“Good morning Rodney, did you have a good day off yesterday?”
“Hell yeah! Any day I ain’t learnin is a good day, ammiright?”
I squint at his little freckled face, wondering if it’s worth explaining that not learning anything is a bad idea, but I decide to let it slide. I’m well rested, I have my coffee, and soon I’ll have two hot men walking into my class ready to pose. Two hot men that I did not think about last night while I touched myself. Nope, not at all.
“So, what were you doing?”
“I was savouring the taste of my coffee and the quiet moments before school starts.”
“Oh, did I ruin it for you?” Rodney asks, uncharacteristically. He’s not unkind, he’s just very full on and in other people’s business. And a little bit of a menace.
“No, Rodney, you didn’t ruin it for me,” I soothe.
“Yeah, didn’t think so. I’m a fucking delight.”
“Rodney!” I bark at him, but it’s too late. He swaggers over to his place and plops his ginger behind down, rapping something under his breath.
Looks like I’m going to have to speak to his parents.Again.
“Hi Miss Jasmine!” Karly calls, bouncing to her seat, her sequined hair bows sparkling on top of her blonde head. She’s sunshine and roses and I know that she is very excited for Fox and Nitro’s visit today. Possibly a littletooexcited.
The rest of the children filter into the room, some with their friends, others like Elio perfectly alone although he does move to sit next to Rodney. That’s a weird friendship right there but somehow it works for them. Where Elio is quiet and reserved, Rodney is loud and brash. In some ways I guess it makes sense to Elio, considering his sister Cove is like a little sergeant major and rules the Big Littles with an iron fist. Although it does concern me that it seems like Rodney has joined that gang. Afterwhat Vi told me and what I’ve seen with my own eyes, the last thing Rose Grove needs is for Rodney to join the fold.
The bell rings and the big light on the wall flashes for my hearing impaired children, and I clap and wave my hands.
“Good morning class and happy Wednesday! Sometimes people call it ‘Hump Day’. Does anyone know why we call it ‘Hump Day’?”
“Because it’s the day my mom and dad like to huu-”
“Because it’s the middle of the week, kinda like a hump!” I glare at Rodney who beams back at me. He’s definitely going to be an ass today. I can feel it. “Now, who can remember what’s happening today?”
Karly’s hand shoots up and I look around the room to see if anyone else wants to answer the question first.
“Jackson, do you know what’s happening today?”
He shoves his glasses up his nose, and shrugs one shoulder, “Yeah, them guys are coming to pose for us. But I’m still not sure about them. That blonde one looks like trouble.”
I roll my lips between my teeth to hide my smirk. Aside from the fact that Jackson often talks like his sassy grandmother, he also isn’t wrong. Of the two men visiting my classroom today, Fox is definitely the one who looks like trouble.
“They’re not trouble! They’re policemen. Policemen are there to help you and to make sure you’re OK and to help you save kittens and puppies and to pose for us so we can draw them. With no tops on, right Miss Jasmine?” Karly says, eyes wide with hope.
“Um, almost. Firemen usually save kittens and Fox and Nitro will definitely be wearing their tops today. All their clothes will stay on.”
Karly’s little shoulders slump and it looks like I may be having words with her parents too. The kids in my class are like sponges. They soak up everything around them. Most of the timeit’s innocent. Karly has an older sister who probably has posters of shirtless hunks on her bedroom wall or is watching young ripped guys dancing on TikTok or something. Rodney, well, he has parents who live in a rough part of Rose Grove and don’t really put any boundaries on him. He’s also an attention whore who likes to shock people, but as long as I’m firm with him he’s pretty easy to deal with.
“Now, what do we have to remember when we have guests?” I ask them, signing as I do.
“Use our manners and ask appropriate questions,” they all drone back at me in bored voices.
They know the deal but it’s good to remind them. After they obliterated my sweet father’s self esteem by pointing out his lack of ass and calling him the “cheekless wonder” and cried over Violet’s bushy eyebrows, I’ve had to drill into them that it’s rude to make comments about people’s bodies.
“Good, that’s right. Now, have we all put posing suggestions into the suggestion box?”
They all yell that they have and I chuckle as they argue over who has the best pose idea. I’m leaning toward Nora’s idea when she signs that she thinks it’d be funny for “the black hair one to hold the other like a baby.”
“OK, well, our guests should be here any minute now so let’s settle into our seats and maybe start by writing our names at the top of our pages, yeah?”
“Miss, will you be drawing with us?”
