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Zach stuffed more papers into his bag. The grading was never ending. How did teachers with families manage it? He could give less homework. Or not grade it as closely. But that was a disservice to his kids, wasn’t it? The homework was where they had a chance to apply the concepts he taught in class. If all he did was glance over it, he wasn’t doing his job. Not really. Sure, the tests would be enough for report cards, but the learning would go down for a number of the students.
Not that he was going to have a family any time soon the way things were going with Amy. Her response to his declaration of love still smarted. Maybe it was good that she simply hadn’t parroted something she didn’t feel. But...it still stung to throw your heart at someone’s feet and have them back away slowly.
He’d managed to avoid her yesterday, but there wasn’t any getting around it today. Everyone involved in the holiday program was going to be making posters and designing the artwork for the bulletin. All hands on deck. Terri’s email had been specific. It was like she knew he’d planned to bow out. After all, supervising the kids making the set didn’t exactly qualify him to do any of this. With a sigh, he hooked the strap of his bag over his shoulder and trudged down the hall to the choir room.
“Yo, Mr. Z. Come look at this.” D’Andre called out as soon as Zach pushed open the door, the wave of noise nearly knocking him over.
Zach smiled, tossed his bag against the wall, and scooted around a group of girls spread out on the floor around a long piece of bulletin board paper. He angled his head and studied D’Andre’s Nativity scene. “That’s really good, man. I didn’t know you liked art.”
D’Andre shrugged. “It’s nothing big. Just something to pass the time, you know?”
“No, it’s more than that. This is really, really good. You aren’t taking classes?” Zach leaned closer, admiring the detail in the shepherds. It wasn’t a typical Nativity, with a stable and long robes: the figures had been transported to one of the vacant lots in the neighborhood. Zach tapped the paper. “This is down past Mr. Sam’s, before you get to the park?”
D’Andre grinned. “Yeah. You caught that?”
“’Course I did. I walk past it when I take the Metro. And...is that wise man flashing a gang sign?”
“Not a real one. But I figure, they’re homies, right? They probably have some signs. Too much?”
Zach rubbed his jaw. Was it sacrilegious or did it bring the setting to reality in the modern day? “I’m...not sure. Why don’t we ask Miss Harris what she thinks?”
D’Andre gave Zach a knowing grin. “A’ight. You go get her.”
Zach shook his head. “Nope. Your drawing, you ask.”
“Aw, man.” D’Andre frowned as he scooped up the paper. “No time.”
He furrowed his brow. “No time for what?”
“Art class. Mom says I gotta do the college thing. But if I’m gonna do that, I’m gonna need a scholarship or ten. Which means good grades and all that.” D’Andre shrugged.
Zach nodded, pursing his lips. “What do you want to do in college? Or after?”
D’Andre shrugged.
Art wasn’t exactly a high-paying career option, but the kid had talent. There might be some scholarships available for that, depending on what major he was looking into. “Go show that to Miss Harris and see if you need to take out the signaling.”
Amy looked over, her gaze meeting Zach’s. Heat curled in his stomach. It wasn’t fair for her to have this effect on him. Not when there was no way for him to know if things were going to continue between them. He watched as she looked at D’Andre’s drawing. Her lips curved into a smile as the boy talked and gestured. Was it any wonder the kids adored her? The fact that she cared about them was obvious. Just as it was obvious that her interest extended well beyond the typical, “I’m your teacher, of course I care” level. These kids made that part easy. That was one aspect of signing up with Teach the City he hadn’t counted on.
“She says if I make it a little less obvious then I can leave it in.” D’Andre frowned at the paper and dropped back into his chair. “How’m I gonna do that?”
Zach eyed the drawing and tapped the handle of the motorcycle that the Wiseman closest to Jesus was holding up. “What if you altered his hand here, made the sign part of his grip on the handlebars? Much less obvious, but they could all be doing it.”
D’Andre’s eyes lit up. “That’ll work. Thanks, Mr. Z.”
Zach patted the boy’s shoulder as he bent to his work and moved to the next group of kids to see what they were making.
“Mr. Z?” Amy nudged his arm with her elbow.
“Apparently the letter w has too many syllables, since it’s not actually shorter than Wilson. So, Z. I told them it was okay as long as no administrators were around.” He shrugged. It didn’t matter to him either way, and if it made math cooler somehow, he wasn’t going to fight it.
“It’s cute.”
His cheeks warmed. Cute wasn’t really what he was going for, but maybe from her he’d take it. Zach cleared his throat. “So. Why did Terri think I needed to be here? I’m not actually sure any of us needed to be here. These kids are focused.”
Amy turned and looked around the room. “Yeah, well, they frown on kids being alone in classrooms. I guess she figured if she had to stay, we all did. And, um, she might have been trying to negotiate a cease fire.”
“Cease fire?” His eyebrows arched. “Have there been missiles fired?”
She cleared her throat. “Poor choice of words. Look, I’m sorry, Zach. I guess I have more issues than I knew about.”
