Not The Expected Interview

Glo padded down the tiled hallway toward her favorite teacher's office. Sure, it was in the sports wing of the school, but this was for an assignment.

There was a strip of tape the color of a beaten egg across the corridor leading to his office. She tugged on the door to the girls' locker room – she could take a cut through to get around the tape – but it was still locked this early in the morning.

She sighed and ducked under the tape. Voices floated down the hall. She thought she'd be the first one to speak with Mr. Desjardins.

“...I just thought he was mad. We fought and I rushed out. I came in early to apologize... Now I'll never get the chance.”

Glo walked right up to the open door, not stopping until she saw Mr. Jensen, one of the school janitors, crumpled in a plastic chair. His face seemed haggard and his hands were shaking. As she looked around, there were men in blue uniforms, one had a notepad. Sprawled across the desk in an askew position was a tall man. She'd recognize his Hawaiian shirt anywhere.

“Mr. Desjardins?” Her voice surprised her by coming out in a croak.

The man in charge turned his head and seemed angry to see her there. He looked at the man with the notepad.

“Didn't you cordon off the area?” The younger man appeared surprised.

“I did! Wasn't there caution tape blocking this corridor?”

“Yeah, I just thought someone vomited or something. I had an appointment with...” Her voice jangled. She cleared her throat. “Mr. Desjardins.”

“Thompson here assured me buses don't arrive until eight.” The man spoke with a gravely tone.

“They don't. My mom dropped me off early. I was interviewing him for the paper because he's – uh, was – the Coach.”

“Well. This is now a crime scene. Officer Thompson will escort you out of this area.”

Shouldn't she scream? Or cry? Any second now, she thought, he'll jump up and shout BOO! She swallowed the lump of cotton in her throat.

“Oh, and miss?” She looked up again. “In the future, when you see caution tape, don't ignore it.” Her eyes fell to the white tile of the floor. She gave a small tip of her head, then turned back to follow Officer Thompson down the corridor.

When they reached the tape, he held it aloft for her. A few students milled about the area leading to the locker rooms. She felt their eyes stick to her like peanut butter as she headed towards the lobby.

She was about to take the final step from the smooth white tiles to the lifted red ones when she heard her name.

“Gloria! Wait up.” She turned to see the varsity quarterback, Jesse Kearsarge, waving at her. She usually felt clammy when she saw him. Now, she hardly felt the weight of her backpack.

“Oh. Hey.”

“What happened? My dad drove me to school today. He never does that.” Oh, right, he's the son of the Esker chief of police. So that guy back there must have been Chief Kearsarge. Huh.

“Um. Mr. Desjardins. He's...” she didn't know the right way to put it.

“Something's wrong with Coach? Did he do something?”

“He's... gone.” After a brief pause, she said, “I-I'm sorry for your loss.”

“Gloria...” Jesse still refused to use her nickname, but he wasn't teasing now. “Are you okay? I know you liked him – I mean, not liked him liked him – but as a teacher.” She was a bit surprised that he seemed to actually care what she felt.

“I don't know.”

~~~

As the day drew to a close, Glo headed to Ms. Chagnon's classroom. She led the Newspaper class, but she also taught Freshman English. Glo hoped she hadn't left for the day.

Ms. Chagnon was packing up her purse when Glo walked in.

“Hey, Ms. Chagnon?”

“Hey, Glo. What's up?”

“Um, have you heard about Mr. Desjardins?”

Ms. Chagnon's dirty blonde eyebrows wrinkled in concern as she nodded.

“Well, I was thinking, maybe I could interview some people and write up something about how people liked him. Like a memorial. Would that be... okay? Or... too weird?”

Ms. Chagnon considered for a minute, then smiled. “I think that would be okay.”

~~~

Glo got to school early again to catch some of the football players after their morning practice.

She was staring at the ground so hard, she almost ran into someone.

“Ooh! Sorry!” She pivoted around the guy exiting the locker room.

“Looking for someone?” Jesse asked.

“Th-the guys from your team, actually. I-I'm doing a, well, trying to do a nice thing in the paper about...” She swallowed.

“About Coach?” She nodded. “Well why don't you start with me? I've got some nice things to say. That's what you're looking for, right?”

“Yeah, um, that would be great, actually! Is here good, or...?”

