Page 9 of Sweet Surrender

Becca 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.

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