“Thank you.” Coffee in hand, Lily retreated to her classroom, settling behind her desk and pressing the power button on her new staff-issued laptop. She spent a few minutes familiarizing herself with the system, relieved to find it was similar to the ones she’d used before—the last thing she needed was to be plagued by IT issues on her first day.
That wasn’t the way to win over her classes.
Lily glanced at the clock on the wall. It was seven thirty, which left her with twenty minutes before the building would be flooded with kids. Already she could see them gathering outside, eager to catch up after their summer break.
Deciding to leave exploring beyond the safety of her own floor for another time, she went in search of the nearest staff toilets, instead. On her return, Lily paused in the hallway to read a poster on the wall detailing the science and STEM clubs the school ran as extracurriculars.
Lily failed to notice the door opening behind her and didn’t realize she was blocking the doorway until someone collided with her back, jolting them both.
“Oh, gosh, I’m sor—” Lily turned to apologize, but the words died in her throat because the woman glaring at her was drop-dead gorgeous. Short dark hair framed a strong jawline, black-rimmed glasses sitting on her nose above sharp cheekbones, her white skin flawless.
A dark stain was spreading across the front of the woman’s white blouse, drips of coffee from the mug gripped in her hand splashing onto the floor, and Lily gulped.
“I’m so sorry.” The blouse looked expensive, and this was not the way to make a good impression on her new colleagues. “Is it hot? Let me help.”
“Of course it’s hot!” Her voice was as cool and steely as the gray of her eyes, her expression morphing to disgust as she glanced down at herself. “Why are you standing there?”
“I-I was reading the posters.” Lily waved toward the wall, trying not to quail beneath the weight of the woman’s gaze as she stared down at Lily’s black slacks and floral blouse. “I’m Lily. Lily Cross, the new chemistry teacher. I hope you aren’t hurt, and I’ll pay for your blouse to be dry cleaned.”
Lily stretched out a hand, glancing over the woman’s shoulder and realizing she was outside of Eva’s room.
Eva looked at her hand, lip curled in distaste, and Lily let it drop back to her side. Lily thought of Alisha’s earlier warning—she hadn’t realized that prickly was code for extremely rude. And a little scary.
On the plus side, Eva’s attitude made her instantly less attractive.
“I’ll be surprised if you last the week.” Eva brushed past Lily in the direction of the staff toilets, leaving Lily staring after her.
A low whistle caught her attention, and Lily turned to see an Asian woman exiting the classroom opposite Lily’s, dark curls framing a smiling face. “Damn, newbie. You’re lucky you’re still alive.”
Lily groaned. “Not the first impression I hoped to make. Or be greeted with.”
“Eh, I wouldn’t worry about it. She wouldn’t like you anyway.” She said it so cheerfully Lily had to laugh.
“You’re Mei, right?”
“Yeah. Welcome to the madhouse. I promise no one else will be as unwelcoming.”
“Even the kids?”
“Oh, the kids are a breeze compared to her. Trust me.”
The shrill sound of the bell echoed in the hall, and Lily jumped.
“Here they come,” Mei said, as shadows started to approach from the building’s entrance. “Good luck.”
“Thanks.”
“Good morning,” Mei said to her students, receiving a few grunts in response. “I see we’re not awake yet. You’ve had the whole summer to catch up on sleep! Look alive, people.”
* * *
Lily spent first period decorating. She hung a large periodic table on one wall and some posters about different educational styles on another. Her desk remained bare, but she was sure after a week or two it would be covered—she would never be one of those teachers who managed to keep an immaculate workspace.
Having printed off her schedule, Lily sat to study it. All her classes were sophomores, and it would be their first taste of chemistry since middle school. Lily knew most of them dreaded it—it involved a lot of math, and not nearly as much lab work as they’d prefer—but she was looking forward to trying to change their minds.
Forty-five minutes passed quicker than Lily expected, and when the bell rang, she climbed to her feet and smoothed out the creases in her blouse as she waited by the door for her new students.
They arrived in dribs and drabs, and Lily ushered them inside. She let them sit where they wanted, though she wouldn’t hesitate to shift them around if she found some didn’t work well together.
