Clara's Undoing

Clara's Undoing - Chapter Five: Coffee Soulmates And Jersey Muse

“Here you go.” I said, handing him his cup. “I can’t believe we’re coffee soulmates, Mr. Parrish.”

He looked at me weirdly. “Come again?”

“Coffee soulmates.” I repeated myself. “You’ve never heard of it?”

He shook his head lightly, looking at me like I just said that the moon was pink. “Is there such a thing?”

“Yes.” I answered confidently. “Every once in a while, you meet someone in your lifetime who happens to want their coffee exactly the way you do.”

“That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.” He commented.

“You don’t believe me? Fine. Is there anything else you drink aside from this?”

He thought for a moment before saying, “Hot caramel macchiato.”

“With soymilk, a pump of hazelnut, and no vanilla?” I guessed, knowing it was exactly how I wanted mine.

He shook his head in disbelief. “How did you know that?”

“Cause that’s exactly how I want mine.” I quickly muttered. “And do you take black coffee with two spoons of sugar and a pump of caramel?”

He scoffed, once again rendered incredulously, a smile of amusement plastered on his perfectly sculpted face. “That’s brilliantly scary. Impossible.”

“It’s not.” I said. “It’s a once in a blue moon thing which should be celebrated with more cups of coffee.”

Mr. Parrish laughed. “Calm down, Lorelai Gilmore, we haven’t even finished this one. What are you doing this early in school?”

I took a long sip of my coffee before answering. “I always like to get in an hour or two earlier than everyone so I could bask in the silence of our beautiful campus but I just stay at the west staircase that nobody ever uses so I wouldn’t get caught. Sidney came in with me this morning because she partied too hard last night, spilled coffee on her uniform, and couldn’t come home or her mom would find out so she borrowed my spare and is now at the library sleeping—which I now realize I probably shouldn’t have told you.”

“Don’t worry, it’s not my habit to Coffee and tell.” He reassured me, taking his time to finish his cup of coffee.

I smiled sheepishly, then realized he was just standing there, leaning against his desk and basically… hanging out with me.

“Wait, don’t you have a first period class, Mr. Parrish?” I asked out of curiosity. “I must be bothering you. Well, more than I already have. I should go.”

“No, it’s fine. Stay.” He insisted. “My class doesn’t start until third period so you can hang out here any time. If you’d like, I can give you a key so you can ‘bask in the silence’ here every morning. That way you won’t have to hide in the halls.”

“Seriously?” I asked in utter surprise.

He nodded as a response then pulled out a key from one of his desk drawers before handing it over to me, which I happily accepted.

“Then I shall bring you coffee every morning in return.” I said proudly. “Consider me your personal coffee vending machine.”

“That sounds like a mouthful.” He replied. “I prefer the soulmate one.”

The rest of the morning went uneventful. We finished our coffee in silence and I left when the first period bell rang. Mr. Parrish was actually a good guy. Most of the time, he was silent in class and didn’t do much talking beyond the teaching part but today I saw a side of him that didn’t include Physics and experiments.

By lunchtime, I had already gotten used to Mr. Parrish’s shirt. No one had noticed how huge it was under the blazer, to my relief, and it was actually pretty comfortable than my usual fit shirt. Not to mention the fabric was super soft.

Mom sent in a text too, saying how they had already left and were on their way to Macau for a meeting with some high-profile clients, which meant they wouldn’t be home for a couple of days minimum. Nothing new about that.

“What time are you going to Rhys’ TFP?” Sidney asked me, giving her cereal a good mix. “Do you need me to pick you up or are you driving?”

“I think I’ll sit this one out.” I told her.

“You can’t, Clara!” She exclaimed. “Everyone’s coming! And besides I heard there’s a huge inflatable slide that ends in a lake. Did I mention his trust fund includes a forty million dollar estate by the lake?”

“Seriously?” I said, then shook my head. “I don’t know, I don’t feel like going.”

“Where don’t we feel like going?” James asked as he sat down with his tray full of proteins.

“To Rhys Vanderbilt’s Trust Fund Party.” Sidney answered.

“Oh we should definitely go.” He said, slicing his steak before popping a slice in his mouth. “There’s gonna be an inflatable slide that ends in a lake.”

