Chapter Text
Flashback – YELENA’S INTRODUCTION DAY
Yelena was transfixed by the scenery on the other side of the car window. That damn Hallmark Christmas movie looking town, down to the snow and fairy lights hanging everywhere. She could not possibly like this. What, was she gonna fall in love with the owner (and single father) of the local coffee shop? Or the Lumberjack widower? She hated that she almost liked to imagine it…
The rows of pastel-colored small stores and restaurants are all protected by snow-covered small boxes filled with dark green shrubbery and faint warm yellow outdoor lighting. Almost… safe. She couldn't let her boyfriend, Jeff, hear this. He loved being right a little too much.
‘’What are you thinkin’ about?’’ he asked.
Yelena shrugged. ‘’Nothing important’’.
‘’You sure you’ll be good to walk to the school? It’s pretty far from the house, especially in the winter.’’
‘’I will find someone to commute’’, she dismissed, ‘’there probably is a member of staff who lives near our place.’’
They reached Birchwood Middle School, which was ironically surrounded solely by red pines and maples. Of course, it was cute, like the rest of the town.
‘’Good luck’’ Jeff said before pulling out his phone after parking in a visitor space.
Exiting the car, she heard a faint voice – adult male. She saw through the school’s window a class in progress. All the students looked intensely at the front of the class. Yelena had a pinching feeling – this was the only middle school in a 30 km radius… If she didn’t get this job, she’d have to buy a car, proving Jeff right. There is no way. Inside the classroom, she heard a few voices – the students. A few of them raised their hands simultaneously. Yelena turned to look at the front of the class, where a male teacher was pointing to a student, who lowered her hand to probably answer a question. The teacher looked about her age. Short wavy brown hair slightly slicked back. Nice fitted evergreen shirt - her favorite color. Sleeves rolled to his elbows.
English teacher, she would bet her life on it. He looked, he looked so – He was looking at her right now.
Yelena froze. The teacher gave her a warm smile and waved hello. She waved back. All the students turned towards her simultaneously. She even heard the scraping of all the chair legs on the linoleum classroom floor. They all waved at her simultaneously, snickering and laughing – a few of them whistled, and others wooed. Great. The teacher asked for order, and the students, still laughing, turned to look at him as he continued his lesson. Yelena’s blood was boiling, and yet she smiled. Damn these kids, she already wanted to teach them curse words in several languages. As for that teacher…
‘’Let’s go, Yelena!’’ Jeff called from inside the car. ‘’Don’t be late!’’
Yelena nodded, too stunned to react differently. She reached the main door, buzzing.
‘’Hello’’ the monitor crackled. She could barely make out whether it was human or a machine.
‘’Yelena Belova, here to see Principal de Fontaine.’’
‘’Right on time! Come in, Miss Belova’’ Human. Female.
She entered – she recognized the school’s secretary. ‘’Good afternoon! Miss Gold, right?’’
The woman smiled brightly. ‘’Yes! Just call me Mel. I’m really glad you are here! I was starting to think the kids would not have a Spanish teacher this year!’’
‘’Hm, this is an interview… is it not?’’
Mel shrugged. ‘’Sure, sure, interview. Is it an interview if you are the only candidate?’’
‘’Thank you, Mel!’’ A cold voice rang behind Mel, startling her.
The owner of that voice must belong to Valentina De Fontaine, this school’s principal. And the owner of several businesses around town. She was basically Birchwood’s Godfather.
Godmother? That didn’t have the same ring.
‘’Please, Miss Belova, follow me.’’
Instead of going back to her office, Valentina left the administration area and walked towards the main corridor.
‘’What my assistant foolishly revealed wasn’t wrong. You are the only candidate. Your resume is stellar. And perfect for Birchwood. Thanks to the Webster Languages Grant, we can offer more language classes than the mandatory Spanish language curriculum. We already had Russian thanks to our current teacher. Miss Gold just applied us for the French curriculum, thanks to your background. Too bad you do not speak Italian, we could’ve been friends..’’
‘’In realtà, parlo un po' di italiano.’’
‘’No need to flex, Miss Belova. You got the job already.’’
Yelena beamed. ‘’I do?’’
‘’Of course. I’m here to show you your class. You’ll be able to meet your colleagues as soon as the last class finishes. Our current Second Language Teacher, Miss Dreykov, wanted to go back to Russia as soon as possible... She stayed until a replacement was found. You basically saved her half a school year! If I had a nickel for all our Russian professors that teach languages, I’d have two nickels. You know it isn’t much, but it’s still weird that it happened twice since I’m principal.’’
Yelena looked through the window of the first class – it was that class, with that teacher... Mr Reynolds, if the sign next to the door was correct.
‘’This is the English class. Mr Reynolds.’’ Valentina continued walking. Reynolds was leaning against the blackboard behind him, arms folded. He looked relaxed and in control. He turned his head towards her and gave her a small nod, smiling. Damn.
