2. Penny
TWO
PENNY
“How are things going there? Nervous?” my little sister, Maize, asked.
“Petrified.”
Maize was in college, something I’d forced her to do when she had no direction, drive, or motivation. I worked my butt off to make sure she’d get there, though. Now that she was in her sophomore year and loving everything about college life in Missouri, I had no regrets for how hard I was on her when we were growing up.
I’d do anything to ensure neither of us ended up like our mom.
“And you’re all moved in?”
I spun in a slow circle in the cozy living room that opened to a kitchen with an island large enough to seat four. “I’m getting there. My furniture arrived at least, but I still have all my things to put away.”
“And you’re ready for tomorrow?”
I scoffed. “Absolutely not.”
The teacher I was taking over for almost halfway through the year was not only a teacher, but she was beloved in New Haven. At fifty years old, she’d not only taught most of the early elementary-aged classrooms, but she also taught children who grew up, stayed in town, and then taught their children. She was leaving big shoes to fill, and if I didn’t do a good job this year, there was a chance I wouldn’t be asked to return. After only being here a few days, I didn’t want to leave.
New Haven might have been a small town in the middle of nowhere eastern Colorado, but it was hopping with activity and heavy on the friendliness.
“You’ll do great. You always do.”
“Thanks, sis. I hope so. How’s your week going?”
“Same as always. School is fine, work sucks, and the boys are all idiots.”
I chuckled. Unlike me, Maize had no problems sampling the large variety of men on her college campus. I went in the complete opposite direction and avoided them all. Our mom had made it a mission to own the world record for how many strange men she could bring home around her young daughters so I decided early on that men were never going to be the most important factor or desire in my life. Get myself through school, be there for Maize, start my career, and find a place to settle in for a quiet life. That was my only focus, my primary goal.
“What’d they do this week?”
“Ugh. Nothing big, and that’s the problem. It’s almost like Mom really didn’t bring home loser after loser. I’m also starting to believe that really is the best there is.”
“It’s not, Maize.” She knew better. While our mom protected us and loved men, she also had the crappiest taste in them. That was probably because half the men she brought home had also seen her stripping off her clothes earlier in the night at the strip club she worked.
No hate to her for that, either. Mom did what she needed to do to make sure she gave Maize and me a decent life. Getting pregnant with me at sixteen and then getting kicked out of her parents’ house hadn’t left her with many options. She wasn’t a bad woman or a bad mom. She was a woman who went searching for love in all the wrong places and found exactly what you’d expect she would.
“I know,” she grumbled. “It’s just that all these guys I meet think the idea of showing their interest in me is a two in the morning text that says yo, you up? And then can’t return a text during the daylight hours.”
“Maybe they’re all vampires.”
“Hardly,” she snickered. “They’re way too tan for that.”
I chuckled again and flipped open a box on my kitchen island and started unpacking while Maize continued rambling about the challenges of meeting decent guys on a college campus and started filling my drawers with silverware and kitchenware.
I’d gotten supremely lucky with the house I rented. It’d been listed for a couple of months, but not only was the two-bedroom size perfect for me, the small yard would be manageable. It was fenced in, giving me privacy, and possibly, if I ended up staying in New Haven, I could get a dog so I wouldn’t be all alone. If I went four blocks in one direction, I could easily walk to the center of town and do my shopping or grab a coffee or meal. If I headed in a different direction, I could go a few more blocks and be at the school. If I was able to save money for a bike, I could easily bike to work.
The town was small enough that walking or biking almost seemed easier than wasting the gas money or putting miles on my ten-year-old Sentra. I scribbled looking for bicycles onto my mental to-do list. By the time Maize was finished dishing about her wild and free adventures of a college student, I’d finished unpacking my kitchen.
“Hey, Maize?”
“You’re getting tired.”
“It’s like you know me,” I teased. “But yes, and tomorrow’s going to be a long day.”
“All right, fine, leave me alone to fend for myself.”
A pang pierced my chest. She was joking, but that was exactly what I’d done when I moved out here when I’d always been there for her. I’d spent more time raising her than our own mom.
“You’ll deal,” I teased right back, even though there wasn’t anything funny about it. We’d both left our mom as soon as we could, and I’d always promised Maize I’d be there for her.
“Love you, sis-sis,” she said and proceeded to fill the phone with kissing noises.
“Gross.” I laughed. “Love you, too. Be good tomorrow.”
“Now where’s the fun in that?”
The call ended, and I rolled my eyes. For someone who didn’t want to go to college at all, she was enjoying it way more than I ever had.
