Susan Mallery - The Summer Of Sunshine And Margot

She found her building, then made her way to the classroom. She braced herself for she wasn’t sure what, then went inside.

There were a lot of desks in rows and nearly half of the desks were occupied. She picked one in the second to the back row and slid into the seat. After pulling out a notebook and a pen, she wasn’t sure what to do. Everyone around her was either talking to their neighbor or on their phones. She got out hers and pretended to read an email, all the while fighting nerves.

At exactly nine-thirty, a petite, gray-haired woman walked into the classroom. She wore black pants and a flowy blouse that she’d tucked in. She set her briefcase on the teacher’s desk, then looked at the class.

“Settle down. I’m Professor Rejefski,” she said, her voice clear and strong. “This is Math 131. You’re in this class because you completed the prerequisite or you tested into the class.”

Sunshine had no idea if she was supposed to be writing any of this down. She glanced around and saw most of the students were still on their phones, which seemed really rude.

The professor waited a couple of seconds before saying, “If you need to use your cell phone during class, you will step outside. If I catch you using your cell phone during class, you will be required to leave for the rest of the session. If that happens more than twice in the semester, you will be dropped from my class. I honestly don’t care how close we are to the end of the semester or what your grade is or how much you need to pass this class. Do I make myself clear?”

Nearly all the students immediately slid their phones into their backpacks or pockets. One girl kept on texting. The professor moved in front of her and waited until the student looked up.

“Enough is enough. We’re not going to get along,” she said, her voice pleasant. “You should take someone else’s class.”

The girl’s eyes widened. She looked maybe eighteen, although Sunshine would have guessed younger. “But I need this class at this time.”

“If I see your cell phone again, you’re out. Am I clear?”

The girl nodded and put her phone into her handbag.

Professor Rejefski returned to the front of the classroom. “We have a lot of material to cover. If you want to pass this course, you’ll need to keep up. Do your homework and come to class prepared. I have no problem answering questions but if you aren’t getting the material, either use the math lab or attend the TA sessions. The times and locations are posted online. This is not high school, people. This is college. You are adults and I will treat you like adults. I don’t want to hear about your personal problems, I don’t want excuses and if you’re just here because your parents are making you, then I suggest you take this class with someone else.”

“What a bitch.”

The low voice came from somewhere to Sunshine’s left. She didn’t dare look and see who had spoken—she was too busy fighting nausea. She hadn’t expected to be coddled, but this class was sounding more like boot camp than higher education.

“The college has a strict policy on plagiarism and cheating. I’m sure this won’t be a surprise, but if you are caught cheating you will be expelled. There are no exceptions. On the day of our tests, you will each bring a blank blue book to class. I will take them from you in exchange for one that I have brought.” She smiled. “You will be expected to show your work on every problem. There will be pop quizzes. Please make sure you have blank Scantrons, Form 100, with you at all times.”

She paced back and forth in front of the class. “What else? I will randomly collect the homework. If you have completed the homework, you will receive bonus points. At the end of the semester, if you are within ten points of a higher grade, bonus points will be added to your total points and could push you up to the higher grade. Any questions?”

No one raised a hand.

“Excellent,” Professor Rejefski said. “Then let’s get started.”

Two and a half hours later, when the class finally ended, Sunshine felt as if she’d run a mental marathon. She was exhausted and her head was spinning. They’d covered most of the first chapter. While she understood factors and the order of operations, she was a little shaky on word problems. She’d made a note to find out when the TA sessions were, whatever those were. She was going to have to go to all of those. And maybe the math lab. Hiring a tutor wasn’t out of the question.

She glanced at the test schedule the professor had handed out and then slipped it into her backpack along with her notes. She told herself that all she had to do was get to her car and drive home. She could be overwhelmed there. In private. Having a breakdown in the classroom was not a good idea.

She settled her backpack over her shoulder and walked to the classroom door. A tall, lanky guy moved next to her.

“Hey,” he said with a nod. “I’m Justin.”

“Sunshine.”

“Hey.”

She offered him a tight smile as they walked outside.

“So I haven’t seen you around here.” He half moved in front of her. “Are you new?”

While she heard the words, it took her a second for them to actually sink in. Someone was talking to her. She needed to respond. Her freak-out about the class wasn’t exactly visible to anyone but her.

“Hi. Yes. Today’s my first day on campus.”

“I thought so. I would have noticed you before. You’re hot.”

What? “Okay. Thanks.” She went to step past him. Justin blocked her effort.

“I’m having a pool party at my house this afternoon. Just friends and beer. We’ll barbecue burgers and stuff. You should definitely be there.”

The statement was so at odds with her sense of being completely out of her element that she could only stare at him.

“Excuse me?”

He flashed her a smile. “You’ll have fun. I promise.”

She shifted her backpack to her other shoulder, then actually turned her attention on Justin. He was good-looking, in a very young, teenage kind of way. He’d yet to fill out and he had the eager air of a happy puppy.

“How old are you?” she asked bluntly.

He grinned. “Old enough.”

She waited.

His grin faded. “Twenty-three.”

She waited some more.

“Eighteen.”

“That’s what I thought. Thanks, Justin, but no.”

She moved around him and headed for her car. Puppy Justin chose not to follow, which was heartening. Now if only she could get rid of her sense of impending doom. Telling herself she could do it, she could figure out college, wasn’t working any kind of magic. She was scared and apprehensive and not the least bit confident about her abilities.

“Change is always hard,” she murmured to herself as she drove out of the parking lot. “I have to do this. I have to.”

It was the only way for her to be more. If she didn’t want to believe herself, she had Justin as an illustration. She wanted to be more than the girl with boobs and an ass. She wanted to be proud of herself. It all started with this math class and by God, she was going to get through it.

Or so she hoped.

Bianca had left a note on Margot’s door requesting they start at ten in the morning. Despite her late night, Margot was up at six, and showered and dressed by six-thirty. She waited until seven to go down to breakfast where, as promised, a small buffet had been set up in the dining room.

Alec was already there, eating his breakfast and reading the paper. An actual paper—not a digital version—which made sense, given what he did for a living. He looked up when she entered.

“Good morning.”

She nodded. “Morning.”

And that was it. He returned his attention to his paper, she collected her breakfast and took it upstairs. When she finished, she returned her dishes to the kitchen before going over her lesson plan for the first few days. Mostly she and Bianca would get to know each other. It was very likely that she would have to modify her lesson plans as she figured out how Bianca liked to learn and what she most liked to do.