Teacher of the Year: Part IV

Dear Reader,

I’m an idiot. I promised you a make up Chronicle that should have been out this week, but I let myself get distracted with Tall, Dark & Furious. I didn’t even realize that the week had flown by until Friday night. As part of my apology, I am letting the children beat me and I wrote an extra long Chronicle tonight. 

Please forgive me!!

R.L.

The content in this Chronicle and on this website is intended for adults, 18 years and older.

Teacher of the Year

Part IV

An R.L. Mathewson Chronicle

“The Magna Carta?” Sebastian said, not sounding all that sure as he sent Haley a questioning look.

“No,” Haley mumbled weakly, looking like she was going to be sick.

“The Mayflower Compact?” Sebastian guessed, as Jason stood there watching his wife open her mouth to respond only nothing came out.

“That’s wrong, Sebastian, but good try,” Jason said with a sympathetic smile.

“Oh,” Sebastian said, as his shoulders slumped in defeat as he sent another worried glance in Haley’s direction and Jason couldn’t help but notice the panicked expression on her face.

“Next question,” Jason said absently, as he watched his wife send Sebastian another imploring look and-

He couldn’t do this.

Oh, he was still fucking going to New York, but he couldn’t do it like this.

“Haley, can I talk to you in the hallway for a moment?” he asked, gesturing towards the hallway.

Unable to answer, she nodded, sort of, sent Sebastian a panicked look and made her way out into the hallway where she leaned back against the wall and dropped her head in her hands with a pathetic groan.

“Why don’t we forget about the bet?” he said, as he reached over and pulled her into his arms.

“Yes,” sniffle, “please,” Haley mumbled against his chest.

“We’ll figure out another way to decide who’s going to New York,” he promised her, as he pressed a kiss against the top her head, deciding to take pity on her.

She pulled back far enough so that she could frown up at him as she pushed her glasses back up her nose. “That trip is mine,” she said, looking adorably confused as though she didn’t know that he was going.

It was fucking adorable…

“Jeter will be there,” she said, narrowing her beautiful eyes on him.

“And I’ll make sure to get you a pity autograph,” Jason said, leaning down to kiss to the tip of her adorable little nose.

“Bitch, I will kill you,” she said, making his lips twitch, because really, she was just too fucking adorable.

“Sure you will,” he said, giving her adorable head a pat.

“I’m going.”

“Well, I mean, technically, you’re not since you’re losing,” Jason pointed out, deciding that he’d get her a tee shirt while he was in New York to make it up to her.

Eyes narrowing, she bit out, “It’s not over yet.”

“I mean, isn’t it though?” he asked with a pitying wince.

“We could still win,” Haley said, shoving her glasses back up her nose before crossing her arms over her chest so that she could glare up at him. Well, so that she could try, but since she was just too fucking adorable, she really couldn’t pull it off.

“He hasn’t gotten a single answer right,” Jason pointed out.

“He’s just getting warmed up.”

“Sure, he is,” he said with a pitying shake of his head, because this really was fucking sad.

“Then you shouldn’t mind going double or nothing,” Haley said, moving closer.

“Oh, my little grasshopper, do you really want to do this to yourself?”

“Yes, yes, I do,” she said, shoving her glasses back up her nose with a glare.

“What do you have in mind?” he asked, sighing heavily because she really should know better by now.

“Double or nothing,” she said, making him frown.

“How exactly do you double or nothing over a weekend away?” Jason asked, wondering if she even understood how this worked.

“The weekend after that there’s a bakery convention in Boston that Kasey invited me to,” she said, and just like that, all the humor that he’d been feeling was gone.

Moving closer, he glared down at his wife. “There’s a bakery convention and you didn’t tell me?”

“I’m telling you now,” she said, standing her ground.

“Equipment or food?” he asked, because if it was about bakery equipment then he could give a flying fuck, but if it was a convention with food…

“Every baked good that you could possibly imagine and some that you never thought was possible,” she said evenly.

Nodding, he said, “Double or nothing.”

“It’s a two-day event,” she said, as he seriously considered asking for a divorce for the first time.

“Friday to Sunday night with a stay at a hotel?” he asked, making sure that they were clear.

“A really nice hotel,” she said, nodding.

“Fine.”

“Fine, and Sebastian and Mikey get to come, and Sebastian gets a hundred-dollar gift card to Amazon so that he can buy books to keep him entertained,” she said, clarifying their bet.

“That’s more than fine with me,” Jason said, since the kid’s inability to remember one single fucking historical fact was going to win him two trips, he was more than fine with bringing him.

Nodding, Haley gestured back to the classroom. “Then shall we?”

“Fine with me,” Jason said, moving to head back into his classroom only to step back and give his wife a quick kiss before he headed back, more than happy to end this here and now.

“Where were we?” he asked, as he picked up the study packet and sat on the desk as Haley walked over, shoved the box of cupcakes out of her way, climbed onto the desk, sat down next to him, and plucked the study packet out of his hands.

“What led to the Reformation in England?” she asked, as almost every hand in his classroom went up.

All but one.

Just to prove his point, Jason said, “Sebastian?” deciding that it was time to-

“Kind Henry the VIII’s desire to divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, so that he could marry Anne Boleyn. After Cardinal Thomas Wolsey failed to negotiate with the Papacy for a divorce, King Henry the VIII with the help of Thomas Cramer and Thomas Cromwell, came to the conclusion that the King of England should not be subject to the Pope’s rules. With the passage of the Act of Supremacy in 1534, England officially separated from the Catholic church, making the king the Supreme Head of the Church of England,” Sebastian said, sounding bored as he turned the page in his book, not bothering to look up.

“Very good, Sebastian,” Haley said, looking pleased as she moved onto the next question. “What year was the Norman conquest?”

“1066,” Sebastian said without batting an eye.

“Very good,” Haley said, as Jason’s eyes narrowed.

“What year was the Black Death?” Jason asked, keeping his gaze locked on Sebastian as he answered, “1347 to 1351.”

“Biggest impact of the Black Death,” Jason drawled.

“Reduction in population, improved nutrition, expansion in agriculture, trade, distribution of wealth, land ownership, and-”

“You set me up,” Jason said accusingly, as he pushed away from the desk and the woman that had betrayed their wedding vows.

“And you forgot that I’ve read every book that you own,” Sebastian said, looking up at him before adding, “Twice.”

Nodding, Jason said, “You’ve betrayed me.”

“No,” Haley said, pushing her glasses back up her nose, “I’ve outplayed you.”

“This isn’t over,” he said, with a glare.

“No,” Haley said, as she focused back on the study packet in her hands, “but it’s about to be. In what year…”

And as Sebastian wiped the floor with his class, Jason stood there, deciding that this was far from over.

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