Not the Outfit I was Planning to Wear

This morning I was really excited to wear the new cardigan that I had just finished knitting over the weekend. I got dressed, took a few quick photos that I sent to my mom and Julie, and filmed an “after” video for the before/after blocking reel I wanted to make and show to my knitting club girls.

In morning meeting, my fellow knitters were all compliments: “We love it!” “Is it itchy?” “Oh my god it looks so pretty!”

It was a bit itchy, but no mind. It was the perfect coziness for our classroom’s powerful AC.

Fast forward to 10:53am on the rooftop. Recess was almost over. Kim and I were sitting on the turf in the shade. Well, she was squatting. My computer was in my lap and I was focused on what I was doing, until it started to drizzle a bit, the tiny droplets landing on the screen.

I shifted my weight and felt something wet underneath me. That’s when I remembered why Kim was squatting — she’d made a quick remark about the turf being wet, but I must not have felt it with my thicker jeans. Until now.

I shot up.

I arched my back to look, touched the dark line at the back of my thigh. Yup. Wet.

Cold, wet denim.

“Ms. Amy, it’s not raining!” M shouted at me as I began walking off the field. The rain started coming down a bit harder, but still light enough that, were my pants not soaking wet, I would have let them keep playing. But they were wet. Wet wet. The kind of wet where someone can see an outline of your butt and will most certainly assume you’ve peed your pants.

“Nope, we’re going downstairs!” I shouted back.

“But what about recess?” H whined.

“You can have 5 minutes to chat, but then we’re doing math!” I said as I continued rushing out.

The girls followed, confused. I turned my back to them and pointed: “My butt is soaked!”

“Oh, Ms. Amy,” E said playfully, shaking her head as she ran alongside me, ever the teacher’s assistant.

“Do you have a change of clothes?” M asked, always the most concerned.

“I only have extra t-shirts!” I said as we raced down the stairs.

When we got into the classroom, I grabbed my flannel and tied it around my waist. I remembered the coaches had some samples of new uniforms for next year that had been sitting on their desk.

I texted Patrick: “Do you have any change of pants or shorts up there?” while running back upstairs.

He was reading my text as I arrived.

“I think Rosie may have gotten rid,” he frowned, opening his office door. Sure enough, the pile of uniform samples was nowhere to be seen.

I ran back out.

“Rosie! Where did you put those uniform samples?”

She gave me a sheepish look. “Err, I donated them to Cuba.”

“Ah, okay, no worries!” I said, hitting the elevator call button. I remembered last year when a student had gotten her period for the first time and needed a change of bottoms, the lobby had provided her with a pair of shorts. She was my size — surely they’d have something that would work downstairs.

I got to the lobby and saw Nayelis, Ashley, and Cooper at the desk.

“Hi Nayelis! Hi Ashley! I need a favor…” I began, explaining the situation. “Do you have any extra shorts or pants that might fit me?”

“You sure you didn’t have an accident?” Cooper joked. He loves to pull pranks, ever since April Fools.

“Let me see if we have something,” Ashley said, then disappeared into the car tunnel.

While I waited, Nayelis showed me a couple phone cases she was considering. Between the pink and black one, I voted for black. Classic.

Ashley came back, a pair of joggers in her hands.

“You’re a lifesaver!” I said, grabbing them from her. Size 16, but I’m pretty small, so they would have to do. I ran to the bathroom, shrugged off the cold and wet jeans, and pulled on the joggers. A perfect fit.

I tied my shoes, threw on my sweater, and headed back to class.

The rest of the day, my colleagues stopped me and asked for the story. Ana particularly found it humorous.

When I texted her about how I hadn’t sliced today, and was in between writing about AI or the two pope movies I’d watched last week, she sent me a voice note: “Why aren’t you slicing about the pants? In my head, when I saw you walk with those, I thought, this is a typical slice of life.”

So there you have it. It was not the outfit I was planning to wear, but it was super comfortable.