“Let's go sit in the caf. The other guys'll show up when they're done cleaning up from practice.”

~~~

Glo was surprised how easy it was to interview Jesse.

“So, who do you think I should interview next? The...” she checked her notes on football, “running back? That's, uh, Caleb French, right?”

Jesse's mouth twisted to one side. “Maybe not. I mean, he wasn't super keen on Coach's methods. Coach wouldn't give him a shot at my spot and I think he kind of... resented it.”

“Really? But you guys seem like such good friends.”

“We are! Doesn't mean we agree on everything.” He gave a half shrug. “Then again, might be your only option before the bell.”

She gave him a puzzled look, until Caleb walked up from behind her.

“Hey man, what's up? What's she doing here?”

“Come on, man. She's just doing interviews about Coach. Don't you have anything nice to say about the guy?”

“Sure I do. Great guy. Great Health teacher. Hey, didn't we have him at the same time?” She nodded when Caleb finally turned to face her.

“So, uh, what do you want me to put in as your quote?” She turned her notes so he could read them.

“That's good. Whatever. Hey, did you hear that he and J... Nurse McDunn used to go out? He dumped her for a guy. Gotta wonder how she's taking this whole thing.”

“You just wonder 'cause you like her,” Jesse teased, winking at Glo.

~~~

By lunch Glo felt she had enough student quotes for her article about Mr. Desjardins. She decided to start her staff interviews with Nurse McDunn.

Ms. McDunn seemed tired, though the office was empty. She was young enough that her hair was still an orangy red, not darkened to vanilla extract color like Glo's mom.

“What can I do for you?”

“I was hoping I could talk to you. About Mr. Desjardins?”

“Oh, you should talk to your guidance counselor.” Ms. McDunn turned her head back to her computer.

“Well, actually, for the paper, I thought maybe you might have some nice things to say about him, considering... well, I heard... you used to date?”

Ms. McDunn's head snapped up. Her piercing gaze struck Glo with venom. Then her expression faded.

“You shouldn't listen to gossip, Miss...?”

“Gallante.”

“Miss Gallante, if you shut the door, I will share some thoughts on him with you.” Glo shut the door.

“Off the record, he wasn't as wonderful as everyone thinks. However, I had no residual feelings for him before... well. I've moved on.”

“Oh. Okay. Um, about...”

“As for your article, you can say that he was... honest to a fault.”

~~~

They were supposed to pair up for discussion in Sociology, but there was an odd number, so Glo was left alone. Someone slid into the seat next to her as smoothly as her mom slid a baking sheet into the oven.

She didn't look up from her notebook until she heard Jesse say, “What are we doing?”

“We're discussing the homework.”

“Oh... yeah. I didn't do that.”

She scowled at him.

“What do you want to talk about then?”

“Dad was reading his case files at home last night and I happened to catch a glimpse of one. Wanna know what it said?”

“You obviously want to share.”

“Okay, so one page was about how the murder weapon was the new garden hose Mr. Jensen, the janitor, bought. And another one was his interview with Mr. Jensen and he said he left it by accident in Coach's office because they had a fight and he just stormed out. Did you know they were together?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Well, it got me thinking. Doesn't it sound like Mr. Jensen could have done it?” Jesse seemed really excited by his theory.

“I see where you're coming from, but... I don't think so. I mean, I saw how he was when they were talking to him. He was... inconsolable. I think you've seen too much of Bones.”

He guffawed.

“Hey, are you discussing Cultural Relativism?” Mrs. Suncook called to them.

~~~

Glo looked up from her book when the door to the nurses' office opened and shut again. Caleb French looked around surreptitiously, then turned the corner.

Her back ached, so she stood and stretched. Maybe some cold water will help. I'm always dehydrated. Walking back to her seat, she let her eyes drift through the little window into the lit nurses' office.

so who do you think “dun it”? lol --

She couldn't believe Jesse had texted her – and not even about homework.

