3. Becca
3
BECCA
B ecca felt excited and exhausted at the same time as she led her class down the stairs for recess.
Observing the children on the playground before school had been incredibly helpful. She already had a sense of their energy level by the time she got up to her classroom.
And as the kids poured in the door, it was really gratifying to see them exploring the classroom, with many of them exclaiming at the new posters and examining the big calendar and clock wall hangings she had brought in for them.
She’d smiled when she saw a few children reading and sounding out the words on the posters. And they all seemed very curious about why the town-themed posters had so many questions on them.
They had all sat and listened politely as she explained her plan for the day—to see how they were doing with math and reading, and then head out for recess.
Of course it was only her first day, and they were all feeling especially curious, but she was encouraged at how attentive they all seemed to be. And it was a delight to see that their skills were definitely up to par.
Back in the city, one of her colleagues had warned her that country schools sometimes did things their own way, so she should be ready to catch the kids up to state standards.
But so far, her new students were pleasant and capable, and as an added bonus, the classroom wasn’t nearly as crowded as the ones she had covered back at her old school.
When they reached the staircase, twenty pairs of little boots thumped and slapped the wooden treads.
“Let’s remember to stay quiet,” she whispered to them. The principal’s office was close to the bottom of the big staircase, and she didn’t want to make a bad impression on her first day.
Miraculously, they did quiet down a little, and she hoped that a certain amount of noise was to be expected, after all, they were children. She relaxed when they got out into the cold, sunny day, and the kids all took off for the playground equipment, their breath pluming in the air. It was fun to see how most of them clearly had someone or something or both in mind to play with. Within seconds, they had almost all spread out around the snowy field.
Only Cal Lawrence hung back a little.
She frowned, studying him. She had already picked up from his classwork today that he was bright. But the energy coming off him when she’d first met him earlier this morning was nowhere to be found. Instead of rushing off to play with the other children, he was kicking at the snow on the edge of the playground
“Hi there,” a friendly female voice called out.
Becca looked up and saw an older lady with long, gray hair and what looked like a hand-knit scarf sticking out of her blue puffer jacket.
“Hi,” she replied.
“You must be the new second-grade teacher,” the lady said with a friendly smile. “I’m Linda Conard, the art teacher.”
“Becca Hawthorne,” Becca said, smiling back. “It’s great to meet you. I can’t wait to hear what they’re doing in art class.”
“Well, welcome, welcome,” Linda told her brightly. “I can’t wait for you to see it.”
“Thank you,” Becca said, glancing over her shoulder at Cal, who was still hanging back from the other kids.
“Are you worried about that one?” Linda asked. “He’s just quiet. This is normal for him.”
“He wasn’t quiet this morning when his brother was with him,” Becca said, thinking to herself that it wasn’t normal for a kid who had been cooped up in the classroom all morning to stand around kicking snow, even if he was quiet.
“Well, Nick will be out soon enough,” Linda told her. “They have the same recess time, but Staley always makes her kids do extra stuff before she lets them out.”
There was a touch of judgement in Linda’s voice that surprised Becca a little. The art teacher seemed to be all smiles and acceptance.
“Are you the new second-grade teacher?” someone asked.
Becca turned to see another young woman approaching.
“Yes,” she said. “Becca Hawthorne.”
“Emily Boucher,” the woman said with a smile. “Fourth grade.”
“Great to meet you,” Becca told her.
Just then, another class came pouring out through the doors at the back of the school. Becca turned to watch, and was pleased to see Nick run out and yell to Cal.
Cal’s face brightened, and he ran to join his brother, who was already sprinting to a group of boys from both classes, who were playing at the jungle gym.
It was great to see Cal looking like himself again, but it was odd that he hadn’t been playing with those kids to begin with. She frowned in thought.
“How’s it going?” a familiar voice asked.
She turned to see that Mrs. Staley had joined the group. She was looking curiously at Becca.
