Susan Mallery Page 0,69

questions and let’s see if we can help you scrape by in what I like to call remedial math.”

Sunshine saw shock on all the other students’ faces. She was sure she looked as stunned. Ron yawned again.

“Tick, tock,” he said. “Questions? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?” He laughed. “Get it? From Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. No? All right then.” He saw Sunshine. “Hey, there. Who are you?”

“One of your remedial math students,” she snapped. “We’re here for help.”

“I can help you any day of the week, beautiful. Want my number?”

Sunshine felt herself flushing. She turned away and wondered if she should just walk out.

“I have a question,” a woman in her class said. “I don’t understand graphing very well.”

“Of course you don’t.” Ron stood and walked to the board. “Read me a problem.”

When the woman didn’t say anything, Ron turned to her and pointed. “Open your book to that chapter and read me a problem. Come on, people, this isn’t rocket science or even hard math. Let’s go.”

The woman looked startled. “Um, y = 2x + 6.”

Ron walked through the solution. He explained what he did as he went and Sunshine was able to follow. Before she could figure out if she thought she could do it on her own, he’d moved on to another question.

He repeated his process until the thirty minutes was up. By then, her head was spinning. Yes, she could understand why he did what he did, but there was no chance to practice, no way to know if she understood the concept. Everyone else looked as confused as she felt. Weren’t TA sessions supposed to help?

“That’s it for me,” Ron said, putting down the dry erase marker. “This has been so much fun. I’ll be back next week.” He crossed to Sunshine and waited until she collected her backpack and stood. “Hey, you. I’m Ron.”

“So I heard.”

“Want to go get coffee? I’m free right now. You are a fine-looking woman, you know that? A little older, but hey, more experienced.” He winked. “At least that’s what they say.”

She slung her backpack over her shoulder and let her gaze linger over his shaggy hair, his scraggly beard, a stain on his faded T-shirt and his dirty jeans.

On the inside, she was crushed, not sure if she had the ability to get through what he’d referred to as remedial math, but no way she was going to let him see that. Self-preservation was a powerful motivator and someone had to give Ron a kick in the balls.

“You?” She smiled, then let the smile grow until she was laughing. “God, no.”

With that, she turned and walked out. She heard a couple of people sniggering, which should have made her feel better, but didn’t.

One of the young women from the session caught up with her. “You should report him,” she told Sunshine. “That’s sexual harassment and it’s illegal.”

“Thanks. I’ll think about it.”

“He was just a total jerk, talking down to us like that. He’s supposed to help us. Well, screw him.”

Sunshine offered a tight smile. “See you in class.”

The other student nodded. “See you.”

Sunshine headed for her car. She told herself she was going to figure this out. Obviously not with Ron, but somehow. She might not have been to college before, but she wasn’t an idiot. Other people got through classes—she could, too. She had to. She was determined to be more than she had been before and there was no way she was going to allow herself to get stalled before she’d even started.

* * *

“I’m very excited about this afternoon,” Bianca said as Margot pulled into the high school parking lot. “I’ve never been behind the scenes at a beauty pageant before.”

“I’m hoping you’ll enjoy the experience. We’ll start out in the audience for a while, then move backstage. What we’re going to see is the preliminary round for talent and the interview.”

“Maybe I’d like to be a judge.”

“Let’s see how this morning goes, then we can talk about it.”

“That’s very noncommittal.”

Margot smiled. “Yes, well, there’s a lot more to being a judge than most people think. Every pageant has different rules and different criteria. The winner is far more than the prettiest girl. She has to have a certain quality that is larger than life and often difficult to define.”

“You’re saying I don’t have the attention span?”

“I’m saying we’ll talk after you observe for a while.”

Bianca linked arms with Margot. “Such a diplomat. I should ask Wesley if there’s a rising young star in his social circles