Lindy Watson strolled through the doors of Centennial Elementary with the biggest smile on her face. She loved summer fully embracing the opportunity to travel abroad, spend whole days at the beach, and laze around the house bingewatching her favorite shows. That said, she was always excited for school to start again especially since she rarely saw Shantelle, Avery, and Cristal during the summer. They might be her teammates, but they were also her best friends. She loved getting to spend her days with them and of course their super awesome students. Sadly, Avery was not returning this year choosing to stay home with her twin boys instead. Lindy knew she would miss her a lot. They had only worked together for three years, but Avery was a natural teacher and a kind and caring friend.
Fortunately, the team had found an excellent replacement at least according to everyone who had sat in on the interview. Lindy hadn't been able to be there herself—she had been in Japan for an extended trip. It was so expensive she only got to go and visit her old friends periodically. She missed them a lot now that she was living in the States, and it was her great consolation that she had gotten to visit them this year. There was no way she was changing her plane tickets just to sit in on an interview her colleagues and principal were perfectly capable of handling themselves.
Their new team member was about their age according to Shantelle and had been teaching fifth grade for quite awhile now. He seemed very knowledgeable with a lot of thoughts about pedagogy and working with children. He was a cool guy Shantelle had contended, and best of all, he was single. She had texted that to Lindy with a winky face. Lindy wasn't sure how his singleness was supposed to be a good thing. Constantly surrounded by accomplished women who were daily proving how good of mothers they would be, single guy teachers were a rarely. Most of them were snatched up before they reached twenty-five, and thinking about a guy teacher being single at thirty-five made Lindy wonder what was wrong with him. If he was as awesome as everyone was saying, he must have a skeleton in his closet or maybe he was divorced? Lindy didn't know yet, but she had long been out of the work dating scene being too old for the baby teachers coming out of college. She wasn't wanting to go back in now.
Besides any fears about what her new colleague might actually be like, Lindy actually enjoyed being single and wasn't sure she wanted to change that. Her life was simple and satisfying. She spent her days pouring into her students, and she had colleagues at work and other friends for adult conversation. When she got home, everything was quiet and peaceful, and her dog Sam kept her from getting too lonely. The Miss Watson life was great.
After glancing at her watch to check the time, Lindy decided to stop by her classroom before heading down to the library for the nine o'clock meeting. She had been having a few ideas for more alternative seating, and she wanted to see if they would work. Besides, she wanted to see the space that was her home away from home during the school year. After unlocking the door, she opened it and stepped in. Right after summer the classroom was a shadow of its former glory with the desks and chairs stacked and supplies put away, but in her mind's eye, she could see it in the middle of the bustle of a school day. She went over to the counter and ran her finger down it. Looking at it, she was happy to discover that it was clean! The janitors had obviously had extra time to dust everything down. She was prepared to do it herself, but she would look forward to not having too.
She was very curious about the new teacher, so she decided to poke her head in his room. He probably wouldn't be there, but you could tell a lot about someone from their classroom. The door was shut and locked, but she could see a little through the window. The walls were bare except two posters one that looked solar system related and the other that looked like the states of matter. He obviously was a science nerd! It would be fun to get his ideas for the science lessons. She didn't mind teaching science, but she felt more at the top of her game when she was helping students write an essay or discuss a piece of literature. Besides the posters, the room was pretty empty. There were a few bins and a bookshelf full of books, but that was about it. Typical guy teacher room—they weren't often into themes or lots of decor at least in Lindy's experience. He might have more stuff to bring but probably not much since new teachers usually set their classrooms up prior to the first week of meetings.
As she made her way to the library, Lindy found that in spite of herself she was actually excited to meet her new teammate. Perhaps he wasn't as weird as she had imagined. It would be fun to have a guy on the team at least. Some of the boys related better to a guy teacher, so having one would be helpful. Plus, it was likely to make their team meetings more fun.
Walking through the door, she caught sight of Shantelle and Cristal and headed for their table. It was so exciting to be back with her peeps. It was going to be such a great year. She was so engrossed in talking to them that she forgot to look for their new teammate. She was startled by a "hi" from a voice that sounded very familiar. She looked up only to confirm what she already knew. It was Garett!
Lindy was so taken aback that she found herself incapable of responding at first. What the heck was Garrett doing here? She didn't know that he was currently teaching let alone that he taught elementary. Even so, what were the odds that he would end up at her school in the Illinois cornfields? She hadn't seen in him forever. The last time had probably been Logan and Jasmine's wedding. Last she heard, he was living in Ohio. She did follow him on social media, but he rarely posted so it was hard to get information from there. Logan did keep up with him, but he was generally forgetful. Besides, he much preferred talking about his kids to giving the latest news from his high school best friend.
Author's Note: I'm not sure if there's anyone who still remember I Didn't Do It, but I do. Anyway, this idea popped in my head, and I decided to write it. I'm planning on adding at least a little bit more about what happens next so please don't suggest what you what to see happen. That said, I'd love to hear from you if you read this.