Backlog: I Wanna Run Through The Halls of My High School
Who: Mercedes and Mike, with Coach Beiste
When: December 14, 2018
Where: William McKinley High School
What: Getting up to some trouble
Trying not to remember what happened the last time he was at WMHS, Mike instead focused on the trophies on display. Since Coach Beiste started became the coach of the football team his junior year, there were actual football trophies in there among the various cheerleading trophies. He should probably go see his old coach.tt
Mike was waiting for Mercedes, who had somehow convinced him to pay the Home of the Titans, a visit.
Mercedes waltzed right in, grinning as the familiar scent of the halls obscured all her other senses. "After all this time, this place still smells the same." She said to herself. Some things had changed of course but the essence was still there.
Mercedes felt sixteen again, hell, she could still remember the exact routes she took to and from class. It was kind of eerie.
Getting his fill of nostalgia, Mike turned away from the trophy case. He spotted Mercedes, who had just turned the corner. He walked over to her.
“Ayo Mercedes.” He called out to her, before remembering there were classes going on, at least for a while longer.
Mercedes grinned when she saw Mike, "Chang! How've you been?" Her number one Asian friend will always be her sister Tina, but Mike was second on her list, and part of the reason was because of Tina.
She got closer to him, and threw her arms out enthusiastically. "Gimmie a big ol' hug."
Mike gave his old friend a “big ol’ hug” and an even bigger smile.
“So you didn’t answer my question.” She said, making sure to squeeze the life out of him before letting go, “How’ve you been?” She was alluding to a lot of things, but she wasn’t actually going to out right say it. She had more tact than that. Even if it didn’t seem like it sometimes.
These the days Mike had a default answer to this question, and that’s what he gave Mercedes. “Could be better, I’m just glad I’m not worse.” In his head, he tacked on a ”Yet.” “But I think things are starting to look up now that we get a chance to kick it. Even if school isn’t exactly my first choice.”
“Oh come on, have some imagination, we can do a lot at this school.” Mercedes smirked, thinking about all the rules they no longer had to abide by. “Think about it, what did you always want to do in high school but couldn’t?”
“Burn it down?” Mike joked. Something he shouldn’t be joking about since he was a cop and his best friend was a fireman. “Matt and I always said that we should sneak in a Slip N’ Slide and tear it down the hallway. So unless you know where we can get one of those on short notice... But we’ll save that idea for later. Honor Matt’s memory.” He chuckled.
Mercedes laughed, “Hell yeah we do, that’s sounds fun! But we should probably do it when it’s not freezing your ass off cold. Like in the summer if I can get back then.” Summers were her busy dates, that’s when everyone went on tour which meant that she was usually off working.
She thought for a moment, trying to figure out what the first order of business was...”Wanna break into the teacher’s lounge? I never went in there.”
“Hmm. Breaking and entering? As a lawman, I should say no. But as a former student of this hellhole, I do want to see where the magic happens.” Mike crossed his arms, but was smiling. “Though I’m sure there’s another, more lawful way to gain entry.”
Mercedes rolled her eyes, she should have known better than to use those words. “School’s still not over yet, it’s probably unlocked.” She began to walk in the direction of the teacher’s lounge, she knew it was probably nothing special but her curiosity got the better of her. If there was one thing Mercedes liked more than singing, it was snooping.
“Hmm. Probably. Let’s see what happens.” Mike caught up with Mercedes, and fell into step with her. “Although at some point, I should probably see Coach Beiste.”
“Why?” Mercedes asked, furrowing a brow, sure Beiste was the old high school football coach, but Mercedes never bothered to keep up with her old teachers...except for Mr.Schuester, for the first two years or so at least, but then again, she didn’t actually live in Lima anymore.
“Well. She did me a favor and I want to thank her. Even if things didn’t turn out like I thought they would.” Coach Beiste had let Mike use the football field to propose to Quinn. She had wished him luck. And with everything that happened, he hadn’t been back to see her.
Mercedes didn’t know the whole story of the proposal. She just knew that he proposed and got shot down because Quinn was in love with another person. It struck her kind of odd that she didn’t know the whole proposal story...it must have slipped her mind amongst all the crazy.
