FHS Faculty and Staff:

I hope you enjoyed your summer and took some time to relax and spend time with your families. It has gone by quickly, and our first day back at school swiftly approaches.

Enclosed is an itinerary for Thursday, August 28, and Friday, August 29. Dress will be casual. The office will provide lunch on Thursday, and the community center is serving lunch to the district on Friday. New teachers must report to the administration building for orientation on Wednesday, August 27 at 8:30. Classes commence on Monday, September 1.

This year, we will be welcoming three new teachers to our faculty. Will Morris has just graduated from UW and will be teaching World History. He will also serve as the assistant football coach and will coach track and field in the spring. Linda Harris is moving up from the middle school and will be teaching freshman English. Finally, Lucy Dawes joins us from Lancaster, California as our new French teacher. I know you will do everything you can to make them feel at home.

As of yet, we have been unable to fill Mr. Fisher's position. If we do not find a German teacher by the Friday before the students return, the counselors will need to rework the schedules. In view of this, please do not expect class lists before the following Monday morning.

Thank you for being flexible. I appreciate everything you do. Let's look forward to a great new school year.

Dr. Fred Boaz
Principal
Forks High School

New teachers report tomorrow. I had actually been working at the school since Monday of last week, setting up my classroom, previewing text books and adapting my curriculum. Occasionally, a few of the teachers who likewise chose to get a head start on the school year stopped in to introduce themselves.

In particular, I met and quickly befriended my department head. Aracelle Delgado, a native of Mexico, taught upper level Spanish, and the stories she shared of her homeland fascinated me. She was an excellent cook, which I experienced firsthand when she brought me some of her mouthwatering tamales for lunch. I wistfully regretted not taking a more active interest in French cuisine and could offer her nothing more impressive than chocolate chip cookies in return.

She was also an amusing gossip – not spiteful, just nosy. I didn't consider myself one who jumped to initiate or even perpetuate gossip, but listening to Aracelle's accented voice inform me of everything I "needed" to know about my colleagues was deliciously entertaining. Thus, when she slipped into my classroom as I was working on a bulletin board, I grinned in anticipation. She never disappoints.

"Lucy! Have you been in here all morning? Did you see who Dr. Boaz just interviewed?"

"No, did you?" I asked.

"No but Judith did. She thinks Dr. Boaz has found a German teacher. He is young and single. What do you think?" Aracelle glowed with her news.

"Do you ever notice how all German teachers are male? I wonder why that is…" I barely masked my smile.

"What?" Her shift from giddiness to irritation was fun to watch. Aracelle was happily married, so I could only assume she had expected me to partake a little more in her excitement. I dearly hoped she did not fancy herself a matchmaker.

"I'm teasing you. I can't help it. You make it so easy," I grinned cheekily at her. "So how would Judith know if he is single?"

"He wore no ring, of course," she waved her hand dismissively at my ignorance. "She said he was very good looking. Are you not curious about him?"

"I'm curious about how curious you and Judith are about him." Judith Lindley was Aracelle's partner in crime professionally – she taught the lower Spanish classes – as well as socially – she had almost as little control over her tongue.

"Pff! I see why you are 27 and single!"

"That's 26 and single, Señora Snarky!"

Aracelle managed a graceful eye roll. "Well, if you are so comfortable on the shelf collecting dust, I shan't disturb you. Anyway, he should be present at our departmental meeting on Thursday afternoon when we meet with the middle school teachers about curriculum alignment."

I frowned. "Does either of us really need to be there? French and German are not offered at the middle school. Who are we supposed to 'align' with?"

She smirked saucily. "You asked, not I. And yes, you are required to attend."

I tossed a paper ball at her head. "That's enough for my virgin ears. Are you working tomorrow?"

"No, Marcel and I are driving to Port Angeles for a doctor appointment. It will be late when we return."

"Okay, I'll see you on Thursday."

Light suddenly dawned on her face, and she looked at me mischievously. "Ah yes! You will be at orientation tomorrow. All the new teachers must be there. Please, do keep me informed!"

"Okay, there must be at least a dozen other single male teachers around here," I pointed out, "so what's the sudden interest in this guy?"

"He's new, and he's not local," she said. "Trust me, you'll learn to appreciate those attributes after a year of Forks!"

Thanks to my conversation with Aracelle yesterday, I was curious and a touch nervous about possibly meeting the new German teacher at any moment. Of course, I realized how silly I was. Will Morris, one of the other new teachers at our site, was also single, and his presence at my elbow as we waited for the orientation to begin hardly affected me. Currently Will was pressing me with questions about my former school's football program and stats, though I had politely admitted to him more than once that I never kept up with that sort of thing. He must have thought I was being modest because he continued in the same train as I glanced for the thousandth time toward the entrance to the conference room. The movement I had seen was only the superintendent briefly stepping in and out.

"Think you'll make it to the game next Friday?" Will asked.

"What? Oh, no. I don't think I ever attended a single game while I was in Lancaster, and it's unlikely I will start now," I said. "Sad, I know."

"Dr. Boaz told us about you! Welcome to Forks!" the assistant superintendent's voice floated towards us from the room's entrance. She certainly seemed to have warmed up since that single, brief nod I received when I had passed her coming in.

I turned in the direction of her voice and felt my already paltry self esteem plunge into the depths of my sour stomach. Well Aracelle, I'm afraid he's a little out of my league, I thought. I quickly took inventory of my appearance and found myself beyond mousy. I was sadly teacher-ish in a lonely librarian kind of way.

This was nothing I ever cared to lament before. Why I should start now was beyond me. Maybe it was the way he carelessly stood in the middle of a group of nervous teachers while adorned in unmistakably designer clothing, his eyes taking their time to scan the room and its occupants. My eyes hastily flew down to study the pattern of the wood veneer on the tabletop so as not to meet his. An empty chair waited beside me, and I inwardly groaned as I noticed it.

Or perhaps it was the fluid motions with which his body made its way through the crowded room to that empty chair. Murphy never did cut me any slack.

"You do not mind that I sit here?" Almost a statement – the arrogance! His voice was too rich, too smooth. It slid too easily along my sensitive spine.

I could not imagine that voice mastering harsh German phonetics.

A slight jerking of my head was my attempt at a nod. I decided to become very interested in my plan book. It's always a good time to tinker with lesson plans, after all. Perhaps I was being rude, but really, he did not have to know just yet that we would teach at the same site and in the same department. At the moment we could still be indifferent strangers.

He disagreed.

"You are new to Forks as well?"

I had no choice but to look him in the eye then or else appear an utter imbecile. His brown eyes were a few inches from mine. I know these are silly things to say about your colleague when you first meet him face to face, but his eyes were positively luminous, his skin flawless fine bone china, and his soft brown hair aesthetically disheveled with warm golden tones.

What a time to regress to the level of my students in the hormone department! I hope I at least answered his question with another nod. I can't be sure. I don't quite remember.

The superintendent saved me from further embarrassment when he commanded everyone's attention at that moment and began to introduce himself. Well, I was almost off the hook. It was a good five minutes before the nameless German teacher removed his intent gaze from my face and turned his attention to the front of the room.