Inquiring Minds Want to Know (1/2)

"Great job, everyone. Be here tomorrow at 8 am sharp for the final run through. No excuses." Layla blew her whistle to dismiss the band, and headed inside to her office.

The kids swarmed past her, in a hurry to put away their instruments and enjoy their Friday night. Some of the girls cast curious glances her way as they walked by.

She knew having a rehearsal at 8 am on a Saturday morning was tough for a teenager who'd rather be in bed until noon, but band kids were dedicated. Giving up four hours on a Saturday was nothing after band camp.

Plus, everyone wanted the routine to be perfect for the Homecoming game tomorrow night. The fact that the game was against their biggest rivals was just a little extra incentive to make sure everyone hit the right notes and all the lines were straight.

With a sigh, Layla flopped down at her desk, shuffling through the stacks of old sheet music she had piled up as "maybes" for the winter concert. Talk about outdated.

The lineup she had so far ran the serious risk of putting the audience to sleep. And theses were the good songs. She shoved the stacks of ancient music aside and squeezed her eyes shut.

That was it. She was ordering new music, and she wasn't going to wait around for Gary to give her money to do it.

She'd been putting a house payment sized chunk of money away every month for the last five years, just like her parents made her promise when they gave her the house. She'd spent a little bit of it on necessities like a new furnace, a washer and dryer, and the occasional pie from Chuck's, but that's what it was for. Emergencies.

And as far as she was concerned, the last few years at work had handed her a lot of emergencies. Reeds, torn uniforms, numerous pizza parties for motivation, a musical rental fee, new brass instruments...she might as well add new sheet music to the list.

Someone cleared their throat to get her attention. "Ms. M.?"

Layla cracked an eye to see Cody standing in front of her, half in and half out of the doorway. He looked like he wasn't sure if he should be coming or going.

She sighed and motioned to the filing cabinet behind her. "You know where I keep the reeds. Go ahead...but I'm thinking of charging you interest."

Cody opened the drawer so far it bumped into the back of her chair. He dug through the reeds until he found the ones for tenor sax. "I didn't really need any reeds," he said as he shoved a few in his pocket.

Layla closed her eyes again. There was no understanding a teenage boy, and today she didn't have the energy to try.

He slammed the drawer shut, making sure he put enough muscle in it so the whole cabinet rattled. "Ms. M.?" he repeated.

"Yes, Cody?"

"A few of us were wondering...are you and Derek..." he cleared his throat again. "You know..."

A girl's voice came from the doorway, sounding much too excited for someone loitering in a teacher's office on a Friday after dismissal. "Dating?"

Layla's eyes popped open for good this time. Apparently Cody brought friends.

Addison and Madison, both flute players, squeezed into Layla's office, which wasn't really meant to accommodate more than two people, but somehow always did.

"Are you asking her? Did she say yes? Please tell me she said yes." Haley, also a flute player, shoved in behind them, jostling past Cody in the process. Cody smiled as if thrilled about being jostled.

All three girls looked at her expectantly. Cody, never one to miss an opportunity with the ladies, looked at *them* and stretched his arms overhead as if he were seriously considering draping them around the girls' shoulders. Layla raised her eyebrows, and he jammed his hands in his pockets instead.

"No. We are not dating." She'd heard whispers since Derek first showed up at school, but this was the first time any of the kids had said anything to her directly.

Frankly, she was surprised they kept their noses out of her business this long. For some reason, her kids interpreted her open door policy as meaning they had a right to know everything about her personal life.

The girls let out a collective groan of disappointment.

"Why not?" Cody asked.

"I didn't know you were all that invested in my love life."

Madison rolled her eyes. "It's Derek Taylor. Have you even looked at him, Ms. M.? He's the hottest guy I've ever seen. Tell her what he said to you, Cody."

Cody opened his mouth, but Addison spoke over him. "You're really wasting an opportunity here, Ms. M." She shook her head as if somehow Layla had let them all down.

Cody tried again, but Haley was faster. "He bought a house here. Did you know that?"

"Of course she knew. Everyone knows that." Madison gave her friend a "don't be stupid" look.

Oh...Layla knew alright. She didn't think she'd ever forget that close up view of his piano.

Haley gave her friend a "no, you don't be stupid" look. "I just wanted to make sure. You know Ms. M. doesn't get out much except to buy groceries. I thought maybe she hadn't heard."

"You make it sound like I'm a recluse, or something." Layla couldn't help but feel mildly offended, even if they were speaking the truth.

Addison patted Layla on the shoulder. "You kinda are. That's why we wanted to make sure you don't do something stupid. Don't take this the wrong way, Ms. M., but we thought maybe you could use a little advice. We know you don't date much, so we thought you might not be able to see what's going on here."

"I appreciate your concern, girls, but there's nothing going on."

"But there could be," Addison flipped her hair over her shoulder, smacking Cody in the face with her ponytail. Once again he looked thrilled.

"There should be," Madison nodded and elbowed Cody in the side. "Don't just stand there...tell her, already."

Cody took a deep breath and waited a moment to make sure it was safe to speak. "Okay. Derek has been asking about you. He--"

"Cody says he's been into Chuck's twice in the last week for dinner, and both times he asked how you've been. He's interested, Ms. M." Addison smiled.

"He's not interested in me. I guarantee it." Layla shuffled some papers around on her desk to distract herself from the way her stomach flipped after hearing he was still thinking about her.

She couldn't believe she was discussing this with a bunch of sixteen year olds, but that's what her life had come to. With the way she and Derek had left things...he'd made it clear he sure as hell wasn't interested in her anymore.

Yet he'd asked about her. Twice.

Haley arched a single, perfect brow, an expression she must have put a lot of practice into getting perfect. "A guy like that doesn't ask about a girl unless he's interested."

Madison shoved Cody in the arm. "Come on, tell her what else he said."

The poor kid rushed into an explanation before any of them could stop him, a look of pure determination on his face. "He said he bought the house because he wanted somewhere to call home when he wasn't busy doing cool stuff like making albums and playing concerts, he said Maybe reminded him of the town where he grew up, and he said that he'd made some friends here. Emmett and Ed, I think. And he always asks about you."

Layla stopped fiddling with her papers, and started organizing her pens instead. She didn't want to make eye contact with the kids, because she was beginning to realize they were much more observant than she gave them credit for.

"Wow. Looks like he's told you a lot." Way more than he'd told her. It stung that he'd confided in Cody, but it stung even more that she knew she hadn't exactly given Derek the chance to confide in her.

Nope. She'd made it perfectly clear she wouldn't believe anything he had to say if didn't fit in with what she already thought she knew about him. She really had been awful to him. The guilt suddenly gave her a stomach ache.

Cody puffed out his chest and glanced at the girls to see if they were impressed with him. "We've had some pretty deep conversations. I even invited him to the game tomorrow and he said he might come. Because we're friends now."

Great. Just who she wanted in the audience. The stomach ache morphed into a vague queasiness.

"Did you hear the important part? He always asks about you." Madison snatched the pen out of Layla's hand and jammed it in the cup. Clearly she recognized a diversion tactic when she saw it. "Plus, we heard about how he punched Mr. Watkins in the face because he insulted you. That's all the evidence you need. Now is the time for action, Ms. M."