“What did she do?” She asked innocently.
Mike didn’t know how to explain what Coach Beiste did without telling Mercedes the details. “Well, I had it all planned out. I proposed on the fifty yard line of the football field. Had a nice picnic dinner with food from Quinn’s favorite restaurant. Coach hooked it up with the lights. You know how it ends.” He wondered if Quinn saying no was the worst defeat the field had ever witnessed. He let out a snerk at the thought. Up until that clipped, dry laugh, he hadn’t shown any emotion.
Mercedes frowned, well that definitely killed the mood. She wished she didn’t ask, but it was good to know, she guessed, this way she wouldn’t go around sticking her foot in her mouth. She probably should have asked Quinn though. There was an awkward beat of silence whilst Mercedes decided what to do. She could either let it go, or comfort him, she wasn’t sure which was better.
Maybe it was better this way though, she considered saying, marrying someone who didn’t love you was not fair to you and Quinn did the right thing and now he could move on. Only he obviously wasn’t over it, and she couldn’t really blame him. Instead she gave him a pat on the shoulder and a small smile.
Mike did his best to return the smile. “Yeah. Sorry for being The Moment Killer. I’m we’re here to have fun, right?” Mike gave a fist pump and what he hoped passed for an enthusiastic roar. “Well, as much fun as one can have in a high school without paintball guns or fire crackers.”
His old friend wasn’t here to hear his sad ass story. She was here to have a riot and to kick it with him. Somehow. In Lima, Ohio. At their old high school.
“Fuck. I wish we did have paintball guns or fire crackers.” He joked. “I think we’ve hit the jackpot. I mean this is it right? Unless “Teacher’s Lounge” written in black stenciled letters is lying to me.” He nodded at the door.
Mercedes hadn’t even noticed where they were going until Mike pointed it out. “Oh holy shit, I was totally not paying any attention.” She laughed, she was lucky she didn’t walk right into the door. “Yeah lets hit it. I wonder if they’ve got any coffee”
It was weird but she had always wondered what the coffee tasted like in the teacher’s lounge.
“It probably tastes like shit, if they have any at all. Like half the time, some of our teacher had major sticks up their asses or they were falling asleep to the sound of their own voices right along with us.” Mike chuckled. He brought his hand up to the door knob to test it. He smirked in satisfaction. “Unlocked.”
“Sweet.” Mercedes whistled and stalked in. She wasn’t being very sneaky, she was just being her usual Mercedes self. The teacher’s lounge was disappointing. Mercedes saw no suspicious activities or illegal gambling. It was just boring. “Well that was anticlimactic.”
“I know right? I was kinda expecting something scandalous like a teacher getting lap dances from students or doing lines. Or at the very least, a pinball machine.” Mike looked around the teacher’s lounge. There was a a coffee machine, a fridge, some tables and chairs plus a sad little couch that would never get to see any action of any kind. Just boring teaching stuff.
“I was thinkin’ like a gossip circle at least - some tabs on the students? Any of that?” Seriously, the way things were back in high school -
“What are you two doing in here?”
Mercedes whipped around, not expecting to be caught in the boring room.
Linda Parker walked towards the middle of the teachers’ lounge, looking curiously at the intruders. As soon as they turned around, her eyebrows raised in surprise and a warm smile stretched across her face in recognition. “Mike? Mercedes? What are you kids doing in here?” She took in the appearance of her former AP American Govt students and smirked. “Well, I guess I can’t really call you kids anymore, huh?”
“Mrs. Parker.” Mike flashed a dopey grin at seeing his old teacher. She was the reason he took the class, but he found out that he really enjoyed the subject.
“Oh, I think it’s been long enough since graduation. You guys can call me Linda if you’d like.” Mrs. Parker set her briefcase down on one of the circular tables and approached them. “I can’t believe how long it’s been.” She shook her head at the thought. “How are you? And...seriously, what are you doing in here?”
"I'm good Mrs. P!" Mercedes had the habit of shortening names to just initials, and habits were hard to break, calling the woman Linda would just be weird. It was kind of confusing back in high school with Ms. Pillsbury's very very similar initials. The only differences was the Mrs. and the Ms. titles.
