Knowledge made us stronger, and I liked being able to do things for myself. Every new challenge was a mental checkoff of something I wouldn’t need to learn later.
My brother, however, didn’t share my need for autonomy.
When I’d moved in, he’d bought me a coffeepot as a housewarming gift. I’d bought a fire extinguisher and a thirty-eight-piece handyman set.
He’d gifted me with a wine rack stocked with pinot noir, and I’d added two more dead bolts to the front door.
Our senses of self-sufficiency were different, but then they had to be. Our experiences were very different growing up.
I smiled to myself, embarrassment warming my cheeks as I drilled in the screws. I was glad Jack wasn’t here to see how this was possibly the most fun I’d had all week.
I may have gotten overzealous and split the wood in the door when tightening the screws, too.
And I may even have crawled around my entire apartment tightening any screw I could find before I decided to put my new toy away for the day.
He’d have me committed. Or at least send me on a forced spa day.
After eating a sandwich for lunch, I showered and combed my closet for an outfit for tonight.
The new academic year started tomorrow, and my students’ parents had been invited for an open house this evening at Braddock Autenberry, my new school.
Or my only school, as this was my first teaching position.
Having gotten my keys to the school a couple weeks ago, I had prepared the room, and it was all set for tomorrow. Tonight I could try to relax and tend to the parents making their rounds to the different rooms before school started in the morning.
Reaching into my closet, I picked out my red pencil skirt, which fell just above the knee in the front but was cut to drape just below the knees in the back, stitched with a slight ruffle there for flare.
Laying it on the bed, I dug back into the closet for my fitted black blouse. It had long, cuffed sleeves and buttoned up to the neck.
To finish off the outfit, my heels were plain black with a pointed toe. I twisted my lips at the sight of them, setting them on the floor next to my bed.
I hated heels, but tonight was “make a good first impression,” kind of occasion, so I’d suck it up. I’d filter in sneakers and flats throughout the school year, though.
The outfit was conservative but stylish, and after I did my light makeup and my hair in loose curls, pulling back the sides and fixing a clip to the back of my head, I dressed with care, making sure not to wrinkle anything.
This was a brand-new start, and I wanted to make sure everything was perfect.
Once I’d fastened my watch to my wrist and put in the diamond studs from my parents, I smoothed my hand down my shirt and skirt, brushing off lint that wasn’t really there.
Perfect.
I checked the windows, the stove, and both doors, making sure everything was secure – twice – before I left.
When I arrived at the school, in the heart of Uptown, I still had a couple more hours before the open house began. I checked my mailbox in the teachers’ lounge, made some extra copies of my parent letter, and double-checked my laptop and projector to make sure my PowerPoint presentation was set to run.
We were supposed to have a mini speech ready to go when parents arrived, but I’d gauged – hopefully correctly – that parents would filter in and out, visiting classrooms in no set order, so I’d just designed a presentation with pictures and captions to play in the background. They could watch it or not.
Student textbooks were on the desk for their perusal, and copies of my syllabus and calendar with my contact information sat on a table by the door.
Other teachers at our staff development days this past week had talked about bringing cookies and chocolate-covered strawberries to offer parents when they visited their rooms, but after the school nurse scared the shit out of us with the EpiPen training on Wednesday, I’d decided not to take any chances with allergies. Bottled water, it was.
I let Bob Marley’s “No Woman, No Cry” play lightly in the background from my iPod dock as I walked around, double- and triple-checking everything to make sure the room was ready to go, for not only tonight but for tomorrow, as well.
“Are you Easton Bradbury?” a voice chirped behind me.
I turned, seeing a redhead in a navy blue A-line dress hovering at my classroom door.
“I’m Kristen Meyer,” she continued, placing her hand on her chest. “I teach Technology and Earth Science. I’m right across the hall.”
I put a smile on my face and walked over, noticing that she looked only a few years older than me.
“Hi.” I shook her hand. “I’m Easton. Sorry we didn’t meet this week.”
Our staff meetings were mostly departmentalized, and since I was US and World History, she and I had probably been in the same room for only a few hours during our staff meetings before we’d split off into groups.
Her red lips spread in a beautiful smile. “This is your first year?”
I nodded, sighing. “Yes,” I admitted. “I’ve done observations and a practicum, but other than that, I’m” – I exhaled a nervous breath – “new.”
“You’ll get that crash course tomorrow.” She waved her hand, walking past me into the room and looking around. “Don’t worry, though. The first year’s the easiest.”
I pinched my eyebrows together, not believing that for a second. “I’ve heard the exact opposite, actually.”
She twirled around, looking completely at ease with herself. “Oh, that’s what they tell you to give you something to look forward to,” she joked. “Your first year you’re just trying to keep your head above water, you know? Learn the ropes, get paperwork done on time, spend countless hours preparing one thing only to find out the lesson bombed…” She laughed.
“What they don’t tell you,” she continued, leaning against a student desk, “is that college prepared you for nothing. Your first year, you’re learning to teach. Every year after that you’re trying to be successful at it. That’s the hard part.”
“Great,” I said sarcastically, laughing and putting my hands on my hips. “I thought I learned to teach in college.”
“You didn’t,” she deadpanned. “Tomorrow is baptism by fire. Get ready.”
I looked away, straightening my back. It was my brain cracking the whip, so I wouldn’t scowl.
Deep down I knew she was probably right, but I still didn’t like being knocked off my horse when I’d spent months preparing.
I’d done the work, taking all the classes I needed and even extra ones. I’d read up on the latest research and strategies, and I’d opted not to lesson plan with the other history teachers in favor of planning on my own – which I was allowed to do as long as I covered the curriculum and standards.
My lesson plans were done for the whole school year, but now I was worried about whether I’d done a lot of work for nothing.
What if I had no idea what I was getting myself into?
“Don’t worry,” Kristen spoke up. “It’s not the students that are the problem.” She lowered her voice and leaned in. “The parents are very invested in where their tuition money goes.”
“What do you mean?”
She straightened, crossing her arms over her chest and speaking quietly. “Public school parents tend not to be involved enough. Private school parents, maybe too much. They can get invasive,” she warned. “And they bring lawyers to parent-teacher conferences sometimes, so be prepared.”
And then she patted me on the back, like I’d needed comforting, and walked out.
They can get invasive?
I cocked an eyebrow and stepped up to the large side-by-side windows lining the wall to rearrange the plants on the sill. Peering out the windows, I noticed that the sun had set and parents and students were stepping out of expensive cars, making their way into the school.
The manicured ladies meddled with their children’s hair, while the fathers conducted business on their phones.