“Here it is!” Violet grabbed the folder like it was a prize she’d won. Flipping through the different papers in there, she landed finally on the one she was looking for.Heather Sutherland. Sliding it out of the stack, she glanced it over and handed it to Lando.
Lando skimmed it, wrinkling her nose when her eyes lit on the grade at the top.
Violet’s heart went out to her. It was an odd turn for Lando to receive only a passing grade in one of her classes, but Violet had graded as fairly as she could. She wouldn’t give special treatment to anyone, except perhaps Diane. When they’d been in school together, Violet had often let Diane cheat off her.
“I was surprised when I flipped the coversheet and saw this was your paper.” Violet easily slipped into professor mode. She relaxed her shoulders and stared at Lando’s face, her chunky cheeks, her soft baby-blue eyes. She looked…sad. Perhaps it was disappointment. Violet couldn’t quite read the pinched expression, but she didn’t seem surprised.
“Lando,” Violet said softly. “Is everything okay?”
Lando’s eyes welled up, and she didn’t make eye contact. The air in the room thickened, and Violet had a choice to make about what she did with it. Reaching forward, she put a hand on Lando’s knee to get her attention, immediately pulling back as soon as those blue eyes filled with water focused on her.
“What happened?”
“It’s nothing. Thank you for giving this back to me.” Lando shifted as though she was going to leave, but Violet put her hand up to stop her.
“Lando, you’re one of the best students in my classes, not because you have the best grades, but because you give it your all. This paper—” Violet tapped the top of the pages “—is not your best work or even near it. I don’t think it’s because you didn’t understand the subject matter. In fact, that’s the only thing you seemed to do well in it. What happened?”
Lando’s nose reddened, tears slipping down her cheeks. She wiped them away haphazardly. “My grandma died earlier this month. It’s nothing.”
Violet’s heart shattered, her own tears welling in her eyes at the remembrance of pain from her own losses. “That’s not nothing. You could have asked for an extension.”
“I didn’t want special treatment.”
Pressing her lips tightly together, Violet leaned in and touched Lando’s knee again in a tender move. She’d gotten to know this young woman far better over the course of the last two quarters when Lando had been in classes with her, but that didn’t mean she was heartless when it came to her students’ struggles. “That is exactly what special treatment is for.”
“It’s fine,” Lando muttered and wiped at her eyes. “Thanks for this.”
“Well, it didn’t tank your grade, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Lando swallowed hard, her gaze finally lifting to reach Violet’s eyes. “It didn’t?”
“Still a B plus.” Relief flooded through Lando’s face, her shoulders relaxing. Violet wasn’t going to tell her that if she’d gotten a B or even an A on the paper then she would have had an A in the class for the quarter. It would have only added salt to an already very raw wound. “Next time, come talk to me. I’m serious, Lando, that’s what extensions are for, and I would have gladly given you one.”
Lando nodded, although Violet wasn’t convinced she’d do it. Some students were as stubborn as they came, and Lando was certainly one of them. Violet rested back in her chair and stared at her student. She would miss Lando’s enthusiasm over the next six months as she traipsed across the countryside and hunted for storms and tornados. She always found students’ inquiries and learning inspiring. It was part of what had pushed her to teach—that, and needing a more consistent paycheck than six months of storms could give her, which wasn’t much to begin with.
“I’ll ask around about an internship,” Violet supplied.
“Thank you.” Lando sounded far more steady than she had before, which Violet was glad for.
Giving Lando a small smile, Violet turned back to her monitor, finding the storm had indeed turned out one tornado. She hissed and pressed closer, her nose close to the screen so she could see clearly. “One touched ground.”
“Really?” Lando’s eyebrows raised up, and she was back leaning over Violet to see the screen herself.
“Right here.” Violet pointed to the proper spin of the air currents. “See it?”
“I do. Is that another one there?”
“Could be,” Violet murmured, zooming in to try and get a better view. “But I don’t think it’s one yet.”
“I have so much to learn.”
Violet snorted lightly. “We all do, Lando.”
When she shifted into her seat again, the back of her shoulder brushed Lando’s chest, but Lando didn’t move sharply away like Violet would expect her to do. Instead, she stayed put, still focused on the computer screen. Lando always managed to keep her on her toes, but still, it sent an unsettled feeling into the pit of Violet’s stomach. Turning her chair to break the physical connection, Violet glanced up at Lando.
“I guess I’ll see you in the fall, then.”
Lando frowned. “That’s a long time to go without my favorite teach.”