Then again, she wasn’t eighteen, working thirty hours a week in order to save money to send to her little sister so there was money for rent and clothes. Daphne Starr might have once been a successful stripper when we were younger, giving us a decent if not strange life, but the years had worn her down. Now she was more than likely to put her tips into vodka and cheap rum than into taking care of herself or buying food.
New Haven Elementary school was everything I’d imagined a small-town school would look. Built in the 1950s, it was a two-story brick rectangular structure, with very little personality. The building was old, but the upkeep on it was impressive. The grass was browning due to the fact it was mid-October and winter was on its way, but in the spring and summer, the grass was maintained and watered, giving the playground and surrounding areas a luscious green to run in. And while New Haven boasted a population of only a few thousand, there was pride in the community, in the school grounds, in the new playground equipment and the shining school signs.
My heart thumped wilding against my rib cage as I turned into the teacher lot. In a few minutes, I’d be meeting my classroom for the very first time. They’d staffed the classroom with a substitute for the week, a retired teacher herself, and it would be the classroom who was given the task of giving me a tour of the school.
They didn’t need to know I’d already had one.
According to the principal, when she asked my soon-to-be new students if they wanted the responsibility, they’d leapt out of the chairs with glee and screamed so loud the walls shook.
So a tour from twenty, eight- and nine-year-olds it was.
Which shouldn’t have been so threatening. I’d practically raised my own sister. I’d been to school for this. I’d excelled at my student teaching and in the position I had last year. I had chosen to do long-term sub teaching in Kansas City until I found a full-time placement that gave me peace. Fortunately, that peace had brought me to New Haven…
As long as the students I was about ready to meet were impressed by me.
The school’s principal, Mrs. Carol Reese, greeted me with a warm smile and an outstretched hand. Her hair was dark, sleek, and cut in a sharp line at her shoulders that showed off her perfect cheekbones and deep-set, shining navy eyes. “How are you doing today? Are there butterflies flying yet?”
I took her offered hand and settled my other at my stomach. “More like those murder hornets I keep hearing about.”
She laughed, friendly and easily. “You’ll be just fine. The hardest part will be the next hour. The parents are fantastic, and since the community is so small, we’re awfully tight, but I trust that the parents you meet tonight will be more welcoming than you can imagine.”
“That helps, thanks.”
“And I’ll be there to answer questions you can’t, so shall we show you your new home?”
A rush of excitement flooded through me. If this all went well, it was possible this school, this town, could truly be my new home.
“I can’t wait.”
“Wonderful. Take these. They’re yours. Keys for the doors and a keycard to get back inside the building if you ever have to leave it.” She handed me the key and keycard, attached to a lanyard, and I draped it over my neck as she led me out of the office. “Our security was updated several years ago, but we regularly have a service come out and check it to make sure everything’s working properly. When you’re done with the tour and have spent time with the kids, come back to the office and we’ll get your picture added for your formal ID card.”
“Sounds good. Thanks.”
Carol led me through the main part of the school, where I tried to envision myself working for far longer than the remainder of the school year. The main part of the building opened up into the lunchroom and would soon be filled with a hundred students. Down one hall was the gymnasium and a small auditorium. We bypassed that hallway and went to the back of the school toward the rear staircase.
“As time allows, make sure to explore the school on your own. Teachers will help you with whatever you need, but you should be comfortable enough to know your way around the school blindfolded, just in case of an emergency. This is the most direct route to take, but there are other exits and stairwells, if you need them. You’ve spoken with Faye, correct?”
“Parker?” I hoped I had the last name right.
“Yes. That’s it. She’s our other third-grade teacher, and she’s not only excited to meet you, but she’ll be able to help you with anything. We’ve decided to adjust the curriculum a little bit, to follow her lesson plans instead of Mrs. Bonners’, but that’s only until you’re ready to do your own thing. Faye thought that’d help so you can have her support, and to be honest, since you’re both younger, I think you’ll appreciate her fresher style compared to Jackie’s.”
“I think that’s a great idea. And Faye already emailed the lesson plans she has made up to Thanksgiving break, so I should be able to handle them.”
“Wonderful.”
We arrived upstairs, to a long hallway of dusty-blue lockers, off-white brick walls, and a cream linoleum floor. Despite the lack of color in the buildings, the walls were filled with large, framed areas that showed off a massive amount of artwork and schoolwork, giving the dark hallway a brighter, happier feel.
My breath lodged in my throat and my palms turned sweaty as Carol pulled her key from her lanyard and slid it into the door’s lock.
This was it. Do or die.
Oh dear… Please help me not only to survive but to thrive.