15. Skylar

“Incoming!” Leslie calls through my open door. Not even two seconds later Mrs. Goods stomps into my office with a scowl on her face.

“May I help you, Meredith?” My tone is full of boredom, I barely even glance at her before returning my gaze to the paperwork on my desk.

“Yes, Skylar, I want Tucker called.”

“What for? Is Riley breathing too loudly?”

“She threw up on me!” Meredith shrieks.

That gets my attention. I snap my gaze to her, biting my tongue to keep from laughing out loud at her.

“So… you want me to call Tucker to come pick her up… because she’s sick? Why are you here? The nurse should be handling that.” My brows draw together. I feel bad that Riley’s sick, but it isn”t my job to call parents when their child needs to go home sick.

“No! I want him called because she threw up on me on purpose!”

Pinning her with a disgusted look, I turn my attention back to my paperwork, silently dismissing her.

“Skylar!”

I sigh loudly, making sure it’s clear how annoyed I am.

“You want me to believe a six-year-old threw up on you on purpose?” I slap my hands down on my desk, making Mrs. Goods jump.

“She did!”

“She’s six, I highly doubt she realized what was about to happen.”

“You have to do something!”

“I will. You can leave for the day; I’ll cover your class. I’ll talk to Riley, Tucker, and Mr. Green.”

“Why do you need to talk to Mr. Green?” She huffs when she hears the superintendent’s name. She thinks she has all of the power here, but she doesn”t. She needs to learn her place or neither one of us is going to survive this school year.

“Well, this is the fourth time you’ve been in my office about Riley Donahue in the past week. That means one of two things. Either Riley’s a horrible child who needs to be kicked out of the school, or you’ve reached the end of your teaching career and are no longer fit to teach. I need Mr. Green’s opinion before I can take action.”

“Don’t you dare threaten me, Skylar!” She hisses through a clenched jaw.

I lean forward, folding my hands on my desk, staring her down. She doesn’t scare me one bit. I know exactly what she’s like and how to handle her.

I wonder if she”s gotten away with things like this over the years, or is this the first time she”s gone after a student since I was in her class. Is it really because Riley”s the daughter of Tucker?

“I”m not threatening you, Meredith. I”m making sure my students are provided with a teacher who is fit and able to teach them. Now, get out of my office, I have a class of first graders to prepare for.”

She stomps out of my office like a three-year-old, knocking a chair over in the process. She doesn’t even try to pick it up, she’s too pissed.

“What’s her issue?” Leslie drops into the chair that’s still sitting correctly. She carefully lifts the other chair back into its normal position.

“She hates Tucker, hates Riley, and really hates me.” A groan escapes when I rub a hand over my face in frustration.

“Riley seems like a sweetheart.”

“She is. She’s smart too.”

“What are you gonna do?”

“I”m going to head to the nurse’s office and have a chat with her and Tucker. Can you have the librarian cover Meredith’s class for me? This shouldn’t take long.”

“Yeah, no problem.”