SkyGirl5
Cadet
Chapter 11
For the next few weeks, Sydney and Michael continued their subtly flirtatious routine. When Sydney would come up to his desk to speak with him before English class, Michael would make it a point to touch her arm gently as they spoke. They would stop to chat in the hallways between classes at least a few times per day, every time Sydney stopped by her locker, which was conveniently located close by Michael’s room. Also, during newspaper meetings, Michael would lean over Sydney as she worked, hovering much closer than he would if she was just an ordinary student.
All of these tiny factors combined did not seem to tip anyone off to anything unusual between them. Or, even if it did, Sydney did not get wind of it. In order to really kick things up, Sydney thought of a more interesting twist in their plan. Since she was still spending some of her study halls with Michael, she decided it would be an interesting experiment if she smeared his lipstick a bit while leaving his classroom to give the impression of something less than G-rated going on during that study hall. This final twist worked like a charm, especially when she was casually fixing her lipstick and caught the eye of Susan, the queen bee, so to speak.
It was just a few days after that incident that Susan approached Sydney after gym class in the locker rooms while they were changing. Sydney could see Susan and two of her loyal followers hovering annoyingly close and hoped they were about to speak to her, so she casually glanced over at them every so often, trying to catch their eye. Finally she did and Susan took a step forward. “It’s Sydney, right? You’re in my English class…”
“Yeah,” Sydney said as casually as possible.
“Well I – we were just wondering…is there something going on between you and Mr. Vaughn?” Susan asked carefully.
While fighting the urge to jump up and do a back flip that her plan was finally working, Sydney managed to grow a secretive smile across her face as she said, “What do you mean?” in the most innocent voice she could muster.
“Well you’ve been flirting with him,” Susan laughed loudly. Then she lowered her voice. “I mean, we all do it but…well, he seems to be flirting back,” Susan said in an utterly bewildered tone. Her tone made her thoughts fairly obvious. She was wondering why Mr. Vaughn was attracted to the formally geeky Sydney instead of her always chic self.
More than anything Sydney wanted to rub the truth into Susan’s face. She wanted to say that yes of course she and Michael were together – dating – and he thought she was beautiful. Sadly, this was not part of the plan so she had to play along. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sydney said with a slight giggle, making it clear she was hiding something. Then, she quickly reached for her backpack and excused herself politely, leaving Susan practically dying of curiosity behind her.
Rushing back to her locker from gym class, Sydney was practically soaring. More than anything she wanted to float down the hallway shouting, “IT WORKED!” but she could not. She needed to play it cool – very cool. After all she was so close. Somehow, during her evil plotting she got it into her head that getting in with the A crowd would be her ticket to the killer story her editor was harping on her for. All she needed was just a few days in their secret club and then BAM! It would hit her. Or so she thought, anyway.
Unable to resist telling Michael her good news, she ripped a piece of notebook paper from her backpack and quickly scribbled a few words onto it. Then, she folded it in half and sauntered into Michael’s classroom, which was already filling with students for his fourth period class. “Mr. Vaughn I just wanted to give you that article I promised you – you know, for the paper,” she said.
Michael looked up to her with an utterly lost and confused look on his face. “Um, what?” he asked quietly.
“Here you go,” she pressed the paper into his hand. “I’ve got to get to class!” she said before quickly rushing away.
Still lost as to what Sydney was up to, Michael unfolded the paper and read in her scribbled handwriting, It worked!. Michael could not help but laugh softly at this as he slipped the paper into his top desk drawer.
~*~
The next day, the whole school was practically abuzz about Sydney’s confirmation by silence of her affair with Michael. Of course, Sydney would not have known about this since those involved in rumors rarely heard about them, but as luck would have it she did hear about it while in a bathroom stall. With the stall door closed, no one knew she was inside and Sydney could not believe the conversation she was hearing.
“Did you hear someone at McMillan is sleeping with Mr. Vaughn?” a girl with a squeaky voice said.
“NO! Who is it? Ms. Krieger the librarian – they’d make a cute couple,” another girl with a deeper voice said with a slight giggle.
“No it’s a student! Some senior girl,” Squeaky voice said.
“No way!” a third girl chimed in.
“Totally! That’s what I heard! They’ve been like…having sex in his classroom or something. Apparently she’s in his English class. I guess she’s been staying after school for some extra credit,” Squeaky voice said suggestively. The other girls laughed.
“Hmm I wonder if she’s on the school newspaper, too? Mr. Vaughn’s the coordinator of that, right?” the deep voice girl asked.
“I think so…oh! My friend Sara is on the newspaper – I’ll ask her if she’s notice Mr. Vaughn getting friendly with anyone!”
With this, the girl’s conversation ended as they left the bathroom. Once they were gone, Sydney emerged from the stall she was in laughing to herself. Her evil plan was working and, little did she know that it was about to get a lot more interesting.
