New York Blue - I'm welcoming an old friend RJ Scott to my blog today..
For a special thanksgiving treat, we have RJ Scott visiting my blog with her serial story!
For previous Chapters please visit the story Master Post here
A good luck muffin and an interview
Daniel's first day back at his desk was the very same day as the first interview Chris had attended since Ellenden.
"You'll do great," Dan said softly as he adjusted Chris's tie and smiled down at him.
"What if Ellenden gave me a bad reference?"
"They promised they wouldn't. You don't need to give them the power to worry you like this. Say after me, 'I am a great teacher'."
"I am a good teacher," Chris dutifully responded.
"Great teacher," Daniel frowned as he corrected Chris's words.
"A great teacher." He said the words but he wasn’t entirely convinced that what he was saying was true. Daniel was looking at him with a familiar exasperated expression. Chris loved teaching. It was what shaped his life and it had been since Peggy McGuire needed help with history when they were in fifth grade. "And look at you," he said to change the direction of the conversation, "all muffined up?"
Daniel smirked. When Ame had knocked on their door this morning she had in her hands two boxes of muffins. A large one for Daniel to take to work with the words 'go catch bad guys' scrawled on the lid. And a smaller box holding a single muffin; this box had a simple message and was for Chris - 'good luck'.
Daniel looked down at the muffins and then back at Chris through narrowed eyes.
"Don't change the subject," he said firmly.
Chris sighed and laid a hand flat on his lover's chest. Dan was wearing his uniform, all pressed and neat and he even had his hair in some semblance of order.
"I'm not changing it, just consciously avoiding thinking about how easy it would be to fuck this up."
"Chris-"
"I'm scared Dan. What if I get the freaking job and they find out? Should I have put it on the application form."
Daniel looked confused for a moment. "You mean that you left Ellenden?"
"No, that I'm gay."
"Was that a question on the application form?" Daniel asked patiently.
Chris blinked. "No. Of course not."
"There you go then. Not a consideration." Daniel dismissed his fears with a snap of his fingers. Jeez, why couldn’t Dan see how this situation may go? With a hard kiss and a quick hug Dan left for day one back as a City cop and finally Chris was stood alone in the middle of their room clutching the small muffin box and wishing he could go back to bed. Being gay had been more than a consideration at his old school; he'd lost his job because of it. Well being gay and sleeping with that asshole Whitman.
Fuck. This could go so many wrong ways today that he couldn’t even keep hold of all the threads.
oOo
The Principal was a mid forties guy with a huge smile and steel gray hair. He was interested in what Chris had to say and he answered questions thoughtfully about curriculum and assessment. Chris couldn’t help but notice it appeared he had the weight of his school based world on his shoulders.
"Funding is non existent, some of the kids don't care, hell, some of the parents don't care. The English rooms are in desperate need of a makeover and our pass rate on Lit is appallingly low."
"Okay-"
"You taught at Ellenden; funding out of its ears, pushy parents, clever exam pass kids, with a pass rate of one hundred percent on all levels. " The principal was looking at his paperwork and it gave Chris time to gather his thoughts. On paper he was so not a good fit here. Coming from some pansy-ass full-service blueblood school to this one in a poor to middling suburb probably implied a step downwards.
"I didn’t…I wasn’t…" he stopped talking as soon as he realized that the Principal hadn’t actually asked him a question outright simply stated the obvious from his application. There had been no censure in the statement.
"Your references are impeccable." He added and Chris nodded helplessly. He searched his head for something to say and cursed the tension that gripped his throat. What would Daniel do in this situation?
"I'm a good teacher," Chris blurted out, "I love English, I love teaching. I want to make a difference." He groaned inwardly as the cliché pushed its way out of his mouth. Who the hell said they wanted to make a difference in an interview? The Principal merely looked at him with that same soft and understanding smile.
"There is no reason on here for leaving your last job. No words like furthering career, or personality clash, just an empty space and a one year space in work."
Again he didn’t ask a question just poked Chris in the right direction.
"I wasn’t a good fit for the school." Chris said miserably
"What was it? Too poor for the pushy parents? Too young-"
"Too gay." There. He said it. The statement was out there now. Fuck. Daniel was going to kill him.
The principal nodded and made a mark on the application. He then replaced the pen in its pot, pushed the paperwork to one side and steepled his fingers. He looked thoughtful.
"I want to say that Grange Heights is a fully inclusive faculty where every teacher is given one hundred percent support irrespective of gender or life choice. But I can't."
Chris didn’t have to hear any more. His heart sunk and his mouth felt dry. Pushing himself to stand he extended a hand. He may have fucked this interview up but he was least leaving with dignity.
"Thank for taking the time to consider me," Chris said simply. The Principal didn’t take the hand. Instead he gestured for Chris to sit which Chris did immediately. Clearly this wasn’t finished.
"I don't give a rat's ass who you love or how you spend your time outside the school gates. What I want from my teachers is respect. Respect for themselves, for the school, for their colleagues and for the kids."
"Okay," now Chris was really confused.
The kids'll tear you to shreds if they find out you're different-simple classroom politics. Are you strong enough to push past that and teach them well enough to learn to love what you are teaching them?"
"I think so-"
"Think?"
"No, sir. I know so."
"Then Mr Matthews, the position is yours. When could you start?"
"Uhmmm…?" Coherent. Not.
"Could you start next Monday?"
Four days? Four. Freaking. Days.
"Monday? I can do Monday."
Jeez holy shit on a stick. Four days.
To Be Continued on by Diane Adams next week… Watch www.rjscott.co.uk for new links…
Don't forget to stop by the new Silver Publishing Reader's Forum to check out the other authors, get updates, or hear about contests or general news.
