“We all did,” Daisy said, knocking Lily’s shoulder with her own. “Welcome home, sis.”
* * *
Lily’s footsteps echoed in the empty hallway, devoid of the sound of lockers clattering open. In an hour, this place would be heaving with teenagers fresh from their summer vacation, and Lily reveled in the calm before the storm.
“I’m sorry, again, for not being here on Friday.” Lily turned to her new boss—the head of Greenfield High School’s science department—and was promptly waved off.
“Please don’t apologize,” Alisha said, her heels clicking against the floor. “It was out of your control. And you’re here now. That’s the most important thing.” A tall, Black woman with warm brown eyes in her late-forties, Alisha Woods struck Lily as straightlaced and intimidating, but her smile as she ushered Lily into a classroom was kindly. “Here we are. This is your room.”
Lily stepped inside and glanced around, taking it all in. It was bright and airy, the windows along the rear wall offering a view of the sports fields at the back of the building and letting in plenty of the early morning sun. Wooden benches pointed toward the white boards at the front of the room, with green stools neatly tucked underneath.
“It’s perfect.” The walls were bare, but Lily could work with that. She set her bag on the teacher’s desk—her desk—and ran her fingertips across its surface.
“I’ll give you a quick tour of the rest of the department while it’s still quiet,” Alisha said, turning toward the door and leaving Lily hurrying to catch up. “We have four other science teaching staff. Andrew is physics, Mei is earth and physical science.” She pointed at their classrooms as they passed, the lights within dim. Alisha seemed to be the singular early riser.
“Brandon does a bit of everything across the whole school, so he’s often not around, and Eva…” Alisha trailed off, glancing at the room at the end of the hall. It was the only one bearing a name; Dr. Eva Thomas was engraved on the plaque.
Lily tried not to think it was pretentious. She’d reserve her judgment until she’d met her.
“Eva is our resident biologist. I should warn you now—she can be prickly.”
“Prickly?”
“Yes. I’d give her a wide berth. Most other people do.”
Well, that didn’t sound encouraging.
“This is my room.” Alisha propped open the door to let Lily see inside, the walls plastered with an array of brightly colored posters. “If you ever need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask. I’ve been teaching for years, but I still remember how overwhelming my first year of it was. I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to look at your schedule yet, but you have first period free today, so you have a chance to settle in before you get thrown in at the deep end.”
Their next stop was the teacher’s lounge. “There is one over in the main building, but everyone tends to use this one. It’s cozy.” It was smaller than Lily had been used to at the school where she’d finished her training, with a few padded chairs placed around a large wooden table in the center of the room. A fridge sat beside a sink along one wall, and Lily was delighted to see a Keurig coffee machine on the counter.
“Feel free to help yourself,” Alisha said, noticing the direction of Lily’s gaze. “There’s a monthly contribution toward keeping it stocked, or you can bring in your own if you wish. There’s a toaster and a microwave, too. All I ask is you clean up after yourself—which doesn’t stop half of the department from leaving a mess behind. This might be the cleanest you’ll see the place.”
“I think it’s a requirement for every department to have a serial slob.”
“That’s been my experience.” Alisha’s smile eased some of the nerves that had been somersaulting around her stomach all morning.
Lily had yet to meet any of her students, but at least Alisha had offered her a warm welcome.
“I’ll leave you to get yourself settled.” Alisha glanced at the silver watch around her wrist. “There’s still forty minutes until classes start if you want to explore the rest of the school, and I’ll see you later. I hope you settle in okay.”
“Thanks, Alisha.”
Alisha disappeared down the hall, and Lily returned to her classroom to fetch her lunch so she could put it in the refrigerator. She grabbed her trusty mug, too, a present from the students she’d spent her last few weeks of teacher training with. Miss Cross, was written on the side using symbols from the periodic table.
Lily was filling it with coffee when the door to the teacher’s lounge opened behind her. A white man who appeared to be in his early thirties joined her.
“Oh, hi.” He pushed square-framed black glasses up his nose before stretching a hand toward her. “You must be Lily. I’m Andrew.”
If pressed, that was what Lily would have guessed—something about his skinny frame, glasses and tweed suit screamed physicist.
“That’s right, it’s nice to meet you.” Lily shook his hand.
“How are you feeling?” He leaned past her to put a salad in the refrigerator. “Alisha said this was your first job.”
“Nervous, but excited to get going.”
“Good, good. The kids aren’t so bad here. They’ll try and test you, but as long as you’re firm with them I’m sure you’ll be fine. I know Alisha will have already offered, but if you need anything, please ask.”