He snorted out a laugh. “Maybe it’s one of the things I love about you?”
Her eyes darted around the room. “Shh.”
“What?”
She lowered her voice to a whisper. “You can’t just throw that word around at school.”
“Do you separate your issues into volumes, or are they just numbered in order of appearance?”
“Be serious. What if one of the kids heard you?”
“What if they did? And I am serious, about a lot of things.” He waited until her eyes met his. “One of them is you.”
“Thanks so much for coming in, Mr. Wilson.”
“Zach, please.” He extended his hand to the short, middle-aged woman who was the embodiment of every math teacher stereotype he’d ever encountered. “And it’s my pleasure.”
She smiled, the light in her eyes transforming her face into something friendly and approachable. “We had so many resumes submitted, you can’t imagine. Or maybe you can. But we’ve only asked ten of you to interview in person. You have an impressive list of research for someone working with Teach the City.”
“I love math.” Zach shrugged. “The questions don’t stop coming, regardless of where, or what, I’m teaching. So I play with numbers in my off hours. One of my professors suggested a couple of places to submit my twiddles and they keep accepting them. So...”
“I like you, Zach. And I don’t like anyone. Just ask my students.”
He chuckled.
“Come this way and I’ll show you the math hall. The classrooms are pretty standard, but you’ll probably find the math lab interesting.”
Math lab? They had a math lab? “I imagine I will.”
“We’ve got just about every program that’s out there for math loaded on the computers, though everyone tends toward MatLab since it’s familiar. I’d love our new hire to spend some time with the other programs and be willing to share ways to incorporate them into the curriculum during faculty meetings.”
Teach the teachers? That was something he’d always wanted to do—those sorts of activities had been favorites in college. But when you were basically the only math teacher on campus, there wasn’t much point in putting something together. He nodded and followed her into the room. Six rows, each with five workstations, filled the room. The front desk held another workstation for the teacher. What a setup. The machines all looked like they were top of the line, too. “Wow.”
“It’s a good lab. The teacher’s station has software that allows you to display any student machine on the overhead projector. So you can either help from there, or show examples. And of course you can display your own work to the class as well. We’re getting a new smart board soon. Once that’s in place, there’ll be even more sharing capabilities.” She flicked the light switch and headed down the hall.
Zach cast a final look at the room, visions of what he could do with that equipment, how great it would be for his students, flashing through his mind.
“This is probably the classroom you’d have.” She stopped and turned into one of the open doors on the hall. “They’re all basically the same though.”
Two electronic whiteboards hung at the front of the room. Desks were grouped in four-chair clusters for easy collaborative work. Four workstations like those in the math lab sat on a table across the back wall.
“What are the computers in here for?”
“There are always a handful of kids who are ahead—or maybe behind—and the computers let them explore and reinforce while others do group work. We’re big proponents of experiential learning here, so the stand at the front and lecture method of math instruction is something we hope our teachers keep to a minimum. Group work, computer projects, that sort of thing help the kids make the math their own.”
“And they do it?” He tried to imagine what would happen if he had a group project with his current students. Even if they were supposed to work on it during class. The image simply wouldn’t form. It’d be chaos.
“They do. The students here are beyond gifted. Not all of them in math, necessarily, but even if that isn’t a subject they particularly enjoy, they’re more than capable and, generally, they’re all driven to achieve. It’s not unusual for over half of a given grade to be within hundredths of a point when we try to rank by GPA. It’s the reason we don’t do class rankings.”
He swallowed. “That sounds like it could get intimidating.”
She grinned. “It can. Though it’s not usually the kids who are the problem. The parents...let’s just say many of them are a tad more involved than you’re probably used to. Sometimes it seems like they’re more serious about the grade than the child.”
He winced.
“Don’t let that scare you. That’s why I’m here. Typically the department chair handles parent concerns. And I’ve always got my teachers’ backs. Now. Do you have any questions?”
Zach shook his head. He should come up with a couple—that’s what all the job interviewing books and websites said. Questions show you’re interested in the position. But...he couldn’t wrap his mind around it well enough to form something coherent. It sounded like...paradise. “This is amazing.”
“I think so. As do most of the other faculty. It’s a fantastic school, with wonderful opportunities for our students. There are the inevitable Op/Eds in the newspaper each year during admission time; people calling for greater diversity, enforced quotas, that sort of thing. But, generally speaking, the faculty doesn’t have to worry about that. The administration is committed to working with the school board to ensure that the participating counties are well represented by the students who attend.”
Zach nodded. Reading between the lines, the school was a political quagmire. Theoretically, teachers shouldn’t have to worry about it. But just look at Amy, trying to find the line between government regulations about school lunches and providing meals and snacks that actually filled the kids up. Politics and education were not easy bedfellows. Still, it wasn’t as if he hadn’t expected there to be some negatives. Nothing was perfect.
He followed the math department chair on a quick tour of the rest of the school. The technology and science labs were incredible. Even the language arts and music areas were impressive. They chatted about various inconsequential things as they walked. A picture of the school, and the faculty, formed in Zach’s mind.
