CHAPTER 8
“Did you see the new guy?” Rhonda Burns, the honors English teacher, asked Leticia Porter, a math teacher, as they walked into the teachers’ lounge.
“No. What new guy?”
“I don’t know his name but he’s so hot.” Rhonda exaggeratedly mouthed the last two words. “I saw him walking across the quad with Principal Rayburn. He was giving him the ‘speech.’”
Principal Rayburn was known for his welcome speech. In the fifteen years he’d been principal, he’d never deviated from it. It lasted exactly fifteen minutes and thirty-two seconds. Yes, several teachers had used stopwatches to time it. It contained five jokes, only one of which was funny, or at least amusing. He never added to or subtracted from the content, and the entire faculty had it memorized.
“Do you know what he’s teaching?” Leticia’s anticipation was palpable.
“If there is a God,” Rhonda lifted her chin so her face was looking up and put her hands together in a prayer at her chest, “then he’s in the English Department.”
The two women continued hypothesizing on what position he might or might not be taking and Brynn tuned them out. As exciting as “fresh meat” was, she was dealing with her own newcomer. When she’d come home from her walk, Axel was returning from a morning run and she’d practically choked on her tongue. He had a special brand of attraction that seemed to multiply each time she saw him. At this rate, she was going to start passing out when she caught glimpses of him. There was a very distinct possibility that she might need to start carrying smelling salts around with her.
She grinned to herself, playing that “I Love Lucy moment” out in her head.
The first period bell rang and the teachers’ lounge cleared out as everyone headed to their respective classes. Brynn tugged at the edge of her potato chip bag and tilted her head back as she poured the contents of broken chips into her mouth. She brushed crumbs off her shirt as she stood and headed toward her closet-sized office. Chips and a Snickers bar was not a breakfast of champions by any means, but Ryder had finished off all of the frozen waffles this morning so she’d improvised.
Since he’d hit puberty her grocery bill had practically doubled. She was still paying off student loans and her ten-year-old Jeep needed a new transmission. These were all reasons why she’d started counseling online and had just thrown her name in the hat to fill in when Brenda Stein was out for hip surgery. Brenda was the head of the Drama Department. Due to budget cuts, it was a department of one. The position didn’t require Brynn to teach any classes. Her responsibilities would be limited to directing the school play.
Mrs. Stein had been Brynn’s “pageant coach” when her mother had insisted that she participate in them as a child and she’d been the one who suggested that Brynn apply for the job. She had no idea if she’d be selected since she didn’t technically have any experience. But if she was chosen, it would help with the bills.
She’d just sat down at her computer when a message popped up in the corner of her screen from Principal Rayburn.
“Miss Daniels, can I see you please?”
“Be right there.” She typed back.
Getting called to the principal’s office was not a usual occurrence and Brynn felt a little uneasiness in her stomach.
Principal Rayburn was known for being a by-the-book, no-nonsense leader. In the four years she’d worked for the school she’d never had an issue with him, but many of the other faculty members had. It was strange, but there was almost as much drama between the adult staff at the school as there was with the teenage students.
Brynn prided herself on her work ethic. She cared about her job and did her best to live up to the faith that the district had put in her. She wanted to inspire and challenge students to be the best versions of themselves, and it wasn’t always easy. Especially in this day and age.
With all the distractions of technology coupled with the instant-gratification mindset it instilled, getting students to buy into the notion that they needed to work for years to achieve goals was like telling a two year old that they needed to save for retirement. They had no concept of it.
She knocked on the door and heard, “Come in.”
When she walked in, her smile faltered slightly. Axel was sitting across from Principal Rayburn, but he stood when she entered. He was wearing jeans, a long-sleeved Henley T-shirt that molded to his upper body, showcasing his Adonis-like frame.
“Hi,” she said, unsure of what was happening.
“Brynn this is Axel Vaughn, Axel this is Brynn Daniels,” Principal Rayburn said in way of introduction.
“Um, we know each other.” Brynn looked between the two men.
“Oh, that’s right.” Principal Rayburn snapped his fingers. “You mentioned that, didn’t you Mr. Vaughn?”
“I did.” Axel looked at her like he wasn’t sure what to make of the principal.
It was a common reaction.
“Mr. Vaughn is going to be renovating the theater.”
“He is?” Of all the guesses that Jess and Ali had come up with regarding Axel’s line of work, they’d missed that one.
Brynn wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. It wasn’t that the old theater didn’t need it. The building had definitely seen better days. But with all of the budget cuts, Brynn was surprised to hear that the city was allocating funds for renovations.