Lumen Cove Read online

  “Then she made the right decision lowering to a track that is more suited for her,” Alex responded not coldly but firmly. “I’m not about to force a girl who just had a death in the family into a strenuous course. You know how I conduct my AP class, Miss Munter.”

  “Caroline. Yes, that’s why I was hoping you’d consider helping her,” Miss Munter said with a big smile, batting her lashes at him again.

  “Oh no. No no,” Alex said with a laugh that contained no humor. “You can appreciate why I don’t take on project students.”

  “Oh, that’s all just silly girls with raging hormones. Kelsey isn’t like that. She’s a good girl. And this scholarship would give her a full ride to anywhere she wants to go. She already has early admission to CalTech and Harvard, but she’s holding out for M.I.T. Alex, she’s worked so hard for this I just don’t want her to throw it away because she’s not in the right headspace to make good decisions right now.”

  Alex sighed. He knew all about making poor decisions while in the wrong headspace. “Let me think about it,” he said. Miss Munter beamed at him.

  “That’s all I ask,” she replied, patting his arm and giving him a wink before sauntering away happily.

  A woman with brown frizzy hair made her way around the counter towards him, pushing her glasses up her nose with the same hand that was holding a giant cheese Danish before taking a bite.

  “What’d old Munter want?” she questioned around the pastry in her mouth.

  “She wants me to build her an awning,” Alex replied, and she looked at him puzzled. “And force a student into my AP class when not only is she ill-equipped, she doesn’t want to be in it,” he added as he gathered his papers and shouldered his bag, moving the both of them towards the exit to the hallway.

  The woman’s eyebrows raised while she licked her lips. “You mean Kelsey Charming?”

  “Hey Miss Drickle!” a student yelled from somewhere, and Hilary raised her half-eaten Danish in the air.

  “Yes, hello,” she responded. “You need to help her,” she said to Alex, taking another huge bite of the danish.

  “Hilary, you know I don’t get involved with students like that.

  “You’re so touchy,” Hilary replied rolling her eyes. Her chewing reminded Alex briefly of a cow.

  “No, they’re touchy. I don’t want any problems.”

  “Do you know how rewarding it is to help a student who is struggling? How amazing it is to see the light finally come on?”

  “Do you know how rewarding I find it not to be locked in a penitentiary?” Alex mocked. Hilary gave him a withering look.

  “Oh, ha. Ha. I’m teaching Kelsey Charming Advanced Calculus as an independent study this year because she learned pre-calc on her own. Over the summer.” Hilary punctuated her statement by taking another obnoxiously large bite of Danish.

  Alex’s stride stuttered at this information, and he felt a student bump into his back. “Sorry, Mr. Danvers.”

  “No trouble,” Alex responded watching Hilary swallow then shove the last into her mouth as she smirked. “Are you serious?”

  Hilary nodded, pausing to chew and swallow before she continued. “I doubt she needs me, but she has to be in a class. She’s also taking AP Chemistry and AP Physics. If she loses AP Lit she’s out of the running for that big scholarship the Illumination Foundation gives out.” She began to suck glaze off all five fingers one by one. “You should help her.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Alex said rolling his eyes as they approached his classroom. “I said I’d think about it.”

  “Good!” Hilary said brightly, continuing down the hall towards the stairs, “I’ll see you in the lounge for lunch.”

  Alex simply raised a hand in farewell and entered his classroom as Hilary went on her way to the science wing. There were a few students already in their seats while a few more clustered along the window sills soaking in the morning sunshine. He was one of the lucky teachers whose classroom overlooked the water. Hilary got stuck with a view of the football field and Fitz, well, he was in a windowless gym most of the day.

  “Mr. Danvers,” an older man said as he pushed out of Alex’s chair. He had white hair in abundance on the top of his head, coming out his ears and out his nose. He had coke-bottle glasses that shrunk his eyes so that he looked like a surprised ferret. He didn’t smile as he gripped Alex’s hand to shake it.

  “Mr. Papert?” Alex moved to set his papers and bag down on his desk. “Did you get lost on the way to the biology lab?”

