Ms. Brown slammed the case of Xpect in the middle of the table. "Recognize this?"
The room was quiet. "N-no?" said Mrs. Beverly, head of student affairs at the high school. She was in her early 30s and was a kind-hearted, if not occasionally naive, woman with bushy red hair. Mrs. Beverly had several children of her own and was never shy with her pregnant belly, but swore that she was done having babies.
"I'll help you out: This is the big new energy drink with high school kids now. Xpect, it's called," Ms. Brown said, taking out a can and showing it to the room. Ms. Brown convened a meeting of the school's four faculty grade leaders. She was in charge of the school's seniors. "I've already heard of at least four other schools in the city where students have been seen with these drinks. Their recycling bins are full to the brim with the cans."
"At least they're recycling," chuckled Ms. Lee, one of the school's biology teachers and the grade leader for the sophomore class. Ms. Lee was a short, multiracial woman in her mid 30s with short black hair and a constant sarcastic smile. She was much firmer than Mrs. Beverly, but combined with her relaxed attitude, more students respected her and considered her "cool" than almost any other teacher.
"Is this really such a concern?" asked Ms. Goode, math teacher in charge of the juniors. She was leaned back in her seat, trying to hide her cellphone usage, completely bored with the meeting. Ms. Goode was the epitome of everything sexual teacher fantasies are made of: a mid 20s bombshell with long, curly blond hair, big red lips, E-cups always squeezed into a blouse that's too small, and a black shirt paired with enticing leggings. There were even rumors that she'd slept with several different teachers there, but no one could ever confirm this.
"Don't you get it?" Ms. Brown huffed. "This is about so much more than student code violations. Don't you know why that rule is in place?"
"Because energy drinks make children jittery?" said Mrs. Lopez, first-year class leader and Spanish teacher. She was leaning on the table, one fist against her cheek, staring at Ms. Brown in utter confusion. Mrs. Lopez, in her late 20s, had been at the school shorter than anyone there but had a reputation as a klutz, which endeared her to the school's students. It didn't help that she also had a big, firm rear, smooth brown skin, silky hair, and breasts that rivaled Ms. Goode's.
"Because energy drinks are just the start," Ms. Brown said. "Caffeine is addictive and when it's advertised in such 'cool, flashy' ways, it further compels them to drink it. Then they've got a foot in the door for alcohol dependence. And from there, it's not hard to see them get into hard drugs. This school is not going to produce degenerates."
"So...Xpect is a gateway drug?" Ms. Lee said, raising an eyebrow.
"You laugh, but just watch," Ms. Brown hissed. "These kids start getting used to being hooked on things now, and a very slippery slope appears before their feet. It'll be bad decision after bad decision. I wouldn't be surprised if the girls end up pregnant before leaving college."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Mrs. Beverly said, holding one hand up. "Thank you for your...um...presentation, Susan. I don't think this is something serious enough to call an assembly on, for example, but let's all keep an eye out for this 'Xpect' stuff."
"Shouldn't we try it too?" Ms. Goode said.
"Absolutely not!" Ms. Brown scoffed, sitting down with her arms crossed.
"Hey, I still remember being their age. We...I mean...kids smuggled much worse in other types of cans and bottles," Ms. Goode grinned. "If we know what it tastes like, we can catch them in the act."
"That's a good idea, Ginger," Mrs. Beverly said. "Let's all take a can and, you know, have a sip. No harm in that, Susan."
"No, no harm in that," Ms. Brown sighed, passing out cans of Xpect to the other four women. They all pulled the tabs and took a sip.
"What an odd taste," Ms. Lee said, smacking her lips. "It's not exactly...oh my..."
"Oh...oh no," Mrs. Lopez said, her face contorted in disgust. "Are kids really drinking this?"
"Let's not be so old," Ms. Goode laughed. "Just because this isn't a 'classic' taste, doesn't mean-" She cut herself off as she suddenly dashed toward the nearest garbage can, loudly retching into the bin. The other women took suit.
"Oof," Mrs. Beverly panted, resting one hand on her stomach. "That's it for this meeting, I think. Everyone get home safely."
Mrs. Beverly managed to hold the rest of her lunch inside until she made it to the parking lot and made a mess in the nearest bush. She drove home quickly, her mouth tasting awful and her mind a bit groggy. In exchange, when she got home, she was greeted by the cries of toddlers attacking her shins as her husband, Jim, greeted her in the doorway.
"Good, your meeting didn't go too long, Megan" he smiled. "We were getting hungry."
"Jim," Mrs. Beverly said slowly, holding her hand between her breasts as she felt heartburn flare up. "I just...I feel awful. I'm sorry, can you do dinner yourself tonight?"
"Make dinner?" Jim scoffed, shaking his head. "You know I don't do that sort of thing."
"Jim, please," Mrs. Beverly sighed, slowly walking up her staircase to her room. "I just can't, okay?"
Jim groaned. "Fine, we'll go out to eat."
"Can you take the kids?" Mrs. Beverly asked quietly. "I really need to lie down."
"Fine, fine," he said. "Kids, we're going out. Say bye to your mom."
---
Mrs. Lopez slid into bed, still embraced by her husband, Roger. "You're sure you don't need anything else?"
"No, mi amor, you've taken lovely care of me," she said, kissing his bare abs. "Better I don't take anything else before next morning."
Roger nodded, giving his wife a slight bow. Roger Miller (Mrs. Lopez kept her last name) gave Mrs. Lopez one last kiss on her cheek before turning off the light.
"You're not coming to bed?" Mrs. Lopez asked quietly.
"Not yet, dear," Roger smiled. "It's not very late, but I'll try not to wake you when I come."
As he closed the door and went back to the kitchen where he was making a dinner for himself, he felt his phone buzz. Seeing the name, he immediately whispered as he talked. "Hello?"
"Roger, babe, bad news," Ms. Goode purred on the other end. "I'm feeling pretty shitty."
"O-oh," he said, turning his head to see if Mrs. Lopez could possibly hear him.
"So you might have to cancel that 'business trip' this weekend. It's a no-can-do for me," she said.
"Veronica isn't feeling well either," Roger said. "Something must be going around at the school."
"Must be," Ms. Goode laughed. "Unless you gave it to both of us." Roger's cheeks turned red, but Ms. Goode hung up before he could respond to her joke.
"Well this sucks," she sighed to herself in bed, adjusting her lacy bra. "Oh well. At least I know this isn't a baby. My dry spell has been going on long enough that I can write 'pregnancy scare' off the list."
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