“Oh, hi,” Becca said. “It’s going really well. They’re great kids, aren’t they?”
“It got pretty noisy in there,” Mrs. Staley said with a slight frown.
Becca racked her brain for when they could have possibly been making too much noise. Maybe in the Getting To Know You game where she learned their names?
“I think we were just having fun,” she replied weakly.
“Well, without classroom management, you’ve got nothing,” Mrs. Staley told her. “Don’t let things get out of hand now, or they’ll walk all over you.”
Becca nodded, feeling almost like she wanted to cry, though all the woman was doing was offering advice.
“ Jack Hayes,” Mrs. Staley yelled. “Eleanor Tuttle, no climbing on the garden wall.”
“Jack Ellison Hayes,” the boy shouted as he jumped from the wall and sprinted away.
Mrs. Staley headed off to reprimand the kids before Becca could say anything more.
“Don’t take that to heart,” Linda said right away, patting Becca’s arm. “She believes that stuff, and it’s probably true for her. But you can always do things your own way. I certainly do.”
“Thank you,” Becca said firmly, hoping the other teacher didn’t want to continue the conversation. Becca definitely didn’t want to engage in anything that felt like gossip or a disagreement with another teacher on her first day.
Besides, her eyes were already searching the playground for Nick and Cal.
Sure enough, there they were, together. Nick was laughing his head off at another boy who was hanging upside down from the jungle gym and waving his arms around, and Cal stood beside his brother, a genuine smile on his face.
“What do you think about the Lawrence boys?” she asked.
It seemed clear to her that they ought to be in the same class together. But maybe there was something more to know.
“Ha,” Linda chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” Becca asked.
“It’s just that it’s not the first time we’ve heard that question,” Linda explained. “Only it’s usually from one of the young women in town, and they’re asking it about the boys’ dad and uncles.”
That made sense to Becca. She would have to have been blind this morning not to notice how attractive the father was. But of course she would never say as much.
“It’s such a sad story,” Emily said, nodding knowingly. “About their mother.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Em,” Linda said. “She’s not from here. How would she know any of that? The boys were born very early, and their mother left before the two of them even got out of the hospital. I think it was too much for her.”
Becca’s heart hurt at the thought.
“The rumor mill says otherwise,” Emily pointed out.
“The rumor mill is wrong as often as it’s right,” Linda said, shrugging. “At any rate, what we do know is that when the twins finally came home, it was only with their dad. It’s a blessing there’s a big extended family living there on the farm to help out.”
“He’s got an awful lot on his shoulders,” Emily put in.
“I met him this morning,” Becca said, thinking of the big cowboy who was so focused on his kids. “He seemed all right.”
“Oh, he’s more than all right,” Emily said, shaking her head and grinning. “What a smoke show.”
Becca was surprised that the other teacher would say something so inappropriate about a parent. But she could feel her cheeks heating anyway, and she took a gulp of frozen air and tried not to think about how handsome the man was.
“You know that’s Allie’s big brother,” Linda said, elbowing Emily. “Have some respect.”
“She’s not even here,” Emily said, shrugging. “Besides, she knows half the women in town are in love with at least one of her brothers. You were joking about it yourself a minute ago. Those guys are all gorgeous.”
Linda laughed and rolled her eyes, then turned back to Becca.
“Allie Lawrence is our newest kindergarten teacher,” Linda explained. “You’ll love her. Everyone does.”
“Miss Hawthorne, Miss Hawthorne,” a little voice yelled out worriedly. “Someone kicked the kickball really hard, and it hit Cal right in the face, and his nose is bleeding and bleeding so much blood...”
“Goodness, Aubrey,” Becca said, darting forward to the little girl, who was panting and looked like she was about to cry. “Thank you so much for coming to get me.”
“I’ll watch the rest of your class while you take him to the nurse,” Linda called after her as Becca hurried off across the playground with the little girl.