“That’s what I said!” Sidney cried.

“And zorbs.” James added. “It’s two days, so it’s gonna be an entire weekend of partying.”

“That doesn’t sound healthy.” I commented.

“It shouldn’t and that’s the point.” James interjected.

“There’s gonna be a whole lot of TFPs this year. Everyone we know is turning eighteen, it won’t hurt if we skip one.”

“Not like this one.” James said. “There’s nothing like a Vanderbilt party. Even I don’t have a forty million lake estate when I get mine.”

Sidney and I laughed. It was surreal how close we’d both gotten to him over the past few days. He actually was on the same wavelength as me and my friends and it was as if he slipped right into our lives perfectly.

After lunch, I had Advanced Calculus and History IV before the thirty-minute break. I took that time to switch books and relieve some weight off of my book bag. So I stopped by my locker before I attempted to squeeze in a sandwich break. I opened my locker and an envelope fell from it. I ducked to fetch it from the floor before opening to check what was written.

Have dinner with me tomorrow? - James

I couldn’t stop the smile from crawling onto my lips as I read the little note. It was the most romantic thing I’d ever encountered and I can’t believe it was coming from James, the guy I’d been in love with for years.

“Can I take that smile as a yes?” I heard James’ voice from the other side of my locker door.

“Are you feeling lucky today, Evans?” I asked, toying with the card in my hands.

He smirked. “A little. I scored the last Evian in the dining hall today.”

“Then who am I to break that streak by saying no?”

He grinned. “Good. I’ll pick you up at seven.”

“Where are you taking me?”

“I got us a table at Il Mare’s for eight o’clock.” He said. “I heard from a little bird that you love it there.”

I chuckled. “So you’ve got my friends working for you now huh?”

He shrugged. “They were a little more than willing to disclose a certain number of facts about you.”

Embarrassment immediately washed over me. Knowing my friends, I doubt there’s anything more left about me that James didn’t already know. “Which one? Tell me so I know who to murder.”

James laughed. “I can’t reveal my sources, Wheeler. First rule of fight club and all that.”

“I think Sidney’s beginning to rub off on you.”

He laughed and then walked me to Physics class. I had double Physics today so we’d be doing some lab work. Mr. Parrish had prepared a variety of different sports shoes earlier today but didn’t tell me what kind of activity we were gonna be doing.

“The purpose of this experiment is to determine which shoe offers the greatest amount of traction for both lateral and longitudinal movements as reflected by the coefficient of static friction values.” Mr. Parrish said before handing out the shoes. “You can wear them or not, but I suggest you try running with it to actually feel the difference. Not everyone in your group has to so long as you give me the complete work up and please, just because you’re in a group doesn’t mean you can pass the same exact papers with the same exact words. Use your own. And I don’t mean just synonyms. I wanna see differences in conclusions.”

I was grouped with Jenna Wyman and Shiloah Levens along with Joseph Spencer and Milton O’hara so we’d all decided to let the boys do the running. We spent the entire Physics double period out at the Quadrangle.

“Look at Mr. Parrish,” Jenna whispered to me. “He looks so magnificent with all those sunrays on his face.”

I looked over to where he was, at one of the kiosks by the Quadrangle, and saw him looking over some papers with his legs crossed. The rays of the sun hitting his well-sculpted face. His nose was the tallest and straightest one I’d ever seen my entire life and the sun was hitting it at just the right spot.

“Why is everyone so obsessed with him?” I asked rhetorically. “The man doesn’t s**t rainbows.”

Jenna laughed. “That we don’t know of. And besides, you’ve already bagged James so of course there’s no one left for us to turn our deprived, perverted thoughts to.”

It was my turn to laugh. “I haven’t bagged James. That’s an extremely ridiculous notion.”

“Have you seen him lately?” She asked. “He’s obviously crazy for you. I guess all those years of crushing on him has finally paid off.”

“You knew about that?”

She sneered. “You practically combusted on the spot in sixth grade at the Equinox Dance when he walked in the Banquet Hall.”

I winced internally, the memory still fresh in my mind like it was yesterday.

“That’s what actually scares me.” I admitted. “What if none of this is real? What if he’s just playing on some bet and I’m too stupid to fall for it?”