For previous Chapters please visit the story Master Post here
A good luck muffin and an interview
Daniel's first day back at his desk was the very same day as the first interview Chris had attended since Ellenden.
"You'll do great," Dan said softly as he adjusted Chris's tie and smiled down at him.
"What if Ellenden gave me a bad reference?"
"They promised they wouldn't. You don't need to give them the power to worry you like this. Say after me, 'I am a great teacher'."
"I am a good teacher," Chris dutifully responded.
"Great teacher," Daniel frowned as he corrected Chris's words.
"A great teacher." He said the words but he wasn’t entirely convinced that what he was saying was true. Daniel was looking at him with a familiar exasperated expression. Chris loved teaching. It was what shaped his life and it had been since Peggy McGuire needed help with history when they were in fifth grade. "And look at you," he said to change the direction of the conversation, "all muffined up?"
Daniel smirked. When Ame had knocked on their door this morning she had in her hands two boxes of muffins. A large one for Daniel to take to work with the words 'go catch bad guys' scrawled on the lid. And a smaller box holding a single muffin; this box had a simple message and was for Chris - 'good luck'.
Daniel looked down at the muffins and then back at Chris through narrowed eyes.
"Don't change the subject," he said firmly.
Chris sighed and laid a hand flat on his lover's chest. Dan was wearing his uniform, all pressed and neat and he even had his hair in some semblance of order.
"I'm not changing it, just consciously avoiding thinking about how easy it would be to fuck this up."
"Chris-"
"I'm scared Dan. What if I get the freaking job and they find out? Should I have put it on the application form."
Daniel looked confused for a moment. "You mean that you left Ellenden?"
"No, that I'm gay."
"Was that a question on the application form?" Daniel asked patiently.
Chris blinked. "No. Of course not."
"There you go then. Not a consideration." Daniel dismissed his fears with a snap of his fingers. Jeez, why couldn’t Dan see how this situation may go? With a hard kiss and a quick hug Dan left for day one back as a City cop and finally Chris was stood alone in the middle of their room clutching the small muffin box and wishing he could go back to bed. Being gay had been more than a consideration at his old school; he'd lost his job because of it. Well being gay and sleeping with that asshole Whitman.
Fuck. This could go so many wrong ways today that he couldn’t even keep hold of all the threads.
oOo
The Principal was a mid forties guy with a huge smile and steel gray hair. He was interested in what Chris had to say and he answered questions thoughtfully about curriculum and assessment. Chris couldn’t help but notice it appeared he had the weight of his school based world on his shoulders.
"Funding is non existent, some of the kids don't care, hell, some of the parents don't care. The English rooms are in desperate need of a makeover and our pass rate on Lit is appallingly low."
"Okay-"
"You taught at Ellenden; funding out of its ears, pushy parents, clever exam pass kids, with a pass rate of one hundred percent on all levels. " The principal was looking at his paperwork and it gave Chris time to gather his thoughts. On paper he was so not a good fit here. Coming from some pansy-ass full-service blueblood school to this one in a poor to middling suburb probably implied a step downwards.
"I didn’t…I wasn’t…" he stopped talking as soon as he realized that the Principal hadn’t actually asked him a question outright simply stated the obvious from his application. There had been no censure in the statement.
"Your references are impeccable." He added and Chris nodded helplessly. He searched his head for something to say and cursed the tension that gripped his throat. What would Daniel do in this situation?
"I'm a good teacher," Chris blurted out, "I love English, I love teaching. I want to make a difference." He groaned inwardly as the cliché pushed its way out of his mouth. Who the hell said they wanted to make a difference in an interview? The Principal merely looked at him with that same soft and understanding smile.
"There is no reason on here for leaving your last job. No words like furthering career, or personality clash, just an empty space and a one year space in work."
Again he didn’t ask a question just poked Chris in the right direction.
"I wasn’t a good fit for the school." Chris said miserably
"What was it? Too poor for the pushy parents? Too young-"
"Too gay." There. He said it. The statement was out there now. Fuck. Daniel was going to kill him.
The principal nodded and made a mark on the application. He then replaced the pen in its pot, pushed the paperwork to one side and steepled his fingers. He looked thoughtful.
"I want to say that Grange Heights is a fully inclusive faculty where every teacher is given one hundred percent support irrespective of gender or life choice. But I can't."
Chris didn’t have to hear any more. His heart sunk and his mouth felt dry. Pushing himself to stand he extended a hand. He may have fucked this interview up but he was least leaving with dignity.
"Thank for taking the time to consider me," Chris said simply. The Principal didn’t take the hand. Instead he gestured for Chris to sit which Chris did immediately. Clearly this wasn’t finished.
"I don't give a rat's ass who you love or how you spend your time outside the school gates. What I want from my teachers is respect. Respect for themselves, for the school, for their colleagues and for the kids."
"Okay," now Chris was really confused.
The kids'll tear you to shreds if they find out you're different-simple classroom politics. Are you strong enough to push past that and teach them well enough to learn to love what you are teaching them?"
"I think so-"
"Think?"
"No, sir. I know so."
"Then Mr Matthews, the position is yours. When could you start?"
"Uhmmm…?" Coherent. Not.
"Could you start next Monday?"
Four days? Four. Freaking. Days.
"Monday? I can do Monday."
Jeez holy shit on a stick. Four days.
To Be Continued on by Diane Adams next week… Watch www.rjscott.co.uk for new links…
Don't forget to stop by the new Silver Publishing Reader's Forum to check out the other authors, get updates, or hear about contests or general news.