Room Without a Door
Chapter Two: The Charms of Naivety and Timeliness
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The meeting was relatively harmless. Since I'd only barely stretched past the lines between student-teacher relationships, they were quite lenient. They were apt to believe that nothing that couldn't be dismissed as innocent and harmless had happened between Grace and I. When the question of sex arose, I all but laughed at them. Grace had denied this allegation, too. She was right about one thing; they'd believed we'd done everything that I had denied Grace. I may not have been firm and clear, but I had drawn lines. I set boundaries. Grace knew that. I was certain she knew.
After convincing the board that this was the only situation they needed to be aware of, they allowed me to continue teaching at my earliest convenience, provided I take the rest of the school year off. What a shock, Grace would be graduating at the end of the year. I knew I would never teach her again. It wasn't unexpected, but the punishment of not seeing her everyday was a bit more surprising.
What I had done, I had vowed to never do. I'd broken one of my own laws and for that I was ashamed. But the fact that I missed her so intensely, struck a cord from within me. Perhaps Grace was right again. Perhaps we were something more than just...well, whatever it is that we were. Perhaps I cared about her a little more than I wanted to admit.
Of course, this changed nothing. We could never be together, and she knew that as well as I.
I was fully prepared when I received her story in the mail, and I did exactly what I vowed I would do. I did not read it, but merely passed it on to a youth magazine that took story submissions. I hadn't expected an immediate reply, but the day the magazine declined her story was the same day I'd received her letter.
I'd tried to push her words out of my mind. I found this task almost impossible. I was deeply touched by all she had written, and well, it was nearly May, and I wasn't her teacher any longer. If she wanted to come see me, I figured she ought to have that choice. She was eighteen and under no jurisdiction not to visit me. It would be frowned upon certainly, but if I knew Grace, she'd be sure no one would find out.
I'd been hired by the local community college to teach a few online english courses. The work was completely different than what I was used to, because I liked interacting with my students. But, it was a steady paycheck and no one could accuse me of inappropriate behavior via the internet. It wasn't my ideal job, but it was something.
Often I've thought about the nature of names and whether they really ever can define a person. But, Grace...she could possess no other name. The very essence of the word itself encapsulates her and sets her apart from any other female I've known. It was haunting how accurate the name suited her, while some of us were taunted mercilessly by antique, out-of-date names like August. But, Grace, her name was perfect.
Her timing, however, could use a bit of work.
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The next chapter's much longer...these past two were mainly establishing background information from both of them. R/R!