17. Zane
17
ZANE
Z ane drove to the school on Friday afternoon, his heart pounding in his chest, and the drive feeling longer than it ever had before.
He’d gotten a call that there was a problem with one of the boys. And sweet Miss Wiggins wouldn’t even say what when she called. She’d just assured him no one was hurt, and told him to come down to the school for a meeting with Principal Chittenden.
Zane almost felt sorry for her having to be the bearer of bad tidings. Except that of course he also wished he could yell at her to just tell him what was going on.
It was funny, all the years the boys had been in school, he’d steeled himself against the idea that they would eventually get into some kind of trouble.
He’d really only let his guard down this last week, when they were with Becca, who really cared about them. And he knew they liked her so much that they would never want to let her down by misbehaving.
The thought sent another jolt of ice through his veins, and he gave the truck as much gas as he dared.
A lifetime later, he pulled up in front of the school.
Mom and Dad had to do this a million times, he reminded himself. There’s no need to feel ashamed or angry or scared.
But it was hard not to mourn the benefit of the doubt one or both of his boys might be losing today. If Zane’s brother, Tripp, was any indication, once the school decided you were trouble, they pretty much treated you like that from then on out.
Not my boys, he prayed. Please just let this be head lice.
Pulling himself together, he headed inside.
“Mr. Lawrence,” Miss Wiggins quavered from behind the front desk. “They’re waiting for you in Principal Chittenden’s office.”
“Thanks,” he managed, willing himself not to break into a jog as he headed for the principal’s office.
“Thank you for coming,” Principal Chittenden said, rising to her feet as he stepped in.
“Zane,” Denise said, not bothering to get up.
He wasn’t exactly sure what she was doing here, since she didn’t teach either of his boys anymore.
“Have a seat,” the principal said, indicating the chair next to Denise’s. “We know you’re a busy man, so we’ll cut to the chase. The boys were caught cheating.”
“Why are you here?” he asked plainly, turning to Denise. “And where is Miss Hawthorne?”
“The students who receive the highest marks on the last math test before winter break receive a pizza party,” Principal Chittenden said calmly. “So, it’s tradition for the children to swap classrooms and take their test with another teacher. In this case, your boys were in Mrs. Staley’s classroom for the test.”
“But I’m guessing they’ve been cheating ever since you put them together,” Denise said. “If Cal’s recent grades are anything to go by.”
Becca said he was bright.
“Why do you think they were cheating?” he asked Denise, managing to remain calm.
“Nick was looking at Cal’s paper in the back of the room,” Denise said simply.
“How do you know?” he asked.
“Because I saw him,” Denise replied. “And because after I moved Cal up front with me, Nick didn’t even attempt to do another problem. If you don’t believe me, here’s his test.”
She slid a piece of notebook paper across the desk to him. Sure enough, there were five problems and answers in Nick’s familiar scrawl.
“There were fifteen questions on the board,” Denise said, sniffing. “Nick is the only student who stopped at number five.”
Zane was at a loss. He’d never thought Nick would do something like that. But if the teacher saw him…
“ Why was I not informed about this meeting? ” a familiar voice called out breathlessly.
Zane turned in his seat to see Becca approaching. Unlike Zane, she wasn’t trying to remain calm, she was literally sprinting into the room, with Miss Wiggins trying to keep up.
“Miss Hawthorne,” Miss Wiggins called out. “Please…”
“It’s all right,” Principal Chittenden said calmly. “Miss Hawthorne may enter.”
“Why didn’t you involve me in the first place?” Becca demanded.
“Honestly?” Denise said. “I wasn’t sure you could be impartial when it comes to this family.”
Becca’s face went pale.
“Miss Hawthorne, please have a seat,” Principal Chittenden said. “Mrs. Staley’s students are in gym class right now, and I was going to call you in once the bell rang, but you’re here already, and that’s just fine.”
“Miss Perrault said you brought the boys to her office,” Becca said. “What’s wrong?”
“We thought their father might like to talk with them right away after this meeting,” the principal said kindly. “That’s all.”
Yes, I sure would, Zane thought to himself. He should have known it was a mistake to put the boys together. But he’d let himself get lost in the sweetness of this new teacher, and now it was coming back to bite them.
“Well, Mrs. Conard is sitting with my class for now,” Becca said. “What’s this about?”
Zane sat in furious silence as Denise explained it all again.
To her credit, Becca listened calmly, nodding and keeping her mouth shut until Denise was finished.
“I’d like to see their papers,” Becca said simply, once Denise was done.
“Be my guest,” Denise told her, passing over Cal’s paper, which had a few problems marked off, but definitely had problems on both sides of the sheet. “He’s got Nick’s—such as it is.”
Zane slid Nick’s paper over too.
“Thanks,” Becca said, putting her head down to review Cal’s paper first.
“In a situation like this one, we want to act with the utmost care,” Principal Chittenden said after a moment. “We might think about separating the boys within the classroom, or even?—”
“Excuse me,” Becca said suddenly, her eyes still on the papers spread out in front of her. “Before we make accusations or start moving the boys’ desks around, are we really sure Nick was cheating?”
“What’s the alternative?” Denise asked, smirking.
“Well, did no one else notice that Nick got all five of the first five problems correct?” Becca asked. “And Cal only got four of them?”
“He was staring at his brother’s paper, Becca,” Denise said dismissively. “He probably just copied Cal’s answer down wrong and got lucky.”
“That doesn’t feel right to me,” Becca said, shaking her head and turning to Zane. “Can you back me up on this? Something else is going on here.”
“You’re a brand-new teacher,” he heard himself say coldly. “And Denise Staley has been teaching the second grade for years. I want to put the boys back in separate classes. This was a mistake.”
Becca was looking right at him, so he was able to see the exact moment his words landed and her heart broke. It would probably haunt him for the rest of his life. But he had to put the boys first.
“We’ll talk with the boys, of course,” Principal Chittenden said calmly. “But I agree that separating them again may be a wise course of action. We can wait until they return after the holidays, that should cause the least amount of turmoil in the classrooms.”
At least she hadn’t said additional turmoil . Zane knew he had made a fool of himself. And Denise, at least, seemed to think she knew why. And Zane was starting to think she might be right.
But I didn’t listen to her because she’s a beautiful young woman, he argued furiously to himself. I listened to her because I thought she knew best. I thought she had the boys’ best interests in mind.
The rest of the meeting went by in a blur as he tried to pull himself together. He had to face the boys soon, and help them learn and grow from this situation instead of just feeling angry and ashamed at having been caught.
And he had to stop thinking of the way he had crushed their teacher with just a few words.