world, or the poor inner-city kids, and being around them made me want to throw myself from the rooftop.
This feeling hit me as we entered the building for the first time since June. I was immediately summoned to Price’s office. Apparently I was the only one with a one-on-one meeting on the first day back, because the main office was a ghost town, with the exception of a neat stack of agendas by the sign-in log.
I sipped Nunzio’s coffee while reading the planned activities. It was a lineup of the exact same fun-filled shit we’d done on the first day last year, which meant the day would turn into me reviewing old lesson plans and following pundits on Twitter.
“Michael, you can come in.”
Wishing I’d worn something less casual now that I was being graced with Her Majesty Principal’s presence, I gripped the coffee cup and went inside. It looked the same as it always did, and I was briefly struck by how much it felt like no time had passed at all. A lot had changed since June, but there was no sense that I’d been out of the building for longer than a week.
“How was your summer?”
I sat across from her. “It was okay. You?”
Price made a so-so gesture, and I got a load of the diamond-covered bracelet on her wrist. She looked different. Shorter hair, deeper tan, and she wasn’t wearing her usual tweed ensembles, which made her look a lot younger.
“I went on vacation with my kids, so they had a great time.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “What did you want to see me about?”
Price leaned back in her chair. “There are two things we need to discuss, only one of which you will be glad about.”
“Okay….”
“I’m replacing you as team leader for the tenth grade.”
I nodded slowly, face frozen in a mask of neutrality. Being grade team leader amounted to nothing more than organizing meetings and delivering information to the rest of the tenth grade teachers, but it had sucked up an additional couple of hours a week that I’d been reluctant to spare. Not having the extra responsibility would be a load off my mind, but I didn’t really see her making the executive decision to remove me as being a positive.
“Any reason why?”
“I heard you weren’t happy.”
Fucking rats . I tried to remember to whom I’d complained who would have repeated my words, but months of drinking had cleansed my memory of anything related to work.
“I see.”
“Are you displeased with my decision?”
“Not as long as it didn’t come from you deciding I’m suddenly not up to par.”
She flipped a ballpoint pen between her fingers. “There were some comments made about you from the leadership team.”
Oh brother. Here comes the bochinche….
“It was stated that you weren’t being as much of a team player last year as in previous years, and that you were being contrary about several decisions being made on the third floor.” Price didn’t seem to be expecting a response from me, because she flicked her fingers dismissively and moved on. “In any case, you won’t have to worry about that this year.”
“That’s fine.” And it was, but now the possibility of people whispering behind my back during summer school would nag at me. “Who’s replacing me? Nunzio? He’s been teaching the longest besides me.”
“No. That’s the other change I needed to discuss with you.”
“Regarding Nunzio?”
“Yes. I’m moving him from the tenth grade team.”
The statement sent a shard of outrage through me in a way that my own demotion had not. I didn’t try to maintain the facade of apathetic professionalism. “Why? We’ve all been together for the past four years. Our team is solid.”
“Your team was solid until last year when there were issues with professionalism.”
“Ms. Price, we called out simultaneously two times in four years.”
“Two times in the same year on a Monday, as well as showing up late at the same time three times, and there were accusations of cliquish behavior on
This feeling hit me as we entered the building for the first time since June. I was immediately summoned to Price’s office. Apparently I was the only one with a one-on-one meeting on the first day back, because the main office was a ghost town, with the exception of a neat stack of agendas by the sign-in log.
I sipped Nunzio’s coffee while reading the planned activities. It was a lineup of the exact same fun-filled shit we’d done on the first day last year, which meant the day would turn into me reviewing old lesson plans and following pundits on Twitter.
“Michael, you can come in.”
Wishing I’d worn something less casual now that I was being graced with Her Majesty Principal’s presence, I gripped the coffee cup and went inside. It looked the same as it always did, and I was briefly struck by how much it felt like no time had passed at all. A lot had changed since June, but there was no sense that I’d been out of the building for longer than a week.
“How was your summer?”
I sat across from her. “It was okay. You?”
Price made a so-so gesture, and I got a load of the diamond-covered bracelet on her wrist. She looked different. Shorter hair, deeper tan, and she wasn’t wearing her usual tweed ensembles, which made her look a lot younger.
“I went on vacation with my kids, so they had a great time.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “What did you want to see me about?”
Price leaned back in her chair. “There are two things we need to discuss, only one of which you will be glad about.”
“Okay….”
“I’m replacing you as team leader for the tenth grade.”
I nodded slowly, face frozen in a mask of neutrality. Being grade team leader amounted to nothing more than organizing meetings and delivering information to the rest of the tenth grade teachers, but it had sucked up an additional couple of hours a week that I’d been reluctant to spare. Not having the extra responsibility would be a load off my mind, but I didn’t really see her making the executive decision to remove me as being a positive.
“Any reason why?”
“I heard you weren’t happy.”
Fucking rats . I tried to remember to whom I’d complained who would have repeated my words, but months of drinking had cleansed my memory of anything related to work.
“I see.”
“Are you displeased with my decision?”
“Not as long as it didn’t come from you deciding I’m suddenly not up to par.”
She flipped a ballpoint pen between her fingers. “There were some comments made about you from the leadership team.”
Oh brother. Here comes the bochinche….
“It was stated that you weren’t being as much of a team player last year as in previous years, and that you were being contrary about several decisions being made on the third floor.” Price didn’t seem to be expecting a response from me, because she flicked her fingers dismissively and moved on. “In any case, you won’t have to worry about that this year.”
“That’s fine.” And it was, but now the possibility of people whispering behind my back during summer school would nag at me. “Who’s replacing me? Nunzio? He’s been teaching the longest besides me.”
“No. That’s the other change I needed to discuss with you.”
“Regarding Nunzio?”
“Yes. I’m moving him from the tenth grade team.”
The statement sent a shard of outrage through me in a way that my own demotion had not. I didn’t try to maintain the facade of apathetic professionalism. “Why? We’ve all been together for the past four years. Our team is solid.”
“Your team was solid until last year when there were issues with professionalism.”
“Ms. Price, we called out simultaneously two times in four years.”
“Two times in the same year on a Monday, as well as showing up late at the same time three times, and there were accusations of cliquish behavior on
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