"We're here to cause trouble, you know, just like we used to."
Mrs. Parker laughed, crossing her arms as she regarded them. “Oh, that’s right. You Glee kids always had something up your sleeves. Unfortunately, you probably picked the most boring room in this building to explore. So,” she tilted her head to the side and stretched the syllable in emphasis, “I have to ask this of all the alumni I run into. What do you do for a living?”
Mike was nodding at every word, so he didn’t realize that Mrs. Parker had asked a question. “Oh. Uh... I’m a cop, working with the Lima PD. Nothing major.” The corner of his mouth quirked down. He thought about how that sounded. It was a job to be proud of. But sometimes he wondered what would have happened if he continued his education. “Yeah... I mean it’s a hard job sometimes, but fulfilling.”
“I sing,” Mercedes explained, “Backup, you know, for artists when they go on tour. It’s a pretty cool job, and I get to do what I love.”
Plus it was getting her to places. Soon she’ll be in LA, singing on her own, being her own boss...having her own label, but she didn’t want to get too far ahead of herself.
“Yeah. I still have the cooler job though. I get a gun.” Mike made a finger gun and made a “BAM” noise.
“You can be my bodyguard,” Mercedes joked. The thought was amusing to say the least...oooh the things she would do to embarrass him...Mercedes would definitely make him wear a ridiculous uniform.
“But seriously. That’s pretty kickass Mercedes. Hook it up with concert tix.” He balked as he remembered that his old teacher was standing right there and he just said the word “ass” in front of her. He looked sheepish. “Uh, sorry Mrs. Parker.”
Linda merely laughed. “Thank you, but considering some of the things I hear these kids say nowadays, I think you can get away with ass.” She made a little hum of approval, smiling at them fondly. “A police officer and a singer. That’s fantastic. I’m proud of you guys. I always knew you’d do well.” They had both been two of her brightest students. “And don’t say it’s nothing major, Mike. If you like what you do, then I’d say that makes it very major.”
The last time they had spoken, Mike had been really interested in law school, which, with his immense potential, she had encouraged. She wondered what changed. Being the small town it was, she had heard all sorts of things about the alumni that were still here, most of which she’d rather not know. Which reminded her of something. “Oh, Mike, before you guys finish ‘causing trouble,’ you might want to stop by and see Coach Beiste. She has something for you.”
Mike wondered if he was blushing. Getting praise from Mrs. Parker still made his heart pound. “Uh, yeah. Thanks Mrs. Parker. We were going to swing by and see her.” He scrunched his face up at being reminded they he had to tell his old coach that his proposal to Quinn had been a train wreck. “I wonder what it could be.” He said aloud, more to himself than to the other two people in the room. “Right. Well, as exciting as the Teacher’s Lounge is, we should get going. Hope it won’t take eight years for us to talk again.” He nodded at Mercedes.
Mercedes gave a final wave to Mrs. Parker. It was good seeing old faces, but she didn’t expect to see the woman again for the rest of her life. It was just one of those things...people slipped through. Mike on the other hand needed to stay in contact or else she would track him down and kick his ass to Timbuktu and back.
“Bye, Linda.” Mike made a face. Mike found that the name sounded weird on his tongue. Yeah. I’m going to need a great escape out of this room now. He waved at Mrs. Parker and went to follow Mercedes out the door, but Mrs. Parker stopped him.
“Hold on there, Mike.” Linda briefly paused, not quite sure what caused her to call him back, but proceeded to open her briefcase and pull out a few pamphlets. “Now, I hope this isn’t too presumptuous of me. I usually keep these handy for my future poly sci majors, but...” She handed him brochures with information on the LSAT, related baccalaureate degree programs, and Ohio law schools, including one in nearby Ada. She offered him a warm smile and shrugged slightly. “Just something to think about. In case you’re still interested.”
Mike fanned out the pamphlets and scanned the titles. They were related to law school. Mike couldn’t believe Mrs. Parker remembered. “Thanks, Mrs. Parker. I’ll check these out.” And he would. He and Mrs. Parker had various conversations about his future as a lawyer. It was still something he wanted to do, but he didn’t really know if he still could. He gave her a smile.
