Point of Retreat

he was giving him the Heimlich maneuver. It freaked Mrs. Brill out! When she got to our table, Kel said he was all better. He told Mrs. Brill that Caulder saved his life. It would have been fine, but she had already told someone to call 911. Within minutes, two ambulances and a fire truck showed up to the school. One of the boys at the next table told Mrs. Brill they were faking the whole thing, so Kel got called to the office.”
     
    Lake leans forward and glares at Kel. “Please tell me this is a joke.”
     
    Kel looks up at her with an innocent look across his face. “It was a joke. I really didn’t think anyone would call 911. Now I have to spend all next week in detention.”
     
    “Why didn’t Mrs. Brill call me?” Lake asks him.
     
    “I’m pretty sure she did,” he says. “You can’t find your phone, remember?”
     
    “Ugh! If she calls me in for another conference, you’re grounded!”
     
    I look at Caulder and he’s attempting to avoid my gaze. “Caulder, what about you? Why didn’t Mrs. Brill try to call me?”
     
    He turns toward me and gives me a mischievous grin. “Kel lied for me. He told her I really thought he was choking and that I was trying to save his life,” he says. “Which brings me to my sweet for the day. I was rewarded for my heroic behavior. Mrs. Brill gave me two free study hall passes.”
     
    Only Caulder could find a way to avoid detention and get rewarded instead. “You two need to cut that crap out,” I say to them. “And Gavin, no more prank stories.”
     
    “Yes, Mr. Cooper,” Gavin says sarcastically. “But I have to know,” he says, looking at the kids. “Does she really waddle?”
     
    “Yeah,” Kiersten laughs. “She’s a waddler, alright.” She looks at Caulder. “What was your suck, Caulder?”
     
    Caulder gets a serious look on his face. “My best friend almost choked to death today. He could have died.”
     
    We all laugh. As much as Lake and I try to do the responsible thing by them, sometimes it’s hard to draw the line between being the rule enforcer and being the sibling. We choose which battles to pick with the boys, and Lake says it’s important that we don’t choose very many. I look at her and she’s laughing, so I assume this isn’t one she wants to fight tonight.
     
    “Can I finish my food now?” Lake says, pointing to her plate that’s still on the other side of me, out of her reach. I scoot the plate back in front of her. “Thank you, Mr. Cooper,” she says.
     
    I knee her under the table. She knows I hate it when she calls me that. I don’t know why it still bothers me so much. Probably because when I actually was her teacher, it was absolute torture. Our connection progressed so quickly that first night I took her out. I’d never met anyone I had so much fun just being myself with. I spent the entire weekend thinking about her. The moment I walked around the corner and saw her standing in the hallway in front of my classroom, it felt like my heart was ripped right out of my chest. I knew immediately what she was doing there, even though it took her a little while longer to figure it out. When she finally realized I was a teacher, the look in her eyes absolutely devastated me. She was hurt. Heartbroken. Just like me. One thing I know for sure, I never want to see that look in her eyes again.
     
    Kiersten stands up and takes her plate to the sink. “I have to go. Thanks for the bread, Will,” she says sarcastically. “It was delicious.”
     
    “I’m leaving, too. I’ll walk you home,” Kel says. He jumps out of his seat and follows her to the door. I look at Lake and she rolls her eyes. It bothers her that Kel has developed his first crush. Lake doesn’t like to think that we’re about to have to deal with teenage hormones.
     
    Caulder gets up from the table. “I’m gonna watch TV in my room,” he says. “See you later, Kel. Bye Kiersten.” They both tell him bye as they leave.
     
    “I really like that girl,” Eddie says after Kiersten leaves. “I hope Kel asks her to be his girlfriend. I hope they grow up and get married and have lots of weird babies. I hope she’s in our family forever.”
     
    “Shut up, Eddie,” Lake says. “He’s only ten. He’s too young for a girlfriend.”
     
    “Not really, he’ll be eleven in eight days,” Gavin says. “Eleven is the prime age for first girlfriends.”
     
    Lake takes an entire handful of her fries and throws them toward Gavin’s