A knock at the door jolted Reese out of her thoughts. She glanced around the room, making sure her students were all still working and not looking to her for any kind of guidance, then went to the door and opened it. Mrs. Arbiter, Principal Ryker’s receptionist, stood with a gentle smile. “Principal Ryker has requested to see you at your earliest convenience.”
“Is everything alright?” Reese had never been summoned to the principal's office and even as an adult, it made her kind of nervous.
“All he asked was that I let you know he wants to see you.” Mrs. Arbiter turned and walked away as if this part of her job was as routine as answering the phones. It probably was.
By the time the bell rang and the students put away their supplies in the appropriate bins and filed out of the classroom, Reese was a nervous wreck from psyching herself out about what this meeting could possibly be about. Once she was alone in the classroom, she gave herself a moment to breathe. Mornings were always busy for her. Teaching three classes back-to-back was a bit tiring, but she was now free for the next two periods until she had her last class of the day, another senior art class for students who were taking a different elective during this period.
She usually took her lunch break now and met Garrett in the faculty lounge, but since Principal Ryker had asked to see her, lunch with Garrett would have to wait.
As soon as she opened the door to the receptionist’s waiting area, she knew in her gut she should’ve turned right around and left. Mrs. Arbiter wasn’t there, probably taking her own lunch break, and Principal Ryker’s door was ajar. There were voices coming out of his office. One was his, the other a man she didn’t recognize.
“I’ll have everything done by the end of business today,” Principal Ryker said. “You have nothing to worry about.”
“Do you foresee any problems?” The other man asked.
“No, I’ll take care of it.”
Reese had no idea what she’d walked in on, but her gut feeling was screaming for her to leave. She jolted when Principal Ryker’s door burst open and a man wearing a crisp black suit and a grim look on his face appeared in the doorway. Out of habit, Reese quickly looked away before their eyes could meet, but she felt his gaze burning through her. “Excuse me,” she said softly, and stepped aside to let him pass. The man hadn’tgiven her any reason to feel this way about him, but there was something about this guy that unsettled her.
He growled under his breath and stormed past her, making her shudder from the intensity of his presence.
“Miss Graham?” Principal Ryker’s voice nearly made her jump another two inches off the ground as she quickly turned to face him. “Did you need something?”
Reese’s gaze collided with his, and yet again she watched him get shanked in a prison cell and die in a pool of his own blood.
“Miss Graham?”
Reese cleared her throat and took a small step in his direction. “You asked to see me.”
He thought about it for a moment and then said, “Ah, yes. Please, come in.”
At his invitation, Reese took a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure the other man had left, then promptly went into Principal Ryker’s office and sat in the chair across from his desk.
“Before we get on with business, I do have to ask, how much of myprivateconversation did you overhear?”
“No, I mean none. I had just walked in as the man was leaving.” She really hadn’t heard much of anything, and at the moment, her nerves were so frayed, she couldn’t remember a single word of it anyway.
Principal Ryker eyed her warily. When she didn’t waver, he gave her a slight nod and continued. “The reason I asked to see you is because The North Dallas Contemporary Art Museum, which happens to be just a few miles up the road, would like to feature some of our seniors’ junk journals in their Summer of Art Display. I’m going to trust you to choose the best ones.” He handed her a folder from his desk. “All the details are inside.”
When Reese didn’t move, Principal Ryker raised his eyebrows. “That will be all. Thank you.”
She stood abruptly and nearly ran out of the office. Rushing down the hall to her office, she didn’t stop moving until she slammed into a hard wall… of muscle.
“Whoa!” Garrett chuckled, placing his arms on her waist to steady her. “Where’s the fire, Miss Graham?”
Reese bounced off his chest, but remained standing so close to him their chests nearly touched as they breathed. “Sorry,” she said, holding the folder at her side. “I had a meeting with Principal Ryker and I needed to get back to my office to look through the folder he gave me.”
“What’s it about? And can I just say how much I don’t like that you were alone in his office with him?” Garrett asked. “If he’s -”
“He’s the school principal, Garrett. I can’t just avoid him because of how I saw him die.”
“I know,” Garrett conceded. “What’s in the folder?”
“The North Dallas Contemporary Art Museum wants to feature some of my students’ junk journals in an exhibit this summer.”
“Wow, really? That’s so cool.” The halls were empty since everyone was at lunch now, but Reese couldn’t help glancing over her shoulder to make sure no one was there.
Garrett must’ve picked up on her unease because his easy smile suddenly turned pensive. “What’s wrong?”