Mercedes poked her head back into the room when she noticed that Mike didn’t follow. “Yo, Chang, you gonna stop flirtin’ and come with or what?”
“Uh, uh...” Mike felt his face go warm, so he ducked his head down. He was going to kill Mercedes for that. He blurted out a quick “Bye Mrs. Parker.”
Biting back a laugh, Linda waved as Mike all but dashed out of the room. “Be good, you two.”
Mike had found Coach Beiste in her office. Mercedes said she was going to try and track down her Drama teacher. They played catch up before finally getting around to what happened with the proposal.
“I found this out on the football field, down by the twenty yard line.” Coach put the ring down on the desk. “Take it Fabray said no.” She had heard the talk in the hall. The other faculty got their kicks out of gossip, whether about follow teachers, students or former students. But she didn’t put much stalk in it.
Looking up at the ceiling to avoid facing the engagement ring or Coach Beiste, Mike answered. “Yeah.”
“I’m real sorry to hear that.” The football coach had wished her former player the best of luck after he had come to her for help. He had been so sure that she was going to be yes. She wasn’t going to pry. It wasn’t any of her business, and his monosyllabic response told her Mike wouldn’t up to her.
“Well. Not much to it.” Mike finally broke eye contact with the ceiling and looked at Coach. “I’m not the person she wanted to be with. It just took me proposing for her to finally get around to letting me in on that fact.” He uncrossed his arms, that he hadn’t even notice crossing in the first place. He then sighed. “I’m sorry. I just don’t want a reminder.” He nodded at the ring. He wouldn’t know what to do with it.
“Maybe. But you should probably take the ring and find a way to put it to some good use.” Coach Beiste slid the ring across her desk putting it closer to Mike.
Mike bit his lip, hesitating. The ring set him back a bit. It was probably too late to return the ring to the store. But there had to be some way to sell the ring. It seemed cruel to go through all of that effort just to end up selling it, but he was going to be a father soon. He had that to think about that too. He reached over and took the engagement ring back. “Yeah. Maybe.”
When: December 14, 2018
Where: William McKinley High School
What: Getting up to some trouble
Trying not to remember what happened the last time he was at WMHS, Mike instead focused on the trophies on display. Since Coach Beiste started became the coach of the football team his junior year, there were actual football trophies in there among the various cheerleading trophies. He should probably go see his old coach.tt
Mike was waiting for Mercedes, who had somehow convinced him to pay the Home of the Titans, a visit.
Mercedes waltzed right in, grinning as the familiar scent of the halls obscured all her other senses. "After all this time, this place still smells the same." She said to herself. Some things had changed of course but the essence was still there.
Mercedes felt sixteen again, hell, she could still remember the exact routes she took to and from class. It was kind of eerie.
Getting his fill of nostalgia, Mike turned away from the trophy case. He spotted Mercedes, who had just turned the corner. He walked over to her.
“Ayo Mercedes.” He called out to her, before remembering there were classes going on, at least for a while longer.
Mercedes grinned when she saw Mike, "Chang! How've you been?" Her number one Asian friend will always be her sister Tina, but Mike was second on her list, and part of the reason was because of Tina.
She got closer to him, and threw her arms out enthusiastically. "Gimmie a big ol' hug."
Mike gave his old friend a “big ol’ hug” and an even bigger smile.
“So you didn’t answer my question.” She said, making sure to squeeze the life out of him before letting go, “How’ve you been?” She was alluding to a lot of things, but she wasn’t actually going to out right say it. She had more tact than that. Even if it didn’t seem like it sometimes.
These the days Mike had a default answer to this question, and that’s what he gave Mercedes. “Could be better, I’m just glad I’m not worse.” In his head, he tacked on a ”Yet.” “But I think things are starting to look up now that we get a chance to kick it. Even if school isn’t exactly my first choice.”
“Oh come on, have some imagination, we can do a lot at this school.” Mercedes smirked, thinking about all the rules they no longer had to abide by. “Think about it, what did you always want to do in high school but couldn’t?”
