by Anne Conley
Alyssa took a deep breath. “Sir…”
He finally looked up at her. “Please don’t try to explain to me. This is not something I typically do, Ms. Fuller. I firmly believe a teacher’s personal life is their own. But since the school board member delivered this personally to the Superintendent, I have to get involved. Unfortunately, you have been deemed guilty by association. You are aware of the morality clause in your contract?”
“Yes, sir, but…”
“Then I suggest you do something about this…” He waved his hand over the documents and the flowers on his desk.
“We’ve broken up, sir. That’s why he sent the flowers.”
“Well, that’s a start. You may go back to class.”
“Thank you, sir.” She said quietly, as she got up to leave. “Sir? May I have these?”
“No. They are to go in your file. I can have copies made for you to pick up seventh period.”
She swallowed hard. Her file. That followed her around for the rest of her professional career. “Thank you, sir.”
At home that night, she looked through the documents, more carefully. She knew Steven was behind this. He had a friend on the school board. She had no idea how he would have gotten the pictures of The Church, unless he was having Dalton followed. And she was almost positive he hadn’t been back there since they’d started seeing each other.
The rage she’d felt while looking at the pictures in Dr. Cahan’s office hadn’t subsided, like she thought it would. She was angry. Angry at herself for having put herself in this situation.
She re-read the letter.
To: Serendipity ISD School Board
From: Stuart Callahan
Re: Alyssa Fuller
I am concerned with actions taken by one of our instructors at the High School, Alyssa Fuller. She is my son’s tenth-grade English teacher. While I have no complaints about her teaching ability, her personal life is bleeding over into her professional life, and as a parent, I don’t appreciate the lessons she is potentially teaching my son.
She has been seen in the company of a less than savory characte, at school functions and in front of students at other functions. Some of her behavior at these functions has been questionable, at best.
She is a grown woman, and I understand adult actions, but the lack of self-control at these functions is alarming, to say the least. Her “boyfriend” is known for his sexual appetites, and a logical person can assume that anyone seen with him in a romantic capacity would also indulge in these same activities. It is said he participates in the BDSM culture and most can assume that includes drug use.
Our teachers here at Serendipity are expected to set a certain example for the students, both professionally and personally. I am not going to point out Ms. Fuller’s lack of church attendance, as that has been deemed by the Constitution to not be a worthy cause for championship. However, it does illustrate a lack of morals, which we expect to find in our teachers here in Serendipity. Her flaunting of this particular relationship with Dalton Colt is a viable subject for discussion, of her professional capacity.
I don’t want a teacher for my son who would participate in such depravities --- sexual escapades, drug use, and only the good Lord knows what else. This is what she is teaching my son with her actions. Please consider this carefully, as our future is in your hands.
Sincerely,
Stuart Callahan
Alyssa suppressed her indignation and dropped the letter to the floor. She knew Stuart. He was one of those parents whose child could do no wrong, even though the son in question, Dane, hosted some of the wildest pasture parties in the county. Dane came to school on Monday morning, bragging about his conquests at beer pong, and the number of joints he smoked on Saturday night.
She should have known something like this would happen. The letter was unmerited, she knew. It painted both she and Dalton in an unfair light. But there it was, in black and white, and delivered to her boss. And his boss. And in this town, the Superintendent’s boss was the school board, so it had actually been sent to her boss’s boss’s boss. Great.
She had no choice. She had already broken things off with Dalton, for her children’s sake. Now, in order to keep her job, she would have to sever all ties with him.
Grabbing her cell phone, she deleted all of the voice mails he had left her last night and today. Some of them were sweet, some were downright pathetic. He had apparently gotten progressively drunker as he left them, the last one, barely coherent, a begging, pleading Dalton, she had never met before.
And one she would not ever know.
Deep down in her heart, she knew Steven had done this. She wasn’t sure how he had gotten to Stuart. As far as she knew, they weren’t friends. But she hated him for it, nonetheless. He had ruined her chances at happiness with Dalton, and it made her feel a rage, deep down.
She was overwhelmed with the foreign feeling. Not even during his most manipulative days of their marriage had he ever done anything so underhanded. She felt betrayed.
Even when he had broken their marriage vows, she hadn’t felt this betrayed.
He had to hate her in order to what he was doing to her. He was ruining her relationship and her career. If she lost her job, she wouldn’t be able to support the children and would lose them.
Dalton was in the recliner, staring at his laptop, thinking of Alyssa, when his mother came in and sat down in the recliner next to him. She had been doing better this week, getting out of the house to run errandsand talking to him more. He was glad for her. She was moving on with her life, but his own losses kept him miserable.
“Dalton, honey, we need to talk.”
He closed his laptop, and looked at her, forcing a wan smile to his face. “Sure, Mom. What’s up?”
“Mrs. Fletch stopped me in the grocery store today. I know she’s a busy body, and don’t really put much stock in what she says, but she talks to everybody, and I can’t be sure that everybody doesn’t listen to her…”
“What did she say, Mom?”
“She said some things about Alyssa that were rather alarming. And they concerned you, too.”
He straightened in his seat. “Like what?”
