Across the quad, Lissa's English class was letting out and she was heading to calculus. Lissa had started to worry a little about her dad. He seemed oddly despondent after his attack. She knew that it was probably pretty normal, but she didn't like the idea of her dad not being himself.
"Lissa, Lissa, Lissa," Ralph sang as they walked out.
"Hey Ralph," Lissa said ducking under his arm and nuzzling into his bulky massiveness.
"How about I come over tonight and we work on that assignment together? I was just thinking that two heads might be better than one on something like that," Ralph said.
"Yeah, it won't hurt to get another perspective. Some of it is pretty obvious. I mean Beowulf and Hamlet are both pretty full of themselves. It should be too hard to prove that hubris was the ultimate downfall in each. Given that Beowulf lived a long life before falling to a dragon, which symbolically could be his hubris, just like the poison that kills Hamlet," Lissa rattled off.
"Exactly why I wanted to come get some help. How about I bring some Chinese for us to gnosh on?" he asked.
"Sounds like a plan. I wish you were in calculus with me," Lissa said unwinding herself from Ralph's arm.
"I don't! I'm quite happy in dummy math," Ralph said turning back the way they had just come from.
Lissa laughed at him and then looked down the hall toward her math class. It looked like her dad was talking to Mr. Andrews, but that didn't make any sense. Her dad almost never left his room throughout the day and certainly didn't wonder out of the science hall.
She wondered what he could be doing over here. He was probably checking on her grades again. He emailed her teachers nearly weekly to find out how she was doing. He was determined that she would earn an academic scholarship. If a teacher didn't email back, he still found out somehow. Perhaps a face to face conversation was how.
Before she got to the room, her dad had turned and left. Surely he knew she was coming. It was a bit odd and out of character. Lissa scolded herself for questioning her father. He had been through a lot and didn't need her judging his action.
She walked in, smiling at Mr. Andrews. "Good morning," Lissa said as perky as she could muster.
"Good morning, Miss Morris. How are you this fine Monday morning?" he asked her.
"I'm doing well. Thank you. How are you today?" she replied.
"Good thanks."
Lissa walked to the middle row of tables and found her usual seat near the front. She heard a swooshing noise and looked up to see Leo walk in, head down in his typical 'I can't see you, you can't see me' kind of way.
Lissa was starting to notice him more. His mannerism and movements seemed so calculated. It wasn't like he was doing his own thing so much as playing a part in a play. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something insincere all of a sudden about his antisocial behavior.
"Okay class, now we're going to mix it up a bit. When I call a pair of names please find a seat at a table together. I'm not so particular about which table, but this will be your new partner," Mr. Andrews said.
Lissa listened as pair after pair was called. It was starting to become kind of obvious who was going to be the last set. Lissa couldn't believe that her father who wanted her to stay away from leo had arranged to have him be her partner for calc. This was weird on so many levels.
"Miss Morris and Mr. Savage. Okay class, now that you have your new table mate, I want you to look on page forty two. You'll see the example problem is on the board. What I want you to do is work backwards for a few minutes. Talk to each other about this problem. Where do you start to solve it? What comes next?" Mr. Andrews said.
"I think my dad set this up," Lissa said turning to Leo.
"Why?" he asked in a gruff voice.
"I have no idea. He told me the other day when you helped me pick up my books that I should stay away from you. He doesn't trust you," Lissa said.
"What about you?" Leo asked.
"Verdict's still out. Umm, well it's a function and they started by finding the derivative," Lissa changed the subject as Mr. Andrews circled by their table.
"Right, pretty straight forward," Leo said through his hair.
"Don't be too quick to judge. Look at step four," Mr. Andrews said as he walked off.
"Truth be told, I haven't figured you out. Not sure I want to," Lissa said.
"Whatever," Leo said.
Lissa turned and tried to study Leo. He was hiding something, the hair made that obvious. But maybe not. Some people were jerks because of something that happened to them. But some people were jerks because they were jerks.
Leo had a weird arrogance when he spoke. It was like everything was beneath him, all of it. Like calculus offered no challenge. Lissa looked at his notebook. It was meticulous, and he had already done the homework for the day. "How do you know that's what he'll assign?" Lissa asked.
Leo pointed to the board and grunted, looking at Lissa like she had just asked how he knew he was breathing. The homework was written in the same spot it was written everyday. "So you always this personable or just on special occasions?" Lissa asked, coping an attitude.
