Chapter Text

Chapter 1 — The Fox and the Hound

Maybe one day I’ll get tired of this routine, maybe I’ll get sick of it, as many people do with their jobs. But this is not a job, nor a sick routine. This is my life, and I enjoy every single second of it.

Every day, my second-grade student Susie walks in with a huge smile on her face. I have a feeling that when she sees me, her day brightens up. This may sound cheesy, but it’s the truth. I have only met her mother once, and she was busier talking to people on her phone than she was interested in looking at me while I had a serious appointment to talk about her kid.

It’s not like ADHD is a big thing, am I right?

But okay, some people are just horrible anyway.

Susie hugged me with so much effort that maybe she has been practicing with a plushie at home. That hug gets better every day.

It’s been a tough week.

We’ve started a new project. I've been asking Principal Heather for months for his approval, and I finally convinced him! That is a huge victory, because that man hates new ideas, mainly from new workers like me. I’ve been teaching English here since the end of August, so for almost three months. In the afternoons, I was also hired as a librarian, so it all comes together very well.

The project consists of taking my second graders to the library every six months so they can choose a book and take it home, and during that period, they will share the books among themselves, so everyone can read all the books and share their thoughts. Some parents started complaining about the book choices, because some of my students really enjoy science for some reason, and they pick books about space topics and evolution for kids. The parents think I should limit the genre of books they can choose.

But I won’t be the one responsible for traumatizing my kids so they never want to read again. The more readers we have, the better we evolve as human beings.

But I won’t lie, Peter Rabbit is pretty popular among them, too.

The rain in San Francisco always makes me get to school earlier. On Wednesdays, my classes start at nine in the morning, but with the heavy gray clouds, I decided to leave my house as soon as possible. So I parked my car at eight and fixed my hair in the rearview mirror. Opening my yellow umbrella, I crossed the parking lot with quick steps as the rain started to fall. Some late kids rushed through the big glass doors as fast as they could, and I just laughed at them.

“Don’t run, Aisha!”

Her brown braids flew in the air as she passed by me.

“Sorry, Miss Mary!!”

And that’s not my name. I sighed, shaking my head.

Since Principal Heather introduced me incorrectly to the kids as Miss Mary, they’ve been calling me that for months, and honestly, I don’t care. I always saw it as a symbol of affection they had toward me and simply accepted it. I was never surprised when they kept inventing more last names that weren’t mine.

What surprised me was that Aisha ran toward a man and hugged his waist, almost making him fall. I put a hand over my mouth as I approached them, and I was about to start apologizing when the teacher started laughing softly.

“Whoa!” he said with a smile, patting Aisha’s braids. “What is this for?”

“Mr. Grace, last night I convinced my dad to go stargazing, and you’ll never guess it!”

“What?” Mr. Grace asked, engaging with her.

“We saw that constellation you told us about last class! The hunter one…”

“Ori…”

“Orion! Yes, that one! It was so beautiful!”

“I’m glad you liked it, Aisha.”

Aisha let him go and fixed her shirt like a 5th-grade student, not a 2nd-grade one. She was so smart.

“Aren’t you late for math class?” I finally interrupted, and Aisha looked at me with her wide black eyes.

“Shit.”

“Language,” Grace and I said at the same time, which earned a chuckle from him.

“Sorry! I’m gonna go, see you later, Mr. Grace! Bye, Ms. Linda!”

And with that, Aisha vanished down the hall, searching for Mr. Kosoba’s room, the math teacher that the students feared but also learned from with pleasure, from elementary to middle school.

I turned to Mr. Grace. That was the first time I saw him.

Mr. Grace.

I’ve heard about him from my students, but I never had the chance to actually meet him, or I was too busy with my nose buried in books and grading to notice him.

“So, you’re the cool teacher that’s been luring my kids into loving science, aren’t you?” I crossed my arms and frowned playfully at him.

Grace put a hand on his chest over the orange tie he was wearing, and a playful smile appeared on his lips.

“Guilty as charged.” He offered his hand, and I gently shook it. “Ryland Grace. And you must be the famous one who’s been making my second graders fall in love with books. Miss… Linda? Or Looms…?”

“You can pick any of those; they are very creative.” I chuckled and told him my real name, and he nodded as if analyzing whether it fit the persona he had created in his mind. “You know, Mr. Grace, I’ve been having quite some trouble with some parents because of you.”

As I started walking, Grace followed by my side, his hands shoved in the pockets of his dark jeans.

“And may I know why?”

“They are questioning why I let the kids pick science-themed books for my literature project when they should be picking pleasing books, comforting ones.”

“And… do you agree with them?”

“Absolutely not! You underestimate me, Mr. Grace.” I stopped walking, and Grace did too, almost tripping on his shoes.

“Well, these days, you never know. Ms. Nola.”

“...Nola?”

“No last name.” Grace giggled to himself as I tilted my head to the side. For a science teacher, that man had a sense of humor. Okay. Now I’m the one underestimating him. “Sorry. Boundaries.”

“It’s okay. That’s kind of my whole thing.”

“Sorry to ask, but you’re new, right?”

“Yes. I started here three months ago.”

“And are you enjoying it? I don’t see you in the teachers’ room often.”

“Oh, that’s because I also work at the library, and we have an office there, so I am there most of the time when I’m not in my class.”

“Which is…” Ryland squinted his eyes.

“This one.”

We were finally in front of my classroom door. There’s a plaque above it that reads “English — Room 22”.

“What about you, Mr. Grace?”

“Well, since I only have one class in elementary school, I share my classroom with Vanessa.”

“Oh! Vanessa Bright? She’s a sweetheart.”

“Right? And well, my main class is in the middle school building.”

The school was divided into two main buildings: one for elementary school and the other for middle school students. Both buildings were connected by the cafeteria, which was shared by both groups at different times. It was a large, complex school, one of the most frequented in San Francisco. The teachers and staff always did everything they could to make it the most comfortable place for the students, even if the public budget wasn’t always enough.

“Okay, maybe I’ll pass by someday to see what you are putting in these kids' water to make them so in love with your classes.” I winked at him playfully.

“Nothing contagious, I swear!”

The hug Aisha gave him warmed my heart.

“You sure, Mr. Grace? Because from what I’ve seen, love is one of the most contagious things.” I added a soft smile before shaking my head. What was I doing? I barely knew him. The warmth spread across my face, and I failed to hide it. “Sorry, I tend to ramble. Hm. I hope you have a great day, Mr. Grace.”

Opening my classroom door, I glanced once more at Ryland as he took a step back, adjusting his glasses up his nose.

“You too, Ms. Nola. You too.”