Sheridan

Sheridan – (Two Years Later)~

Unfortunately, it was a constant thing to remind myself of my paycheck. Teaching at a prestigious prep school paid incredibly well, so it was do this and bask in the life that it afforded me or go work in a public school district and be poor on top of annoyed all damn day long.

Now, that wasn’t to say that all the children that attended Seeland Prep Academy were spoiled, entitled, clueless, arrogant twits, because they weren’t. However, a good majority of the kids that attended the prestigious school had been born to assholes, and those assholes were raising more assholes, and it was a vicious cycle that really needed to end.

Still, it was the kids that weren’t complete degenerates that made my job feel rewarding at the end of it all. I taught freshman science, and some students were actually interested in what made lots of things possible in this world. While teaching really was a thankless job, I hadn’t gotten into this profession for pats on the back; I’d done it to make a difference.

Growing up in my household, my older sister and I had both been taught the importance of education. My father, Dennis Gates, was a college professor, and my mother, Naima Gates, was a biological engineer. Both of my parents were incredibly smart and driven, and their appreciation for educational challenges had only fed into the stereotypes of Asians and their assumed intelligence. Now, while my father was of Caucasian descent, my mother was of Japanese descent, making my sister, Darin, and I mixed, though that wasn’t a complaint in the least.

At any rate, education had always been a huge part of our household, and it showed. Darin was a twenty-nine-year-old college professor, and she was one of the most sought-after experts in Asian Studies. That incredible brain of hers had published its first book at the young age of twenty-two, and since then, four more books had been published. She was also single with no kids or pets to speak of, so all of her free time was spent filling her brain up with more and more stuff. Every time that Darin set her mind to do something, it was like watching a horse take off at the races, and she didn’t stop until she crossed the finish line.

Now, while I had a healthy appreciation for ambition, I hadn’t been bitten by that particular bug like the rest of my family. Even though I had always enjoyed school, I had no desire to be anything more than a simple teacher that worked at a regular school. Granted, I had lucked out when I’d gotten hired at Seeland, but I was pretty sure that I’d only gotten hired because of my last name and the academic reputation of my family. Nevertheless, I’d taken the job, and I was happy with my decision most days. It was only the start of the school year and the end of the school year that were hard to deal with at times. The kids always got excited or antsy, and with no real repercussions for their behavior, they usually acted like monsters.

Rich, privileged, entitled, smug, arrogant, condescending monsters.

Every year, I did my best to be positive, but I’d been doing this for three years already, and it was the same thing at the beginning of each school year. You had incoming freshman brats and outgoing senior bullies. Money really did corrupt, and the proof littered the hallways of Seeland Prep.

“Gotta love it when they’re hot.”

I turned to see two boys walking into my classroom, surprisingly early. With the exception of the few kids that cared about their education, most of the kids came running into class late during the first week of school. They were usually too busy catching up with their friends to make it to class on time. Still, with social media being what it was, what in the hell did they have to catch up on? With all the oversharing that was done on the internet, they should be all caught up with everything.

“Excuse me?” I replied primly, setting the tone for my class.

One of the boys shrugged. “Most of the teachers here are old and…well, old,” he said rudely. “It’s nice to see at least one hot teacher in the place.”

The boys were twins, and it was clear as day that they were going to be trouble. They were also both good-looking kids, and I’d bet my paycheck that they knew it. Plus, twins always seemed to be a weakness for teenage girls. Hell, if I were being honest, grown women also got weak in the knees for a set of good-looking twins. The one that had spoken also had a bit of an accent that I couldn’t quite place.

I stood up from my desk, trying to make my five-foot-one height as intimidating as possible. “Regardless of appearances or opinions, you will show every teacher here the respect that they deserve,” I insisted. “Believe me when I tell you that I do not care who your parents are, either.”

“And she’s spunky,” the second twin said, a dimple popping out with his grin.

Giving them a stern look, I asked, “What are your names?”

“I’m Cutter Moore,” the first twin answered. “He’s Cotter.”

While their first names were unusual, I couldn’t stop my heart from skipping a beat at hearing their last name. While there were thousands of Moores in the world, there was only one Phineas Moore, and I was still trying to forget how awkward things had been at the cabin this year. Luckily, the news of Bruce and Démon’s engagement had been enough to distract everyone from the obvious tension that’d been going on between me, Phineas, and my made-up boyfriend.

Getting back to the subject at hand, I eyed the twins to see if there was anything that could tell them apart, and there was a small scar on the apple of Cotter’s cheek that gave me the advantage. Regular twins had a tendency to be mischievous, so I could only imagine how out of control rich twins could be, and if these boys went to this school, then there was no doubt that they were rich.

“Well, young men, I expect you to behave in my class at all times,” I informed them. “If I hear you being rude or disrespecting any of the teachers here, I will hold you accountable.”

Cutter rolled his eyes. “We were just joking,” he harrumphed. “Relax.”

“Did you just not hear me?”

Cotter placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “C’mon,” he said. “It’s obvious that she doesn’t have a sense of humor.”

“At school, no, I don’t,” I agreed. “I’m not here to be your friend, gentlemen. I’m here as your teacher, and it’s my job to make sure that you don’t advance to your sophomore year more stupid than when you began your freshman year here.”

Cutter let out a laugh. “Damn, now who’s being rude?”

“You are officially my favorite teacher,” Cotter announced.

“And do not curse,” I added.

“What? Damn?” Cutter asked incredulously. “I’m I supposed to say darn?”

“You’re not supposed to say anything unless I call on you to speak,” I pointed out. “I run this classroom, and the sooner that you accept that, the easier things will be.”

“Yeah, you’re definitely my favorite teacher,” Cotter said, sending me a wink, making me wonder if Taco Bell was hiring.

Just then, other students started coming into the classroom, so I put this little showdown on pause to finally begin the school year. Unfortunately, I knew enough to know that Cutter and Cotter Moore weren’t going to be the worst of the lot this year. The sad fact was that the guys at Seeland Prep weren’t as bad as the girls. Take the snootiest girl that you’d ever met, then times her by a thousand, and that made up the majority of females that went to this school.

Surprisingly, the Moore twins ended up sitting in the front row, and I could only imagine why. They were also wrong about me not having a sense of humor, because I did have one. A good one, in fact. However, if I didn’t set boundaries and define roles immediately, then they’d let their lack of respect run rampant, and I wasn’t about to let that happen. Other teachers could run their classrooms however they wanted to, but in my classroom, I demanded respect from every single one of my students.

My phone chimed as my students got situated, and I quickly grabbed it before putting it away for the next forty minutes. Regardless of society’s accepted addiction to cellphones, my classroom had a ‘no phones’ policy, and it was non-negotiable. Being on the phone when another person was speaking was rude as hell, and no one could ever convince me otherwise.

Junie: Good luck on ur first day of school!

I smiled as I looked at the text before slipping it into my purse. I’d met Junie Storm in college, and she was still one of my closest friends. She had to be one of the most thoughtful people on the planet, and it was just like her to send me such a sweet text.

Once the bell rang, I stepped in front of my desk to introduce myself to my new class. “Hello, everyone,” I greeted. “I’m Ms. Gates, your homeroom science teacher.”

“Uhm, like how can your last name be Gates when your Asian or whatever,” a girl in the back drawled out in a bored tone, causing some snickers. “I know these things because our housekeeper is Asian, and her last name is Whu.”

She’s only fourteen, Sheridan.

I looked at the girl, really, really, really wondering if Taco Bell was hiring.