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Emily was in an unusually good mood on her way to work Monday morning. She was usually in a good mood, but this was above and beyond. Even though the sky was gray, even though it was only ten degrees out, even though vacation was over, she still felt as if she were skipping through a field of tulips.
She walked into the building with a spring in her step and a smile on her face. Mr. Hogan met her at the door. “Please come into my office.”
Something in his tone made her smile fade, but not entirely disappear, so she was still grinning when she sat down and he shut the door behind her.
He didn’t even wait until he sat down. On his way to the chair, he said, “I’m afraid we’re going to have to let you go.”
The grin faded, but absurdly, most of the joy did not. She thought she must have misunderstood.
“I’m sorry?”
“Please don’t make this more difficult than it already is. I warned you against trying to convert your students. You ignored my warnings. So you’re done here. Go to your room and—”
“I didn’t try to convert anyone!”
“Miss Morse, have some dignity. Multiple people saw you actually praying with the basketball team in the Augusta Civic Center.”
Emily was fairly certain no one had seen that. She was also certain it didn’t matter.
“You were a probationary hire. Your probation period is now over. I am not even obligated to give you a reason for your dismissal, but I am giving you one, as I’m hoping it will help you to make better decisions in your next job. How you respond to this dismissal will affect what we will say when people call for references.”
“Is this about Milton?”
Mr. Hogan appeared to be focusing on a spot on the wall just above and behind her head. “This has nothing to do with that situation. I told you, this is about you violating the students’ basic right to a separation of church and state.”
Emily knew that he was misusing this bit of history, but she figured it would be pointless to point that out.
He looked at the clock. “Please go gather your things. I want you out of here before first bell. Good luck to you, Miss Morse.” He turned to his computer. She stood to go.
She made it halfway down the hallway before the tears came. She didn’t even have a box or a bag to put her things in. She wondered if she was in shock. The hallway was covered in red and white streamers, but she didn’t even notice.
“What’s wrong?” Thomas asked as soon as she entered the room.
“Could you go find me a garbage bag or a box?” she asked.
“Did you get fired?”
She looked at him, nodded, and forced a smile. “It’s all good. God is in control.”
“Is this because of Milton?” Chloe asked. “Did you know he’s confessed?”
“I didn’t know that, and they say it’s not because of Milton.”
“What else could it be?” she asked. Tears were swimming in her eyes now too.
“Thomas, I could really use a trash bag.”
“No. I’ll help you carry stuff to the car. Just make piles.”
She did. She made piles. And Chloe and Thomas helped her carry them. Kids in the hallway turned and watched them walk out.
“What’s going on?” Hailey asked, but no one answered her.
They met Kyle in the hallway. He went out of his way to avoid eye contact. It was as if they’d never met.
The fresh air, even though it was piercingly cold, was a welcoming refreshment to Emily’s lungs. She gulped it down as she headed to her car.
She dropped her books and her bag in the backseat and then turned to hug Thomas. She held him for several seconds. “Thanks for being so awesome, Thomas. You made my time here so much richer.” She let go of him and then wrapped her arms around Chloe. “Chloe, my dear, I absolutely adore you. I’ll see you at church.” She let go and looked at Thomas again. “I’d sure like to see you at church too.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
She climbed into her car and shut the door, sniffing madly. Between the cold and the crying, her nose had become a faucet.
Thomas rapped on the window.
She started the car and rolled her window down.
“My step-mom is on the school board,” he said. “I’m going to fix this.”
She didn’t know what to say, so she just nodded, and then drove away.
Her landlord’s car was parked in her driveway, and she became painfully aware that it probably wasn’t her driveway anymore. She took a deep breath and tried to compose herself. She found it wasn’t so hard—her sadness was being ousted by anger.
Lauren met her at the door. “I’m sorry, Emily.”
This wasn’t what Emily had expected to hear, and she looked at her in surprise.
“MacKenzie really liked you. I’m sorry it didn’t work out. And I hate to ask you this, but could you be out of here by tonight? Don’t worry about cleaning or anything. We’ll take care of that.”
Emily looked at her, her jaw slack.
“Sorry, don’t mean to rush you. We just need to get the house ready. The new teacher will be here tomorrow.”
New teacher? How could they possibly have moved so fast? Then it hit her. They’ve been planning this for a while. “Lauren, can you tell me, off the record, what the real reason is?”
Lauren sighed. “There isn’t one. Or there’s a thousand. Sometimes people just don’t work out here. The island is strange. If people don’t like you, there’s not much you can do to change things.”
“But people do like me. At least, the kids do.”
“Well, I’m sorry, someone didn’t.” Past tense. As if it was already over. A done deal. “I’ll leave you to it,” she said and stepped outside without looking back.
