Nixus: A fairy tale

Teacher's room, Wednesday morning. 

Phoenix walked into the teacher's room at recess. She was visibly more exhausted than usual, yawning and stretching as she walked to her desk. She did not notice the group of gossiping divas that had gathered near her.  Four of them were talking, smoking, and drinking coffee, with Thomas Lincoln at the center.  Thomas was the oldest veteran teacher at the school and one of the cattiest and gossipiest people in the whole block. Everyone knew that no matter how well you hid something, Thomas would eventually find out and throw it back in your face, so it was best to simply tell him what was going on and pray he took pity on you and didn't gossip to the rest of your colleagues. He always spilled the beans; therefore, everyone knew about everyone's love life, family issues, and sometimes even health issues. The only things he refused to gossip about were traumas, Serious diseases like cancer, and domestic violence.  He had some ethics, and perhaps that made him a beloved teacher and a pillar of that school. At least he loved to believe it did. 

Thomas disliked Phoenix when she first came here. He tried to dig into her socials only to find nothing about her. All of her accounts were created the year she came to Detroit, and he could not find anything about her on the internet. Not even a comment left somewhere, a restaurant review, or pics of her past travels. He also wondered why she got a titular position if she had not been a teacher before, but she pirouetted her way out of his questions, and her attitude helped soften him up. Phoenix was eager to learn, a quick thinker, and on top of it all, excellent with children. She was humble and acknowledged Thomas as the Queen B. of the school. She put him at ease, and quickly enough, he treated her like he treated everyone else, a source for gossip and bets. Thomas lamented her unremarkable fashion sense and always jabbed at her about how plain she looked when she should be looking hotter. He also teased her about the lack of romance in her life.

"If it's not Miss, I am going to feed Thailand slums herself? What are you wearing today, Nix?"

"Sorry, Diva. I like my plain jeans and plain sweatshirt. They're comfy. I've just arrived, and you did not even spare me a little?"

"Well, usually I would ignore you like usual, but the teacher's room has been placing bets."

"Bets? Let me guess... You're roasting my looks again?"

"Ah, I will keep on winning those if they were the only ones. You dress so badly, honey. But it's not about that. We've noticed the change of attitude lately. We've also noticed that you finally took those wednesday afternoon off. It tickled me, so I placed a bet. We know that you're seeing someone. What we don't know is if that guy is hot or not."

"What???? Ho--Why???" -Gobsmacked, Nix looked at Thomas, who was grinning from ear to ear like he had discovered a dinosaur's bone in his backyard-

The other three women chuckled and shook their shoulders as if to say “well, you can’t blame us for going on with this.” Phoenix blinked and shook her head in disbelief. They got bored of her gossiping on her clothes already and decided to move on?  She rolled her eyes and tilted her head to the right. Marjorie, a 45 years old blonde short woman with neck-length hair cleared her throat. 

“Nix, everybody is in everybody’s business. Last month they were all focused on me when they learned I wanted a divorce. We haven’t seen you talk about a significant other, of course we would speculate about it.”

“To be honest, I thought you were asexual.” Linda, a 50 years old teacher who dyed her hair brown (but we could always tell it was a dye) spoke up. She was perhaps the meanest of the gang. “You wouldn’t dress up so badly if you were interested in dating.” 

“Wh—what? I mean, could you not have asked me about it instead of assuming shit about me. I like being plain. I like it even more when I have to work…. With kids! And what if I was asexual? I can’t believe you.” -she pointed  at her with forefinger and then rolled her eyes-

“Can’t blame me for not knowing you had game. And who is your so-called boyfriend?”

“Finally! Some sense entered your thick skull! Well, hold on you because my boyfriend is a hot and handsome cop. He’s so hot that he turns heads wherever we go. He’s so hot that I can’t keep my hands off him. And he’s so kind that he will come over to meet with my students and you mean girls will finally see that your venom was ridiculous.” 

“You don’t need to be so aggressive, Phoenix. Jeez!” Phoenix didn’t even acknowledge her. She put her bag on her desk and eyed Thomas and the gang. They were surprised by the comeback but it meshed well with their usual cattiness so they didn’t bother with her.  Linda rolled her eyes and gossiped to the hen group with her. “I am sure that she said that to save face. Until we see the guy in person, I refuse to believe he’s hot. And if he is, I will ask him why he picked such a boring woman as his girlfriend.” 

“In her defense he might not be as superficial as we are.” Admitted Cathy. A short haired brunette in her 40’s. “I mean I know what I am and I love me some good fashion sense. But maybe he doesn’t care.”

“The gag would be if he dress like a beggar.” 

“You know I can hear you right? Please keep digging your graves and  when you meet Marc you will eat your heart out.” 

Cathy scoffed and took out a 50 dollars bill. She put it in the bet jar and pointed at Phoenix. The latter gave her a bratty grin and  shrugged. Phoenix was a woman who knew her worth. She knew her beauty could not be tarnished by the clothes she wore (as plain as they could have been). She knew how lethal she was in her assassin days. How she turned heads and made her targets (and non-targets) fall for her. Her beauty was undeniable no matter how much these bitter gossiping souls wished it. 

On top of it. Phoenix was very confident in her relationship with Marc (and his hotness). Marc brought light in her world. Balance. He was a trustworthy lad with a good heart. He was caring for her, for the woman she was rather than the body she inhabited. She could rely on him, feel comfortable in his presence and even better in his arms. She could trust him with her sensible heart and vulnerability because he would never take advantage of her. And to top it all off, he was handsome as sin. 

No matter what these assholes could say, box new that the second they would lay their eyes on him, they would fold. Marc was handsome. Not in an otherworldly way (that would make him too beautiful to be true) but in a conventional way. He was tall, with a great built, beautiful eyes and a smile that made her melt away. He had his hair cut short but the hairstyle enhanced his features. A sharp  jaw, accentuated by his infamous scowl, intense blue eyes and beautiful eyelashes that drew her gaze to his face. He was taut, muscular but not in a grotesque way. Instead his body was strong, appealing, and devastatingly turning her on.  Surely the sight of him would bring others to their knees. Surely she would be very smug about it and would walk the school like she owned the place. Surely this would be a little victory she would share with her friend Debbie. 

“What’s going on here?” Debbie’s voice forced the gossip girls to scatter away like kids caught in the act. She blinked and rolled her eyes before shooing them out of the teachers room. “I bet they were trying to get into your head again.” 

“Leave them be. The spit of the toad does not reach the white dove. I don’t care really, but I can’t wait for them to see Marc and eat their hearts out.” 

“They were gossiping about him?” Nix shrugged. “Aha! What do they know?  Well, I heard you got your Wednesdays free now. Are you going to visit Marc at the precinct?” 

“Yep. I intend to visit after a while. And since I know how much you like planning things, how about we plan that together?” 

And the two friends went on to talk about what Nix should bake for her first visit and what she should wear and when it would be most appropriate. Debbie loved planning things and she loved watching Nix and Marc’s relationship flourish everyday.  So it helped make the day a much better one than the start suggested.