Jennifer didn't know how she had made it to the end of the week. Today was a special Friday, too. In celebration of the successful start of the school year, the teachers went out for lunch together at the end of the first week.
Jennifer was in high spirits. The restaurant this year was a nice one, and the PTA had really splurged. Free-flow apple cider, too.
"Do you ever get the feeling that your lesson is a rollercoaster and your class is about to fly off the rails?" one teacher asked across the table.
The other teachers laughed."More like I've been run over by a rollercoaster!" another chimed in, and the laughter grew.
Jennifer genuinely loved going to kindergarten. The kids were curious and chaotic; the teachers were creative and kind—well, most of them. They had been her bright respite when life had been otherwise dark and difficult.
"Hey Jennifer, tell us your secret!" someone asked."What secret?" Jennifer blinked, puzzled.
Apparently, Jennifer was the school's official Dangerous Minds teacher—the kindergarten edition.
This was news to her.
She had been teaching the Dolphin Class for the past six years.
"How do you do it?" a younger teacher asked.
Because "D" wasn't just for Dolphin in this school. "D" was also for Danger.
Everyone laughed again. Jennifer included.
"They're like a pack of hyenas!" one teacher complained.
"More like wolves," Jennifer admitted, thinking of the two wolf brothers. Today, they had decided to make the other kids build wooden block towers just so they could "blow" them down. They were the pharaohs of the kindergarten world, and most of free play had been turned into hard labor for the other kids.
The only reason Jennifer let them do it was that she could see the other kids get really into it—even the ones who had been "forced" to participate.
It wasn't just the wolf brothers. Among her students was the girl known as Her Majesty, who would scream bloody murder if anything—even the tiniest thing—displeased her. Today, she was furious at having her blocks knocked over.
And at least two kids still had the occasional toileting accident.
And let's not even get started on the years she'd had kids who didn't speak English, or who only used black crayon for everything, or kids who refused footwear, or kids with two hundred allergies…
But last year, the one who didn't speak English suddenly yelled, "Thank you!"—in English. And after that, he wouldn't stop talking. Sometimes in English, sometimes in another language. Actually, three other languages. Now he knew four.
As far as Jennifer was concerned, the Dolphin Class was the most fun to teach—and the most rewarding.
"It's because she isn't married," one of the older teachers explained. "Once you have your own home, you just don't have the energy to keep up with the Dolphin Class."
Jennifer could see the point. Ever since she had taken over her building, she'd been coming to school tired.
"You're so pretty. Such a waste," said the first teacher. "Maybe you need to go out more."
"There's a couple of single dads in my class," another offered.
The table rippled with giggles as gossip flowed like the apple cider—about which dads were hot, and the terrible plight of kindergarten teachers because male teachers were nonexistent in their school.
Jennifer personally liked that.
Especially after Shilem, she preferred it this way.
Then she remembered the three hot men in her lobby earlier that week and felt herself flush at the memory of all the ways she had humiliated herself socially in front of them.
"Jennifer, your face is red," someone noticed.
"Better stop drinking," another teased.
Jennifer nodded and touched her burning cheeks. "Yeah, probably had a bit much."
"Your face is awfully red," another teacher observed. Jennifer's face burned hotter.
"This is cider, not apple juice," a teacher joked.
The table laughed.
"Really, I didn't notice!" someone teased back.
Normally, Jennifer would have laughed too—but now, she didn't feel all that great.
"I think I really might have had too much," she admitted to herself.
"Want me to accompany you home?" one teacher offered.
Jennifer shook her head. "I'm fine."
She stood up. Nothing swayed her. She was fine.
She took a deep breath. "I'll just go…"Wait. Why was she going? No one else was leaving yet. What was she doing?
"I better come with you," one teacher decided.
Normally, Jennifer would have thought, This is exactly why I love working here. But now… Jennifer felt something else. A creeping, unhappy feeling.
"Jennifer?"
It was a man's voice.
Her heart fell like a stone into her stomach.
It was him.