Valentina saw that look shared between the teachers and narrowed her eyes. ‘’He’s not married.’’
Yelena whipped her head towards her. ‘’Excuse me?’’
‘’I’m sorry, Miss Belova, where are my manners? I’m just very observant, and I love businesses. My own, and everyone else's. Both a blessing and a curse. Let’s continue the tour.’’
They quickly went through the whole school, which was not very big. Yelena was glad to have her trusty legal pad on hand to take notes:
- James ‘’Bucky’’ Barnes: History teacher. War veteran. Looks like a tired uncle.
- Ava Starr. Science teacher. Her current group was out in the schoolyard, setting off cardboard rockets. Looks. cool as hell.
- Kate Bishop. Math teacher. Youngest teacher. Fully Gen Z, in a good way.
- John Walker. Gym teacher. Probably the high school’s football quarterback who won ‘’back to back to back’’ championships.
- Gary Pierce. Art teacher. Knowledgeable, well-read. Has a feud with the principal. Yelena doesn’t want to delve into that mess.
- Robert ‘’Bob” Reynolds. English teacher. Cute. Looks like a popular teacher.
At last, they reached her class, still attended by Miss Dreykov. Nice classroom, but it was located right across from Mr Reynolds’. She chose to ignore her ambivalent feelings about that fact. Instead focused on thinking about how she'd make that room her own, maybe for the next school year. She hoped the decorations would remain after her predecessor left. Half of the walls are covered in colorful Russian posters with grammar rules, common phrases, and the other half in Spanish.
‘’Miss Dreykov told me how some students already showed interest in a French language class for next year. Most of them were talking about kissing, of course, but several others looked genuinely interested in learning that language. Very fancy.’’
‘’Is it possible to offer them a class trip - for next year, of course? I already organized a few of them. We mostly went to Oaxaca or Mexico City, and once to Barcelona. Never one in France though…’’
‘’This is a public school, Miss Belova.’’
‘’Oh, I know. I am sorry for the misunderstanding. I teach exclusively in public schools. I organized the trips myself, raising money through donations, car washes, selling baked goods and chocolates, among other things… Excellent activities for the kids. Shows them useful skills and qualities, such as discipline, hard work, and money management. The list goes on.’’
‘’Mmh. Yes, you are not the first teacher to recently propose exotic class trip ideas,” Valentina revealed, staring at Mr Reynolds' classroom. “We’ll see. Maybe New Orleans… or Montreal?’’
Yelena smiled honestly at that. She had never been to either of those places and would never turn down the opportunity to visit somewhere new with students.
‘’I would take you up on that! Also, those trips are a contributing factor in how kids learn a new language.’’
Valentina smirked and narrowed her eyes, glaring at Yelena as if to seize her up. When the bell finally rang, all the students made their way out of the classes. They all stared at her, murmuring speculations about who she was and why she was at their school.
‘’Oh, here’s Mr R’s neeeeew cruuuuuush!’’ one of the boys said, looking her up and down, ‘’She cute’’.
‘’Curtis, respect is NEVER optional. Use your inside voice, if you please.’’ Mr Reynolds declared as he left his classroom.
‘’Yeah yeah, my bad,’’ the boy let out, ‘’Sorry Miss. Goodbye Mr R.’’
‘’Have a good weekend, everyone!’’
Most of the students waved back, shouting their goodbyes and their good weekends to Mr Reynolds and to each other.
‘’Do not forget to STUDY! MID TERM exam week in less than a MONTH!’’ Valentina added loudly, to no one, as they didn’t seem to register her presence at all. She cleared her throat at that and continued.
‘’Mr Reynolds. Meet Miss Yelena Belova, from New York City. The new second language teacher. Will start within the next month. She speaks Russian, French, Spanish, a little Italian… and?’’
‘’And that’s it.’’ Yelena finished, ‘’Nice to meet you Mr Reynolds.’’ They shook hands. His was warm. There was that feeling again… Safety.
‘’Nice to meet you too. Call me Bob. What made you move from the greatest city on Earth to… here?’’
‘’Boyfriend got transferred close by, at that new data center. Housing was included. Rent in New York would be deadly by myself. So, only option left. You can also call me Yelena… also. Not also, but you know… what I mean.’’
She wanted to dig a hole right there and seal it up forever. She didn’t dare glance towards that damn vulture-eyed Principal, who must have had a field day at her awkwardness. She dared to look towards Mr Reyn – Bob, instead. ‘’I’m sure you’ll fit right in here, Yelena.’’ He simply said, with a smile.
‘’With luck, yes.’’
PRESENT DAY
Yelena feels weird. Jeff is playing Valorant on his computer with headphones. He’s talking to people online. She needs to talk to him, she promised herself - she lingers around, unsure of what to say. Either he’s ignoring her, or he is ignoring her. After circling a few times, he finally notices. ‘’Sorry, guys, just give me a minute.’’ He mutes the headphones, removes them from his head, and finally stares at her. "What?"
