Page 41 of For Your Own Good

THE MORNING ISglorious. Sun shining, birds chirping, Teddy wouldn’t be surprised if a butterfly landed on his shoulder as he walks to his car. One doesn’t, of course. He checks.

He pulls up to the school early, before most have arrived. The only car he recognizes is Frank’s. Not surprising. Frank always arrives early. Teddy passes by his classroom, tempted to stop and say hello, but instead he goes straight to the teachers’ lounge.

Everything looks the same, even the coffee pods. He smiles as he makes himself a cup.

Coffee pods. What a stupid idea that was.

He never found the pods in the dumpster, either. Didn’t find anything of interest, but he did embarrass himself. Joe, the custodian, saw him climbing out of the dumpster. Neither of them said anything, which made it even worse. Joe’s not likely to forget it, either.

Teddy goes down to his classroom, opens his laptop, and checks hisemail for the first time since Friday. He scans quickly, reading the flagged messages first. Ingrid is still dead and not yet buried. The wordautopsymakes him freeze for a second, but he moves on. No time for the worms today.

Fallon distracts him. His former student continues to tell him how angry she is.

Hey, asshole, me again.

Just so you know, you aren’t going to keep me from succeeding. I’m graduating early and have already been accepted into a master’s program. It won’t be long before I’m making more money than you.

Later.

Teddy smiles, as he always does when Fallon writes. She still doesn’t get it.

He’s not the enemy. Never was. His goal for her, for all his students, is to transform them from selfish brats into something better.

Fallon may not get it now, but he hasn’t lost hope. Not yet. Not for any of his students. He hasn’t given up on her just like he hasn’t given up on Zach. One day, they just might get it.

And if they do, it will be because of him.

DEATH. BELMONT ISsurrounded by death.

Sonia walks through the hall thinking about death because it’s everywhere. Ingrid’s funeral will be on Friday and, not long after that, the annual memorial.

“Good morning, good morning,” she says, nodding to the students, looking each one in the eye. Reassuring them that everything is A-OK, eventhough it’s not. Yesterday, just when everything had started to calm down a bit, an article appeared in the local paper.

DEATH AT BELMONT ACADEMY?

That was the headline, question mark and all. Yes, there was death at Belmont. So much death.

However, since Sonia is still alive and still the faculty advisor to theBugle, she needs to find a new editor. Courtney isn’t coming back to school anytime soon, if at all. Can’t blame her for that, given that her mother died here.

There’s that death again. Always sneaks up when it’s least expected.

Sonia shakes it off and searches the main hall until she finds whom she’s looking for.

“Zach,” she says.

He smiles at her, looking as normal as ever. “Hey, Mrs.B.”

“Have you spoken to Courtney? How is she doing?”

“I haven’t talked to her since... well, since Friday,” he says.

“She’s grieving. Give her time.”

“Yeah,” he says.

“She’ll call you when she’s ready.” Sonia pats him on the hand, offering her most reassuring look. “I wanted to ask you something else. About theBugle.”

“Another article? Already?”