She placed a hand on my arm. “I’m sure you’re just overthinking. Want me to find out?”

I laughed. “No, that’s fine. I’ll just let it play out. Like Sidney said, I’ve got nothing to lose.”

“Yeah, right.” Jenna scoffed. “Like you should listen to the eternally single Sidney Mendoza.”

“I don’t even know why I do, honestly.” I said another laugh.

“Oh God,” Jenna suddenly cried. “Mr. Parrish is looking right at us.”

I glanced over to where he was sitting again and saw him looking at us. Instinctively, I gave him a quick smile, thinking about the morning we had, which he returned with a soft one before getting back on the paper he was writing on.

I didn’t get why most of the females in our school trembled at the sight of Mr. Parrish. It was as if he held a certain power over them that made them suddenly weak at the knees. Maybe what I felt for James, having had a crush on him for a very long time, was how they felt with Mr. Parrish.

We finished up with the experiment and reconvened back in the classroom. I had most of the Investigatory Paper drafted up, which I would just finalize later at home. By the end of class, Mr. Parrish began rounding up the waivers for the trip and when I went to look for it in my bag, I realized it was missing.

I wasn’t entirely sure if I’d left it in my locker. All I could seem to remember was James' beautiful blue eyes whenever I tried to backtrack but I was sure I had it ready during lunch.

“Uh Mr. Parrish,” I started as I approached his desk as soon as the students started filing out. “Do you still have that extra waiver lying around somewhere?”

Mr. Parrish gave me a flat look, overlooked by a smirk on his lips, his voice still as soft as ever. “Let me guess, you really lost the one I gave you last time huh?”

I chuckled nervously, scratching the part of my lower neck as a defense mechanism.

Mr. Parrish closed his eyes shut in exasperation as he shook his head, “You do know I didn’t mean that as a challenge or invitation, don’t you?”

“Sorry, I had it signed already but I don’t know where it went.” I told him. “I was holding it earlier during lunch then it just disappeared.”

“Papers don’t just disappear, Ms. Wheeler.” He replied monotonously.

I raised my brows much to my chagrin and muttered under my breath, “This one did.”

“Hang in there for a second, I’ll look for it.” Mr. Parrish replied. “I know I put it in here somewhere.”

This time, only one brow of mine was raised, intended for Mr. Parrish. “Papers don’t just disappear, Mr. Parrish.”

He let out a small chuckle. “Alright, smart a*s, do you want this paper or not?”

I shrugged. “Fine. Take your time. It’s not like I’ve got somewhere to be.”

It was true. James said Coach Fredmaan had a glimpse of what St. Henry School For Boys looked like in the playing field and had issued an emergency panic practice so he’d be busy running circles in the field the rest of the day and I wouldn’t see him until tomorrow.

As Mr. Parrish started rummaging for the waiver through the piles of paper on his desk, he decided to make small talk. “Whatever happened to you and Evans after the dance?”

My body tensed in surprise, not believing he remembered that night of the dance. “Thought you already had a couple of the ”fruit punch” to remember what happened that night.”

“It’s gonna take a couple gallons of that “fruit punch” to render me incapacitated Ms. Wheeler.” He replied. “And can we not talk about that? That was a rather slight misjudgement on my part which I don’t intend to make again.”

“Hey, you started.” I said teasingly, not offering any more information about what happened with James and I after the dance. I wasn’t about to disclose my love life to my Physics teacher. It doesn’t matter if he heard our conversation or how much interest he was showing or how much I wanted this small talk with the hottest teacher in Bridgeborn to last.

Suddenly, something came into my line of vision—something that was weaving its way downwards on a thin line of thread-like substance.

“Spider!” I cried, trying to swat the thing with my hand. Before I knew it, my right pelvis hit the corner of Mr. Parrish’s desk with so much unintended force I folded in pain.

Almost as immediately as possible, I felt Mr. Parrish’s presence beside me, gently holding the side of my hips assessing the pain.

“Are you okay?” He asked, a sudden worried tone in his words.

I could only look up to him and say, “Ow.”

Slowly, he laughed. His green eyes staring directly into mine.

