Lily was impressed. At the school where she’d done her training, the longest anyone had stuck around was two years. “You have a high staff retention rate.”
“It’s all due to Alisha,” Mei said, and Andrew nodded in agreement. “Once you sign your contract, she never lets you leave. You’re stuck here forever now, Lily.”
“From what I’ve seen so far—which admittedly isn’t much—I think I’m okay with that.”
“We’ll change your mind soon enough.”
“Don’t scare her off,” Alisha said, but it was good-natured. “And don’t remind me how long I’ve been here, either. It makes me feel old.”
“You’re hardly old,” all three of them chimed in unison.
“Tell that to my creaky joints.”
“How did you become a teacher, Alisha?” Lily was eager to learn about her new colleagues—and to take some of the attention away from herself.
“I was a social worker for a few years. Spent a lot of time with a lot of different kids and seeing how many adults in their lives let them down—I don’t know. It’s like you said, Lily, about wanting to make a difference. To give them something stable. I went back to school to get my teacher’s license. They needed science teachers, so I became one.”
“My story isn’t as interesting,” Andrew said, when Lily moved her gaze to him. “I was working at an energy company and hated it. My brother was a teacher and seemed a hell of a lot happier than I was, so I looked into it, and here I am.”
“Here we all are,” Mei said, leaning over to throw her trash away. “What made you choose Greenfield, Lily? Are you from nearby?”
“I grew up a few towns over. I left for college, but my family never moved so when I found this job listing it made sense to move back. My sister recently had a baby, too, so it means I’ll be able to spend more time with them.” They didn’t need to know the other reason she’d wanted to leave Miami—to escape the memories of the woman she’d thought she was going to spend the rest of her life with.
“That’s sweet. Do you have kids of your own? A husband?”
“Uh, no to both.” A forever no, to the husband, but she wasn’t sure she was ready to out herself to her new colleagues yet.
“Give the poor woman some time to breathe without being interrogated, Mei,” Alisha said, and Mei flushed.
“Sorry. It’s been a while since we had any fresh blood in the department. Eva was the last, and you can guess how well my questions went with her.”
“Like a lead balloon?” Lily said.
“It’s been two years and we still don’t know anything about her. If the kids didn’t need to know her last name, I think that would be a secret, too. The only thing we do know is she used to be some hotshot professor at Georgetown.”
Lily’s interest was piqued. “And she teaches here?”
“Uh-huh. There are all kinds of rumors about how it happened, but no one knows for sure. Or if they do”—Mei glanced toward Alisha—“they won’t say.”
“I’ve told you a million times: I have no idea why she left Georgetown.”
Lunch passed too quickly, and soon Lily was back in her classroom and welcoming her final class of the day.
Once it had finished, Lily relaxed back in her chair, revitalized after her first proper day of teaching. All the students she’d met so far were lovely, and Lily was looking forward to getting to know them better as the year wore on, ready to challenge them and watch them succeed.
A light knock sounded on her door, and Lily turned to see Mei. “Hey. We’re about to see who won our bet if you’d like to join us.”
Lily had forgotten all about it in the excitement of atomic structure. She followed Mei out the door and found Andrew and an older white man she assumed was Brandon standing in the hall.
“Okay, I’m going in,” Mei whispered, tiptoeing toward the classroom at the end of the hall, and Lily pressed her lips together because she looked ridiculous.
Lily edged closer with everyone else, and when Mei reached Eva’s door, she ducked to one side, her lips moving as she counted the kids within through the glass panels.
“Damn,” Mei said when she’d finished, before retreating to the safety of the group and reaching into the pocket of her blazer. “Okay, the grand total is…twelve, so, newbie, you win.”
Mei handed Lily an envelope, and Brandon clapped his hands together.
“Beginner’s luck.” He had a wide smile, his beard peppered with gray. “Nice to meet you, by the way, seeing as no one is going to introduce us.”
