So, I was just standing there outside the school with the rest of the parents when I noticed some of the cheerleader moms whispering among themselves. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against the cheerleader moms, but they look just like the did in high school, form fitting track pants, warm-up jackets, tidy haircuts or ponytails and they look they they are ready to either do a handstand or drink a wine cooler at any second. I don't dislike them, we just don't mix.
Anyway, usually they are chattering like a flock of birds just to the left of the school entrance so I noticed when their conversation suddenly dropped off. They started whispering to each other and looking furtively off to one side. I tried to resist looking but once I gave in, I saw an odd looking man leaning up against the side of the school who might as well have worn a sign that said he didn't belong. He was wearing one of those creep approved trenchcoats that look just like everyone else's trenchcoat in outline and shape but somehow, hung on the body of one of these guys it becomes a badge of dishonour, some sort of freak flag, letting everyone know to stay clear.
This guy had shaggy brown hair, and a kind of hooked nose that was a little off centre at the end, like maybe someone at the last school he lurked by had clocked him one. He gave off an air of shiftlessness. Generally parents and babysitters and the like took on an air of impatient indifference outside the school, standing around in small groups, sitting on the picnic table, wrangling smaller children, wondering when the bell was going to ring and spring their kids from prison. He had the wrong feel about him entirely, he was watching the other parents. And it wasn't in that 'checking out the moms' way that some of the stay-at-home dads and more adventurous older brothers did, he was evaluating us, but it was hard to say why. Either he was trying to see what he could get away with, or he was trying to see which one of us he could take in a fight.
Gradually the cheerleader moms' buzzing registered with me again, and I heard my name. If I had been a dog my ears would have perked up, but instead I just showed my interest by turning toward them.
"Oh, KC?" It was the teeniest one, the blond. Shelly? Sharon? Sheree? Shannon!
"Hey Shannon."
"
Anyway, usually they are chattering like a flock of birds just to the left of the school entrance so I noticed when their conversation suddenly dropped off. They started whispering to each other and looking furtively off to one side. I tried to resist looking but once I gave in, I saw an odd looking man leaning up against the side of the school who might as well have worn a sign that said he didn't belong. He was wearing one of those creep approved trenchcoats that look just like everyone else's trenchcoat in outline and shape but somehow, hung on the body of one of these guys it becomes a badge of dishonour, some sort of freak flag, letting everyone know to stay clear.
This guy had shaggy brown hair, and a kind of hooked nose that was a little off centre at the end, like maybe someone at the last school he lurked by had clocked him one. He gave off an air of shiftlessness. Generally parents and babysitters and the like took on an air of impatient indifference outside the school, standing around in small groups, sitting on the picnic table, wrangling smaller children, wondering when the bell was going to ring and spring their kids from prison. He had the wrong feel about him entirely, he was watching the other parents. And it wasn't in that 'checking out the moms' way that some of the stay-at-home dads and more adventurous older brothers did, he was evaluating us, but it was hard to say why. Either he was trying to see what he could get away with, or he was trying to see which one of us he could take in a fight.
Gradually the cheerleader moms' buzzing registered with me again, and I heard my name. If I had been a dog my ears would have perked up, but instead I just showed my interest by turning toward them.
"Oh, KC?" It was the teeniest one, the blond. Shelly? Sharon? Sheree? Shannon!
"Hey Shannon."
"
