Page 2 of Apparently, I’m Torture

Mia, my sorority sister turned co-teacher in the same department.

Trevor, my ex-boyfriend turned co-worker turned head teacher - I’ll explain more about him later, but trust me, it’s the stuff of nightmares.

And Brianna, one of my favorite humans of all time.

Why was Brianna one of my favorite humans?

Brianna knew my mom. They taught together, here at South Bronx, fresh from their stints as Kappa Delta legacies. That was my mom’s life before the cancer set in, taking her from me before I had a chance to figure out what living without her would be like.

Brianna promised me a job in her faculty at my mom’s funeral. She knew I wanted to become a teacher, that I wanted to figure out the magic of it like my mom had, and she had a favor tucked away with the principal.

I was mired in grief, and wasn’t able to take her offer seriously at the time. But I walked away from that day with the feel of Brianna’s hands squeezing mine, giving me pieces of the memories she had.

We kept in touch, but it wasn’t until she helped me wrangle my student teaching placement that it hit me.

My mom taught here. My mom touched that desk, wrote on that whiteboard, made coffee in that kitchen.

After that, I had to graduate. I had to work at South Bronx. I had to be close to her.

The patience and understanding Brianna gave reeked of kindness, and I just knew this was someone who loved to teach because she loved to help.

We had a lot in common.

That was until she stepped back and gave Trevor her position a year ago. Since we had the same years of experience behind us, I wish I could say some sort of favoritism was behind him getting the job. But I had to admit, Trevor made acting as head teacher look easy. Add in the staff shortage we were currently facing, and Mia and I were stuck with him.

Since then, the staffroom took on a hostile atmosphere. Even Mia’s snacky-snacks didn’t help take the edge off when Trevor was around.

Trevor cleared his throat. “It’s the end of term. How are you spending the last week with your students?”

Mia glanced at me, then answered, her accent taking on a cautious lilt. “My freshmen and I are finishing off their book reports.”

He nodded and stared at his hands as he shuffled his papers. “Good, good. Brianna?”

“My junior advanced class is using the week to complete their presentations.”

“That’s fine.” He looked up at Brianna, received a wink, then flicked his glance to me. “And Lilly. Let me guess. More My Little Pony rewatching?”

I lifted a shoulder. “My students love it.”

He raised a brow. “The boys, too?”

I gave him another wide smile. Trevor wasn’t going to bring me down today. I had a handful of days left with my students, and I was going to reward them for finishing the term whether he liked it or not. Even Trevor’s antiquated gender expectations couldn’t stop me.

“They gripe and moan a bit, but once the film starts, they eat it up.”

“But it doesn’t have anything to do with the curriculum.” He leaned across the table, condescension rife in his coffee-stained voice.

“Dissecting movies they enjoy helps motivate them to hone their critical skills. You’ll see it pay off in their exam scores.”

“Will I? Isn’t that what you said last time? A good quarter of your freshmen are starting their sophomore year in the remedial class.”

I shifted in my seat, a pang of offense taking root in my chest.

“What other classes do you have?” he asked.

“Freshmen intermediate, and sophomore advanced.”

He dared to look at Mia as he asked, “What do you think about taking sophomore advanced from Lilly?”