lit up as he got up from his desk and walked around it to wrap her in a big hug. "That's wonderful, honey, but I'm not surprised," he said, kissing her on the forehead. "You've worked really hard and you deserve it. I'm so proud of you."
"Thanks, Dad." Aldys beamed at him as he went back to his computer. She left the room and went into the kitchen to start dinner. She preheated the oven, then pulled a pizza out of the freezer, opened the box, and put it on a cookie sheet. She then rummaged through the fridge, pulling out the various ingredients for a salad. She chopped and peeled, trying desperately to keep busy, to keep her mind off the scene she'd witnessed in the school parking lot earlier. But it wasn't working. Every time she closed her eyes, she could see Mr. Coulson kissing Josie's hand and then leaning across the seat to kiss her lips.
She kept glancing over at the telephone, wanting to call Josie and ask her about what she had seen, praying that there was some sort of reasonable explanation for it, something simple that she hadn't thought of. But Aldys wasn't sure what to say and was also embarrassed to admit that she had been spying on them. Besides, she had a sinking feeling that there really was no good explanation for this situation.
She sighed because she really wished she had someone she could talk to about this. It was one of those rare times that almost brought Aldys to tears; needing a mother so desperately and knowing she was gone forever. She certainly couldn't speak to her father about something like this, and this was not something she could discuss with her fellow Denominators, either. Most of them were even more inexperienced at relationships than she was, which was saying something. Besides, Josie was one of her best friends; she really didn't want to get her into any trouble. But Aldys wanted to make sure that Josie wasn't in over her head, either.
Sighing, she called Tyke to come in to the kitchen. It was her job to set the table, and Aldys felt it was important that she have some responsibilities. After calling her twice more, each time louder and more insistent, Tyke slowly ambled into the kitchen.
"I don't appreciate having to call you three times, Tyke," she said sternly. "It's time to set the table."
Tyke started to protest. "But, Aldys, my favorite show is on," she whined.
"Aren't they all your favorite show?" Aldys asked her, exasperated.
"No, just this one," she pouted as she hurried to put out the dishes and flatware. After a moment, Tyke asked, "So where were you after school?"
"Well, if you must know, Miss Nosy�I went to NaNa's with Josie for coffee. As if I have to explain my whereabouts to you�" Aldys rolled her eyes.
Tyke looked at her, a little hurt at her tone. She struck back at her angrily, saying, "What's the matter with you? Didja get a B+ instead of an A or something?"
"No, little runt," said Aldys, messing up Tyke's hair playfully. "Actually, I'm going to be valedictorian," she said proudly.
"Victorian? What's that? Something from the olden days?" Tyke asked her, confused.
Aldys shook her head and corrected, "Val-ed-ic-tor-i-an. It means I have the highest marks of the graduating class, and I get to make a speech at the graduation ceremony."
"Wow, I'm impressed�" Tyke teased. "Remind me not to fall asleep during your speech, okay?" She grinned at her and Aldys knew she was joking. She whipped a tea towel at her, and Tyke screeched and jumped away. Just then, their dad came into the kitchen, and the three of them sat down to dinner.
Normally, Aldys would chatter on about her day at school, but tonight she was abnormally quiet at dinner. The Josie/Mr. Coulson situation kept milling around in her head over and over again. Her dad noticed that his eldest daughter was obviously troubled about something, so when Tyke left the room to get ready for bed, he asked Aldys if something was bothering her.
"No," she lied. "Well�maybe. I'm just thinking about my speech at graduation. I guess I'm worried about it," she explained.
"Don't worry, honey, you'll do fine," he said, giving her hand a squeeze. He was relieved that this was the only thing bothering her. He worried about her a lot, not having a mother around to share her problems with. She was so serious and responsible, and he wasn't complaining, but he wished she would just relax and have some fun once in a while. He helped her clear the dishes, and then went back to his office to work.
Aldys loaded the dinner dishes into the dishwasher, and then retrieved her books from the laundry room and went upstairs to her room to study. However, as hard as she tried to concentrate, she just couldn't get that image of Josie and Mr. Coulson out of her mind. She forced herself to finish up her homework, but her heart was not in it.
Trying to sleep wasn't much better. Every time she closed her eyes, that image would pop up. It was almost like it was burned into the inside of her eyelids. When she finally did sleep, it was fitful and dream-filled. It seemed that even her subconscious was stumped when it came to solving this problem.
But, the next morning when she awoke, the answer came to her suddenly. It became clear to Aldys who she could talk to and what she needed to do� Aldys sighed, tossing off her blankets and putting her legs over the side of the bed. She just hoped when all was said and done, Josie could forgive her.
To be continued...
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