When Monday morning came there really was a smile on Ember’s face. There was something special about walking down the school hallway before anybody else had made it in. Even after so many years of teaching, she still felt a little shiver go down her spine whenever her shoes clicked against the tiled floors as she headed toward her classroom.
She’d attended Angel Sands Elementary as a pupil, back when her mom used to tie her hair in pigtails so tight it would make her wince. Every room held a memory – the classroom where she first learned how to tie her shoelaces, the gym where every Christmas they’d sing their hearts out for their parents, and the playground when one recess she’d had her first kiss, with Adam Reyes, who’d thankfully long since left town.
She’d been more than lucky to land the job of First Grade teacher. Staff didn’t tend to leave Angel Sands very often – half the faculty had been here for more than twenty years. Only Rachel Foss, one of the Kindergarten teachers, had joined more recently than her. Even after all this time, Ember was still a relative newcomer.
As happy as she was to be there, Monday mornings at school were always a tough gig. Trying to reacclimatize the children to the classroom after the weekend took patience and grit. Sometimes, much more tolerance than Ember felt she had. She always tried to make the first lesson of the day as fun as she could – today they were learning about dinosaurs. In the corner of the classroom, she’d made a model featuring all the dinosaurs the children had learned about – the diplodocus and the brontosaurus, the triceratops, and of course the frightening T Rex. Turning to the white board hanging behind her desk, she started to point out the differences between them.
A giggle alerted her to the mischief that was happening behind her. The back of her neck tingled – Teacher Sense, as Principal Sawyer called it. The head of the school maintained that every natural teacher could feel trouble coming before it arrived, and if the itching on Ember’s spine was anything to go by, there was definitely something going on.
She turned to see Carter Davies out of his chair, holding the model T Rex, running over to Sally Johnson. Just as he arrived at her desk, he let out a roar – a fair imitation of what a dinosaur might sound like, Ember thought – and then shoved the T Rex toward her.
“He wants to eat you,” he said, giggling as Sally leaned away. “He forgot to have his breakfast this morning.”
“Carter, put the T Rex back,” Ember called out, but Sally was already taking matters into her own hands. She grabbed the toy dinosaur from Carter, and stomped away, leaving the boy staring at her open-mouthed. He clearly hadn’t expected that.
“Carter, please sit down.” Ember put on her stern face. She’d learned in her first few weeks on the job that showing any weakness at times like these could lead to mayhem. She tried not to remember her first week of teaching, when Principal Sawyer had ended up in her classroom almost every day trying to calm things down. “And Sally, put the dinosaur back on the table, please.”
“But he’s hungry,” Carter said. “I heard his tummy rumble.”
“Toys don’t get hungry,” Sally pointed out. “They don’t have insides, do they, so how can they eat food?”
Ember bit down a smile. Sally always had an answer, no matter how much Carter tried to rile her up.
She wasn’t sure who was happier when recess arrived – herself or her students. As soon as the bell rang, chairs scraped across the tiled floor as the level of chatter increased, and the children lined up at the door, waiting for her to open it and let them out.
It was her turn to supervise the playground, along with Rachel Foss, the kindergarten teacher. Ember grabbed them both a coffee from the staff room, then hurried out of the back door to join her friend. Rachel was leaning on the fencepost, watching the play area, when Ember joined her and passed her the cup. She immediately lifted it to her lips, closing her eyes as she swallowed a mouthful of coffee. With a deep sigh, she reopened them.
“You’ve no idea how much I needed that.”
“I’m pretty sure I can guess.” Ember flashed her a smile. “Tough morning?”
“I’ve had two bathroom accidents, a bucketful of tears, and somebody’s taken my favorite pen. Remind me why I wanted to be a teacher again?”
“Um,” Ember pretended to think for a moment. “Because you love kids and you thought it would be easy?”
Rachel groaned. “Who do I have to kill to teach second grade? Should I target Nancy or Diana?”