"I'm restless. I feel weird."
"Do you feel sick?"
"I don't know."
"There's flu medication in the bathroom cabinet. Or Imodium. Do you want me to get it for you?"
"No, not sick like that..."
"Good, because I have that HUGE meeting in two days and I can’t get sick! Do you think it's something you ate?"
"I don't know.... I want to go take a walk."
He sighs. "We’re in the middle of something, and Walker has to leave in less than an hour.... Can you go alone?"
Yelena rolls her eyes. "I always prefer walking alone... You know that."
"Good. See you later," he puts back his headphones. ‘’Sorry, boys, I’m back.’’
Yelena puts on her shoes and walks outside. When will she have the courage to confess? Is it just jitters? Or nervousness? She tries to calculate the days since she got her last period. She's never late. Is she late? She calculated the only time they had sex in the last month – oh oh.
She walks and walks towards the closest – and only - drug store and enters. She looks for the condom aisle. Thanks for nothing, she thinks bitterly. Right next to the condoms – pregnancy tests. How fitting. Her mouth is dry and her tongue heavy. She takes a few tests and reaches for the counter.
"Hello, dear," the old lady on the counter says warmly as she scans the tests and notices Yelena's face. She tries to give her an empathic look, "Need anything else?"
Yelena swallows with difficulty. "How about all the luck in the world?"
The walk back is a blur. One second, she's in the drug store, and the next, she's knocking on a different front door. One painted dark blue. She loves that door.
Bob opens the door. "Yelena? Are you alright?"
He's wearing a plain white T-shirt and dark blue sweatpants, matching his front door. His short hair is sticking out in different places. Was he asleep?
"Were you asleep?"
"No, just preparing some materials for the kids. Come in."
She enters the house. Yelena already feels better. Bob's house is simple but so nice. Just the right amount of decorations and furniture. The essentials. Serene.
‘’I, uhm, I need to use the restroom.’’
Bob steps closer, putting his hand on her elbow. ‘’Are you alright?’’
‘’I do not know. I do not…’’ she tries to grab his hand – an anchor - and she drops her bag, spilling its contents right in between their feet.
Bob sees the pregnancy tests. Yelena cringes. Why did she come here again?
Her friend takes the bag, puts it aside, and pulls her into a hug. ‘’It’s ok, Yelena. It’s gonna be ok.’’
‘’Bob, I’m never late.’’ She finally confesses into his shoulder. ‘’I feel weird and I’m never late. I’m late right now. A week… maybe two. I have not tracked that since… Well, I just don’t.’’ Let’s not reveal to your best friend, who’s a man, that you’re not having a lot of sex with your long-time lived-in boyfriend. The opposite would not be better, but you know.
‘’It’s ok,’’ he whispers, rubbing her back soothingly, ‘’let’s just… You bought the tests, let’s just take one or two!’’
Yelena nods and breathes out slowly. She’s relieved to be here with him. Bob is more rational than Jeff under pressure. And since none of this is his problem, Bob will stay clear-headed.
He takes the bag and goes through all the small boxes. ‘’Results six days early! That’s good. Let’s start with this one. Oh. That one looks like it’s from the dollar store. Let’s put it back in the bag. Oh, look, results three different ways! Three tests for one box. There’s an early result stick. Let’s go with these two tests.’’
Bob opens both boxes and reads the instruction booklets. ‘’Pretty simple. You pee on that part here. For this one, it’s here. Takes 3 minutes each. Do you want a glass of water?’’
‘’I’m ok. I’ll be back.’’ Yelena goes into the bathroom and closes the door behind her, putting her forehead against it. This cannot be happening.
She follows Bob’s instructions. She can’t wait those 3 minutes alone. She washes her hands, glaring at both sticks the whole time, and opens the door. Bob is on the other side. He’s nervous. Why? She leans against the door frame. Bob mirrors her on the other side. She hands him one of the tests.
‘’I was about to break up with him.’’
‘’What?’’
‘’Jeff. I was about to leave him. I – I don’t love him. I barely tolerate him. He’s like a roommate. And now…’’
‘’Yelena, whatever happens with this test, you don’t have to stay with him. You don’t need him.’’ Yelena nods. But this would tie them together forever. A child.
‘’Where would I even go? I didn’t look up apartments yet…’’
‘’You can stay here. In the second bedroom.’’
‘’Really?’’
‘’Of course, Lena. You’re always welcome here, for as long as you need. You are my best friend.’’
Friend. Of course, a friend. What did she expect? Especially now. Especially…
She looks at the test. Two pink lines. She looks at the other test in Bob’s hands. Two blue lines. This is it.
She stands up and barely reaches the toilet, emptying everything that was inside her stomach. Morning sickness already? Only after she heaves and nothing comes out, and she feels Bob’s hands rubbing her back, only then does she finally start to cry.