  “Ha ha, very funny Danvers. I imagine you were the funny fellow who suggested I teach freshman biology? Bunch of dunderheads all of them. I sincerely fear for the future of this country,” he replied with a sniff. Alex bit his lip to keep in a laugh. “No, I came to talk to you about a student of mine-”

  “Kelsey Charming?” Alex sighed turning to face him. The older man’s face showed surprise.

  “Yes,” he said running his tongue over his teeth. “So you’ve heard of her, good. You know she took Eleanor’s spot on the HOA?”

  “Yes, Mr. Papert I was there for the vote.”

  Mr. Papert sucked his teeth in annoyance. “Well at least they didn’t allow her to take over the Chairman position - or chairwoman, I guess. A teenager running the HOA? Pft.” Mr. Papert crossed his arms over his chest and brooded. Alex bit the inside of his lip to keep himself from laughing.

  “She’s a legal adult,” Alex said, less in defense of the decision to keep a Charming family member on the board and more to irritate Papert.

  Mr. Papert snorted and looked unconvinced.

  “I can’t make any promises, but I’ll talk to her about switching back to the AP track.”

  Mr. Papert’s expression didn’t change. He sucked his teeth again. “Try not to ruin her with all your poetry nonsense. She’s the only student I can tolerate currently.” He paused then. “Her grandmother’s death didn’t do her any good. Didn’t do any of us any good, really. Lovely woman Eleanor.”

  “Yes,” Alex replied surprised at hearing Papert give someone a compliment for once. “Yes she was.”

  “She sold you one of her rentals didn’t she?” Mr. Papert asked, eying him beadily through the thick lenses of his glasses.

  Alex gave him a tight smile. “Yes, she did. Last winter. Why?”

  Mr. Papert sucked his teeth thoughtfully. “Eleanor never asked for favors from people. She never wanted anyone to feel like she was pressuring them into something they didn’t want to do. But she was real good at softening folks so they’d maybe come to the idea on their own.” Mr. Papert eyed him. “I’ve been trying to get her to sell me one of her vacation rentals for twenty years. Me and Emmaline want some security for our golden years. But she sold it to you, Danvers.” He sucked his teeth again. “Might be ‘cause it is directly under your unit. Made sense.” Mr. Papert sniffed. “Or, might be Kelsey is already a whiz at science and doesn’t need any help from me. But she might need it from you.”

  Alex blinked at the old man who patted him solidly on his shoulder before turning and shuffling out of the classroom. He hadn’t known Eleanor well but had to admit that did sound a bit like her. From what he could tell the old woman had been headstrong and passionate, and, now that he thought back on it, very much the doting grandmother. He remembered Kelsey then, the first time he met her playing out in his head. Eleanor called to a young girl who couldn’t have been older than eleven. She had been bashful, crossing one ankle over the other and ducking her head so that her dark hair curtained her face. This is my Kelsey, Mr. Danvers, she had said, tucking the preteen’s hair behind her ear. As if that were a cue, Kelsey stood straight and met his eyes, giving him a tight lipped smile before her gaze darted around the crowded auditorium, likely looking for a friend to save her from this adult interaction. She will start at Lambency Middle next fall. Kelsey had muttered an almost inaudible “hi” meeting his gaze briefly again before looking down at her shoes. Kelsey, Mr. Danvers is the new English teachers at th
e high school. The girl had mumbled something that sounded like “not very good at English.” Eleanor pinched her arm lightly and scoffed before telling Alex with a big smile that her granddaughter was more adept at the STEM subjects. She’d won the regional science fair in the elementary category last year. Alex had responded by being politely impressed assured the top of Kelsey’s head, for she was still staring at her feet, that she needn’t worry, she wouldn’t be seeing him for five or so years yet. She had time to catch up.

  Well, it looked like that time had come. Alex was none too comfortable with the idea of taking on a project student, much less a female, but it seemed as if he had no choice.

  Chapter Two

  “Darcy is a complete douchebag.”

  Alex struggled not to roll his eyes as the class tittered and giggled. “Language, Mr. Key.”

  “He is so not a douchebag,” Reva insisted, her face screwing up as she swiveled in her seat to look back at Logan. “He took Elizabeth’s ‘no’ for an answer, which is more than I can say for some guys around here.” She swiveled back to face the front for emphasis.

