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“Welcome back, Coach JD,”I grumble and open the door to my classroom. The rest of the class is split between amused snickers and annoyed groans.
“Just here for a walk-through, Ms. Reed,” he returns with acanaillegrin.
“Only the third one today,” I add under my breath.
“Pretend I’m not even here.” He feigns an inspection of the slides on my SmartBoard as he sneaks over to my desk and stuffs one of his huge hands in the box of peanut butter cookies I left hanging around.
I snort as I return to my lesson. JD may be many things, but subtle he is not.
“So, now that we’ve read a little more, can anyone tell me what’s bothering our boy Young Hamlet? Do you think his attitude toward King Claudius and Queen Gertrude is fair?”
My eyes scan the classroom until they land on Ethan, leaning back in his seat and wearing a very Hamlet-esque sneer of his own. I haven’t called on him in a while, but that’s probably because I’m afraid he’s going to make some underhanded reference to Blake or the pregnancy. He’s just witty enough to do it, and from the knowing looks he’s been giving me since he heard what’s going on, he’s dying to have a laugh at my expense. And I’d rather have a little more time before I have to start fielding questions from the entire class.
“His mom rushed into marriage, and now hisn’oncle-daddy is in charge, and you’re asking whether Hamlet has the right to be in his feelings?” Ethan mutters, causing the rest of the class to break out into hysterics, myself included.
JD stands there, biting into a cookie and tapping on an iPad as if he’s actually conducting a classroom observation, though we both know better.
“I think,” I begin, stopping to laugh again and secretly relieved JD’s such an easy target. “I think a shot has been fired, Coach.”
He furrows his brow and looks around the classroom, noticing his nephew/foster-son in the corner. “Oh, yeah?”
Ethan smirks. “You tell me, King Claudius.”
Caidence backhands him softly on the shoulder. “He’s not at all a Claudius. If anything, he’s a Fortinbras.”
“Nice one, Caidence. Anyone want to tell me why that was super insightful? Bonus points if you use the right literary terms.”
“Because Fortinbras is a foil,” Ethan answers, still staring JD down. “He’s the good prince. He’s a better leader than Claudius, and he’s not as emo as Hamlet. He’s basically there to make the other guys look mid in comparison.”
I watch as JD’s jaw flexes. The rest of the class must be at the edge of their seats as well.
“But then again, I’d say Coach is probably more of a Polonius than anything,” Ethan chimes in again. “He talks a big game, but at the end of the day, he doesn’t scare anyone.”
His friends chuckle again, and this time, JD smiles along with them. “You’re lucky I haven’t readHamletsince I was in high school, kid.”
I clear my throat. “You guys don’t wanna know what Hamlet does to Polonius later,” I mumble to myself, just before the bell rings. The students shove their books into their bags and file out, and JD makes sure to stick out his foot to trip Ethan as he passes. Ethan stumbles, and they trade amused looks before Ethan manages to escape unharmed.
“Well, this is awkward,” JD begins once we’re alone, suppressing a grin. I should have known he’d be dying to discuss the whole pregnancy thing.
“Um, yeah, becauseyou’remaking it weird,” I retort as I busy myself with straightening a stack of books.
“Ah, no, I thinkyoumade it weird when you let my brother impregnate you with twins. Yeah, pretty sure that was the turning point.”
My lip twitches as I try not to smile. “You’re right. It was a very climactic night.”
He wags a finger at me. “Ooh, I’m telling him you said that.”
“Great.” I roll my eyes. “As if he’s not cocky enough as it is.”
“I thought you liked that crap, though,” he replies, regarding me suspiciously.
“I do,” I say too quickly. “But you know how Blake is. Sometimes he takes it too far.”
“Loren, if he?—”
“Don’t worry,” I assure him. “He’s actually been really, really great, especially about the baby stuff. If anything, he just gets too excited when I show him any kind of affection.”
“You guyshavebeen looking pretty cozy together.”
