“Right …” I realize too late I mixed up my timelines there for a minute, but that’s hardly the big issue here. “But still, ew.”

In my day, Buckman is famous for his student conquests, a quasi-open secret that somehow goes unstopped. He chooses a girl on the fringe of the pack, someone unsupported at home or maybe prone to rebellion or a newcomer without a crowd of her own. From the outside, it looks like Buckman finds a girl who needs him in some way because she’d grieve the loss if they broke up, and she’d never trust her own status next to his position of power. No one ever seems to report him, or if they do, it’s hard to tell because he’s still there.

It’s horrifying that Leeza’s a Buckman girl. For all I know, she’s the original.

“Seriously, did you hear something about us?”

How do I explain why I know what he’s like? Once more with the truth. “I did say I was from the future. He’s still chasing skirts in the twenty-first century.”

“This isn’t funny.” She’s shaking now. “Who told you?”

This might not be my best idea ever, but I’m going to lie. I need to concoct a story that will make her knock it off with Mr. Buckman. She deserves better.

“It was Mrs. Buckman.” I spool out a story I hope is both plausible and that she can’t verify. “The night I got here, she came by my aunt’s, claiming she needed to borrow cookie sheets or something but really just gossiping for a hundred years. She didn’t even know I was there, but I heard the whole thing. My aunt was trying to find a nice way to get her to move on, but then Mrs. Buckman started complaining about Mr. Buckman.” Leeza is listening, so this detail is ringing true. “She … she said he was spending too much time with the girls on the campus.”

This must also confirm something she already knows because she nods vigorously. “She says if she had her way, girls wouldn’t even be allowed in shop.”

“Sounds like her … but what did she say about me?”

“Uh … nothing specific. She just said she thought Mr. Buckman had a favorite, and she needed to do something about it.” I’m hoping this will make her nervous, but it has the opposite effect. All Leeza hears is “favorite,” and she nods, pleased. “And then I thought I saw him watching you when you left the shop today, so …”

“Hmmm …” She mulls this quietly. “He’s gonna have to be more careful then, especially if she’s telling people he’s stepping out. We only have to sit on this till graduation, then we’re in the clear.” The steely command is back in her voice. She’s not even going to deny it.