Page 10 of For Your Own Good

“I know you can.”

Zach walks out looking a little dazed. He’ll do as he’s asked, because he doesn’t have a choice.

Maybe this will teach him not to ask his parents to fix his mistakes.

6

SONIA BENJAMIN WALKSdown the hall, smiling at each student she passes. The ones who aren’t staring at their phones smile back or wave.

“Good morning, Mrs.B!”

“Good morning,” she says. Her smile is warm and real. All the kids call her Mrs.B. “How are you, Connor?”

“Great, just great,” he says with a smile.

Connor is followed by Celeste, Noah, Patrick, Leigh, Simone... She can name just about every student in the school.

Ten years. She’s been teaching at Belmont for ten years. Actually, it’s nine years, eleven months, and eighteen days. Less than two weeks from now will be her tenth anniversary.

She knows the faculty is planning something, as they always do. A soiree. She likes that word. It rolls off the tongue so well. Sonia has been watching her diet for the past month, hoping she can fit into her red dress, the one she hasn’t been able to wear for a few years. That’s the price ofworking at a school like Belmont, where the food isn’t just good—it’s delicious. Even the headmaster eats lunch in the dining hall, and he doesn’t have to. He chooses to.

Eleven more days. She can eat carrots and lettuce for that long.

Today is Monday, and the school is humming. Weekends can have an odd effect on the kids. Half would rather still be at home, and the other half would rather be anywherebuthome. Sonia is on high alert, keeping an eye out for anyone who looks triggered or is about to be.

The warning bell rings, letting the students know they have four minutes to get to class. A special committee was set up to calculate the precise time needed for that bell, and four minutes was what they’d come up with. Sonia wasn’t on the committee and, thus, had kept her mouth shut, but she thought it was all very silly. The original five-minute warning bell had been just fine.

“Mrs.B!”

She whips around to find Zach Ward jogging toward her. “Well, good morning.”

“Hey, I’m glad I ran into you. I was going to come see you today.”

“Oh? About what?”

“The article.”

“The deadline is Friday,” she says.

“I know. That’s the problem.”

Sonia’s smile fades.

TheBelmont Bugleis published online the second Wednesday of every month. As the faculty advisor to the school’s newspaper, Sonia has to make sure the paper is on time, every time. No exceptions. On her watch, there haven’t been any.

“Zach,” she says, “if you don’t get the article in by Friday, we won’t have enough time for editing.”

“I know.”

She waits.

“The thing is,” he says, “I won’t be able to get it done by then.”

Sonia shakes her head, pretending she didn’t hear.

“I’m really sorry,” he says. “But I’ve got an assignment due on Friday for Mr.Crutcher, and there’s no way I can do both.”

“This isn’t like you,” she says, pursing her lips. “It sounds like poor time management.”