Sex, Lies and Phys Ed

• School Sex Scandal: Behind the Story
• Video: Jason Eickmeyer Speaks In the Documentary After School

In the wrestling room of Hammonton High School in rural New Jersey, gym teacher Traci Tapp was busy folding up the ping-pong tables. Fifteen-year-old Jason Eickmeyer watched her as he ran laps around the room, sweating out a few final ounces before his afternoon wrestling match. The end-of-school bell had rung, and the last-period gym class had stampeded back to the locker room, leaving Ms. Tapp to clean up alone. Jason snuck another look as she struggled over a table. He jogged over to give her a hand.

"Thanks," Ms. Tapp said with a slow, amused smile. She was slim, blond and sporty, in khakis and a blue-striped rugby shirt. Jason remembers thinking that it looked like the shirt Steve always wore on Blue's Clues.

"What's your name?" she asked as they flipped the table onto its side.

"Jason Eickmeyer."

"Jason Eickmeyer?" She was studying him now. "So the rumors are true."

"What rumors?"

Ms. Tapp shot him a grin and gave Jason a response that he's never forgotten. "I heard you're pretty cute."

She continued folding the table legs while Jason blushed. "You're not so bad yourself," he stammered. He had heard some rumors about Ms. Tapp too — she had a thing for students — but could still hardly believe it: Was she checking him out? As he tried to focus on making small talk, he cursed himself for the stupid weight-loss get-up he was wearing, layers of sweatshirts with a trash bag underneath to trap the heat — he was like a giant smelly pillow. Nevertheless, once the tables were stowed, she told him with a grin, "Maybe I'll see you around" — a statement, not a question.

Over the next few days, Jason ran into Ms. Tapp in the halls, where she'd give him playful shoves, then walk him to class while chatting about his upcoming meets. A jock with a top-heavy swagger and a sweet smile, Jason knew those signals well. He had just never seen them thrown by a 26-year-old before, let alone a teacher. Attractive and outgoing, Traci Tapp was among the most popular instructors at Hammonton High.

When the grading period turned over days later, Jason discovered he had a new phys ed teacher. "What do you think they should play today?" Ms. Tapp would ask him at the start of class. She told him not to bother changing into his gym clothes; instead, while his classmates dutifully played volleyball or ping-pong, he and Ms. Tapp would stand on the sidelines, deep in conversation. Ms. Tapp looked into Jason's eyes as they talked, and sometimes touched his arm, which sent his adrenaline surging. She asked him to call her by her first name, Traci — or better yet, her nickname, "TJ." When she encouraged him to visit her during school, Jason began spending three periods a day at Ms. Tapp's side. And three weeks after they met, on Valentine's Day 2003, Jason marched into the room where Ms. Tapp was on detention duty and asked for her number.