-- Not thinking abt it.

humor me --

-- Idk. But you'll never guess what I just saw.

what? --

She started to reconsider. It was gossip, but she wanted to tell someone. Her thumbs hovered over the keys.

don't leave me hanging --

-- Nvm. Gotta go talk to Nurse

McDunn about Mr. D again.

what if she killed him? --

saw her name on Dad's suspects wall yesterday --

it's after hours - no one's around --

-- I'll be fine. BRB

come on --

Don't Go --

SRSLY --

~~~

The room was getting dark, with the lights already switched off, when Glo knocked on the door and walked in. Ms. McDunn's back was turned. Her hair was still a bit disheveled.

“Um, Ms. McDunn?” She turned around.

“Oh. It's you. What do you want?”

Glo shuffled her feet, searching for the right way to say it.

“I was just wondering... is your new relationship with Caleb French?”

“Why don't you sit down on one of these cots and we can talk about it.” Glo nodded and crossed the room to sit down. Nurse McDunn shut the hallway door and locked it.

“I don't want anyone to start more rumors, since apparently they spread so easily here.”

“So it's not true then?”

“What made you think I would get involved with a student?” Her sneer made Glo squirm.

“Well, I just, I saw him leave here and... Then I passed by on my way from the water fountain and saw you re-buttoning your shirt. It just made me think...”

Ms. McDunn sighed, sounding exasperated.

“Not you, too.”

“What?”

“I couldn't convince Rob not to talk, either.”

“Wait... did Mr. Desjardins figure it out, too?” Glo jumped up, taking a few steps closer to the door.

Nurse McDunn's face flickered from annoyance through fear to anger. She lunged.

Glo tried to remain calm. What was that self-defense term from that Sandra Bullock movie? Sugar? Sing? 'Nose' and 'Groin' was definitely part of it. Glo stuck out her palm, wrist tilted up. She hit Ms. McDunn's cheek. It stung, but it also hurt Nurse McDunn enough to slow her down. Glo ran around her to unlock the door, but before she got there Ms. McDunn grabbed her hips and dragged her back a few steps.

She took a deep breath. Don't lose focus now, Glo. Nose. Glo was shorter than Ms. McDunn, but her aim wasn't bad at such close range. She thrust her elbow backwards and felt it hit something hard. Nurse McDunn grunted and something wet trickled onto Glo's arm. Glo wriggled out of Ms. McDunn's grasp and got to the door. She tried to flip the lock, but Nurse McDunn grabbed her ankle and pulled. On her way down, shrieking and grasping for anything to hold on to, her hand hit the light switch. The sudden brightness stunned them both, but Glo tried to kick out with her leg. Luckily, she'd been pulled just far enough from the door before it burst open, breaking the lock. Nurse McDunn let go of her and crawled backward as people rushed into the room. A man in dark blue leaned down toward Glo.

“Are you okay?” His voice sounded... familiar.

She rubbed her eyes and looked up at his face. ...Officer Thompson?

~~~

Chief Kearsarge shook her hand as she was leaving the station.

“Will you be okay?” he asked.

“Yes, thank you. I just want to get home.” He stared over her shoulder at the lobby.

“Someone's waiting for you.”

She turned around to see Jesse pacing about a hundred feet away. She turned back to the chief.

“Thank you. Can't believe you guys got there when you did.”

“Jesse called 911. He was worried about you.” He smiled. “Maybe try not to stick your nose into a murder investigation next time? I'd also prefer you not drag my son into it.”

“Sorry. I, uh, I'll try not to. Well, thanks. Bye!” She grabbed her backpack from the floor and swung it over her shoulders as she walked to the lobby.

She cleared her throat to get Jesse's attention.

He looked up, not stopping in his pacing until he saw who was speaking. He almost bowled her over in his rush to hug her. She laughed.

“I'm fine. Really! Geez.” He pulled back, but he still looked concerned.

“Don't laugh! You could have died!” She blinked up at him in astonishment.

“But I didn't. I'm okay. See?”

“Can I drive you home?” He seemed almost nervous to ask.

“Sure. I'll give directions as you go.”

The car ride was mostly silent. He still had worry etched into his eyebrows.

“So, um. Thank you. I guess you were right, a little, to be worried,” she finally broke the silence. He snorted, but then his face returned to its former gravity.

“I'm glad you're okay.” When his voice wavered she looked up at his face. Maybe it was just the blue dashboard light, but he looked pale.

“Thanks, Jesse. Me too.”

When he pulled up outside her house, she thanked him again and unbuckled.

“Gloria, wait.” She looked over at him. “Um. You can text me, you know. Like friends. Don't stop just 'cause we solved this thing, huh?” He gave her a wan smile.

“Okay. But only if you stop dragging me into your dad's murder investigations.” She flashed him a grin as she grabbed her bag and jumped out of the car. He laughed and waved. She shut the passenger door, but he waited until she opened her front door before pulling out of her driveway.