  Logan huffed. “I’m sorry the entire town thinks he’s a douchebag.”

  “Lang-“

  “LoKey!” Reva interjected her hands raising with her voice but not turning. For a second Alex thought she had sworn in some kind of slang he was unfamiliar with and opened his mouth to intervene when Elliot Braum’s muffled voice came from where he dropped his head onto his folded arms.

  “Do you guys ever stop arguing?”

  “She’s delusional.”

  “He’s an asshole!” Reva exclaimed. Alex cleared his throat loudly. “Sorry, Mr. Danvers,” she muttered, waving a disconcerted hand in the air.

  “Reva, we were asked to give our opinion on the characters in the novel and LoKey did that.”

  Alex’s eyes fell on Kelsey Charming who looked utterly bored as she twirled a pen between her fingers while the other hand supported the weight of her cheek as she leaned heavily on her elbow.

  “Then you gave your opinion and now it’s someone else’s turn,” Kelsey finished waving her pen in a circular motion indicating the rest of the room. Reva frowned at her.

  “Yes, thank you Miss Charming. Tell us what you think of Mr. Darcy,” Alex said, leaning back against the front of his desk. Suddenly Kelsey was ramrod straight in her seat, her eyes wide.

  “Er… I didn’t mean me,” she said followed by a nervous chuckle.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Alex said. “Fitzwilliam Darcy, Dreamboat or D…” Alex paused nearly repeating Logan’s colorful description. “Discourteous suitor?”

  A low chuckle rumbled from the left side of the room as Cody Alger said “Nice save, Mr. Danvers.” The rest of the class tittered again. Alex gave him a taciturn smile before turning back to Kelsey who was whispering furiously with Reva.

  “Miss Charming?”

  Kelsey looked at him again.

  “I agree with Reva,” she said firmly and a smile tugged at the corners of Reva’s lips as she tossed her hair, preening. Logan groaned behind her.

  Alex looked from Kelsey to Reva for a beat before asking, “Why?”

  Kelsey looked nervously from him to the girl next to her as a fine blush crept up her neck. “Um…”

  She jumped as the bell sounded loudly in the hall and almost immediately the thunder of hundreds of students getting up from their desks sounded through the entire building.

  “Saved by the bell, Miss Charming,” Alex called over the desks screeching against the floor as gangling teenagers tried to extricate themselves from them. “Please pick up your summer reading essays on the way out.” He added grabbing a stack of papers from his desk.

  Students filed past him one by one and he plucked their paper from his stack. He was hoping that Kelsey would be last but she was right in the middle, Reva in front of her and Elliot behind. She took it without looking at it, keeping the front page turned against her leg so no one could see. Alex blinked, feeling miffed. If she knew she would receive a bad grade when turning it in why didn’t she try harder?

  “Reva what’d you get?” Elliot asked as the three of them filed out the door. “I got an A!”

  Reva rolled her eyes, looking over her shoulder at him as they melted into a sea of bodies. “So did I, Elliot. It was a simple book report. How do you not get an A?”

  Elliot frowned and nudged Kelsey’s arm with the back of his hand. “Hey, what’d you get?”

  Kelsey reluctantly lifted her paper, being careful to keep it tilted away from Elliot’s gaze, and gulped. There was no grade. Just “see me after class” scribbled in tight red cursive underneath her name. This was why she couldn’t make the AP thing work. Mr. Danvers was one of the toughest graders in the school - this was his reaction to a simple book report? She had dreaded being his student since she entered Lambency High but her grandmother had always told her she was being silly. That Mr. Danvers is a nice man. He grades hard but fair. You just keep doing what you’re doing Kells Bells and we’ll get through it together. She shook her head.

  “Uh, I got a B,” she said, shoving the paper in her bag as they let the flow of students guide them down the hall to their lockers.

  “That’s great for you Kels!” Reva exclaimed, edging out of the flow of traffic and dropping her bag in front of her locker. “I told you going to the writing center would help! Meet up with you guys outside!”

  “Kay,” Kelsey hollered back, she and Elliot already being moved forward towards the other end of the hall.

  “You know if you ever want to study together I’m totally down,” Elliot said, sidling up next to her as the crowd thinned. “Us STEM kids gotta stick together.”

