After Hours

Emily sat in her chair after rearranging papers, anticipating the next few classes. Since she was a new teacher at the school, she was only assigned to teach three classes. Even though it was boring to sit around all day and stare at the blank rooms, she was also extremely relieved. Having to teach even one more class would be overwhelming, she thought to herself.

Second period was the first class she taught that day. The anticipation was the hardest part. She wasn’t intimidated at all by the students. If anything, she might have been a little annoyed by a few of them. Most of the kids were nice and respectful. But some of them were rude or downright dull.

She recalled a student, Luke, who wouldn’t stop staring at her like she was a piece of meat. He seemed like a nice boy, but he had started to creep her out by the end of the period. It got so bad that she had to take him out to the hall and have a discussion with him. Emily could only hope that the first day was the roughest, and that things would start to get better.

It was only the first day and she was exhausted.

The bell rang for the end of third and Emily hopped out of her chair, ready to greet her next class. She looked in the mirror by her desk and rustled her hands through her hair, noticing it had frizzed up a bit. What are you doing, Em? They’re students, not potential husbands, she thought.

If she was going to be fair, however, she did look like she had tried too hard to fit in. At only 25, Emily looked young enough to be a student there. How would any of them take her seriously?

A few students shuffled in and she walked to the front, greeting each and every one of them. Some were dressed up nicely, with cute summer dresses and light flannels. Others wore sweats, obviously not very excited about the first day of school.

By the time the bell rang, everyone was in their seats and ready to listen to her. At least, they looked ready. Many of them were still staring at her wide eyed. She had heard it all, about how young she was, and it was only the first day.

“Good morning everyone. I’m Ms. Asher and,” she said before being interrupted by a student who walked in late.

“Sorry, I – uh – got lost,” he said, his voice seemingly lower than she thought was possible for a teenager.

“Oh, are you new too?” She asked happily, watching as he took the only seat left in the very front.

“Um, no,” he said insolently. Most of the students chuckled a bit, leaving Emily a little perplexed.

“Okay, well, um-“

“Sawyer,” he said.

“Sawyer. Next time please don’t be late,” she said blushing. Her confidence had completely soared out of the window. She just wanted to run away.

“Not a problem,” he said, smirking. Sawyer leaned back in his chair and Emily resumed.

“Anyway, my name is Ms. Asher and I’m a new English teacher this year. I’m delighted to get to work with and get to know all of you. I have a few papers to hand out, but other than that, I’ll just go over the course,” she said, gaining her poise.

The rest of the period went by smoothly. And by the time the entire school day was over, Emily sat back down in her chair and thought that maybe she really could do this.

Maybe she could better herself and get away from her past.

Maybe this was her escape.

~~*~~
Jen welcomed Emily home as she unlocked the door to their small apartment. Jen was Emily’s best friend and had been since their freshmen year of college. They did everything and anything together.

“How was your first day?” Jen asked.

“It was terrifying at first. But then it got better,” Emily said, walking to the kitchen and pulling a bottle of wine from the shelf. She got out a glass and poured some for herself before joining Jen on the couch.

“Any troublemakers?” She joked. Emily chuckled and took a sip of her wine, crossing her legs and putting a pillow on her lap.

“Just a few. But other than that they seem like great students,” she said.

“I’m glad they’re treating you well. Otherwise I’d have to go down and beat some of them up,” she said. Emily shook her head and laughed.

“The only problem is that many of them stare at me like I have two heads. It’s like they’ve never seen a young teacher before,” she said.

“They have, but they’ve probably never seen a young teacher as hot as you, Ems,” Jen said. Emily shook her head in disbelief and gulped the rest of her wine down.

“That’s definitely not the problem at hand,” she said.

“Think about it. They’re teenagers. Everyone is throbbing with hormones. Most of those guys would find anything that walks sexually attractive,” she said. Emily set her empty wine glass on the coffee table and sat back, staring her friend straight in the eyes.

“Even if you are right, they’re still mostly respectable young adults. I see a lot of potential in them,” she said positively. Emily always looked at things on the bright side.

“I’m glad you do. I just don’t know how you do it. There’s no way in hell you would see me back in high school,” she exclaimed, standing up and stretching.

“You heading to bed?” Emily asked, checking her watch. It was only 6:30.

“Yeah. I’ve had to work every day this week. I’ll see you in the morning,” Jen said, waving a lazy goodbye and walking down the hall to her room.

Jen worked a lousy job at a printing company. She had the first shift which started at 6:30. Jen complained about high school like Emily would complain if she worked that job.

But she was happy with her job, and she was happy to have a second chance, especially after Aaron.