Substitute Teacher

[Alana]

"Hello, Mrs. Williams," said Johnny, startling me.

[Alana]

"Hello, Johnny! You scared me."

"Are you OK, Mrs. Williams? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong!"

"Is it that your slip is showing?"

"Oh, no! You can see it? Is it noticeable?"

"I'm sure no one will notice it."

"You noticed it! What if I just stand like this, with my shoulders held back?"

[Alana]

"You can still kind of see it, a little."

"Great. Just great. Well, don't tell anyone, Johnny. I'll just have to hope that no one says anything."

But they did. They didn't notice it at the beginning of class, but before long one of the boys or one of the catty girls made some comment, and everyone would laugh. It got so I would start each class by saying, "Listen, I know my slip is showing. I'm sorry about that, but let's try not to dwell on it, OK?" But that would just start the remarks a lot sooner.

I know I should've been unflappable. But I just wasn't used to this kind of thing. The idea of walking around all day with your underwear showing and being unable to do anything about it is not the sort of thing men ever have to deal with. During the class with Johnny in it, I had to explain at one point what a Freudian slip was, and a smartass said, "Is that the kind you're wearing?" More laughter.

"That's enough of that!" I said.

"Leave her alone!" said Johnny. "She just made one little mistake, is all. Quit making fun of her!"

"Pet! Pet! Pet!" said a few boys.

"Stop it!" I said. The class bell ended my humiliation.

My slip didn't show when I sat down, so when Johnny came by at the end of the day, I was sitting in a chair with my legs crossed.

[Alana]

"Hello, Mrs. Williams."

"Hello, teacher's pet," I said.

[Alana]

"Are you OK?"

"I don't know. It's silly, I guess. You do one thing wrong and they make fun of you all day."

"Welcome to high school," he said. "At lunch, some of the guys said you were letting your slip show on purpose just to tease us, but I said you would never do that."

"Thank you for standing up for me. You know what I wanted to say today, in class?"

"What?"

I stood up.

"That I could do a lot worse than have a teacher's pet like you. A wonderful, sweet, nice boy who always thinks about others before himself. Some girl is going to be very lucky to have you as a boyfriend."

[Alana]

Never let an opportunity pass by to give a student that little extra burst of confidence.

"Thank you."

I put my arms around him again, in a hug of gratitude. As my lace-covered body came in contact with his, I said, "There's a particular teacher who's wearing a lacy white dress, with her slip showing, who thinks you're pretty special."

The next day I picked out a red Asian-style dress. When I showed myself to Johnny, he was quite taken aback.

"How do you like my dress?" I asked him. His eyes went up and down my body, but he didn't speak.

"Wow," he said.

[Alana]

Could this dress be sexy? It wasn't very tight, or very short, or low-cut. Was I in for another day of creepy stares from teenage boys?

I got my answer when class began. I tried to start class, and one of the boys actually whistled at me. I did my best to ignore it.

Johnny came after class, and we discussed Proust again. He was too much of a gentleman to make me feel uncomfortable by staring at me too much.

Then, as I was going home, driving through the parking lot, I saw him walking towards the street. I stopped the car and got out.

"Did you miss the last bus?"

"Yes. I guess we talked too long."

"Get in. I'll give you a lift home. I'm not having you walk home because of me."

"That's OK, Mrs. Williams. You don't have to do that."

"Not another word. Get in the car at once, you naughty boy!"

I turned and got in my car, confident he would do what his teacher asked.