“That you guys are doing drugs together and you take her to Dallas, to some depraved club there. I told her that wasn’t true, but I have no idea who all she’s already told…”
Dalton stood abruptly and started stalking across the living room, furiously running his hands through his hair. “My god…”
“She also told me the school board is having a special meeting with her to question her about the accusations. They’ve been getting letters from parents.”
“They can’t fire her.”
“I don’t know. There’s something about moral turpitude in those teacher contracts…”
He stopped pacing and looked at his mother, disbelief coursing through his body. “What can I do?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, son. I sort of liked her, despite her…flaws.”
Dalton suppressed the anger bubbling up inside of him. “She has no flaws, Mother. Alyssa is perfect, but nobody seems to see that but me.”
Mary looked at her hands, twisting them fitfully. “I know you care for her, Dalton. And I’m glad she came into your life, if for no other reason than it brought you back home to me.” She stood. “The special school board meeting is open to the public and will be Thursday night. You might think about going. She may not have many people there to speak for her. And you’re reputation will be on trial, too.” She said quietly.
Dalton could see there was more she wanted to say, but thankfully, she was keeping it to herself. He could see the war being waged behind her eyes and knew the guilt by association thing would not only apply to Alyssa, but to his family as well. The town would drag Mary and Richard through the gauntlet, for raising a son like him, and Renee might not be able to show her face at the grocery store, either.
Dalton turned and threw a fist at the wall behind him,
denting the sheetrock.
“I’ll take care of this.” He stomped out of the house, went to the barn and retrieved his motorcycle.
He needed to ride.
Chapter 22
The anticipated school board meeting left Alyssa a bundle of nerves. Her future as an educator rested on it. If the school board decided to listen to Stuart, Steven, and whoever else arrived to say something horrible about her, she was doomed.
She enjoyed living in a small town, the eight or so years she had lived here. The atmosphere was welcoming, and she liked knowing who her neighbors were.
Now she was getting a taste of the other side of the coin.
Rumors ran rampant in a town this size. She had heard them and even been the subject of some. But none of the rumors had the power to break her like this one. Her integrity was being called into question, and it hurt.
The meeting was being held in the board room of the administration building. It was set up with the u-shaped conference table on one side, filled with leather chairs, and on the other side was seating for an audience. When Alyssa walked in to see every chair full, she shuddered. Peering at the faces, trying to decide if they were friend or foe, she felt an overwhelming light-headedness, before breathing deeply, and looking at her feet. She couldn’t faint here, she needed to stay strong. This was her future.
Jessie was at her side in a heartbeat, pulling her into a hug. “It’s gonna be okay, ‘Lyssa. We’re here for you,” she whispered in her ear.
“Thanks,” Ayssa muttered.
The Superintendent’s secretary motioned for Alyssa to sit in a chair at the conference table. Thankful for some place to sit before her knees buckled, she lowered herself into the plush leather chair.
A gavel banging startled her, and she looked at the President of the school board, as he said, “I move that we start the meeting.”
Somebody else seconded the motion, and the meeting was underway. The Superintendent’s secretary had put an agenda in front of Alyssa, and she glanced at it. The only thing on the agenda for this evening was her. She felt a sinking sensation in her stomach before the butterflies took flight.
“It has been brought to our attention that there may be some moral ambiguities concerning one of our teachers on staff here at Serendipity high school, and we are here tonight to get to the bottom of it. I have made copies of the documents that were sent to us, and we have some speakers here tonight to give both sides of the story. This is an open meeting, so if you have something to say, you may sign up to speak, and you will be given a turn.” The President passed around a piece of paper on a clipboard, for members of the audience to sign their name to.
Alyssa watched the clipboard as it made its way around the room, astounded that almost every person there signed their name to it. She recognized them all. There were parents, students, and teachers, as well as her friends Jessie and Summer.Predictably, Steven was sitting in the front row, refusing to meet her glare. When the clipboard got to the back row, she almost gasped aloud when she saw him.
Dalton was sitting on the last seat in the back, dressed in a suit and tie, looking at her intently. He smiled encouragingly at her, but she could see he was nervous. His hair stood up in all directions, as if he’d been running his hands through it, and there were dark circles under his eyes. He looked a mess.
Tearing her gaze away, she listened as the school board members went over the documents in the envelope that she had memorized. The audience reacted to them with audible gasps and murmurs, as each document was scrutinized aloud by the board members.
After they had examined the documents, they turned their attention to Alyssa.
“Do you deny you have been participating in uncouth activities, Ms. Fuller?” The President fairly sneered at her.
Alyssa swallowed hard, and summoned her courage. “Yes, sir. I do.”
“Explain yourself.”
“Well, Dalton Colt and I had a brief relationship, but it’s over now. I do apologize for the public displays of affection around students, and I admit they were inappropriate. We never did drugs, nor did we participate in any…” She breathed deeply, aware there was an audience. “questionable sexual activities. I feel like this is a play by my ex-husband to build his arsenal for a custody hearing. This is a load of insinuations and downright lies, and I am humiliated that my personal life is being dragged into the public like this.”
