As Nikki took her first steps out of the building, she inhaled a deep breath. She could smell the rain that covered the fields and prevented the Lady Trojans from practicing outside. She loved the smell after a fresh rain and the flowers it would bring. Nikki wasn’t averse to playing in the rain either, but the lightning that accompanied it would keep them inside each and every time. She hoped it would stop raining and the fields would dry up for Saturday.
Nikki pulled into her long driveway. As she waited for the garage to open, she stared at the front of the property. There were only three trees in the front yard. The house sat on almost an acre of land that backed up to woods. She parked the car and walked into the house that she had lived in for the past three years. It was a small three bedroom, brick, ranch style home. She built a deck out back last year. This year she was going to put in a pond and stone walkway. It would lead to a bench sitting under the shade of a dogwood tree in the far corner of her backyard. The entire house was a work in progress and she had to go slow. She was still paying her mortgage and well, school teachers do not exactly get paid like corporate executives. But, no matter how slow going the progress was, Nikki was proud of her accomplishments. She had transformed it from a dump into a home. Grabbing a beer out of the refrigerator, Nikki made herself a sandwich. She didn’t want to go through the hassle of making dinner. Not that she was an amazing cook. Okay, most of what she made wasn’t even edible. Honestly, she didn’t even try anymore. She bought ready-made food or frozen meals. Anything that could be thrown into a microwave. TV dinners had gotten her through since she was in college.
After she finished her sandwich, her mind wandered back to practice. She thought of skills that needed to be fixed. What worked? She wasn’t just evaluating the girls; she was also planning for next year. There was one thing Nikki was sure of; she would definitely need to keep a closer eye on the Davis girl. Who knew, she could turn out to be a great investment towards the future of this team. If they got out Saturday, she would see how Connie reacted to someone in the batters box. No decisions would be made tonight. There was still too much uncertainty and it was too early to be counting her chickens.
As Nikki prepared for bed, she could feel the loneliness the quiet brought. She refused to admit, even to herself that she needed anything or anyone else to make her world more enjoyable. She filled her days with work, friends, softball, and home improvement projects; but nothing could stop the thoughts that came in the quiet of the night. The loneliness that engulfed her as she sat alone in her house with nothing but hours to pass. There were times Nikki wished she had a pet, a companion for the down time. But then again, there was always the problem of who would watch it when she was out of town for conferences, tournaments, or just visiting family. No, she didn’t need a pet. A dog would not warm her bed and her heart. Maybe she was just past due for a trip into the city. A little physical release always chased the blues away.
That night Nikki dreamed of a woman she never met and could not begin to describe. Even though the face was blurry Nikki knew she would not be able to get the figure out of her mind. Soft, gentle, caring eyes stared back at her. The mysterious woman fit perfectly into her embrace. It was crazy but, she felt an emotional connection to the woman. It was like nothing she had ever felt before. Nikki knew she had never met anyone like her. A woman was so perfect, caring and beautiful that she couldn’t possibly exist. When the woman kissed her, she felt a jolt from her lips to her toes and it shocked her awake. Nikki reached for the figure but no one was there. She stared into the darkness. Looking for her lost love. She was saddened at the thought that they may never meet. Still hours before school, Nikki tried to go back to sleep and dream again. But, it was no use. Sleep would not come and the figure got further and further in her mind. Please come back.
Chapter Two
The following day, Mia Sanchez took her first steps into a new school. She had been a counselor at Anna H. Shaw Middle School for three years and just transferred to Greenville High. She would be filling in for Mr. Jefferson the remainder of the year. If she did well, she might be offered a more permanent position. Mia had not been told what happened to Mr. Jefferson. Why leave in the middle of the year? Why not just wait until after school was out? Mia had overheard, while in the office, that he wasn’t even eligible for retirement for five more years. She had not asked, nor did she really care. It was none of her business anyway.
The school was much smaller than the one Mia had graduated from eight years ago. Her high school had over thirty-five hundred students, Greenville had maybe fifteen hundred. While she had only moved to the other side of the state, it was like a different world. She wandered the halls getting to know the campus better. It didn’t take long to realize there was not much school to memorize. The halls seemed almost like a pattern with the Cafeteria, Gym and Auditorium located in the middle. Finally, Mia arrived at the Main Office. She had been instructed to go there first thing this morning to see the principal.
Mia was greeted by the secretary as she entered the office, an older woman probably in her sixties. She wore a long blue dress that looked like she owned it since the eighties. Mia had met Gladice when she interviewed. She seemed nice enough, very professional and friendly.
“Good morning Mrs. Sanchez. Principal Wood is waiting for you.”
“Thank you Gladice. And it is Ms., not Mrs.”
Mia strolled past the woman and towards the open door. She knocked gently and waited until Mr. Wood motioned for her to enter. His office was pretty bare. With just his certificates on the walls. No inspirational posters or artwork. There was one picture of his family on his desk. Everything else was organized neatly, nothing out of place.
Wood stood to shake her hand.
