Character History: Maggie appears in her own story series: "Teaching Study Skills", and Maddie appears in "Teaching Her To Be an A Student". Reading those stories first is not necessary for this story, but they do put into perspective character motivations.
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Maggie scanned the room as she entered her math class. She was early; there were only three other students in the class. It was the first day back after Christmas break. Her old seat was in the back of the room where she sat next to her then boyfriend, Pat. It was an ugly breakup right at the start of break. She really wasn't looking forward to seeing him again.
Maggie took a seat at a table in the front row. Her classmate, Megan, was already sitting in the other seat at that table. Maggie and Megan had been in school together since middle school, but they hung out with different crowds. Maggie was a cheerleader and ran with the popular crowd.
Megan on the other hand didn't really have a crowd. She was definitely the nerdy side, and she was friendly with the other top students, but she didn't necessarily seek them out. Megan didn't look nerdy either, at least not anymore. She ditched the glasses and got contacts when she joined the swim team. All the girls on the swim team got along great and had lots of inside jokes, but again they didn't see each other outside of the excessively long practices. Pretty much everyone in the school was friendly with Megan, but no one was extremely close to her.
"Hey Megan, did you have a good break?"
"Yea," Megan replied. Maggie getting late to class, picking the last seat next to Megan and striking up a friendly conversation would be a completely normal interaction, but choosing that seat when the whole room was still open did catch her off guard.
Megan told stories of hanging out with her older sister that was home from college. Maggie talked about her New Year's party with her friends, although she neglected to mention that alcohol was there. The class filled in as they talked and before they knew it the bell had rung and Mr. G was starting class.
Their table was the first one Mr. G visited after he finished delivering this morning's notes. "Going to sit up front this semester?" he asked Maggie.
"Yea I figured it would be better for my grades to sit up front and focus."
"Megan is a good one to sit next to. She really knows her stuff." Megan smiled and looked down at her lap.
"Yea I think she'll be much more helpful than Pat," Maggie replied. "He was a bit of a detriment to my focus."
"Well you don't have to worry about that at least. Pat dropped the class." Mr. G moved on to the next table.
"That's a relief," Maggie said to Megan. "We had broken up over the break."
Megan nodded. She thought about sharing her own recent breakup with Jake, but thought too long on how to word it and the moment passed. She wouldn't be able to add on to the conversation without sounding awkward now, so she turned to the work that Mr. G assigned. She was almost done with the third problem when Maggie asked her for help on the first one. Megan patiently stopped what she as doing and helped Maggie through that problem.
Megan turned back to her own work once Maggie was set. Megan finished the third problem and was about to start the fourth when Maggie had a question on the second. At that point Megan decided to help Maggie catch up and then to work together on the rest of the homework set. Working with Maggie made things go slower than if she was on her own, but it was more enjoyable. They talked and laughed while they worked. It was a good class.
"So Maggie, how's the assignment going?" Mr. G asked as he swung back by their desk.
"Great, we're done," Maggie replied.
"Awesome," Mr. G said as he held up his hand. She smiled at him and gave him a high five.
"Megan gave me a lot of help, but I think understand it."
"That's great. I told you Megan knows her stuff," he said as he pointed to Megan. Megan smiled, but before she had a chance to respond he moved to the next table.
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In the following days Megan noticed that Mr. G stopped by her desk way more than he ever did in the fall. He seemed to be following a regular patter. First, he'd ask Maggie a question like, "Did everything in today's lesson make sense?" or "Any questions for me?" She'd say no, but then add on some joke or short story as is her nature. She's a very friendly and open person. She does the same with Megan as they're working on the classwork. He'll briefly engage her in conversation and then when he's ready to move to the next table he asks Megan a quick question, "You're doing good, right?" She always responds with a quiet yes and a nod.
Megan rationally understood why Mr. G would give Maggie more attention. First, Maggie struggles with the material while Megan picks it up quickly, so he has to check on Maggie to just make sure she's keeping up with the class. Megan does well even without those checks. And then Maggie's friendly personality makes the conversation about more than just business. You can't have a conversation with her about only math; she won't allow it. Still, despite knowing all that, she was jealous of the extra attention Megan received.
That pattern continued on into February. Late in the month they had a three day weekend for Washington's Birthday. The following Tuesday Maggie cheerfully greeted Megan. "How was your weekend?"
"Great," Megan replied. "My sister came home from college in a surprise visit for my eighteenth birthday."
"Oh happy birthday!" Maggie exclaimed.
Mr. G looked up from his desk. "Whose birthday is it?"
"Megan just turned eighteen over the weekend," Maggie replied.
"Happy birthday," he said with a smile. "You have a good birthday?"
"Yea, I was just telling Maggie how my sister Maddie came home from college. She took me out to a club to go dancing."
"Sounds fun," he said.
"So did you dance with any guys?" Maggie asked.
Megan blushed and let out a quiet giggle. "There were some guys that come right up behind you and start grinding. It was weird, but that part was kind of fun too I guess. I'd usually wait until the end of the song before walking away."
Maggie laughed and Mr. G smiled. "Well I'm glad you had a good time," Mr. G said as he walked away to the classroom door to greet other students.
"He's picturing grinding against you now," Maggie joked. Megan's jaw dropped. "I bet you're going to get a lot more attention now that you're legal."
"He's a teacher," Megan said back in a hushed voice. Maggie just winked back at her.
The rest of that class proceeded as normal, but Megan couldn't help but notice a change in his behavior after that day. It wasn't anything huge, but for example, the following Monday when he walked up to their table the first thing he said was "Greetings girls," which was markedly different from before when his initial comment were always directed specifically to Maggie.