My eyes stared blankly at the screen ahead of me as I took in the pictures of Erin Sutton’s honeymoon in Barbados, Ryan Lonoff and his two sons huddled around a campfire, and Kim Flynn and her husband Matt with their family at the beach. Some more slides flickered on the screen as I got lost in my own daydream. The last time I had been in this auditorium with music playing and the lights off, I had been on the other side of the curtain, lost in Max’s dirty words and the rough touch of his powerful hands. I had been in my own world, oblivious to what was happening around me. And I don’t just mean at that moment. Things were happening around me . . . to me, and I hadn’t been aware of them until it was too late.
Tina interrupted my trance with an elbow to my side and a goofy laugh. “It figures you’d send one of you eating,” she joked as she pointed to the screen where there was a close-up of me in Italy devouring a slice of pizza.
I had sent several pictures when Dr. Edwards requested them, and of course she had chosen a close-up of me eating. Why did I even send that one to begin with? The waiter had taken my picture from a few feet away. I am sitting outside of a trendy bistro at a black wrought iron table for two, but the other chair is conspicuously empty. I couldn’t help but wonder if the rest of the faculty noticed that as easily as I had. I hoped they didn’t.
“Wow, you did manage to stay away from guys while you were traveling through Europe by yourself. I didn’t think you could do it,” Tina said incredulously. So much for my hope that people wouldn't notice. "I sure as shit wouldn’t have been able to.”
“Well, almost,” I said with a forced laugh. “I didn’t have it in me to avoid France like I’d hoped. I met a hottie named Nikolas. We did go out a few times. Just to late dinners and a soccer game, but that’s as far as I would take it. You weren’t kidding about the vibrator thing though. I wish I would have listened to you and gotten one before I left. It would have come in handy on more than one occasion.”
“You know I’ve never steered you wrong,” Tina replied. “I’m full of all kinds of good advice. Now my next suggestion is for us to take a break. Murdock’s getting ready to speak, and I need to mentally prepare myself before listening to him for any length of time.”
I felt my smile spread to my eyes as it became more genuine. “Let’s go,” I said as I nodded my head toward the auditorium exit.
***
Five minutes later we were back in our seats. Mr. Murdock had already begun speaking, and since I felt more refreshed after my break, I paid attention. “I know you’re probably all wondering what this year’s theme will be,” he said excitedly. I didn’t share his enthusiasm. “This year our focus will be ‘hands-on teachers.’ Or, as you’ll often hear us refer to it, ‘HOT.’”
He laughed loudly at his lame pun.
“Ha, they’ve gotta be kidding with us with this. I don’t even wanna know what they mean by ‘hands-on teachers.’ Is this for real?” I asked Tina, who was already jotting down the acronym in her notebook and laughing about it.
“Well, you already had the ‘hands on’ part mastered last year, so it should come easily to you.” She snickered at her own joke, and I rolled my eyes, though I couldn’t help but be somewhat amused.
Just when I thought our new theme couldn’t get more embarrassing, the assistant principal began passing out green T-shirts with the slogan “We are H.O.T.” Nope, they're definitely not kidding.
I spent the rest of the morning going back and forth between planning out the first month of school and playing on my phone. Before I knew it, our lunch break had arrived. As I made my way up the aisle, I heard Mr. Murdock’s deep voice beckoning me. “Miss Hamilton, I need to see you quickly before you go.”
I had no idea what he could want, so I told Tina to meet me in the lobby and I’d hopefully be out in a few minutes. As I approached Mr. Murdock at the front of the auditorium, I noticed a thin young girl with short black hair standing quietly beside him. “Lily, this is Trish. Trish, this is Lily Hamilton. She’ll be your mentor for the year.”
Did I hear him right? Mentor? Unless Trish needed someone to show her the most discreet places to get off on school property, I didn’t think I was the right person for the job. Do I even have a say in this? I opened my mouth to speak, but Mr. Murdock beat me to it. “Lily is one of the best teachers we have,” he said. “The kids love her, and she has some pretty innovative ideas in the classroom. I thought she’d be a great person for you to learn from during your first year.” My mouth closed as I felt a look of confusion sweep across my face. “As we say here at Swift now, she’s H.O.T. And Lily, I do apologize for not asking you in advance to be Trish’s mentor, but she was a last minute hire, and knowing you’re a team player, I knew you’d be on board.”
Trish grasped her weak hand around mine and shook it tentatively. “I’m so excited to meet you, Miss Hamilton,” she said in that eager “first-year teacher” kind of way. “I wanna be a H.O.T. teacher too.”
“No, it’s not a H.O.T. teacher because the ‘T’ stands for ‘teacher,’ so you’re saying ‘teacher’ twice,” Mr. Murdock corrected her. I could see how confused she was by his explanation. “Never mind,” he said. “Forget it.”
Fuck me, this is gonna be a long year.