“Good morning Mia, how are you? Hope the move went smoothly. Are you excited about your first day?”
“Actually I…”
Richard Wood ignored her answer and continued, “Good, I am sure you will be just fine. If you need anything let me know. The Guidance Office is just across the hall. Good luck.”
Befuddled by being shuffled out of the office after just entering, Mia asked herself why he had wanted to see her at all. Did he just want to make sure I showed up? Was that supposed to be a greeting? Mia left Richard’s office more confused than when she had arrived. Why was I called in there if he had nothing to say?
After Mia’s brief meeting with Principal Wood, she went across the hall in search of her office. The first thing she saw when she entered was a woman arguing with the secretary.
“What do you mean he isn’t here anymore? He is the athletic counselor.”
She guessed that the woman had not heard about Tom Jefferson’s sudden departure yet. She was about five foot eight and thin with short brown hair. Mia figured the woman was a gym teacher. Who else would go to school in shorts, a tee-shirt, and sneakers?
“I’m sorry, but Tom doesn’t work here anymore,” the woman responded defensively. At last the secretary noticed Mia standing there, “Excuse me Ms., can I help you with something?”
“Yes,” Mia replied, “I am new here. My name is …”
“Right. Richard told me you would be here today. Your desk is the first one on the left.”
“Thank you.”
Mia excused herself and slid past the woman at the large reception desk. The room was not big enough for the desk. She wasn’t even sure why they would need it. Any small desk would have been fine. Once past the desk, she headed for her office. She did not wish to get sucked into any arguments or try to be a referee. Counseling the students was one thing. It was completely different getting involved with coworker disputes.
Mia walked into her new office. It was a little smaller than Wood’s. The room held a small desk and three chairs. There was a small filing cabinet, but it appeared majority of the files were kept outside by the secretary. She sat the small bag of supplies she brought and her purse on the desk. Just as Mia was hanging up her jacket, the woman from the cou
nter walked in.
“Hello. Can I help you?”
Mia was trying to sound as helpful as possible. She did not want to get into whatever the argument with the secretary was about. Besides, who needs a confrontation on their first day?
“Yes, I am Nikki Reed. I am the softball coach. I was wondering if you would be willing to see my players. I like to make sure they are on the right track. I don’t want their grades to start slipping. Tom Jefferson was the person that used to advise them, but I guess he is not here anymore. Well, obviously, you know that; you are sitting at his desk.”
The woman in front of Mia stared at her, clearly thinking there was only one answer to the question.
“I don’t see that being a problem,” Mia said.
The coach relaxed a little and had a slight smile on her face. That was until Mia added, “I will agree to see them once on your behalf. After that, they can request an appointment.”
The coach’s whole demeanor changed. She looked as though someone had popped her balloon.
“What? Why couldn’t you just follow up with them periodically? Do you have a problem with seeing them succeed?”
“Coach Reed, if you want to keep track of their grades, you can have their teachers fill out progress reports. I am not going to squander my time seeing students that do not need my help. It would waste their time and my own; time that could be used helping students that actually have problems. My door is always open, but I will not force your players to come see me. If you do not like my methods, you can go find someone else to assist you. I am not their mother and will not treat them as such.” So much for not getting into an argument.
The coach’s brow was furrowed, her hands on her hips. Mia evidently had struck a chord.
“I’m not their mother either, I just care more than some members of our staff,” Nikki stated pointedly. “I guess I will have to get the teachers to assist me. Maybe they will care more about whether or not these young ladies succeed. I will have my players stop by sometime on Monday to set up an appointment.” Coach Reed couldn’t have stared at her for more then a minute, but that minute was filled with a thousand daggers shooting straight for Mia. The coach finally turned and strode out of the room leaving Mia trying to figure out what just happened.
What is wrong with her? Does she think, just because she is a coach, I should do everything I can to make things go her way. I’m sure I have nothing better to do than to cater to her every whim. Talk about arrogant. Of course Mia cared about every student, but it just did not seem fair to make hours of unnecessary appointments to see students that did not want to see her. She had seen coaches throw their weight around and decide that athletes were more important than every other student. Like the success of those few would make more of an impact. Mia would not be a part of it and hoped the coach had gotten the message.
Teens stopped in randomly throughout the day to see if the rumors were true. Was Mr. Jefferson really gone? Clearly trying to find out some gossip, some tidbit about what had happened. They would leave with no more information than they had come in with. Others just wanted to meet the new counselor. Mia was the youngest counselor in the school and possibly the youngest on the staff. It seemed to put the kids at ease, a little. She guessed they could relate better without the “when the dinosaurs roamed the earth” stories. She sometimes wondered when that would change. At what age do you no longer relate? Everyone seemed to want to know about her, it was tiring. Being from Philadelphia, Mia was not used to being such big news. In this small town everyone would know all of your business before you did.
