Teaching Ms. Riggs. Stephanie Beck
She thought he might be a little nervous and amped up her smile. Instilling fear in her students was something she hoped to wait a few more weeks to do.
“My parents are pharmaceutical scientists. I spent the summer in France with them, mostly with my father in his lab.”
Ben could tell he hadn’t thought much of the experience even if he’d learned from it. The scowl on his face wasn’t a rebellious one. Thomas just looked genuinely unhappy at the memory. Her first instinct was to reach across the desk and pat his shoulder or offer some kind of comfort, but she refrained because it wasn’t quite appropriate.
“What did you think of the test?” she asked, hoping to get him on a different topic.
“Ah, it was pretty easy, I guess. I’d seen all the stuff before, but I won’t act out or anything in class, if you’re worried. I’m sure there’s lots of stuff I can learn from you.”
Ben smiled at his quick cover. “I am pretty smart.” She bit her tongue to keep from laughing when he blushed a little at his unintentional insult. “But here’s the thing that concerns me, Thomas. This test was set up especially to be a full year sampling for sophomores to give me an idea of what everyone retained from previous years. Most people did really well on what they’d already learned, but there is a ton of new stuff on here and you blew through it like it was a colors quiz. You’ve got an advanced understanding of what I’m teaching basics for in this class. If it were just you and me, I could keep you busy, but that’s not the case. I think you would do much better in Mr. Kai’s class.”
“Senior high chemistry?” he asked, his skepticism clear.
“Yes. I’ll talk to the guidance counselor and Mr. Kai for approval, but thought I’d ask for your thoughts first.”
He scratched his arm nervously before he replied, “I should probably talk to my uncle about it. Would it be a lot more homework? I don’t want to get spread too thin with all my new classes and football.”
“Maybe some, but not an unreasonable amount. I’d be happy to set up a meeting with your uncle, you, Mr. Kai and myself to answer any questions you and your uncle might have,” she promised with a reassuring smile. His foresight was a pleasant surprise.
“Okay, yeah. Uncle Mark’s number is on the card thing you handed out. Practice doesn’t start until four o’clock today, so if you can make something work between three-thirty and four it would be better for me.”
He pushed up from the stool onto his huge feet, reminding Ben of a young horse, still figuring out how to use all his limbs. She wondered how much he’d grown in the past summer to give him such difficulties. Her own growth spurts hadn’t put her past five and a half feet, so she couldn’t imagine the adjusting the poor kid was doing.
“I’ll call your uncle on my lunch break, how’s that sound?”
“Yeah, should work. Thanks, Ms. Riggs. Hey, is your name really Ben?”
“Actually, it’s Benfri, which was my mother’s maiden name.”
“That’s cool.”
“I think so.” She waved him out as students for her next class trickled in. “You’d better head to lunch. Stop in before practice. Hopefully we’ll get this all ready for you.”
* * * *
Must. Buy. Air freshener. Ben held her breath and smiled as her latest class filed out. Teenage boys smelled rough in the best scenario but the last group had come straight from gym class. She made a note to call the gym teacher and beg for deodorant reminders to be sent home.
Before she could see to the future preservation of her abused olfactory system, she had to open a window and call Thomas’s uncle. With a fresh breeze permeating the room, she sighed in relief. The day was going well, but the break was incredibly welcomed.
To-do list in mind, she pulled Thomas’s card from her box of contacts and, sure enough, no mom or dad was listed. He’d mentioned spending the summer with his parents in their lab, but there was no notation of either of them.
She was sure she would hear the story of Thomas’s family before too long. As she’d been on the gossips’ lips before, she knew the strength of the pipeline in small communities. Since the schools and churches were information central, she knew she wouldn’t have long to wait for all the latest on everyone else’s business.
She dialed the number and waited, her mind wandering to dinner as her stomach growled. The food was still as bad as it had ever been in the cafeteria, so she’d have to start bringing something from home. Cereal for three meals a day sounded horrible. Doable, but detestable.
“What?”
The harsh greeting jerked Ben out of her nutritional thoughts.
“Ah, Mr. Dougstat?”
“Yeah?”
“Hello, I’m Ben Riggs from Flathead Falls Schools. I’m Thomas’s pre-chem teacher. There is something I would like to talk about with you and Thomas if you have time?”
“Yeah, what’s that?” he demanded and cursed. “Damn. Can I call you back? I’m getting my butt kicked by a cow who doesn’t want her shots right now. As long as Thomas and Kira are okay–”
“They are, absolutely.” Understanding dawned and if he’d been fighting with a cow, she had to admit he was actually being pretty polite. “If you could come in at three-thirty today we could talk about it.”
“Fine, Riggs, chem, three-thirty.”
“Yep, good luck with the cow.” Ben smiled when she put the phone back in the cradle.
It had been much too long since she’d even thought about cows. Her dad had raised dairy cattle and she’d always helped, but after he died, she’d never stepped foot back on a farm. Another bittersweet memory, she thought, with a long sigh.
Ben’s last class of the day had just filed out when Mr. Kai arrived with Thomas at his heels already talking chemistry. To her relief she understood most of what they said and ended up laughing with them over lame science jokes. She was about to tell one of her own when something assaulted her nose.
Cow poop. It wasn’t a new smell, not in rural Missouri, but so far it was one smell, thanks to clean shoes, she hadn’t experienced in her classroom.
Ben watched the entry, not knowing what she expected in Thomas’s uncle, but the tall man wearing a Flathead Falls ball cap with blond curls around the edge wasn’t it.
He was fit and the source of the smell that clung to him wasn’t obvious since his jeans looked old but fresh and his shoes were bright white. After cuffing his nephew on the shoulder in greeting, he looked over at Ben. She stopped thinking a moment when he smiled.
“Hello.” He held out his hand. “I’m Mark Dougstat. Are you Ms. Riggs?”
Remembering she was a professional, Ben shook herself and extended her hand as well. “Yes, I am. Thanks for making it in on such short notice.”
“No problem. So, what’s this all about?”
Ben explained about Thomas’s test and then let Mr. Kai take over. She listened as the older teacher went over his syllabus and how his class worked. Thomas and his uncle listened intently, Mark nodding several times and asking questions along the way.
Smart questions, she thought. He was obviously close to his nephew to worry about his workload. She found herself smiling for no reason except for the pleasure she felt in listening to his voice and ordered herself to stop. She hadn’t come home to fall head over heels for the first man who smiled at her. No matter how nice of a smile he had.
“Can you handle it?” Mark asked as Thomas looked over the text and a few sample tests.
“Yep.” The youth was already engrossed in a page full of equations and barely looked up.