A Do Or Die Situation (Sequel to To Offset The Shakes) // Andy Hurley/Trohley

Cut Your Teeth (Libbie's POV)

As I walked into school on the first day, my heart was in my throat. I was terrified, to put it plainly, and I was certain everybody knew. So far, I had steered clear of any dirty looks or mean comments, but I was sure I wouldn't be able to get away with it throughout the rest of the school day. My mind was scattered all over the place; worrying about what people were thinking, worried about if anything would get said to Gage, and worried about my baby boy back home with Joe and Andy. Sure, it wasn't the first time we had left our son alone with my parents, but it was still just as nerve-wracking as every other time, if not more. 

Gage, as well as Joe and Andy, had given me multiple pep talks this morning before I left for school, but I'll be the first to admit they did very little in helping me cope. On top of facing the entire student, and teacher, body again after having a child at the age of sixteen, I now had to worry about this presentation I still had to give. I didn't know when I would be giving it, but I figured we'd get the presentation schedule in English class today, which was where I was headed now.

-

As I arrived at my locker to put my books away, I took my backpack off of my shoulder. I set it on the ground in front of me and began pulling my binder and notebooks out. I jumped when I heard footsteps slam beside me.

"Hey loser," a familiar voice said, making me laugh before I even looked up.

"Hey Mack," I laughed. "Please say you have first period English with me?" I asked.

"I actually do. I already asked Cody; he has science. What a loser," she chuckled. "Does Gage have class with us?"

"Actually, I don't know," I stood up, closing my locker. "I was too flustered this morning to even think of asking him."

"Speaking of which, I don't have to kick anyone's ass yes for saying shit to you, do I?" she asked.

"No," I chuckled. "Not yet, anyway. I'm sure it'll be coming soon though."

-

Once we arrived at our classroom, I took a deep breath before I walked in. The room was already pretty full, and thankfully I had only made a few heads turn, one of them being my teacher's. Her and I hadn't always gotten along, but when it came down to it, she was one of the best teachers we had at this school, and although she was strict, it helped us all in the end. In the past school year, her and I had gotten closer, and soon, she was actually one of my favorite teachers; not as good as my math teacher Mrs. May, though. No one could ever take her place.

I walked to the desk in the back of the room to see where I sat, but before I could look, Mrs. Heritsch took the paper away. I gave her a weird look, which she simply laughed at.

"Sit anywhere," she smiled. "but first, let me see a picture of the little bugger!"

I laughed at her, while Mack smiled and went and sat in a desk towards the back, making sure there was one left open for me. I set my binder and notebooks on Mrs. Heritsch's desk, then pulled my phone out of my pocket. Normally, she hated any and all things to do with kids having their 'unnecessary technology' out during class time, but obviously this was an exception. 

I scrolled through endless pictures I had taken of Max, Max with me, Gage holding Max, etc. I swear Mrs. Hertisch was going to explode from the cuteness factor. She asked what we named him, and when I told her, she covered her mouth and said how adorable that was. Then she asked how Gage and I were doing together. 

"Talking about me?" Gage's voice filled my ears. 

"Gage?" I asked, smiling at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Got switched into this English class. Lucky you, huh, Mrs. H?" Gage teased. 

Those two had never seemed to get along, but she began warming up to him as the months went by last school year, when she found out he was the father of my child. They'd both tease each other until their hearts were content, which definitely made for some interesting class periods, most of which ended in Gage being sent to the principal's office. Not like his dad did much ... He just shook his head, told him to stop acting up, then sent him back to class. Always made me laugh; you could tell Kim had just had enough of Gage's school antics. 

-

As the school bell rang, I quickly put my phone away and took my seat between Gage and Mack, which we knew wouldn't last long. Mrs. H would probably wind up moving the whole class around anyway. Talking and laughter died down as Mrs. H made her way to the front of the classroom, her beige cardigan draped over her shoulder as usual. She stood behind the podium, looking as serious as she always did. 

"Welcome to your first day of your junior year!" she smiled at the class. "Is anyone excited?" and of course no one raised their hands. "Oh, come on!  Not even one of you? Well, I've got a lot planned for this school year! But, to start the school year off, who's all finished with their summer reports?" not even half the class raised their hands, but thankfully Gage, Mack, and myself were included in the few that raised their hands. "Ah, so all of you that haven't finished will be going first then! Starting tomorrow, we will begin sharing reports. But, they won't just be in front of our class here; I've talked to the principal and we've agreed to make the whole school listen to these presentations. Your reports will take place in the auditorium, whether you like it or not. Of course, you can always choose to not present your report, but that will result in an 'F' as your second grade, and I'm warning you, that it will be very hard to bring that grade back up. Maybe your first grades will help you, but not much. Your first grades of the school year will be your rough drafts and/or notes to go with your presentations, which I will be grading as I walk around the room in just a few minutes. So, either you fail first semester or you don't; your choice."

And with that, she began walking around the room to check notes, while I was left with my heart in my throat again.

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I'm actually on my laptop for once whoOOOOO