Page 4 of Spyder
Her smile stretching from ear to ear, she finally lets go of me and steps back. It really is good to see Ruby again. She’s been my best friend since grade school and even though I was living in another state, we’ve been able to maintain our friendship. When she found out I was moving back, although she hates the reason for it, I thought she was going to explode with excitement.
Ruby is currently the principal at FDR Jr. High and when we talked about me moving back to Blue Rock, she told me she incidentally had an opening in her school for me. I’m still not sure she didn’t manufacture this opening for me, but I need the job and am not in a position to turn it down.
Besides, even if I were rich, I’d still take the job. The last thing I want to do is sit around the house all day. I’d go stir-crazy. I like the setup I’ve worked out with her nurses. They’re there all day and I cover the nights. Not only does it help defer some of the cost since she’ll no longer have round-the-clock care, but it also gives me some time out of the house to do my own thing. Which is something I need and will probably need even more as her disease advances and her body begins to decline.
I just don’t know that I can sit there and watch her wither away to nothing. I’m not ready for it and will need some time out to recharge and refresh myself. To get my head on straight and manage my own emotions. I don’t want to be a wreck around her. I want to be there to enjoy the time we have together, and I don’t want them to be marked with sadness or any sort of awkwardness. I want to be able to look at her and smile and remember nothing but the good things.
“Come on, let me give you the tour,” Ruby says.
I follow Ruby around the empty corridors of the school we both attended when we were younger. There have been some additions and modifications to the place. It’s a lot more modern with computers in a lot of the classrooms.
“This place is a lot nicer than when we were here,” I remark.
She nods. “They’ve really upgraded the place, that’s for sure.”
“I still can’t believe you’re the principal here, Rube. I mean, you’re not even thirty yet! That’s crazy.”
“I got lucky, to be honest. I wasn’t actually trying to get the job. But when Mr. Willerson retired, some friends in high places decided I was the right fit. You ask me, they simply wanted a female face in charge for the optics,” she replies.
“That’s crap. You’re one of the smartest and most dedicated people I know. You’re eminently qualified for this post.”
She shrugs. “I wasn’t going to turn it down whether I was given the job for the optics or not. There are some real changes I want to make here,” she says. “But don’t think it hasn’t earned me quite a bit of resentment from some of the old-timers here. A couple of them up and quit after I was named principal.”
“Well, I think you’re better off without them there, anyway.”
She flashes me a grin. “So do I, to be honest. I was able to bring in some smart, more progressive-minded people. Like you.”
We round a corner and stop before room number 304. She gives me a smile and opens the door, ushering me inside. I flip on the lights as I walk in and look at the room, breathing in deeply. There’s still the lingering scent of fresh paint in the air, and a quick count shows twenty-five empty desks all lined up in neat rows. I turn to Ruby with a wide smile on my face.
“Welcome home, Bell. This is your classroom,” she says.
I throw myself at her, pulling her into another tight embrace. She laughs and hugs me back as I fight off the unexpected nostalgia-laced tears that are welling up in my eyes. Between my mom and now being here with Ruby, it really is starting to feel like home again.
Stepping back, I delicately wipe my eyes and look around the empty walls of the classroom. The excitement bubbles up inside of me as I look at the blank slate that I’m free to do with as I will. Back at my school in Colorado, there were restrictions on what could and could not be displayed, and it was all very uniform and rigid. Not that it’s necessarily a bad thing, but I’ll admit to chafing a bit at the tight control. Ruby’s already told me that here, with regard to decorations and my lesson plan, I have free rein—within reason, of course.
“So, like I told you before, you’re going to have eighth grade US History and Civics,” she says. “Are you okay with that?”
“More than okay. I’m ecstatic. I can’t wait to get started,” I tell her.
“Well, take the rest of the week and get your classroom set up,” she replies. “It’s going to take me that long to juggle the students and schedules around enough to get you some bodies in here.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry to drop in like this with a semester already in progress.”
She waves me off. “Honestly, you being here is going to reduce the size of the other classrooms, so if anybody whines about it, I’ll know it’s just to whine since no teacher I’ve ever known gets upset about smaller class sizes.”
There’s a quiet burst of static over the loudspeakers that’s followed by a tinny-sounding woman’s voice.
“Ms. Salter, please come to the office. Ms. Salter, please come to the office.”
There’s a click as the speaker is shut off and Ruby turns to me. “They’re playing my song.”
“Go be Superwoman,” I tell her. “I’ll be fine here.”
“You’re going to be great here. Drinks soon?”
I nod. “Absolutely.”
She gives me another hug, then turns and walks to the door, and calls over her shoulder. “It’s great having you here, Bell. I can’t tell you how freaking happy I am!”
