“Mr. Cass!” I called, waving to him.
Cass looked at me in line and gave a bemused smile as he wandered over. “Mr. Merlin. How’s your first day?”
“It’s okay, sir. Actually, I have a question for you.”
“Sure, sure, go ahead.”
“Is there a Christmas concert still scheduled that I’m supposed to be overseeing?”
“Did I not tell you about that?”
Oh good grief.
“I don’t… believe so,” I said tactfully.
“There is a show. It’s always the evening before vacation begins.”
“Three weeks from now.”
“That’s right.”
“You don’t think it should be postponed? Maybe turned into a spring performance?”
“No, no! It’s tradition! The high school has been putting on Christmas shows since I was a boy.”
“Of course.”
“You’ve got plenty of time,” he told me.
“It’s only… some of the songs, they’re, ah—” I held up a folder in my hand, opened it, and flipped through the sheet music. “Some of this is performance-level for middle schoolers. I’m not sure why my predecessor assigned this to the band. Also, ‘Santa Baby’ isn’t really… good.”
“So what?” Cass asked. He was a bigger guy, and threaded his hands together to rest on his belly.
“I’d like to switch up what the band plays. But I’m afraid if I do that, there won’t be enough time for them to rehearse new pieces. Could we perhaps push the show until the New Year?”
Cass immediately shook his head. “No. You’re far too worried about this, Merlin. Let the kids play what they’ve been practicing. It’s just a little holiday shindig. Nothing like those fancy shows you performed at in New York.”
I closed the folder. “That’s… true, but the entire thing still reflects upon me and the students. I want them to be at their best.”
Cass chuckled. I wasn’t sure why he found that amusing. “It’s high school band, Merlin.” He patted my shoulder roughly and murmured, “Playing the piccolo won’t get you a job in the real world.”
I wanted to point out the irony of him saying that to a full-time, salaried teacher who was quite adept at the piccolo, thank you very much, but I kept my mouth shut. Picking a fight with my boss on the first day was definitely not on my growing list of things to do. Maybe in a few years I could pick my battles, or when tenure protected my career, but now? Just smile and nod.
Cass started to walk away, which I was thankful for at that point, but then he stopped and turned around. “Why’re you standing in the student lunch line?”
I looked around the room briefly. “I don’t know how else to get food.”
Cass simply laughed again, headed toward a rowdy table, and told them to calm down.
“Mr. Merlin?”
I looked in front of me. A tiny brunette with glasses gave me a smile. I was pretty sure she wasn’t in any of my classes, which goes to show how small the school really was if everyone already knew my name.
“Yeah?”
“Teachers don’t have to wait in line. You can just go up to the register.”
I peered around the long line, all the way to the woman in the kitchen taking payments. “I can? Isn’t that called cutting?”