For the next few weeks, Sydney and Michael continued their subtly flirtatious routine. When Sydney would come up to his desk to speak with him before English class, Michael would make it a point to touch her arm gently as they spoke. They would stop to chat in the hallways between classes at least a few times per day, every time Sydney stopped by her locker, which was conveniently located close by Michael’s room. Also, during newspaper meetings, Michael would lean over Sydney as she worked, hovering much closer than he would if she was just an ordinary student.
All of these tiny factors combined did not seem to tip anyone off to anything unusual between them. Or, even if it did, Sydney did not get wind of it. In order to really kick things up, Sydney thought of a more interesting twist in their plan. Since she was still spending some of her study halls with Michael, she decided it would be an interesting experiment if she smeared his lipstick a bit while leaving his classroom to give the impression of something less than G-rated going on during that study hall. This final twist worked like a charm, especially when she was casually fixing her lipstick and caught the eye of Susan, the queen bee, so to speak.
It was just a few days after that incident that Susan approached Sydney after gym class in the locker rooms while they were changing. Sydney could see Susan and two of her loyal followers hovering annoyingly close and hoped they were about to speak to her, so she casually glanced over at them every so often, trying to catch their eye. Finally she did and Susan took a step forward. “It’s Sydney, right? You’re in my English class…”
“Yeah,” Sydney said as casually as possible.
“Well I – we were just wondering…is there something going on between you and Mr. Vaughn?” Susan asked carefully.
While fighting the urge to jump up and do a back flip that her plan was finally working, Sydney managed to grow a secretive smile across her face as she said, “What do you mean?” in the most innocent voice she could muster.
“Well you’ve been flirting with him,” Susan laughed loudly. Then she lowered her voice. “I mean, we all do it but…well, he seems to be flirting back,” Susan said in an utterly bewildered tone. Her tone made her thoughts fairly obvious. She was wondering why Mr. Vaughn was attracted to the formally geeky Sydney instead of her always chic self.
More than anything Sydney wanted to rub the truth into Susan’s face. She wanted to say that yes of course she and Michael were together – dating – and he thought she was beautiful. Sadly, this was not part of the plan so she had to play along. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sydney said with a slight giggle, making it clear she was hiding something. Then, she quickly reached for her backpack and excused herself politely, leaving Susan practically dying of curiosity behind her.
Rushing back to her locker from gym class, Sydney was practically soaring. More than anything she wanted to float down the hallway shouting, “IT WORKED!” but she could not. She needed to play it cool – very cool. After all she was so close. Somehow, during her evil plotting she got it into her head that getting in with the A crowd would be her ticket to the killer story her editor was harping on her for. All she needed was just a few days in their secret club and then BAM! It would hit her. Or so she thought, anyway.
Unable to resist telling Michael her good news, she ripped a piece of notebook paper from her backpack and quickly scribbled a few words onto it. Then, she folded it in half and sauntered into Michael’s classroom, which was already filling with students for his fourth period class. “Mr. Vaughn I just wanted to give you that article I promised you – you know, for the paper,” she said.
Michael looked up to her with an utterly lost and confused look on his face. “Um, what?” he asked quietly.
“Here you go,” she pressed the paper into his hand. “I’ve got to get to class!” she said before quickly rushing away.
Still lost as to what Sydney was up to, Michael unfolded the paper and read in her scribbled handwriting, It worked!. Michael could not help but laugh softly at this as he slipped the paper into his top desk drawer.
~*~
The next day, the whole school was practically abuzz about Sydney’s confirmation by silence of her affair with Michael. Of course, Sydney would not have known about this since those involved in rumors rarely heard about them, but as luck would have it she did hear about it while in a bathroom stall. With the stall door closed, no one knew she was inside and Sydney could not believe the conversation she was hearing.
“Did you hear someone at McMillan is sleeping with Mr. Vaughn?” a girl with a squeaky voice said.
“NO! Who is it? Ms. Krieger the librarian – they’d make a cute couple,” another girl with a deeper voice said with a slight giggle.
“No it’s a student! Some senior girl,” Squeaky voice said.
“No way!” a third girl chimed in.
“Totally! That’s what I heard! They’ve been like…having sex in his classroom or something. Apparently she’s in his English class. I guess she’s been staying after school for some extra credit,” Squeaky voice said suggestively. The other girls laughed.
“Hmm I wonder if she’s on the school newspaper, too? Mr. Vaughn’s the coordinator of that, right?” the deep voice girl asked.
“I think so…oh! My friend Sara is on the newspaper – I’ll ask her if she’s notice Mr. Vaughn getting friendly with anyone!”
With this, the girl’s conversation ended as they left the bathroom. Once they were gone, Sydney emerged from the stall she was in laughing to herself. Her evil plan was working and, little did she know that it was about to get a lot more interesting.