True Blue Chapter 1 continued (Patreon)

Mary drove her old, beat-up sedan to the single school that served the entire rural area. She rolled the window down, enjoying the smell of the fresh countryside. Even the bumpy, uneven ride didn’t bother her that much. She felt unnaturally optimistic as the sun shone brightly on her face. Wow, what was it about today?!

Realizing that she had completely forgotten to eat breakfast, Mary parked and made her way to the classroom. She could almost feel a bounce in her footsteps. I hope I don’t get hungry and grumpy later, she thought, knowing that her hunger often dictated her mood. Still, she was bouncing off the balls of her feet as she strode forward confidently. This is ridiculous! She thought. But if this is ridiculous, it’s not so bad.

In no time, she made it to her classroom. She took out her science textbook, sat up straight, smoothed her blouse, and took a deep breath. The bell for first period rang, and the 9th graders rolled in.

She even smiled at them instead of just sullenly looking at her desk. All of them seemed to do a double take at her new attitude and smiled back. This was nice!

When everyone had taken their seats, she put on her thick-rimmed black reading glasses, opened the textbook, and began to read from it. She wasn’t a biology teacher by training, and this was way above her pay grade. But the district just needed someone to keep the children in line and occupied for the duration of the class.

So day after day, the print on the textbook was always in her eyes and out her mouth. She really didn’t understand what she was reading, or even how to pronounce some of these words. What on earth was “chromosomal” or “allele”? But today, she felt like she understood what was printed on the page. In fact, the conclusions to be drawn even seemed obvious! But it was important to make the lesson clear for the students.

After she completed the chapter, the kids had time to ask questions. By this point, they knew better than to seek knowledge from her, so she just tasked them to do their homework. However, today, her reading was so fluent, her tone so confident, that one of the students dared to raise her hand on the biology homework.

“Mrs. Adams?”

“Yes, Stella?”

“Um, well, I guess… can you… um…” she was still nervous about asking. It was embarrassing for everyone when Mrs. Adams clearly was out of her depth.

“Spit it out, dear.” Mary tried to suppress her panic at being asked a question.

“Well, I don’t understand about these squares we’re making. How do I know if Mr. and Mrs. Brown’s child will have… um… sickle cells?”

Before she could begin to madly leaf through the pages of the textbook looking for the answer, she recalled the lecture she had just given.

“That’s a fine question, Stella. Let me ask the whole class: if both Mr. and Mrs. Brown do not have sickle cell anemia, will their children have it?”

“No,” most of the class shot back.

“That is not necessarily true! It depends if Mr. and Mrs. Brown are both carriers.”

So saying, she drew the Punnett Squares on the chalkboard, illustrating all four possibilities with their sixteen outcomes. Her chalk flew through the air, drawing the beautiful diagrams and explaining clearly the whole way. When she put up the final square, she threw the remaining stub of white chalk into the air with a flourish, catching it in her palm and turning to face the class, hands on hips, bright smile on her face.

They were absolutely stunned by her brilliant display of virtuosity.

“Mrs. Adams, Mrs. Adams! I get it! But the next question, it asks if it depends if the child is a boy or a girl. I don’t get it, why would that matter?”

“Boys obviously don’t get tickle cells!” one of the students chimed in.

“Yeah, well boys smell!” another girl retorted.

“Now, class,” Mary lectured them, commanding all of their attention at once. They had never paid attention that quickly either! “Let me show you what that question is asking. You see…”

When lunch period rolled around, a class full of happy students exited the classroom. Some even stopped and told her how great she was and how much they had learned. And that they looked forward to the next class, or wished that she was their regular teacher! Mary was so delighted!

She strolled around the small campus, waving at the children on the playground. They giggled and waved back at her. Mary was enjoying herself so much, lost in her thoughts. Maybe I should try dating again, she thought. Relating to people doesn’t seem to be too hard today.

Only after half an hour did she realize that she hadn’t eaten yet! But she still felt great; no growling stomach, no hunger pangs at all. But just to be prophylactic, she went to the small school cafeteria and bought a cup of mac and cheese. The noodles were overcooked and mushy, but that didn’t stop her from enjoying the cheesy goodness. She dabbed her lips with a napkin and looked forward to her next class.

Mary’s improved mood continued through the evening. She plucked some fresh green beans, tomatoes, and zucchini from her small garden and went to prepare dinner, before she realized that she still wasn’t hungry. Also, she didn’t recall having to bend down this much when harvesting her crops. Maybe she was just carrying herself with better posture now.

She rinsed off and relished the crunch of the fresh, juicy green beans as she blanched the zucchini and boiled spaghetti. She sprinkled salt into the boiling water, instinctively knowing just how much was enough. Dicing a clove of garlic quickly and efficiently, she tossed it into a frying pan with olive oil and went to work on her garden tomatoes and zucchini like a professional chef. She couldn’t believe her knife skills, but it all came so easily! Soon, they were cubed and thrown into the pan as well.

She ran the spaghetti through a sieve, then threw it into the frying pan as well along with a splash of the pasta water. When all was said and done, fifteen minutes later, she sat down with a beautiful plate of food, garnished with fresh parsley from her windowsill. Grating some cheese onto it, she nibbled a piece of the pasta—perfectly cooked, wonderfully seasoned, and utterly mouthwatering. She wished she had a glass of wine to pair it with. She licked the plate clean.

Mary wasn’t hungry when she began, and she was neither hungry nor full when she finished, but she luxuriated in the aftertaste of her fresh, homecooked, delicious meal. Putting the leftovers in a tupperware, Mary cleaned her dishes and prepared for bed. Another early start tomorrow.

The wooden planks of her staircase seemed to creak less under her footsteps this evening as she ascended to the bedroom. Stripping off, she turned on the shower and hoped that the water heater was working. It would truly be the perfect end to her perfect day.

She held her hand under the stream of water to gauge the temperature and finally caught a glimpse of her naked body in the bathroom mirror. Was she imagining things, or had she lost some flab in her belly? Her arms looked a bit tighter as well. She swiveled her torso, examining herself from different angles. No way. She must be seeing things.

When she came to her senses, she realized the water was still running. Still cold. Oh well. She gave up and jumped right in, preparing for the shock of ice water to hit her body. To her surprise, she wasn’t too bothered by it! Yes, it was chilly, but she could weather it just fine. Still, Mary rinsed off quickly, not wanting to catch hypothermia or anything like that.

She crawled into bed at 9:00 PM, and drifted off like a baby.