Page 2 of Hot Four Teacher (The Lawson’s #4)
Chapter two
A Different Breed
Dane
“ W elcome to Lilly Leaf Falls!” The man across the desk exclaims as I walk into his office.
Today is the first day of my new job in a brand-new town. The man who stands up to shake my hand is the principal of the school I’ll now be working at.
“Mr. Eckridge?” I ask. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too! And please call me Tony.” He gestures for me to have a seat.
When we are both settled, he says, “I just wanted to have you in to welcome you and give you the lay of the land.”
“I appreciate that.” I pull out a tiny notebook that I always keep in my pocket. I’m always prepared…or at least I try to be.
Tony and I have had a couple of virtual interviews before he gave me the job. Over a Zoom call, he didn’t look nearly as tall as he does in person. I’d say he’s about 6’5” with short strawberry blonde hair.
He says, “I appreciate you being able to come in when the school year has already started. We were in a bit of a lurch.”
“No problem. I’m happy to be able to find something that isn’t virtual.”
At the end of the last school year, the junior high I taught at caught on fire, so we had to go to complete remote learning.
The school ended up having too much structural damage to open back up, so the kids all got moved to other schools in the area.
That brought a new problem of too many teachers and not enough positions.
That led me to look for a job outside of Portland.
This position in the small town of Lilly Leaf Falls happened to open up when a teacher got pregnant and decided to take indefinite maternity leave. Since I didn’t want to drive an hour to and from work every day, I decided to relocate.
Tony asks, “How are you liking the town so far?”
“So far, so good. Everyone seems so nice.”
“Oh, yeah. It’s a very friendly place. I moved here for my wife about ten years ago. At first, I thought it was very Stepford. Turns out everyone is just nice to each other.
We both chuckle a little before he goes on. “I won’t take up too much of your time. I’m sure you’re excited to get into it. I’m sorry your classroom is going to be a bit bare. Mrs. Robbins didn’t leave much behind.”
“Not a problem. I have plenty of stuff. I may end up coming in over the weekend to get all set up.”
“Sounds good.” He nods. “I know you’re used to teaching middle school, but I have to tell you that high school kids are a different breed.”
I’m wondering when the last time Tony was actually around middle schoolers.
They are absolutely feral. Last year, I had a kid who got mad at another student, punched him in the junk, jumped up on the desk, ripped off his shirt, and declared his love for Metallica.
Surprisingly, that wasn’t even the craziest part of the day.
All I say to Tony is, “I’m a marine. I think I can handle it…at least I hope I can.”
“I’m sure you can. But if you need me, just shoot me a text.” He scribbles down his number on a sticky note and hands it to me. “Aside from before and after school, I’m never here in the office. I’m always walking the halls and making sure I’m available to anyone who needs me.”
That’s definitely a change. I’ve never worked with a principal quite like that before.
I fold up his number to put in my pocket and make a mental note to add it to my phone later.
We spend a few more minutes going over rules and procedures before he lets me loose. I make my way back to my classroom, wanting to get a little more settled before my first class shows up for the day.
I’m teaching history just like I was back in Portland, but teaching at Lilly Leaf Falls is going to be a little different. At my old job, I only taught one or two subsects of history with multiple classes of each one. More repetition, less work.
Now, I’ll have eight classes, but most of them are different history classes. I’m excited for the new challenge, but I’ll miss all my old kids.
As I get to my classroom, the bell rings, signaling that kids are going to start coming in the building.
Time to get the day started.
***
Twenty minutes later, I’m standing in front of a classroom full of sophomores. Twenty-five pairs of eyes stare at me. Half of them are waiting to see what I’m going to do and the other half are sizing me up. I’ve literally had people shooting at me who didn’t stare me down this hard.
I lean my ass against the desk and start to speak. “Good morning. I’m Mr. Miller, and I’ll be taking over for Mrs. Robbins the rest of the year.”
Crickets.
“Alright, before we jump into anything, I know I’m new around here, and you don’t know me from Adam. So, I’m going to give you guys the next few minutes to ask me anything you like…within reason.”
About ten hands shoot up all at once.
“Well, alright,” I say. “How about when I call on you, you say your name and then ask your question?”
I point to a boy in the front row.
“Lucas,” He begins. “Where are you from?”
“Portland,” I reply and point to a girl in the second row.
“Terry. Why are your muscles so big? Do you work out a lot.”
“Well, Terry, that’s technically two questions, but to answer them, yes, I work out but not nearly as much as I did when I was in the military.”
I point to another kid.
“What part of the military were you in?”
“The Marines,” I answer.
Another kid named Gina asks, “Are you married?”
“Divorced.”
Now, a boy named Ted asks why I’m divorced.
“Life,” is all I say in return. There’s no way I’m broaching that subject with my new students…or any students for that matter.
Questions start coming in without kids bothering to raise their hands.
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
“What kind of movies do you like to watch?”
“How many tattoos do you have?”
“What do they all mean?”
“Are you sure you’re a teacher? You look more like a hitman.”
Maybe the principal was right. Maybe high school kids are going to be in a league all their own.