Bianca selected a ball from her minion’s fresh supply. “Enjoy your bath, Ms. Owens.”
Once she’d retreated behind the designated line, she wound up and threw a perfect pitch. It hit the circular metal plunger with a solidthunk, and down went Rose, who descended into the water with a smile and a little gasp.
He got close to the edge of the tank as she surfaced, studying her bare lower arms. Goosebumps. And that ruddy color staining her cheeks didn’t come from embarrassment or the tepid warmth of the gymnasium.
She spotted him in the same moment as he spotted the freckles on her nose.
Christ, they were a punch in the gut. Adorable and…well,vulnerable. He wanted to kiss every exposed speckle, then move downward. Then downward again, until she was gasping for reasons other than submersion in chilly waters.
“Mr. Krause.” She slicked her hair back from her face, her smile fading. “I didn’t see you.”
“I know.” If she’d seen him, she’d have hidden herself. Like she was doing now, without ever moving a single millimeter.
Quick conversations before and after the school day clearly weren’t sufficient to complete the quest he’d undertaken. More extreme measures would have to be taken.
He emptied his pockets and put their contents in a dim corner behind the tank, removed his watch, and toed off his shoes. “I came to relieve you. Your shift in the dunk tank is over.”
Her lips parted, revealing chattering teeth, and he was suddenly, fiercely glad he was preparing to take an icy dip. Whether she ever softened toward him again or not didn’t matter. The sight of Rose chilled and shivering was unbearable.
She dashed water from her eyes and squinted at him. “No one told me you’d volunteered for this. Besides, I’ve only been here for an hour.”
He loosened his tie, but didn’t bother to remove it. The amusement inherent in dunking a teacher fully dressed in work clothes should provide incentive for students to stay, despite Rose’s departure.
“It’s December.” He held out a hand, waiting for her to ascend the little metal ladder and climb out with his assistance. “Sixty-minute shifts, max.”
“But I wanted to dunk her nine more times,” Bianca protested. “Then sic a few of my girls on her. Otherwise, what’s the point of having a vendetta?”
“I can’t disappoint the students, Mr. Krause.” Rose struggled back up to her seat, ignoring his hand. “Consider yourself off-duty.”
He dropped his arm to his side and thought for a moment. Clearly, his extreme measures required additional research. As a historian by training, he should have known.
He swiveled to study Bianca. “Why are you so determined to dunk Ms. Owens, anyway?”
A snort sounded behind him, a noise he hadn’t heard for over three months. To his ears, it might as well have been a recital by the school’s handbell choir.
“Yes, Bianca.” Rose flapped her tail. “Tell Mr. Krause why you’ve carried a grudge for two years and graciously shared that grudge with your entire softball team.”
The girl with the nose stud swung to face her captain. “You’ve never actually told us the full story, Bianca.”
Bianca shifted, black-painted lips tightening.
“Yeah,” her minion with cornrows and a skull t-shirt said. “I’ve always wondered.”
After five seconds of silence, Bianca broke.
“Fine.” She sighed heavily. “Fine. I was in Ms. Owens’s world history class sophomore year, and we could pick the subject of our end-of-year research project. She said we could choose any topic important to world history.Any.”
Her pause stretched and stretched, and he couldn’t wait. He had to know. “What did you pick?”
“Slendermffffff,” she muttered.
“What did she say?” Nose Stud looked to him. “I didn’t hear it.”
Another period of fraught silence ensued.
“Slender Man, all right?” Bianca finally said. “I wanted to do my end-of-year project on Slender Man, and Ms. Owens said no. Which was totally a betrayal, because look at her. She’s clearly a goth who got locked in a Nordstrom and wasn’t allowed to leave until they assimilated her somehow. Probably at the MAC counter.”
Skull Tee wrinkled her nose. “Didn’t you get those ripped black jeans with the safety pins from Nordstrom? I thought your parents took you for your birthday. You wouldn’t shut up about their café and their stupid bread pudding for like a week.”