“It was just a stupid spider.” I said. “And I had the most stupid reaction. God! This building’s too damn old. Don’t you clean your classroom?”

“I’m an educator, Ms. Wheeler, not part of the janitorial staff.” We both stood straight and laughed. Then, he patted me twice on the shoulder and said, “Walk it off.”

“Easy for you to say,” I said. “You’re not the one who got attacked by a spider and practically got bludgeoned by a desk.”

“You killed the poor thing!” He exclaimed, his voice still soft as ever. “I don’t think you’re the one who should be complaining.”

“Well, he messed with the wrong person today.” I responded. “I hate spiders. They’re icky. I mean, who needs that much legs? I only have two and I can barely get them in sync sometimes.”

Mr. Parrish laughed yet again, his gentle tenor voice reverberating through the hollow void of the room, making me wonder if he sang. I mean, that voice would definitely do some powerful ballads justice. It was so enticing.

“Clara?” A voice suddenly called, coming from the door.

I looked to see James standing at the door frame again, much like he was when we first went out for coffee. He was soaking wet with his own sweat and a piece of fabric was in his hands.

“James.” I said in a surprised tone. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s water break so I rushed down here.” He replied. “I was looking for you.”

“What’s up?” I asked. “I thought I wasn’t gonna see you until tomorrow?”

“I know… I just,” He paused for a little, trying to catch his breath just now. “I wanted to give you this.”

Then he handed me his navy blue and white football jersey before exiting the room.

I was stupefied.

In Bridgeborn, a girl wearing someone’s jersey was a statement—an announcement. That she was his’, and subsequently, he was hers.

I can’t believe James Evans just handed me the most prized possession among all the ladies in our school. This was it. This was the golden chalice. The mvp ring. The championship belt. And I was holding it in my tiny palm.

“Glad that the dance turned out well for you.” Mr. Parrish whispered to me as he gently tapped the jersey on my hand using his long index finger.

“It was all thanks to your magic punch.” I said, following him with my eyes as he walked around me and back to his desk.

He chuckled. “Have I not emphasized enough the importance of not mentioning that ever again?”

“My lips are sealed.” I replied, mimicking his expression to me the night of the dance. “Besides, no one was harmed. It was fun. Everybody seemed to have fun. You couldn’t have possibly known about the alcohol-in-the-punch if I hadn’t told you. I’m sure you did stuff like that all the time back in the day.”

“Back in the day?” He raised an eyebrow at me. “How old do you think I am?”

I narrowed my eyes on him. “Do you really want me to answer that or is this a trap?”

Mr. Parrish let out a heave of sigh. “I’m not as old as you think, Ms. Wheeler.”

“I didn’t say how old I thought you were, Mr. Parrish.” I responded with the same tone as he gave. “And even if I did think you’re old, most of the girls here don't care. You’re literally the most famous guy here in school.”

“More famous than your boyfriend?”

“He’s not my boyfriend.” I immediately cried, playing at the edge of the exam paper that was on his desk. “Yet. Or whatever. And yes, you are. Literally almost every female in this school has a crush on you; faculty, clinic, and janitorial staff included.”

He peered at me from under his lashes, pausing from his ruffling of desk papers. “Including you?”

“I did say almost.” I shrugged. “But I’m sure you’re someone who wouldn’t possibly be single.”

He resumed looking for the paper he was gonna give me, “Not that it’s any of your business, Ms. Wheeler, but I am in fact… unattached.”

Finally, he found the waiver for the trip and handed it to me.

“Unattached?” I asked. “I may not think you’re old Mr. Parrish but you do sound like it.”

He chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Get out of here. And don’t forget to give that to me tomorrow, signed.”

I grabbed the piece of paper and thanked him before heading out to meet Sidney at The Coffee Shop. She was already elbow-deep in her second cheesecake when I came and gave her the waiver to sign.

“Your folks aren’t home?” She asked, knowing she had yet to sign in place of my parents again.

“Nope.” I replied simply, popping my ‘p’. “They’re busy acquiring a resort project somewhere in Asia as opposed to doting on me at home.”

She tilted her head as she checked if her fake signature of my Mom was up to her standards. “Well, at least we get to sashay in Asia in summer.”

