Page 128 of Mr. B

Wes walked up to the desk. “Ryan, it’s time to go.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“No. Of course not. Currently, I’m asking you nicely.”

Ryan laughed. “Hmm. Well, I was hired by the district to replace you, with a very strong hint of it being a permanent position. Seems you can’t keep track of ten kids on an island. Keeping you in charge of two hundred would be reckless at this point.”

“I voluntarily walked out of the office. Now, I’m reclaiming it with the backing of the superintendent, the staff, and the student body. So, quit being a dick and get out of my office.”

Ryan got abruptly to his feet and rested his hands on the desk, leaning toward Wes. “There’s only one dick in this room, and it’s not me.”

Cassandra came up to the desk. “Okay, guys. Let’s take a breath and act like the mature educators that we are.”

Ryan relaxed his stance and folded his arms across his chest, while Wes took a step back from the desk.

Cassandra reached for the phone. “Let’s give Stu a call, shall we?”

Wes took the phone from her and dialed the superintendent’s office. “Morning, Stu.”

“Wes, I was about to call Ryan. Are you at the office yet?”

“Yeah. I’m here with Ryan.”

“How’s that going?”

“About how you’d expect.”

“Put him on.”

Wes handed the phone to Ryan. “Superintendent Morrow wants to talk to you.”

Ryan took the phone. “Morning, sir.” He glanced at Wes. “Right. But....” He scowled. “That’s not what I was promised.” He turned his back to Wes and Cassandra. “Sir. What about… Of course. I’ll be there in an hour.” He ended the call, then turned back around and hung up the receiver. “Having friends won’t save you forever, Buchanan. You’ll screw up again.”

“I’ll just take it one day at a time, then.”

Ryan looked at Cassandra. “Are you sure this is the horse you want to back? He’ll just take you down with him.” He cocked his head, then looked at Wes. “Oh, I get it. You’re sleeping with him.”

Wes took a step forward, and Cassandra put a hand on his arm. “Time to go, Ryan.”

Ryan picked up his briefcase. “This isn’t over.” He walked past her and went out the door.

Wes smiled as the door closed hard behind Ryan. “It’s so over, asshole.”

Cassandra turned to Wes. “What happened to my level-headed guy who always does the right thing?”

“Sorry. The image of him sitting across the table from you at some pretentious restaurant flashed into my head and… I guess the terrible date thing bothered me more than I thought.” He sat down in his chair, and the armrest lifted off in his hand.

Cassandra shook her head. “He broke your chair?”

“No, that was me on the day I left. It was sort of an accident. An anger-fueled burst of strength. Kind of like the one that just fueled my desire to strangle him.”

“I see.”

“He could’ve had it fixed for me, though.”

Polly came to the door and smiled at the armrest in Wes’ hand. “I’ll have Roland come fix that for you.”

“Ryan didn’t ask you to call him last week?”