Chapter 43
The next morning I drove myself to the school I was teaching at, and let everyone know that I was coming in for the fall semester to teach. Most of the teachers and administration were bustling around trying to get everything ready for the new batch of students that would be arriving. I walked down the halls, remembering what it was like to attend that high school, not much had change in the five years I had been graduated. The art hallway still smelled of acrylic paints and clays. The science hallway still smelled of chemicals, the cafeteria still smelled of all the lunch meals combined into one and the outside breezeway still smelled musty, like it had just rained. I remembered running through the halls trying to get to class, or sneaking a kiss with my boyfriend between classes. I remembered the pep rallies and talent shows, the gym classes, the term papers, and those dreaded oral reports. I took a deep breath and breathed it all in. That was where I truly belonged, high school, teaching kids the same way I was taught.
"Maria?" Came a familiar voice, from a few feet down the hall.
I opened my eyes, coming out of my trance. I whirled around and saw one of my former English teachers coming towards me. It seemed odd now, that I was an equal to her, no longer one of her students. "Ms. Shawn, oh, it’s good to see you!" I gave her a quick hug. I still called her Ms.Shawn, I hadn’t grown comfortable calling her by her first name.
"Its good to see you too! Why are you back so soon, I thought you were planning on taking a year sabbatical?" She asked.
"Things didn’t go as planned, so I came back. This is where I belong and I am sure of that now." I told her.
"Well I’m glad to hear that, welcome back." She smiled at me. "Well, I have a lot of work to finish up, so if you need me, I’ll be up in my room."
She patted my back and continued on her way, walking up the hall, her shoes clicking on the tiled floor.
I sighed...I had missed Matt. I should have told him I was leaving, it had been wrong of me not too. I had wanted things to work out between us, not make them become worse...
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Chapter 44
Chapter 42