“They’re indestructible,” Ember said, trying not to smile. Rachel loved her kindergarten students, the same way Ember loved her first graders. It was just sometimes hard to remember that. “Anyway, it’s Monday. Accidents always happen on Mondays. Better days are ahead.”
“Like Saturday and Sunday.” Rachel finished the last of her coffee, twisting the lid so it was closed up. “Anyway, let’s not talk about school. Tell me, how was your mom’s party?”
Ember was about to answer her when Carter came up to them, turned around, and bent over so he could grab his ankles. The two teachers watched wordlessly as he started to gyrate his hips, moving his behind around in a circular motion. “Hey, Miss Kennedy, I’m twerking. Can you see me? I’m really good at it, too.”
“I see, Carter. Now you can stop, twerking isn’t allowed in this playground.”
He was still holding his ankles when he looked at them through his legs. He was frowning. “It isn’t?” he asked. “Why not?”
Ember caught Rachel’s gaze. The other teacher was trying not to laugh. She wasn’t trying hard enough though.
“Because it’s suggestive,” Ember said, wishing she hadn’t even started down this line. “And the playground is for playing in, not dancing.”
“Those girls are dancing.” Carter finally stood up. His face was bright red from where he’d been upside down. “Look – they’re holding hands and swinging.”
“But they’re not twerking,” Ember said. “It’s the twerking that’s not allowed.”
“Well that’s no fun.” He stomped off, looking for something else to do, and Rachel finally let her laughter out.
“Oh my god, can you imagine what he’s going to be like when he’s older?” Rachel asked, her eyes following Carter as he made his way over to the swings. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s a funny kid. But I was so pleased when he graduated from kindergarten last year and wasn’t my problem anymore.”
“Yeah, well thanks for that. Your loss was my gain.” Ember did a mock grimace. “But you’re right, He’s a good kid.”
“And he can twerk like a pro,” Rachel said, still smiling. “I should know. I was doing some twerking of my own over the weekend.”
Ember was only half-paying attention. She was watching Sally as she stood in front of the playhouse, her arms folded across her chest and a stubborn look on her face. The playhouse was a new addition to the playground that year, bought thanks to parent-teacher fundraising efforts. Another girl – from the other first grade class – tried to get past Sally and into the house, but Sally was refusing to move.
“Hold that thought,” Ember said, passing Rachel her empty coffee mug and walking over to interfere in the potential fight. She hunkered down and looked at them with concern. “What’s going on here?” she asked the two girls.
“Sally won’t let anybody in. She says it’s her house.”
“Come on, Sally, you know that’s not true,” Ember pointed out. “The playhouse belongs to everybody.”
“But they keep ruining my game.” Sally frowned. “They just want to run around in there, and it’s not fair. I’m supposed to be the mom and they’re supposed to listen to me.”
“Well, I’m the teacher and you need to listen to me,” Ember pointed out, keeping her voice light. “And I’d like you to let everybody in.”
“No.” Sally folded her arms across her chest. “It’s not fair,” she said again.
Taking a deep breath, Ember rose up from her crouched position. “There’s only a minute of recess to go. I’d like you to go and wait by the gate.” She pointed to the fence. “And when you’re out here this afternoon, you need to remember to share.”
Sally did as she was told and stomped over to the other side of the playground, Ember following behind. Recess only lasted fifteen minutes and she was already feeling exhausted. That was Mondays for you, full of unexpected turns. When the bell for the end of recess rang and the children came running over to form a line, she could feel her body start to relax.
That feeling only lasted a minute, though. Right until Rachel came up behind her and cleared her throat, causing Ember to turn around and look at her. “Is everything okay?” she asked.
“Um. We have a situation.”
Ember frowned. “What kind of situation?”
Rachel swallowed, her neck bobbing with the action. “It’s Carter again,” she said, and Ember’s stomach immediately sank.
“What about Carter?” she asked. “Is he twerking again?”
“No, this is ten times worse. He’s stuck in the playhouse chimney.”