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Kyle made the fraternizing easy. About five minutes after they were released “to work on their rooms,” he appeared in her doorway.
“Need any help?” he asked.
“Actually, I’m not sure how much there is to do. I mean, I’m going to put some stuff on the bulletin boards, but then what? We’ve got all afternoon.”
“Yeah, I think this time is mostly designed for the elementary teachers, but hey, I’m not complaining.” He sat down in her chair and began to swivel. “But I wanted to make sure you knew I was in the next room”—he pointed at the wall—”if you need anything.”
“OK, thanks,” Emily said, wondering if he was flirting.
“No really, I mean it. A kid freaks out, just come get me. I’ve been here five years.” He leaned back in her chair, put his hands behind his head, and gave her a dazzling smile. “I’m kind of an expert at this.”
She laughed, and was embarrassed at how shrill it sounded. She felt her cheeks flush, and she looked out the window. “Quite a view.”
“Yep.” He leaned forward, put his forearms on his knees, and looked out the window. “Most coastal towns would’ve turned this into condos, but not Piercehaven.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Why’s that?”
He shrugged. “This is a weird town. We get a few tourist types in the summer, but not many. I think maybe the long ferry ride deters them. Or maybe it’s that there’s not much to do when they get out here. Nowhere to stay really. Other islands have more to offer.” He shrugged again and turned his gaze toward her. “I don’t know really. I’ve lived here a long time, and I still don’t understand it. It just seems panthers aren’t too eager to share their island.”
“A long time? I thought you said you’d only been here five years.”
He smiled and looked down at his hands, which were clasped together. “I’ve been teaching here five years, but before that, I grew up here.”
This surprised her. He just didn’t seem to fit.
He seemed to sense her incredulity. “Yeah, I know. It doesn’t make sense to me either.”
“You don’t seem to really like it here.”
He looked at her for a beat. “Was that a question?”
She smiled sheepishly and looked out the window again. “Not really. I guess I’m just wondering why you came back?” As soon as the words left her lips, she felt guilty. “Sorry, I’m prying.”
“No, that’s no problem. It’s a long story, but I guess I just came back because I could. I didn’t do too well on the mainland.” He paused. Then he slapped her desk and stood up. “But! Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I don’t like it here. I mean, I don’t, really, but I don’t not like it either.”
She stared at him.
“Sorry, I’m overwhelming you with too much information.”
“No, no, it’s OK. I’m really curious. Seems like you’re the perfect person to help me figure this place out.”
“I’ll do my best.” He put his hands on his hips. “Why the big smile? Your eyes are practically twinkling.”
“I just can’t believe you were ever a panther.”
He chuckled. “Well, I wasn’t, really. I was the weird band kid. I didn’t play sports. I hated it here as a kid.”
“Is your family still here?”
“Oh yes. Nothing but death will drag them away. I’ll let you get back to work, but if you need anything, really, I’ll be bored next door, and eager to help.”
Emily watched him walk away, and then looked around her empty room. I should probably start planning. Her head, as well as her heart, were bursting with ideas, but she knew that wasn’t the same thing as laying out an organized plan.
It took her all afternoon to excavate the drawers in her new desk and the filing cabinets. Thousands upon thousands of grammar worksheets and photocopies of “The Lottery” spilled out of stacked manila folders. She figured it would be easier to start from scratch than to sort through these artifacts. She filled her recycling bin, and then filled Kyle’s as well.
When she had finished gutting her classroom, she stood in the center of it with her hands on her hips. Where on earth is the curriculum? She planned on crafting her own lesson plans, but shouldn’t there be something to get her started? A plan? An outline? A syllabus or two?
She sneezed.
“Bless you” came from the other side of the wall.
She made a mental note of the thinness of her walls. Then she sneezed again.
“Bless you more.”
She headed toward Kyle’s room.
He was sitting at his desk, looking down at his laptop. He looked up when she appeared in her doorway. “Finding some dust bunnies?”
“Yes. Both of the literal and metaphorical variety.”
He laughed.
Her stomach fluttered. She tried to ignore it. I don’t even know if he’s a believer yet. I can’t go getting all smitten. She cleared her throat. “I can’t seem to find any curriculum. Is it in a secret filing cabinet somewhere?”
He laughed. “No, sorry. There probably isn’t any.”
She frowned. “How’s that possible?”
“Well, I’m not sure there ever was one. I mean, I’m sure Alec—that’s your predecessor—had a plan, but I’m not sure he had a curriculum per se. And no one around here really asks to see such a thing. I mean, we’re all supposed to go by Common Core, but even that has some wiggle room—”
“Seriously?”
He crossed his arms. “Well, yeah, ideally we get to teach the standards, but often, these kids are so far behind the standards that we end up doing more remedial work. Alec was often just focused on getting the kids to read something, read anything, more than he was on getting them to distinguish satire,” he said, making air quotes around the standard. “I mean, how many of these kids are going to need satire? Don’t get me wrong. I would love to have my students evaluating historical sources based on current evidence, but I usually don’t get past a simple understanding of point of view.” He paused, rubbing his jaw. “You’ll see. You just meet the kids where they are, and work with what you’ve got.”
“Why are they so behind?”
He rolled his eyes. “There just aren’t enough hours in the day. The kids miss a lot of school. The only thing they really work at is apathy. None of them actually want to learn anything.”
“None of them?”
“OK, maybe there’s one per class, but not always.”
“Why did he leave?”
“Who, Alec?”
She nodded.
He didn’t say anything for several seconds. Then, without looking at her, he said, “The island isn’t for everyone. The winters are really long, especially for a single guy—”
“Are you a single guy?”
He looked at her then, and she blushed. She hadn’t meant to be so forthright.
“I am, but I go to the mainland just about every weekend.”
“Even in the winter?”
“Especially in the winter.”
“So is that the only reason he left? To find a woman?”
“Do you have your class schedule yet?”
She shook her head.
“Come on, let’s go get it.”
