Moments: A BWWM Short Story Collection

IV. You're so Embarrassing! (Pt. 1 of 3)

"Maxwell Pierce, 76... Samantha Briggs, 71..."

I ignored the shape of Mr. Bogg in my peripheral vision as he handed back our math tests in his bored nasally voice. My eyes were firmly glued to the clock slowly closing in on 3:15, and with it, the weekend I'd dreamed of.

"Nicole Waters, 98... very good."

A piece of paper with a single red "X" was laid neatly under my nose by Mr. Bogg, who gave me an approving smile marred by his blocky teeth.

"Trisha Duhboys..."

"It's pronounced "Doo-bwah" sir." Trisha Dubois said politely. Mr. Bogg squinted through his thick glasses at Trisha's name before pulling his head back in realization.

"Ah, my mistake... and speaking of mistakes, it would appear you made quite a few on my test, Ms. Doo-bwah." Mr. Bogg whined as he handed Trisha her red-speckled sheet. "Math is very important for your future, so try to do better next time, hm?"

Trisha gazed at her test, shoulders slumping as Mr. Bogg moved on.

"You want any of my stuff, Nicole? 'Cuz my dad's gonna kill me when he finds out I flunked another test." Trisha said, folding it up and stuffing it into her backpack.

"He won't kill you, Trish." I said with a grin. "He might discharge you..."

Trisha ran a hand through her closely trimmed curls as she shook her head.

"Yeah, very funny; you try having a sergeant for a dad and see how much of a laughing matter it is." she pouted. "He wants me to go to the academy when I graduate, and I don't know if these grades are going to be enough."

Trisha's family was navy, and her father had set a high bar for his daughter's future. The other kids teased her about her crew cut and uniform-pressed clothes, and though she occasionally dragged her feet on the matter, she really did want to be in the military when she grew up; it gave her a purpose.

I admired that sense of purpose; made me wish I'd figured out my own life.

The bell rang, and Mr. Bogg frantically tried to hand off the remaining tests while reminding us about something or other, we'd all stopped paying attention to him to gather up our things. I crammed my books in my backpack and leaned in to Trish.

"Well, be sure not to tell him until after the weekend, 'cuz you're not missing out!"

I grinned at Trish and she returned it. We'd been looking forward to these next two and half days for forever. We were hitting the mall to grab new swimsuits for the pool party at Connor's on Saturday, where (if all went well) I'd finally be able to get him alone and hint very strongly that I liked him.

Whether or not that went according to plan (fingers crossed!), Sunday night I was going over to Trish's for a Rom-Com movie marathon. It was going to be blast, and I couldn't believe it was finally here!

"Don't worry, I know how to stall my dad." Trish said as we joined the back of the line leading out of the classroom. "I can't wait to do commentary on A Hundred Sleepless Nights with you! It's going to be so awesome!"

"That's the one with that hottie from Australia, right?" I asked as we filed out. "I adore the way he brushes his hair with his- mom, what are you doing here?!"

The crowd of students parted, and voluptuous dark-skinned woman wearing incredibly age-inappropriate clothing sauntered up to me.

"Hey there, sweetie! How was your day?!" my mom said in her high, bubbly voice. "Did you do well on your math test?!"