Even though it was a small school, there were more introductions than Mia could keep up with. It’s not like Mia had a classroom and could learn from a seating chart. So she came up with her own method. She took a picture of everyone that stepped into her office, with their permission. Mia would then write the person’s name on the back of the picture and hang it on the wall. She would look at them periodically so she would not forget, until it was committed to memory. She started doing it at the middle school. If the students had to study their note cards; why not teachers too? Thank goodness no parent had ever objected to the method. The few parents that had asked about the practice were genuinely surprised that someone took an interest in their child and cared enough to try to remember them. Hopefully that would be true in this school as well.
The morning had been so busy, by the time Mia looked at the time it was eleven thirty; lunch time. There was no reserved area for teachers, except the faculty lounge. However, for people like Mia that did not make their lunch at home; the lounge was not very helpful. The school seemed to like the teachers to interact more with the students anyway. It was very different where she was from. There the teachers needed the break away from the students just to get through the day. Mia saw the teachers sitting right next to the students; talking and laughing. Feeling as if she had entered the Twilight Zone, Mia walked into the crowded cafeteria.
Having majored in psychology, Mia was intrigued. She wondered if getting to know the students on a personal level was conducive to learning or did the bond created stand in the way of discipline and order. Would a teacher give the appropriate grade or would they cushion the grades a little. Boost them just high enough for the student to pass. I wonder if teachers like that even realize they are hurting the student. What happens when they go off to college and realize they never learned anything? They will flunk out. Thanks teach! Either way, the experience will be fascinating. Mia would observe the kids. Perhaps, seeing how everyone behaved outside of her office would help her to advise them better.
Of course the only “teacher’s table” with a seat remaining was with Coach Reed. Uhh… great, now she could have more of Reed’s attitude. I better not forget to curtsy or I might get beheaded by the supreme ruler of the universe. Stop. Be nice. As Mia approached the table she tried to think of anything polite to say. Yet, all she wanted to do was scream at this woman for trying to ruin her first day. For her arrogance.
Reed was busy speaking to the woman next to her and hadn’t taken notice of Mia’s arrival. She was smiling, engaging, and a completely different person. Maybe she was having a bad morning. What if she was, that’s still no way to behave. Do I go around handing off my problems to other people? She must be setting a great example. Mia wondered if she was being unfair, they had only met once. She decided to give Reed the benefit of the doubt, this time.
“Hi,” Mia said when she reached the table.
The only response was “Hello”. Well this is going great.
After a few seconds Mia asked, “Can I sit here?”
“Sure,” Nikki gestured to the table, “How’s your first day going so far?”
“It is flying by and yet a very long day at the same time… Does that make any sense?”
Reed laughed,” No, not really”.
Mia could see the blonde that had been talking to Reed was staring at them. She would think it odd, except all eyes had been on her the entire day.
“Everyone wants to meet the new person or know what happened to the last. I think the overly friendly meetings are starting to get to me. There are only so many times you can say the exact same thing without going insane. It would be nice if everyone would just be themselves. If they would treat this like every other day.” Mia didn’t know why she was telling the coach all of this. She didn’t even like her, but she felt compelled to vent to someone.
“Well, I can’t say we had a pleasant encounter. Must have been a nice change from all of the, what did you call it, overly friendly meetings,” the coach replied with a half hearted smile. No Oscar, you already showed your true colors.
“Well now the question remains, is that how you are every morning or is that just how you welcome new comers?”
Reed didn’t appear to have taken offense to the comment, her face the picture of indifference.
“Right, actually I have just been stressed because of tryouts. When I found out that I had no athle
tic counselor I panicked. Though I cannot understand why anyone would not want to help. If I had thought it would be a problem, I wouldn’t have bothered.”
Reed leaned over to answer a question from the woman next to her. Mia sat in silence and tried to finish her food. Arrogant Bitch!
“So, you’re Mia right?”
Was she trying to be nice? Isn’t it a little late for pleasantries? Just a second ago this woman was still insulting her.
“That is what my door says. Or did you blow by it so fast you didn’t care what name was on it, as long as I do whatever makes your life easier?” That’s right you can’t get everything you want. Why can’t this food be gone already? I want to leave the presence of this horrible person as soon as possible.
Nikki realized that Mia was taking offense to her words and tried again.
“I appreciate your assistance with my players. I was just hoping for you to have a more active role. I’ve never encountered a counselor that did not genuinely want to help the students. My opinion is, if left to their own vices, students do not thrive.” You don’t even know me. Why would you assume I would actively seek out perfectly happy and healthy persons to counsel? Mia shifted in her seat. She was getting more uncomfortable by the second.
“Well Ms. Reed, I will have a more active role in their lives, if they want me to and not before that. If you see a problem with a student, you think I need to address, I am happy to step in. I know students cannot always see the destructive nature of the choices they make.”
“Mrs. Sanchez, I do not know how matters were handled in your old school, but here in Greenville faculty helps each other out. Athletic events bring in money for the school and keeping students at the highest academic level helps keep them in sports. Once a student fails a class or their GPA falls, they are no longer allowed to play. I like to prevent that from happening. Kind of like a big brother program. Keep a watchful eye.”
Trusting Again Page 2