Page 25 of For Your Own Good

So he tried it again. And again. And again.

He mixed up all sorts of things—Valium, sleeping pills, even over-the-counter meds. The things he did were good: People who kept sniffling and coughing got cold medicine so they’d keep their germs to themselves. The ones who didn’t get enough sleep got woken up a little.

And high-strung people got to relax. They needed to, or else they’d have a heart attack. Like the current headmaster, who had one last year.

Teddy is just helping everyone. Doing what’s best for them.

Well, except for Sonia.

16

ON MONDAY MORNING,Sonia feels fine, just fine. By yesterday, her stomach had felt a lot better, and she was able to review the work Courtney had done on theBugle. Sonia doesn’t know why she was ever worried. Courtney had done a spectacular job without her, getting most of the edits done and a large portion of the layout. After going through it several times, she had just one thought:

I should have more confidence in myself.

Sonia was, and is, a good teacher. Maybe she isn’t a college professor like her husband, but she is a great teacher. Courtney knew exactly what to do because Sonia had taught her how to do it.

That was the second silver lining of her little stomach flu. It reminded Sonia that she’s good at what she does.

With a smile on her face, she heads into the school and straight to theBugleoffice. Courtney is already at her desk, looking almost as stressed as she did on Friday.

“Mrs.B! How are you?” she says, getting up from her chair. “How are you feeling?”

“Oh, I’m fine. Just fine. It was only a little bug. Well, maybe more than a little bug, but I powered through.”

Courtney smiles. “Good.”

“Now, let’s see where we are.” Sonia moves past her, to the computer, and bends down. Back in her element now. “Courtney, this issue looks even better than it did last night.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely. You’ve done an incredible job.”

Courtney smiles so big it’s blinding. “Thanks, Mrs.B.”

“I’ll let you know as soon as I get Zach’s article,” Sonia says.

It’s still a bit early, so Sonia heads to the far end of the school. The custodian’s room is deep in the corner of the south wing, far away from the classrooms. Joe has been at the school much longer than Sonia. Twenty years at least.

No doubt he was the one who had to clean up her mess on Friday, and what a mess it was.

His door is shut, so she knocks, but he doesn’t answer. Sonia is a little relieved, and embarrassed, so she is fine with writing him a little thank-you note and slipping it under his door.

Next stop before class: the teachers’ lounge. The room is crowded— everyone is getting their coffee before first period, and they all ask her how she is doing.

“Oh, I’m fine. Just fine.” She smiles. “I’m not dead yet, anyway.”

“Great, great,” they all say. “So glad you’re better.”

“Me too.”

She gets her coffee and leaves, getting the feeling that they had been talking about her before she walked in. They couldn’t still be talking about Friday. By now, that must be old gossip. Nothing lasts more than a day around here.

So maybe they had been planning her ten-year anniversary party. It’s just four days away.

ONE OF THEreasons Teddy despises giving extra assignments to students is that he has no recourse. From the beginning, the terms are set. Do this assignment, and your grade will go up. Unless the extra assignment is abominable, the deal has been fulfilled. Which means Teddy is stuck raising Zach’s current grade up to an A.

Minus.