“Burn it down?” Mike joked. Something he shouldn’t be joking about since he was a cop and his best friend was a fireman. “Matt and I always said that we should sneak in a Slip N’ Slide and tear it down the hallway. So unless you know where we can get one of those on short notice... But we’ll save that idea for later. Honor Matt’s memory.” He chuckled.
Mercedes laughed, “Hell yeah we do, that’s sounds fun! But we should probably do it when it’s not freezing your ass off cold. Like in the summer if I can get back then.” Summers were her busy dates, that’s when everyone went on tour which meant that she was usually off working.
She thought for a moment, trying to figure out what the first order of business was...”Wanna break into the teacher’s lounge? I never went in there.”
“Hmm. Breaking and entering? As a lawman, I should say no. But as a former student of this hellhole, I do want to see where the magic happens.” Mike crossed his arms, but was smiling. “Though I’m sure there’s another, more lawful way to gain entry.”
Mercedes rolled her eyes, she should have known better than to use those words. “School’s still not over yet, it’s probably unlocked.” She began to walk in the direction of the teacher’s lounge, she knew it was probably nothing special but her curiosity got the better of her. If there was one thing Mercedes liked more than singing, it was snooping.
“Hmm. Probably. Let’s see what happens.” Mike caught up with Mercedes, and fell into step with her. “Although at some point, I should probably see Coach Beiste.”
“Why?” Mercedes asked, furrowing a brow, sure Beiste was the old high school football coach, but Mercedes never bothered to keep up with her old teachers...except for Mr.Schuester, for the first two years or so at least, but then again, she didn’t actually live in Lima anymore.
“Well. She did me a favor and I want to thank her. Even if things didn’t turn out like I thought they would.” Coach Beiste had let Mike use the football field to propose to Quinn. She had wished him luck. And with everything that happened, he hadn’t been back to see her.
Mercedes didn’t know the whole story of the proposal. She just knew that he proposed and got shot down because Quinn was in love with another person. It struck her kind of odd that she didn’t know the whole proposal story...it must have slipped her mind amongst all the crazy.
“What did she do?” She asked innocently.
Mike didn’t know how to explain what Coach Beiste did without telling Mercedes the details. “Well, I had it all planned out. I proposed on the fifty yard line of the football field. Had a nice picnic dinner with food from Quinn’s favorite restaurant. Coach hooked it up with the lights. You know how it ends.” He wondered if Quinn saying no was the worst defeat the field had ever witnessed. He let out a snerk at the thought. Up until that clipped, dry laugh, he hadn’t shown any emotion.
Mercedes frowned, well that definitely killed the mood. She wished she didn’t ask, but it was good to know, she guessed, this way she wouldn’t go around sticking her foot in her mouth. She probably should have asked Quinn though. There was an awkward beat of silence whilst Mercedes decided what to do. She could either let it go, or comfort him, she wasn’t sure which was better.
Maybe it was better this way though, she considered saying, marrying someone who didn’t love you was not fair to you and Quinn did the right thing and now he could move on. Only he obviously wasn’t over it, and she couldn’t really blame him. Instead she gave him a pat on the shoulder and a small smile.
Mike did his best to return the smile. “Yeah. Sorry for being The Moment Killer. I’m we’re here to have fun, right?” Mike gave a fist pump and what he hoped passed for an enthusiastic roar. “Well, as much fun as one can have in a high school without paintball guns or fire crackers.”
His old friend wasn’t here to hear his sad ass story. She was here to have a riot and to kick it with him. Somehow. In Lima, Ohio. At their old high school.
“Fuck. I wish we did have paintball guns or fire crackers.” He joked. “I think we’ve hit the jackpot. I mean this is it right? Unless “Teacher’s Lounge” written in black stenciled letters is lying to me.” He nodded at the door.
Mercedes hadn’t even noticed where they were going until Mike pointed it out. “Oh holy shit, I was totally not paying any attention.” She laughed, she was lucky she didn’t walk right into the door. “Yeah lets hit it. I wonder if they’ve got any coffee”
It was weird but she had always wondered what the coffee tasted like in the teacher’s lounge.