  Kelsey snorted dropping her bag in front of her own locker. “The blind leading the blind.”

  Elliot chuckled working the lock on the door next to hers. “I’m just saying there’s strength in numbers.”

  “Yeah, okay,” Kelsey replied sarcastically, pulling her Calculus and Physics books from her locker and attempting to shove the large volumes into her bag.

  “Hey how’s the calc going?” Elliot asked the question nearly drowned in the sound of both their lockers slamming at the same time.

  “Oh great. We’re actually getting into linear algebra. We just started with matrices,” Kelsey replied, her English paper momentarily forgotten as they walked down the hall towards the front doors.

  “Shit I can barely get through inverse functions in calc 2. I forgot everything over the summer,” Elliot bemoaned, his head hanging back as he sighed.

  “I’ll help you,” Kelsey responded automatically. She had been helping her friends with math and science homework since fifth grade.

  “You’re the best, Kels,” Elliot grinned as he gave one of the large doors a shove and gestured her out first.

  She barely had time to smile at him before something bright yellow sailed past her ear a mere inch from hitting her. Elliot took a full blow to the face, the water balloon bursting and dumping water down his front. Kelsey looked back out at the vast front lawn of Lambency High and took in the carnage of the entire student body pelting each other with water balloons. Large trashcans dotted the playing field, filled to the brim with ammunition in an array of colors. The senior class dominated the battlefield, some lower classmen attempting to shield their heads with backpacks and binders as they ran for their lives while others joined in the fray.

  “Why didn’t we know it was Senior Splash Day? All seniors are supposed to know,” Kelsey cried over the din, turning to Elliot just in time for what felt like an ice brick to hit her between the shoulder blades, soaking the back of her shirt.

  “Nice bra Kelsey. Didn’t take you for a leopard print kinda girl,” someone yelled. A chorus of laughter echoed against the building.

  “Yeah bad day to wear white,” someone else sniggered.

  “Shut it, assholes,” Elliot hollered as he brushed past Kelsey, taking the stairs two at a time and launching hims
elf at a barrel of balloons, firing them off in quick succession nailing each football player that was laughing in the gut or chest. Elliot may have been Lambency’s second string pitcher, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.

  Kelsey took the opportunity to hop down the steps and slink along the side of the building. There was no way she could get across the lawn without becoming soaked through and yeah, the idiot jock was right she’d picked a very bad day to wear white. She would have to go a few blocks down and over to get away from this mess. She was totally unnoticed until she turned the corner to the parking lot and met three of Lambency High’s defensive line dragging another trash can full of balloons toward the front lawn. They all froze, blinking at each other for a millisecond before Kelsey’s brain unjammed first. She made a running dive for the stairwell that descended into the ground towards the basement.

  She heard someone yell “Where ya goin’ Kelsey?” and another bellow, “GET HER!” as she hit the door hard, careening wildly into the pitch black. She hadn’t really expected the door to open but within a half second she was running. Her bag banged against her hip as she followed a feeble light from a bare bulb hanging at the end of the walkway. She flew between shelves with all matter of junk on them, hoping the door beyond was unlocked and led to the upper levels.

  Pounding footsteps echoed behind her along with raucous laughter. She skidded up to the door and tugged desperately at the handle which didn’t budge. A balloon splashed against the wall beside her head. She ducked, squealing then laughing. She turned the knob so it hurt her wrist but it gave way, merely stuck not locked. She spun herself through it and threw her body back against it, hoping it would stick harder this time but didn’t hang around to see the results.

  The universe was, for once, conspiring with her as she bounded up a flight of stairs, taking them two at a time. The door below burst open again as she sped through the door at the top of the stairs, slamming it shut behind her. She didn’t bother to try and get her bearings she just ran, lockers passing by in a blur. She checked a classroom door but it was locked, hurried to another and the knob gave just as the door at the end of the hall banged open. She spun inside, closing the door behind her as softly as possible in her haste. She flicked the lock and ducked down below the window, hand holding the knob while the other covered her mouth to quiet her ragged breathing. She jumped as a cacophony of hands drummed against the lockers, hoots and hollers echoing down the empty hall.