A Summer Reunion

Chapter 1- Welcome to Peach Creek High

The hallways of Peach Creek High School were buzzing with anticipation and excitement as the last two weeks of the school year were finally upon them. The freshman were happy to have survived and no longer be "fresh meat", fully prepared to torture the incoming 9th grade class. The sophomores were thrilled to finally be upperclassmen. The juniors felt bittersweet with the realization they will soon be entering their final year of high school. And the seniors...they could not be anymore the example of the term "senioritis".

Day after day, the laughter and chatter grew in the cafeteria, students would find any excuse to get out into the burgeoning summer air, and the only topics on the mind of our eldest students was the drama from prom and how they could successfully skip every class until graduation. There was simply a joyful feeling throughout the school.
The same enthusiasm could not be said for inside the classrooms. Particularly inside Mr. Parkin's room.

Eddward Parkin was the newest addition to the Peach Creek High teaching faculty. Somewhat of a prodigy alum, no one ever anticipated his return. As a full ride graduate of Harvard University, the entire town expected great things from this young man. Gossip spread throughout Peach Creek upon his unexpected return last summer after he was rumored to have resigned as a professor for his ivy league alma mater. But the high school was thrilled to have their most successful former valedictorian now on their staff.

Teaching 3 periods of AP Chemistry, 2 periods of Forensics, and 1 period of Astronomy- Edd always had full and exciting days. Most of his classes were filled with the top academic students, those of which reminded him of his younger self. They respected him and aspired to follow in his accomplished footsteps. He was a hero in their eyes. Someone who once stood where they are in this small town and made it into the university they could only dream of.

But then there was his single period Astronomy class. This class was filled with female sophomores who thought they signed up for Astrology, Juniors who needed an extra science credit to boost their average GPA, and the sporty seniors who tended to borderline fail all of the other science courses throughout their high school careers. The seniors were the ones Edd dreaded the most. They reminded him of his bullies from his own high school days. The jocks that would push him into lockers, threaten him for homework answers, and made his entire high school experience miserable.
He could control them well enough, even got some of the tennis bros to stop giggling everytime he said "Uranus." But there was one student he secretly could not wait to be rid of; Katie Barr.

The popular senior had been assigned a seat in the third row from the front, her grades were consistently in the D's throughout her years in high school, and Edd had been determined to change that. But as the school year went on, he had slowly come to the conclusion that may not happen.

She was sarcastic and snarky, unmotivated to gain any scholastic knowledge, never turned in her assignments on time, consistently disrespectful and combative. She was backed by her legion of popular boys that constantly surrounded her, always drooling at her feet. She had been an avid soccer player up until 7th grade, when her body seemed to mature overnight and she dropped her sporty tomboy style for the Regina George inspired queen cheerleader life.
Her facial features were sculpted, yet soft and generically beautiful. Her strong gene pool blessed her with vibrant green eyes, framed by her long and heavily mascaraed eyelash extensions. She was average in height and small in build, her tanned and toned muscles from competitive cheer were always on display by her barely following the school dress code outfits. And her long firey red hair was her weapon against any adolescent boy who dared get in her way. Edd imagined her soft curls could sometimes even melt the hearts of his fellow colleagues, explaining how she had somehow never been required to repeat a grade. This school had always catered to their athletic students.

Edd had remembered a much different Katie Barr from his youth. She was one of the younger neighborhood kids in the Cul-de-sac that he had grown up in. She was part of the smaller Gen Z sibling group that would be out playing as his millennial group was graduating high school.
He would always see her running around with a soccer ball or a lacrosse stick in her hands, her curly ponytail bouncing as she rough housed with the slightly older boys. At the time, it was no surprise she was so sporty and confident, growing up in a house with two much older brothers. One of which happened to be his once childhood bully, then casual friend, and longtime secret crush, Kevin Barr.

Every day was a battle with Katie. The athletic department was constantly down Edd's throat to ensure she had passing grades so she could continue to compete. However, she would fight her teacher at every turn. This science class was the last credit she needed to graduate, but she barely even bothered to seem slightly interested. She seemed to find pleasure in getting Edd riled up. How is it that an 18 year old could successfully torment a 27 year old man? He was accomplished, confident, established, and well-educated. But somehow this teen was able to pluck out the insecurities from his youth and make him lose his composure. He had had enough. No one had acted this way during his two years as a professor at Harvard. Even being the youngest teacher on their staff, his students still gave him their entire respect and attention.

With today being the day before their finals, everyone was a little extra on edge. However, Edd still cheerfully greeted each and every one of his 6th period Astronomy students as they entered his room, illiciting an eyeroll and a mumbled "dork" from Katie and her bubble of surrounding boys.
Once all the students had entered and were beginning to take their seats, Edd let out a deep sigh in the hallway, adjusted his glasses, and stepped back into his classroom with a smile and an enthusiastic "I trust you all packed your space suits, because today's review for finals will be 'far out'!" Emphasizing his poorly constructed pun with finger guns to the sky.
Most of the class just stared at him silently. They were used to it at this point, but that didn't stop the popular kids from silently mocking him and the sophomores girls to sigh with hearts in their eyes.

Edd wasn't your typical heartthrob, but he was cute in the nerdy way. He had grown quite tall over the years, maxing out at 6'1". His build had always been on the skinnier side, but he had put on a nice bit of lean muscle while in university. All those high school years outrunning the torture of the football team had actually led to a pretty decent stint as an integral member of the Harvard track and field team.

He was classically handsome, but in that Tim Burton character sort of way.
His skin had always remained quite pale, but luckily missed the pubescent acne stage, so his complexion was smooth and clean, accentuating his big brown eyes that he unintentionally magnified by his dark metal rimmed Wilson glasses. His thick, wavy, chocolate brown hair was still mostly hidden underneath many hats- usually his black and white striped beanie from childhood, but he would mix it up with an assortment of more professional hats, such as fedoras and flat caps. He kept his style clean and professional, wearing many bowties, regular ties, collared button ups, sweater vests, and nicely tailored blazers.
He was the kind of man that wasn't intimidating for a young girl to have their first harmless crush on.
He was very unaware of their adorations, increasing his students intellect was his only focus within the school walls.

Of course, no one in Peach Creek knew the secret he had kept hidden from them since his teen years. Edd was gay.

He decided to wait until he moved to Massachusetts to explore this side of his sexuality. He had known since the summer between 7th and 8th grade when he and his two best friends, Ed and Eddy, were finally accepted by the rest of the kids in the Cul-de-sac after a bad run in with Eddy's older brother, Freddy. Their group of nine spent many summer nights camping out together in each other's backyards, and after seeing Kevin one too many times in his boxer briefs, Edd knew his preferences weren't quite as heterosexual as he once believed.

He didn't have some big coming out when he arrived at Harvard, but he had simply stopped hiding that part of himself. He would just date the men he found attractive and intriguing without making it a big deal. It was just a normal part of him and he didn't see a reason to make it seem anything other than ordinary. His parents knew his truth and loved him, and that was all he needed. Why explain who he was to a town he never intended to return to besides visiting his parents on holidays?

Yet, 10 years later he found himself sitting in one of his former classrooms, teaching students who reminded him of bad memories, and back to hiding his full self in the town he said he'd never live in again.