“It probably tastes like shit, if they have any at all. Like half the time, some of our teacher had major sticks up their asses or they were falling asleep to the sound of their own voices right along with us.” Mike chuckled. He brought his hand up to the door knob to test it. He smirked in satisfaction. “Unlocked.”
“Sweet.” Mercedes whistled and stalked in. She wasn’t being very sneaky, she was just being her usual Mercedes self. The teacher’s lounge was disappointing. Mercedes saw no suspicious activities or illegal gambling. It was just boring. “Well that was anticlimactic.”
“I know right? I was kinda expecting something scandalous like a teacher getting lap dances from students or doing lines. Or at the very least, a pinball machine.” Mike looked around the teacher’s lounge. There was a a coffee machine, a fridge, some tables and chairs plus a sad little couch that would never get to see any action of any kind. Just boring teaching stuff.
“I was thinkin’ like a gossip circle at least - some tabs on the students? Any of that?” Seriously, the way things were back in high school -
“What are you two doing in here?”
Mercedes whipped around, not expecting to be caught in the boring room.
Linda Parker walked towards the middle of the teachers’ lounge, looking curiously at the intruders. As soon as they turned around, her eyebrows raised in surprise and a warm smile stretched across her face in recognition. “Mike? Mercedes? What are you kids doing in here?” She took in the appearance of her former AP American Govt students and smirked. “Well, I guess I can’t really call you kids anymore, huh?”
“Mrs. Parker.” Mike flashed a dopey grin at seeing his old teacher. She was the reason he took the class, but he found out that he really enjoyed the subject.
“Oh, I think it’s been long enough since graduation. You guys can call me Linda if you’d like.” Mrs. Parker set her briefcase down on one of the circular tables and approached them. “I can’t believe how long it’s been.” She shook her head at the thought. “How are you? And...seriously, what are you doing in here?”
"I'm good Mrs. P!" Mercedes had the habit of shortening names to just initials, and habits were hard to break, calling the woman Linda would just be weird. It was kind of confusing back in high school with Ms. Pillsbury's very very similar initials. The only differences was the Mrs. and the Ms. titles.
"We're here to cause trouble, you know, just like we used to."
Mrs. Parker laughed, crossing her arms as she regarded them. “Oh, that’s right. You Glee kids always had something up your sleeves. Unfortunately, you probably picked the most boring room in this building to explore. So,” she tilted her head to the side and stretched the syllable in emphasis, “I have to ask this of all the alumni I run into. What do you do for a living?”
Mike was nodding at every word, so he didn’t realize that Mrs. Parker had asked a question. “Oh. Uh... I’m a cop, working with the Lima PD. Nothing major.” The corner of his mouth quirked down. He thought about how that sounded. It was a job to be proud of. But sometimes he wondered what would have happened if he continued his education. “Yeah... I mean it’s a hard job sometimes, but fulfilling.”
“I sing,” Mercedes explained, “Backup, you know, for artists when they go on tour. It’s a pretty cool job, and I get to do what I love.”
Plus it was getting her to places. Soon she’ll be in LA, singing on her own, being her own boss...having her own label, but she didn’t want to get too far ahead of herself.
“Yeah. I still have the cooler job though. I get a gun.” Mike made a finger gun and made a “BAM” noise.
“You can be my bodyguard,” Mercedes joked. The thought was amusing to say the least...oooh the things she would do to embarrass him...Mercedes would definitely make him wear a ridiculous uniform.
“But seriously. That’s pretty kickass Mercedes. Hook it up with concert tix.” He balked as he remembered that his old teacher was standing right there and he just said the word “ass” in front of her. He looked sheepish. “Uh, sorry Mrs. Parker.”
Linda merely laughed. “Thank you, but considering some of the things I hear these kids say nowadays, I think you can get away with ass.” She made a little hum of approval, smiling at them fondly. “A police officer and a singer. That’s fantastic. I’m proud of you guys. I always knew you’d do well.” They had both been two of her brightest students. “And don’t say it’s nothing major, Mike. If you like what you do, then I’d say that makes it very major.”