“Thanks again for coming in this afternoon.” She extended her hand. “We’ll be making a decision in the next two weeks, probably right after Thanksgiving.”
Zach shook her hand and unclipped the visitor badge from his lapel. “Great. I’ll be looking forward to hearing from you.”
“Where’ve you been, Zach?” Ben hit a button on the game controller and rolled his head around on his neck.
“The magnet school called at lunch to see if I could come in for an interview. I didn’t have anything planned for after school today, so it worked out. What’s up?” Zach checked his phone. “You didn’t text me.”
“Jackson went out for a run, but he said he has news and was looking for you. I guess at this point we’ll find out when he’s back. You want to join in?” Ben nodded toward the paused game on the TV.
Zach shook his head. “Nah, I’ve got a ton of grading to do. I’ll just sit out here and wait...is that a new game?”
“Picked it up at lunch. We had a meeting at a client site and there was a game store right next door.” Ben shrugged. “Seemed like a good idea at the time.”
Chuckling, Zach sat at the table and dug in his bag for the stack of papers that needed to go back to the kids tomorrow. “When’d Jackson leave?”
“Maybe forty minutes ago?”
He’d be back soon, then. Zach nodded and clicked his pen, sighing as the first student made the same mistake he made every day. What was it going to take to get the kid to memorize his times tables? An inability to multiply made simple problems harder than they needed to be.
“Hey, you’re back.” Jackson wiped his face with the edge of the towel slung around his neck.
“I had an interview at the magnet school this afternoon.”
Jackson grinned. “Yeah? How’d that go?”
“Good, I think. The department chair said they were only bringing in ten of the applicants for an interview. So I made the first cut, at least. That school...it’s impressive.”
Ben paused his game and shifted so he was facing the dining area. “I’ve driven by there a few times. It doesn’t look like a school, it’s more like some kind of high tech office building.”
“Now that you say that, you’re right. Still, it’s hard to get in to. The kids who go there have some impressive skills. So we’ll see. I can’t help but think teaching there might end up actually being fun instead of depressing.” Zach tapped the stack of papers in front of him with his pen. “I’m guessing those kids learned their multiplication tables in the third grade like they were supposed to.”
Ben chuckled. “Probably.”
Jackson took a long drink from his water bottle and cleared his throat. “There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to blurt it out. I got official notice in today’s mail that the Garcias are coming back in June. Our lease is up in May and they won’t be renewing it.”
Zach’s stomach sank. Even knowing it was probably coming hadn’t prepared him for the reality. He was going to have to move. “Figures.”
“Well. That kind of puts the pressure on, doesn’t it?” Ben rubbed the back of his neck.
Jackson nodded. “I’m not sure if we should try and find something together again—if that’s even something you two are interested in—or...”
“You’d consider that? Looking for a place for the three of us?” Zach frowned. “I guess I assumed the two of you would just figure out a wedding date that got you out before then.”
“That was my thinking, I’ll be honest.” Ben shrugged. “Sorry. Moving isn’t fun. I really don’t want to do it twice in a short time. Maybe knowing I’m losing my place will help light a fire under Becca’s feet. I can’t even get her to look at a calendar. I’m worried she’s having second thoughts.”
“No way, man.” Zach shook his head to emphasize his point. “Maybe she just needs to know you’re serious about choosing a date. Have you suggested any options?”
Ben scrubbed a hand over his face. “I don’t even know where she wants to get married. Does she want to go to Texas? To her parent’s church where she grew up? Or here? Honestly, sometimes I fantasize about picking her up for a date and just driving to the courthouse and being done.”
“I hear you.” Jackson dropped into a chair at the table. “Though at least Paige’s family is here, so I’m fairly certain she’ll choose a church here.”
Zach tented his hands on top of the stack of papers. Should he...? “Look, I may be the last guy in this room with any right to speak, but it seems to me that the two of you need to sit down with your respective fiancées and explain that you’re getting kicked out of your house at the end of May and that you’d like to be moving in with them sometime before that happens. And, since the four of you are all committed to living in a way that’s pleasing to Jesus, that means you need to set dates, plan weddings, and get married.”
“Oooh, listen to the bachelor make it sound so simple.” Ben snickered. “I guess if you want to do it the easy way.”
Jackson gave a half-laugh, half-cough, and water dribbled down his shirt. He set the water bottle down and wiped his mouth. “Maybe the direct approach, at this point, is the one to take. You tried that with Amy yet?”
Zach frowned. He had to go and open his mouth. “Actually, yes.”
“Oh?” Jackson leaned forward. “And?”
“And I told her I loved her. She told me that was a big word.”
Ben’s quiet snicker morphed into a snort and then into loud laughter.
Jackson valiantly fought a grin.
“Yeah, it was hilarious. A real laugh riot. You know what?” Zach stood, gathering his pile of papers and his bag. “I’m gonna go grade in my room. You two morons should call the women you love and figure things out.”