Jon entered the kitchen just as Sarah exclaimed... "And the new deputy principal is SO serious...I mean....we got called to this assembly and she gave this speech...I think she probably gave it over and over for a few periods in a row. About how she was tough but fair...and that we were there to learn and she was there to help..."
"She is new," Melissa said. "At least give the woman a chance before you decide you hate her. She is just doing her job...and she may not be as bad as you think."
"Mom...she called us into her office afterward...We were just talking about what she was saying."
"You mean...someone introducing themselves to you and your classmates was upset that you couldn't pay attention to her for five minutes?" Her new mother asked pointedly,
Jon was a bit surprised...He never thought of Melissa...the teen one, as being this perceptive. He had forced himself to not lose it, after his breakdown in his room. He needed to fix this...Melissa thinking she was his mom was just temporary. His real mom would be back soon. Or so he told himself.
"I guess...when she called us in, she said that she expected that we paid attention when our teachers were speaking, if we couldn't pay attention to her."
Meanwhile, Katherine Gutfreund unlocked the door to her house and kicked off her shoes before sinking into a chair, feeling exhausted. Being the administrator in charge of discipline was a stepping stone to becoming principal. The school board had assured her that she would be on a path to be the principal's successor..if she did the job to their satisfaction. She didn't think of the school as a police state, but the students needed to feel there was structure. They were already running wild since they had been without a strong leader. Still...maybe she had lost the students with the assembly and needed to try something else. She had great plans to try...she intended to announce the elimination of after school detention, for one. She just needed to deal with the teachers as she was planning on replacing it with a new lunch detention program.
She yawned before forcing herself up to the bedroom to change into something more comfortable.