The last time they had spoken, Mike had been really interested in law school, which, with his immense potential, she had encouraged. She wondered what changed. Being the small town it was, she had heard all sorts of things about the alumni that were still here, most of which she’d rather not know. Which reminded her of something. “Oh, Mike, before you guys finish ‘causing trouble,’ you might want to stop by and see Coach Beiste. She has something for you.”
Mike wondered if he was blushing. Getting praise from Mrs. Parker still made his heart pound. “Uh, yeah. Thanks Mrs. Parker. We were going to swing by and see her.” He scrunched his face up at being reminded they he had to tell his old coach that his proposal to Quinn had been a train wreck. “I wonder what it could be.” He said aloud, more to himself than to the other two people in the room. “Right. Well, as exciting as the Teacher’s Lounge is, we should get going. Hope it won’t take eight years for us to talk again.” He nodded at Mercedes.
Mercedes gave a final wave to Mrs. Parker. It was good seeing old faces, but she didn’t expect to see the woman again for the rest of her life. It was just one of those things...people slipped through. Mike on the other hand needed to stay in contact or else she would track him down and kick his ass to Timbuktu and back.
“Bye, Linda.” Mike made a face. Mike found that the name sounded weird on his tongue. Yeah. I’m going to need a great escape out of this room now. He waved at Mrs. Parker and went to follow Mercedes out the door, but Mrs. Parker stopped him.
“Hold on there, Mike.” Linda briefly paused, not quite sure what caused her to call him back, but proceeded to open her briefcase and pull out a few pamphlets. “Now, I hope this isn’t too presumptuous of me. I usually keep these handy for my future poly sci majors, but...” She handed him brochures with information on the LSAT, related baccalaureate degree programs, and Ohio law schools, including one in nearby Ada. She offered him a warm smile and shrugged slightly. “Just something to think about. In case you’re still interested.”
Mike fanned out the pamphlets and scanned the titles. They were related to law school. Mike couldn’t believe Mrs. Parker remembered. “Thanks, Mrs. Parker. I’ll check these out.” And he would. He and Mrs. Parker had various conversations about his future as a lawyer. It was still something he wanted to do, but he didn’t really know if he still could. He gave her a smile.
Mercedes poked her head back into the room when she noticed that Mike didn’t follow. “Yo, Chang, you gonna stop flirtin’ and come with or what?”
“Uh, uh...” Mike felt his face go warm, so he ducked his head down. He was going to kill Mercedes for that. He blurted out a quick “Bye Mrs. Parker.”
Biting back a laugh, Linda waved as Mike all but dashed out of the room. “Be good, you two.”
Mike had found Coach Beiste in her office. Mercedes said she was going to try and track down her Drama teacher. They played catch up before finally getting around to what happened with the proposal.
“I found this out on the football field, down by the twenty yard line.” Coach put the ring down on the desk. “Take it Fabray said no.” She had heard the talk in the hall. The other faculty got their kicks out of gossip, whether about follow teachers, students or former students. But she didn’t put much stalk in it.
Looking up at the ceiling to avoid facing the engagement ring or Coach Beiste, Mike answered. “Yeah.”
“I’m real sorry to hear that.” The football coach had wished her former player the best of luck after he had come to her for help. He had been so sure that she was going to be yes. She wasn’t going to pry. It wasn’t any of her business, and his monosyllabic response told her Mike wouldn’t up to her.
“Well. Not much to it.” Mike finally broke eye contact with the ceiling and looked at Coach. “I’m not the person she wanted to be with. It just took me proposing for her to finally get around to letting me in on that fact.” He uncrossed his arms, that he hadn’t even notice crossing in the first place. He then sighed. “I’m sorry. I just don’t want a reminder.” He nodded at the ring. He wouldn’t know what to do with it.
“Maybe. But you should probably take the ring and find a way to put it to some good use.” Coach Beiste slid the ring across her desk putting it closer to Mike.
Mike bit his lip, hesitating. The ring set him back a bit. It was probably too late to return the ring to the store. But there had to be some way to sell the ring. It seemed cruel to go through all of that effort just to end up selling it, but he was going to be a father soon. He had that to think about that too. He reached over and took the engagement ring back. “Yeah. Maybe.”