Chapter 163: First Day
*If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you. – Zig Ziglar*
Walking through the halls that JD had walked through for all four of his high school years was conflicting for Dean. There was the comfort of being surrounded by those who knew him. And annoyance at constantly being asked how he was, where he was, what he was doing.
Boot camp.
Boot camp.
Boot camp.
Seriously, didn’t any of these people watch any military movies? The montage of videos for the boot camp scenes *never* showed the recruits traipsing through a field of wildflowers with the drill sergeant riding a rainbow and glitter farting unicorn. The image conjured in her head had her snickering in English. Maybe that would be her answer to the next person who asked what JD was doing.
Then as she listed to the teacher go over the reading list, she found herself wondering, what did the Navy call their drill sergeants? She was certain that they weren’t sergeants because the Navy had strange ranks and did not have sergeants.
Chief Instructor?
“Dean, you had a question?” Mrs. Williamson, or was it Wilson, asked.
Looking around, she realized that everyone was looking at her. “I was just wondering if you had another list to choose from?”
“Is there something wrong with the list?” The teacher asked. She was a younger teacher, probably in her late twenties or early thirties. Her copper red hair was set off by her pale skin and bright blue eyes. Black slacks, bright blue button up shirt and matching heels showed off her slim figure.
“No, ma’am. There’s several teachers in my family and I’ve already read these books.” Dean admitted.
She did not want to admit that the majority of the teachers in her family were college professors. And she certainly did not want to admit that the deal with Cheryl, Nicole and Jennifer was that for every ‘classic’ that she read, they would provide her with a ‘smut’ book to read.
Especially since the current themes that they had been reading were omega-verse and why choose/reverse harems. But seriously, what woman would give up having three or four men pamper her and please her?
“All of them?” Mrs. Wilson asked looking at the two-page list.
“Yes, ma’am.” Dean smiled at her.
“Get with me after class and we’ll find a book for you to do your report over.” She smiled back at her student. “Will you be going to JD’s graduation?”
“Yes, ma’am, in October.”
“Good. I would ask how he’s doing, but I’m sure that he’s probably doing push ups because of his attitude.”
Dean laughed, unable to help herself. “You’re probably right.”
The teacher returned to the syllabus and reading list and Dean returned to her own personal thoughts. Absently, she touched the ring on her finger, gently touching the skull carved pearl. The mark on the inside of the ring indicated that it was made by the same person who had made her princess necklace.
For the important pieces, Reese always went to Sy. She had met the man once, when she was little. The workshop had fascinated her, and she wondered if it would still seem magical. The bell rang and everyone packed up to leave.
“Mrs. Wilson?” Dean said stopping by her desk.
“Willison.” Came the gentle correction. “No one gets it right. Especially since last year I was Miss Williamson.”
“That’s why I was thinking Williamson.” The teen said as it clicked.
“Yes. Now tell me, just briefly, what all you’ve read.”
“I have a cousin who is a professor of archaeology, another that is a professor of American literature and an aunt who teaches classic literature. There’s also an aunt who teaches ASL, an uncle who gives me an allowance on how many pages I read and another who is the dean over library sciences.”
“Well, damn. What have you not read?”
“Honestly, not much. Uncle Nate always recommends banned books. I get ten cents per page from my Uncle Owen, so I love the really thick books. And Cheryl pushes the history books.”
“Bring me a list of five to ten books you would like to read, and we’ll discuss them.” the teacher suggested. “By, let’s say, next Wednesday?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Dean agreed with a smile.
“I want to see your ring.” She held out her hand and Dean placed her own hand in it.
“He gave it to me. A promise to come back to me.” Dean whispered.
“It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen one like it before.”
Dean smiled at her teacher. “He, umm, he went with my uncle to a friend who is a jeweler.” She had to pause to wipe away the tears that threatened to fall. “He made it. JD did.”
“You know, you’ll hear a lot of people tell you that it won’t last, you’re too young. Don’t listen.” The older woman smiled at her student. “My husband and I listened to those voices for several years. Dated other people, were miserable for nearly a decade. He moved back to town at the end of May, we were married on June first.”
“Thanks.” Dean said as the students for the next class began to wander in. “I better get to art.”
“Let me know if Mr. Shiff gives you any trouble.” Mrs. Willison said as Dean grabbed her bag to go to her next class.
Dean knew that Mr. Shiff would not really say anything. He was one of the most laid-back teachers that she had. As long as you showed up and put in the work and effort, he didn’t care what you did. He knew that not everyone worked well in the structure of a classroom. Dean just worked well with a paintbrush in her hand.
Stopping at her locker, just outside the art room, she put her bag inside and grabbed her paint smock. Most of the lockers had been removed from the school since they were no longer being used. The ones outside the art rooms remained to prevent anything from walking away or getting damaged in class.
The bell rang just as Dean stepped into the classroom. Mr. Shiff nodded at her and held out a piece of paper as she passed. He went over the class rules and expectations. After getting everyone started on their first project, he stopped by Dean’s easel.
“I was told that you do murals.”
“I’ve done some.” She admitted.
“The city is wanting to do a mural project, there are five planned murals.” He sat a piece of paper on the easel in front of the blank canvas. “Here are the themes, submission deadlines and parameters. I would like to see you submit at least one. This is your last class, right?”
Dean nodded. Her next class was athletics and would go to the natatorium on the other side of the campus.
“Well, if you want to go look at the sights, I’ll go ahead and mark you as leaving for a school event.”
“Really?” she asked, unable to hide her excitement.
“Yeah. It would be nice to see one of my students have their name on one of the murals around town.”
“Thanks!” She grabbed her paper and headed back out to the lockers and swapped her smock for her bag and keys. As she pulled out of the student parking lot, she told her Bluetooth to call King O.
“Hey princess. What’s going on?”
“Mr. Shiff wants me to submit for a mural around town.” She told him with a giant smile on her face.
“That’s awesome. Where at?”
“There’s a few different locations and themes. One is the old silos by the train tracks and the theme is the old train station.”
“Is that where your headed?”
“Yeah and then to the historic district. The big wall going into the district, there on Avenue D, the theme is turn of the century.”
“No monsters or cult classics?” Reese asked with a little chuckle.
“Not this time. But I can probably put one in. No one has found Frankenstein in Ariel’s room yet.”
“Now, I’m going to have to go look for him.” He admitted and then a thought struck him. “What’s in the twins room?”
Dean laughed. “Elvira is in the nursery. Dracula is in the playroom. And there’s a zombie in your office.”
She heard his chair move as he turned to look at the mural behind him.
“Where would I find this zombie?”
“Nope. That’s part of the fun!”
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