Leo said nothing and just laid his head down on the table. 'Great,' Lissa thought, 'I shut him down.' "What the hell is your problem?" Lissa asked, indignant.
She had never been the girl that the boys chased incessantly, but she was never really rejected either. She didn't like it. She didn't like him. He was a jerk, and she suddenly didn't care why he was jerk. She wanted moved. She wanted answers.
"May I go to the bathroom?" she asked.
"Take the pass," Mr. Andrews said.
Lissa slammed outside and cut straight across the courtyard to the science wing. She was pissed off and about to let loose on her dad like she swore she never would. How dare he make her work with an animal like Leo. She couldn't believe that he would go from telling her to stay away from Leo to pushing her together with the savage.
She pulled the door to the science hall wide open, testing the strength of the door blocks. She was a pot of boiling oil that was about to have ice dumped in it. The more she thought about it, the more she couldn't stand it.
She didn't even knock. She just burst right into his classroom, never once even thinking about the fact that he probably had a class on there.
"Why in the hell did you ask Mr. Andrews to pair me with him? What the crap, Dad?" Lissa looked at teh stunned look on her father's face. He definitely hadn't anticipated this reaction to his meddling.
Nevertheless, he was a teacher and daughter or not, he couldn't let her continue in front of his class. "Hallway, NOW," he said absolutely.
When the got out in the hall, he slammed his door behind them. Some of the fire was going out in Lissa's belly.
"You listen to me young lady, I am your father. If I tell you to do something you do it. It doesn't matter why," he said furious.
"You listen to me," Lissa replied building her courage, "I will not associate with that animal. He's a jerk and I don't appreciate you setting me up like that."
"What are you talking about?" Mr. Morris asked.
"You told Mr. Andrews to make Leo my table partner," Lissa said matter of factly.
"No. I didn't. I did no such thing. Why would you think that?" he asked, suddenly concerned.
"I saw you talking to Mr. Andrews. And then he switched our tables. And I got put with Leo. You mean you didn't ask him to do that?" Lissa said deflated.
"Why would I do that?" he asked full of innocence.
"I don't know. You're never out of this hall and you were over there. Why were you over there?" she asked.
"I needed Frank's help on something. Numbers," he responded.
"So it didn't have to do with me? You didn't pull strings to put us together?" Lissa asked.
"No. I don't even know that boy. I wouldn't do that. It'd be too strange anyway. I'd be insulted if another teacher came into my class and told me how to group my students. I would never do that to one of my colleagues. You need to get back to class, but I assure you, I had nothing to do with this seating arrangement," Mr. Morris said.
"Sorry, Daddy. I just thought..." she trailed off. She decided to take the long way back around to the math department. No point hurrying. Her partner was a jerk and it wasn't her dad's fault. Worst of all, she had just made a fool out of herself in front of all of those sophomores.
The day had gone from bad to worse. She'd have to walk back into calculus with her tail between her legs. She didn't think it really mattered. The halls were so spooky during class. Empty in every direction. Occasionally, you could hear an echo from another end of the hallway or from the second floor. But generally, you were alone.
Lissa debated not returning to class. There wasn't that much time left anyway. No, she couldn't add to her already terrible day. She just didn't get how things could switch so quickly from good to bad.
She stopped off in the bathroom to take a look at herself in the mirror. She wanted to make sure she hadn't ruined what little make up she wore. She may not have been a primper, but she still liked to be cute. She took the scrunchie out of her hair and shook her head.
She fluffed her hair and examined her eyes. No she hadn't been crying. The heat on her cheeks was from embarrassment and anger, not tears. She twisted her hair into a loose bun and tied it up with her scrunchie. She splashed a little water on her face and dabbed it dry with a paper towel.
Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out some lip gloss and applied it to her lips. She stared herself in the eyes and said, "You can do this. To hell with him. If he doesn't want to be cordial then forget him."
She turned and walked out of the bathroom with a bit more purpose in her step. Maybe Ralph would bring Jake to their study session. That would be good. Prom might have been a long way off, but she wanted to secure her date before Christmas.
If Leo wanted to be a jerk then she could be a jerk too. She slipped back into the room as quietly as she could. Mr. Andrews was at the white board working through more sample problems.
Lissa slid into her seat next to Leo, who seemed to be right where he was when she had left, head down and asleep.
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