Chapter 12: Chapter 12
The library was already fairly full when they walked in, but no one other than Jane was sitting at the designated fourth grade table. It was no secret that Jane could be a little rude, and the other teachers didn’t like to give her an excuse to put them in their place.
Ru did know a few teachers on other teams well from some of her committee work, and one of them, Hannah West, who taught third grade, waved at her as she came in. Ru waved back and approached her usual seat. She wasn’t paying attention when she set her belongings down, and it wasn’t until Jane shrieked that she realized what she’d done. Looking down, she watched as Jane’s full cup of coffee spilled all over the table.
“Ru! What did you do?” Jane screamed, jumping up like the hot liquid was coming right at her, even though it was flowing the other direction.
“I’m so sorry!” she said, feeling the red creeping into her face. None of Jane’s belongings were wet, but Ru’s notepad was beginning to turn brown. And then there was her phone, which had been directly in the line of fire.
“I’ll get some paper towels,” Cutter said, disappearing out of the door. A few other teachers rushed over, one with a box of tissues, which at least kept the substance from dripping off the sides of the table, and Ru picked up her soggy phone, sure it wouldn’t even turn on, which would be a huge problem when she had to call her mom later.
“Here you go,” Cutter said, back at her side already, handing her some paper towels for her phone as he began to soak up the coffee.
“Thank you,” Ru said, doing her best to dry it out. Jane was still yelling beside her, but Ru was tuning her out. Someone else showed up with a tub of Lysol wipes.
“Well, it looks like we’re having an eventful morning,” Mrs. Long said, as she approached the front of the room.
“Yeah, but I’ll be falling asleep in a few minutes since I only got a sip of my coffee,” Jane whined.
“Oh, no! What happened?” It was Candice.
“Everything’s fine,” Cutter replied, taking the trash can one of the fifth grade teachers had gotten and placing the drippy paper towels inside.
“That’s easy for you to say,” Jane continued. “Seriously, Ru. Do you ever pay attention to what you’re doing?”
“I’m sorry,” Ru replied, acknowledging her for the first time since she’d initially apologized.
“You say that an awful lot.” Ru ignored her, which must’ve made her even more angry. “You’re like a tornado.”
“Good God, Jane! I’ll go back to the damn coffee maker and get you another cup!” Candice stormed out of the library, headed toward the breakroom as some of the other teachers, particularly from the primary camp, gasped in shock at her use of a swear word.
“Is your phone working?” Cutter asked, peering over her shoulder.
“No,” Ru admitted. She knew she would need to take the case off to see how much of the coffee got inside, but she was afraid to. So far, she couldn’t get it to turn on. It was crazy what a little liquid could do, even in a protective case.
“Let me see,” he replied, and before she could protest, he had it in his hands.
The table was clean now and smelled like lemon, thanks to the wipes. Ru’s notebook was wet around the edges, but it would still do. She took a seat, and Candice came back in with the cup and set it down on the table. Jane said nothing, and they both sat down.
After Cutter had the case off, he grabbed another paper towel and began drying off her phone, taking his seat as he did so. It was clear Mrs. Long was ready to start.
“Still nothing, right?” Ru asked in a whisper as their principal began to speak.
He shook his head. “Give me a minute.” He looked at the principal apologetically and then got up and headed out the door. Mrs. Long gave him a suspicious look but didn’t say anything, continuing to address the group.
Watching him leave, Ru felt even worse. Now, she’d made Jane’s day start off poorly, caused a ruckus in the faculty meeting, and made Cutter appear uncommitted. It was shaping up to be a marvelous day.
Cutter walked back in just a few seconds later. Assuming he must’ve realized the phone was toast and given up, Ru let out a sigh. Maybe she could borrow someone else’s phone to call her mother and let her know she was on her way. But that would take more time. And she honestly didn’t even think she knew her mom’s phone number by heart. It was in her phone for a reason….
“Here you go,” Cutter said, smiling. She looked down to see her phone, back in its case, and on.
Ru’s eyebrows shot up. “It’s working?”
“Yeah,” he replied. “It’s fine.”
“But… how?”
He flashed her a crooked smile and shrugged.
“Oh, my gosh!” Her whisper was a little loud, and she caught some sharp looks from a few people, especially Jane. Placing her hand on his far shoulder, she leaned in and gave him a sort-of hug. “Thank you so much!”
“I didn’t do anything,” he shrugged. “But you’re welcome.”
Releasing him, Ru turned her attention to Mrs. Long for the first time and learned they were about to watch the sexual harassment video they had to watch every year, as well as the ones about reporting abuse, and bodily fluids and hepatitis. Then, they’d each be required to complete a short quiz. Since they’d watched them every year, and some teachers had seen them over twenty times, it wouldn’t be entertaining, but at least it wasn’t some new initiative. Ru settled back to listen, wondering if hugging her male coworker would constitute harassment. At least she got to stare at his profile as he also watched the films. She noticed he was taking notes and thought this must be different than whatever training they did in NYC. Or perhaps he thought he might be the victim of sexual harassment considering his situation.
The film didn’t hold her attention long. Ru was still trying to figure out how in the world Cutter had gotten her phone to turn on. Considering it was on when she initially set it down, if there wasn’t something wrong with it due to the coffee, it still should’ve been on when she picked it up. It definitely wasn’t. And she’d tried to turn it on so many times, there was no way she’d accidentally turned it off the first time. It would’ve come back on eventually if it wasn’t saturated with sticky coffee on the insides.
She remembered that first day in the copy room when she was certain she’d fried the copy machine, but Cutter had gotten that to come back on, too. Was there something he was hiding? Was he her antithesis? She blew things up, and he put them back together? The thought seemed ridiculous. After all, he’d have to wield some sort of superpowers in order to bring electronic devices back from the dead. But then… she’d always thought her own predicament beyond the ordinary. It was as if she had a current flowing through her that had to be managed and sometimes spilled over, through her hands, into whatever she was touching, as if it was drawn by the stream already pulsating through the appliance or other electrical device she had her hands on. It sounded so silly even in her head that she’d never mentioned it aloud to anyone before. But that didn’t make it any less of a possibility. Was Cutter more like her than she thought?
As the first video came to an end, Ru tried to shift her attention back to the room. Candice was looking at her, and Ru gave her a small smile. She was sure her friend was worried about her. No one knew better than Candice how it made Ru feel to have an “incident.” With the help of her friends, this one was well-managed, but Jane wouldn’t let it go. For the next several months, she’d make a big show of making sure she kept her beverages far away from Ru. She’d ignore her and let it slide. As much as Jane wanted to bully her, Ru had built up an immunity to tyrants. Try as she might, Jane could never be the oppressor Liddy Brown was. That took real talent only the loathing of having to raise a child you do not love could inspire, and her mother had many more years of experience than Jane. Though Ru had to admit Ms. Owen should get some credit for trying. Even now, she could feel her icy stare. Ru didn’t even bother to turn her head. There was a much more interesting view in front of her, and it wasn’t the actress pretending to be poked by a dirty needle while giving a child a shot.
“Oh, my God, Ruin Sara Roberts! Where have you been?”