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“By what? The fact his father is the CEO of Scouting Adventures Canada?” Georgie shook her head. “I can’t believe you’re sending Brian to France when he doesn’t speak French!”

“Won’t be a problem,” Laporte batted back. “We’ve been assured the stops on the itinerary will have English-speaking staff.”

“It won’t be a problem until it is, until they’re somewhere off the tourist trail,” said Georgie. “What if the bus breaks down in the countryside? You need to be prepared for a worst-case scenario.”

“We will be.” Laporte picked up his coffee. “That’s why we had to choose a guardian who won’t abandon their students.”

“But I would nev—” Er. Shit. Georgie stiffened. The Egypt exhibit. Her stomach fell. How does he⁠—?

“Never say never, eh, Georgie?” Winking, he commandeered the words she’d spoken moments earlier. “That museum trip wasn’t one for the highlight reel, was it?”

She couldn’t deny it. The optics of her museum departure looked awful: Georgina Law, history teacher and promotion applicant, walked out on her students in the middle of a class excursion.

But that wasn’t the whole story. Far from it, and Georgie could prove it.

Her pulse quickened. “There were extenuating circumstances. I had a debilitating migraine attack.”

He sipped his coffee. “So you admit it? You left your students.”

“With Eden,” explained Georgie. “If she hadn’t been there, I would’ve stayed, of course.”

Laporte’s gaze narrowed. “Easy to say in hindsight.”

“No, it’s not. I’ve had attacks before and have always worked through them, but this one was unrelenting. My face and tongue went numb. I couldn’t feel my fingers or see properly. Having Eden there gave me the chance to let my medication work while my students were safe and fully supervised. They were never in danger, never alone, and those fifteen minutes made all the difference. The aura and nausea went away. The pain muted considerably and my school day continued as usual. None of my afternoon classes were affected. All my lessons were taught as originally planned. All extra help sessions after school were thorough and productive. I even stayed an extra hour helping one of Brian’s students with her essay.” Georgie paused. “So yes, I did step out of the museum excursion for a few minutes, but I didn’t shirk any of my professional responsibilities that day. If anything, that day only highlighted my dedication and commitment!”

Laporte shifted in his chair. “Which is great, but that doesn’t change the fact that a headache is not a good reason to walk away from your students.”

Didn’t he hear what I just said? The weight of Georgie’s unease grew. “A migraine attack is much more than a run-of-the-mill headache, sir. It’s a neurological disease! And an attack can include numbness, vomiting, difficulty seeing and speaking, sensitivity to light and noise, vertigo⁠—”

“Well, I beg to differ,” he trampled her explanation.

Georgie clasped her hands in her lap, fighting the spiky urge to sweep his takeout coffee and the jittering Jays bobblehead clear off his desk while shouting, So you’re a doctor now? She huffed. “So everything I’ve accomplished these past eight years gets erased just like that? All because you don’t recognize migraine as a legit medical condition? With all due respect, you’re penalizing me for a neurological disease I have absolutely no control over. This”—her blood boiling, she glowered—“this is discrimination!”

Nostrils flaring, Laporte slammed his open palm on the desk. “That’s enough! I will NOT tolerate such accusations because a decision didn’t go your way!” His face flushed red. “Honestly Georgina, I’m surprised at you, being so belligerent and difficult.”

Her stomach churned. Principal Laporte viewed her as the problem? A troublemaker unfit for an overseas school trip, and possibly the promotion.

Mind racing, panic swirled in her chest, constricting her breaths. If only she could hit rewind back to that fateful day in the museum and choose differently. Stayed with her class then given her afternoon students study periods instead of full lessons when her attack didn’t subside. But that was the thing about regrets. That soul-crushing ache for a do-over could never be placated. What was done was done, and because she couldn’t change the past, her present at the school, and likely her future, were forever tainted.

By sticking up for herself, she’d been branded a mischief-maker. What more could she say without digging herself into an even larger hole?

Laporte, however, with his flinty stare and power-tripping smugness, wasn’t finished. “I suggest you have a long hard think about your behaviour today and how you want to proceed moving forward. You might be one of our most accomplished faculty members, but that doesn’t exonerate you from disciplinary action.” He sat back in his chair. “Now, I’ll let this morning’s impropriety go, but I can’t promise I’ll be as lenient the next time. Consider yourself warned.”

Glancing past her, he picked up his phone’s receiver, jabbing the button for his messages. Clearly, Laporte’s side of their conversation was over.

Georgie adopted her best poker face and rose from the chair, her knees wobbly beneath her. “Thanks for your time.”

Fleeing his office and the busy reception area, she found Eden pacing out in the hall near the school’s trophy case.

“So!” She swooped in. “What’d he say? Was I right?”

“Walk with me.” Stomach twisting into knots, Georgie stared ahead as they slalomed through an oncoming stream of students and passed the locker she’d occupied as a teen, its inside once decorated with hockey cards and photos she’d snapped during pre-game warmups at the Gardens.

They rounded a corner and swerved into her empty classroom, closing the door behind them. “He knows,” Georgie blurted with a sputtering breath. “About the migraine attack, the museum—everything.”

Eden’s jaw fell. “Wh—? Georgie, I didn’t say anything, I swear!”

“I know you didn’t.” Closing her eyes, she covered her mouth with her hand. What am I gonna do? If only Dad were around to ask for advice.