“If you keep the water in,” she says over the noise, “your team gets a point. If you spit it out—” She makes an exaggerated spluttering noise. “One of your points get deducted. Rotate through pairs. First team to ten wins.”
She finally picks up the microphone. “Questions?”
I look around and spot someone in the very back raising their hand.
“Not from you, Kristen, we’ll be here till tomorrow. But I think we may need a demonstration. Here on the podium, we have a teacher”—she points at herself, her eyes glinting—“and a student.” She points at Tessa.
Tessa’s gotten close to my mom, her hands holding tightly around her shoulders even when Mom tries to move around her. It looks harmless enough, but I don’t trust Tessa. I’m about to stand, my chair screeching with the movement, when Robyn’s hand shoots out to my wrist. I look down and then up in time to see Mom mouthLet goand Tessa reluctantly doing it.
There’s a table with a stack of tortillas on a cafeteria tray and a row of glasses of water already sloshing. Mom and Tessa, the latter much more slowly, head toward it.
Robyn leans forward, elbows on her knees, eyes bright. “Has your mom always been like this with Tessa?”
I nod. “It’s gotten worse.”
Robyn’s eyes widen. “Since when?”
I lean in. “You know.”
A dark shadow passes over her eyes, and I hate it. “Our breakup didn’t ultimately have to do with her kissing you.”
Of course it didn’t. It had everything to do with me kissingher, but just as I’m about to tell her, she taps my bicep to look at the stage. Tessa smooths her blouse before taking the water with dignity she can’t keep once her cheeks puff up. Mom grabs a tortilla.
“Ready?” my mom asks.
Tessa nods once. Mom takes a giant sip of water, and her cheeks puff. After a bit of circling each other, Mom swings, and the tortilla smacks Tessa squarely on the cheek. Athwackechoes in the room, and water explodes everywhere.
There’s a split second of stunned silence before the whole cafeteria gets swallowed by laughter.
“Rebecca!” Tessa says.
Mom swallows. “Mrs. Leighton to you, dear. But, oh my,” my mom says, eyes wide, “I guess your hand is supposed to be farther back. Are you okay?”
Tessa forces a laugh, dabbing her face with a napkin. “No worries.”
Robyn gasps, half laughing, half horrified. “Did she?—”
“Accidentally?” I say, watching my mom already apologizing again. “Technically.”
Tessa’s smile is brittle now. Her gaze flicks to the crowd, then to me.
My mom lowers the tortilla slowly, water still dripping from the corner of her mouth. “Well,” she says carefully, lips twitching, “would you look at that. I guess that’s a point for the teachers.” She turns, scanning the room. “What do you think, students? You going to let the teachers have it? We need five of you—and of course, another five teachers. Step up.”
Tessa steps in front of my mom, annoyance in her eyes, close enough to the microphone that Mom’s voice carries.
“It’sMrs. Leighton, dear,” she says lightly. “And it’s just a trend. No harm done, right?”
Robyn leans toward me, lips pressed together, eyes bright. “Your mother is terrifying.”
I don’t look away from the front. “Yeah.”
Tessa steps aside, flushed and clapping along like she’s enjoying herself. It’s written all over her face, though. She realized this room isn’t hers to control. She tries though.
She smiles brightly, a little too tight. “Okay. Thank you for that, Rebecca.”
“It’sMrs. Leighton, dear,” my mom calls from her seat beside Fletcher.
“Mrs. Leighton,” Tessa corrects smoothly. “Next game. I’d love to have a volunteer to relive their high school MC’ing days.” She gestures to a row of five chairs, each with a smaller bucket resting on the seat.