I agreed as I drummed my fingers on the table. Sidney looked up at me in disdain—meaning she was getting antsy about my fingers, so I stopped and gave her a cheeky smile and a soft apology.

“Oh right!” I cried, fishing out the jersey James gave to me from my bag. “Look what I’ve got.”

Sidney’s eyes widened. “Oh my God! So does this mean it’s official?”

“Well, in the norms of current social standing, yep it probably does but I don’t want to assume.”

“Assume?” Sidney repeated in disbelief. “This is the most assuring it gets, Clarita mija. You’re officially James Evans’ girl and now the rest of the Bridgeborn population will know. Are you gonna wear it to next week’s game?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Don’t you think it’s a little too fast? It’s only been a week.”

“Fast? This is all you’ve ever wanted, Clara. Have you forgotten about that?”

“Of course not! It’s just…” I hesitated before continuing. “It just all seems too good to be true.”

“Has it ever occurred to you that when you’ve had this crush on James all this time, he might have a crush on you all this time too?”

I thought about it for a moment and came up short as to why he would’ve possibly have. He did say that he had a crush on me in Kindergarten but what did he know? He was a kid back then and over the years I’ve seen how much of a barrel of ladies went through his grasp.

“Just go with it, you’ve got nothing to lose.” She said with a tone of finality. And as usual, she was right.

“Oh right!” I exclaimed, suddenly remembering my most recent conversation with Mr. Parrish. “I just found out that Mr. Parrish is single.”

“Really?” Her eyes widened like saucers. “Didn’t we see him last year with a date when he chaperoned for the Equinox dance?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know, he said he was unattached—his exact word.”

“And how did this conversation come about?”

I shrugged again, this time I looked away. “It just came.”

“What do you think is wrong with him?” She asked, carrying on with her indulgence of the opulent cheesecake. “I mean, he’s gorgeous and fit. Girls must be lining up to bag him. There must be a reason why they’re not. You think he has eleven toes? Or a tiny, dinky package?”

I laughed a little, rolling my eyes. “Leave it up to you to make up some sort of reason as to why a person decided to be unattached during their prime.”

“It just seems a little odd.” She said, “I mean if I were the same age as him, I wouldn’t let him spend a day single. I would be up, down, and all over him. Forget about dignity, he’s just too damn delicious.”

I rolled my eyes at her incredulous notion. “You’re ridiculous, you know that?”

“No. I’m serious.” Sid exclaimed. “If given the chance, you know, if he ever gave me a fraction of interest and or attention, I would very much like to see how far it can get.”

I shook my head a little, lowering my gaze. Knowing that Mr. Parrish had paid a little attention to me since the Homecoming dance. Although not the kind of attention Sidney was pertaining to. I guess I could say that we’ve become friends over the past few days. “That very much sounded like a trap for a felony.”

“Aren’t you curious?” She asked. “If he would partake in such obscene liaisons?”

“No.” I lied.

“Well then that sounded like a challenge to me.” She announced. “And if we did form some sort of relationship, it’ll be a win-win.”

“Not if you get caught.”

“I’m eighteen.” She reasoned out as if it was an acceptable one. “I can date whoever I want.”

“Just so we’re clear Sidney, I do not approve of this.” I told her, giving her a hard look. “Pity the man, just choose another guy to mess with.”

“Why are you so defensive of Mr. Parrish?” She asked. “Has his good looks and charisma gotten to you already?”

“No!” I immediately exclaimed. “I just… I don’t know… He’s a nice guy… teacher. Did you know he offered to let me use his classroom in the mornings so that I don’t have to hide in the staircase when I draw? I wouldn’t want to see him toyed with. Just pick somebody else.”

“I’m not gonna toy with him.” Sidney rolled her eyes. “It’s gonna be like a gamble. If nothing happens then nothing happens. If anything does, then I’d have bagged the most coveted male in the history of Bridgeborn. Surely, you don’t wanna be the only one of us who graduates with a boyfriend, do you? We could go on double dates!”

I sighed in defeat. “Whatever. Do what you want, I don’t care.”

“You know me,” She smiled slyly and wagged her eyebrows. “I definitely will.”

Damn it. Mr. Parrish has now officially become Sidney’s latest conquest all because I told her he was single.