The President cleared his throat. “I agree. I don’t wish to be discussing your private life, either, Ms. Fuller. But since it has been made public, we have a duty to find the truth in it. If you have been behaving with moral turpitude, you are in breach of your contract, and subject to dismissal.”
Alyssa swallowed, again, willing the tears to stay at bay. “I understand.”
“Do you have anything else to say, Ms. Fuller?”
“Only, that this isn’t true. None of it. I kissed him in public. That’s all.”
“Then we will hear from members of the community. First on the list is Kimberly Lundy.”
Alyssa sat back and listened as one after another, her co-workers stood up for her. They talked about her capabilities as a teacher and how effective she was. Each one gave glowing praise of her abilities and her results, one even citing her students’ outstanding standardized test scores, which made the school district look good. Cody was there, and he even spoke positively of her professionalism in and out of the classroom.
Next up were her students, both current and former. Alyssa was touched by their words, all of which were glowing praises of what an “awesome” teacher she was and how she made learning fun. A couple had even written essays that they read to the school board. Jackie was in the latter category, and she addressed the issue of the kiss at the Pepper festival as “sweet,” and “between two consenting adults.” Jackie then compared the proceedings to the Salem witch trials, the “word of a group of hysterical people condemning innocents.”
After Jackie sat down, a parent stood to speak. The parents weren’t as glowing in their praise. Some of them spoke of Alyssa failing their child, using this event as a soapbox for their opinion of Alyssa’s unfair treatment of their baby. The President tried to steer them towards comments about the topic at hand, but their words were damaging. In Alyssa’s eyes, anyway.
After the parents spoke, the President began calling on community members, most of which had heard the rumors and were eager to jump on the bandwagon that they didn’t want this influence in their schools. Alyssa cringed at the insinuations, as well as the out—and--out lies that people told about her. She hoped the school board could see through the fabrications. She glanced over at Steven and saw his satisfied smirk. It sent a shudder through her insides, and she looked away from him.
Her gaze landed on Dalton in the back row, his head in his hands, shoulders slumped. Her heart went out to him. He was a victim here, too. He was a member of this town, and everybody was bad-mouthing him. It was probably worse for him. Nobody was here to stand up for Dalton.
Steven was next, and Alyssa was tempted to drop her head in her hands on the table, but that could be construed as a sign of weakness, and she needed to be strong for this. So she looked at him as he spoke out against her.
“I was married to Alyssa for five years, and she is the mother of my children.” His voice held no warmth for her. He spoke with a clinical detachment that made Alyssa’s stomach turn.
“She has made personal choices recently that disgust me, and I am currently seeking to take away her custodial rights to my children. She has been "dating" Dalton Colt, and God knows what has gone on behind closed doors with those two with my children in the house.” Alyssa watched, with her gut sinking, as he went on to list things that he supposed they did behind closed doors. “Drugs, lots of them, I’m sure. And the kinkiness of their relationship knows no bounds. I had a private investigator in Dallas do some checking up on Mr. Colt, and he found out things that would turn your hair white. I won’t go into it in front of the stude
nts present, but suffice it to say, they’re awful.” He went on in his self-righteous manner, finishing his diatribe with a dramatic, “And we all know where drug abuse leads -- to stealing, and maybe even…murder.” He sat down, a satisfied smirk on his face.
Jessie went next, but Alyssa didn’t listen. She was wondering what she had ever seen in Steven. Did he really believe all that stuff about her? That she would do drugs, steal, and murder? Why had he married her in the first place?
Alyssa didn’t notice it was Dalton’s turn to speak, until she heard his smooth, deep voice address the board members. She looked up at him, and her breath caught in her chest, as he stood. He looked really good in a suit, even though his tie was crooked, and his hair was tousled. His complexion looked a little waxy, too, but Alyssa’s heart went out to him.
“I am here, not because you are dragging my name and by association, my family’s name through the mud. The lies and implications, which you have set forth in these proceedings are not only a farce, but they are nothing but intimidation tactics, designed by him to manipulate Ms. Fuller. You are nothing but a bunch of self-important, sanctimonious excuses for human beings that are being used as pawns in some elaborate scheme by Mr. Fuller to take Alyssa’s children away from her. Taking her job is just an added bonus for him. He wants her ruined, and I don’t understand it. Alyssa Fuller is one of the best teachers I’ve ever seen. She’s an excellent mother and a productive member of the community. Her past associations with me, should have no bearing on her job performance. My history should have no bearing on her job performance. Whatever clout,” he pointed to Steven, “he has, is what this is all about. This is a hypocritical proceeding, only in place to further his agenda. And his agenda has absolutely no bearing on Alyssa Fuller’s performance in the classroom. You should all be ashamed of yourself.” He looked at the Superintendent. “And you should know better. As a leader of a school district, you should know people will use their own personal vendettas to try to taint public opinion of a teacher’s performance.” His attention back to the room in general, he said, “You all should have done a little research into this before dragging Alyssa Fuller down into this abyss of moral turpitude allegations. This is ridiculous. You are all being used.” He sat down in a huff of expelled air, as he ran his hands through his hair again, clearly distraught.