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“What’s wrong?” Russ whispers.
“Margot’s not here,” I murmur back.
“Is she sick?”
I shrug my shoulders as someone standing beside us coughs, letting us know we shouldn’t be talking during the principal’s speech.
I guess it’s possible that Margot’s sick, or – more likely – that one of her kids is. She couldn’t make it to all the workshop sessions because one of her three daughters had a severe cold and Margot had to stay with her.
“With that in mind,” Miss Montgomery says, her voice filtering through my thoughts. “I’m sure we’ll all work hard to have a successful semester.”
I’m not sure that was the most inspiring rallying cry, but everyone applauds loudly and the noise level decreases as they grab their things, and slowly but surely, leave the room.
“We’d better get going,” Russ says, getting to his feet. He holds out his hand and I take it, letting him pull me to my feet. He looks down at me, a smile etched on his lips as I pull my hand free, but before I can say anything, Miss Montgomery appears by our side.
“Ready to start the day?” she says with bullish enthusiasm.
“We certainly are,” he replies before I can say a word, and she nods her head, turning to me.
“Can I have a quiet word, Miss Howell?”
“Of course.”
Russ takes that as his cue to disappear, which he does, and while I wonder for a second what I’ve done wrong, Miss Montgomery’s still smiling, so I guess it can’t be anything serious.
“I forgot to say, as it’s the first day here for your students, you’ll need to greet them by the door to the classroom when they come in. It helps to break the ice, and it means you can meet the parents at the same time.”
Meet the parents? “So the children don’t come in by themselves?”
“No.” She looks shocked by my suggestion. “From the fourth grade onwards, children may be dropped off and picked up at the gate. Before that, we prefer the parents to bring them into the schoolyard in the morning, and collect them in person in the afternoon. Today is the exception to that rule. This morning, all children may be brought into the building by their parents… although obviously some of the older ones prefer to make their own way in. The other teachers don’t have to meet and greet like you because their students aren’t new to the school.” She sighs. “You don’t need to fret about the logistics, my dear. We’ve been doing it this way for years, and everyone is used to it.”
I feel like I’ve just been told off, and severely patronized, even though she admitted she was the one who forgot to tell me about this tradition, although before I can say a word, Miss Montgomery is called away.
She leaves the room, and rather than stand here by myself, I follow her, surprised when I discover Russ waiting outside. He’s got no need to be here, but as I close the door, he pushes himself off of the wall and looks down at me as we start down the hall.
“Is everything okay?” he asks.
“Yes. Miss Montgomery just wanted to explain that I have to greet the children at the classroom door, that’s all.”
“Do we all have to do that?”
“No. It’s just me. For today, all the kids can be brought into the school by their parents, but ordinarily, those in fourth grade and up can be dropped off at the gate.”
“And what happens in the afternoons?”
“The older children can just leave. But the younger ones need to be handed to their parents… although how I’m supposed to remember which student goes with which adult, I honestly don’t know.”
It’s something else to worry about, and I feel like my throat is closing over at the prospect of what could go wrong.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Russ says, trying to sound reassuring.
“I’d feel a lot better if Margot was here. She probably knows at least some of the children, and most of the parents.”
He pats my arm. “At least you won’t be dealing with a bunch of unruly nine-year-olds.”
“How do you know they’ll be unruly?”
“I remember being nine,” he says. “Trust me. They’ll be unruly.”
