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Chapter Two
For most of Isabella's life it was her understanding that the only people that got called to the principal's office were students. And students that had gotten into trouble to boot!
So why did she feel as though she was being punished as she stood in front of Principal Molina's desk. He was an older man, with long silver hair pulled into a braid behind him, and he scrutinized her thoroughly over the top of his thin framed glasses.
"Sir, I don't quite understand what happened today in that classroom, but I do know that that kind of behavior shouldn't go unpunished!" Isabella remarked to him, trying not to get frustrated as she thought back to Jacob Black's outburst in her first period class.
She had been right in thinking that the entire school would know about the events by second period and all day she'd had kids staring into her classroom through the gaping hole where the frosted glass used to be. Mr. Molina had told her that they would talk after the school day had ended and the janitor had swept up the glass on the ground. And for the rest of the day Isabella seemed to be in a fog as she went over the syllabus in her other classes. She'd prayed that the rest of her day wouldn't be nearly as difficult as her first class.
"Miss Swan, I understand your concern for Mr. Black's actions, but we are not at liberty to do anything about it. Some teenagers just have a bit more difficulty being in such an institution. I've spoken to his father over the summer and I understand that he's under a lot of stress as it is, seeing as he has to also take care of his father who's disabled. He's a young man who can't be blamed for his outbursts," Mr. Molina stated as he tapped the tips of his fingers together, staring at Isabella as if she couldn't quite grasp what he was saying.
Once again Isabella was at a loss for words.
"He can't be blamed for his actions? Of course he can! He was not under the influence when he spoke to me in such an inappropriate way. He was perfectly aware of his actions," she said in what she hoped was a calm voice.
"Miss Swan, you don't seem to understand what I'm saying," Mr. Molina sighed.
"You're right. I don't understand," Isabella stated settling her hands on her hips and giving the man in front of her a stern look.
Mr. Molina rubbed at his eyes under his glasses and then set her with a level gaze.
"Something that you need to understand is that these children are under a lot of scrutiny. They are constantly having to deal with outside forces. Their rituals are being taken away from right in front of their eyes and they are under a lot of strain. There will be many children who won't be able to contain their anger, especially when you, a stranger, and no offense, a white woman comes in and starts telling them what they will have to be doing."
"But I'm their teacher! They're supposed to be learning these things as part of the curriculum so that they can pass their SAT's and go on to college!" Isabella stuttered out. She was in complete shock as to what this man was telling her.
"Yes, I know that, but some of these children won't be going on to college. It would be pointless to expect every child to commit to the level of work you are trying to force on them. They won't be able to follow it, and it won't make any difference in the end. Miss Swan, you'd do well to figure out where exactly your position is, and try not to be over bearing on these kids. That will be all, have a good evening."
And that was it.
Isabella wanted to shout at him. Call him out on his ignorance. Scream about how in the world he managed to become the principal of this school when he didn't even seem to care about the students that he watched over.
She realized that she had been standing in front of the desk still and finally turned on her heel and walked out of Mr. Molina's office. She walked down the short hallway to the front double doors that led to the parking lot. There were a few young boys hanging around outside that gave Isabella a curious look. Of course they knew that she was the crazy English teacher that had made Jacob Black freak out.
Isabella let out a frustrated breath as she walked over to her old Kia Rio and unlocked the door. The car was a piece of shit, but she'd had no other choice considering she'd used all of her money on her apartment, food and new clothes for her job.
Her shit show of a job.
Getting into the car she nearly slammed the door behind her and sat in the drivers seat staring out the window. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess and to top it off it had just begun to rain. Isabella finally pulled out of the parking lot and drove back through the reservation towards the town of Forks.
She felt numb as she pulled into her parking space and grabbed her bag from the passenger seat. She locked her door as she exited the car and walked through the rain to her front door. As soon as she was safe behind the front door, her feelings seemed to assault her mind and she sunk to the floor. Tears spilled from her eyes as sobs wracked her body.
It was an odd sensation seeing as she couldn't entirely pinpoint why she was crying. There was an ache in her chest and she couldn't stop thinking of Mr. Molina's offensive words.
Was it true that the kids wouldn't care about what she said because she was a white woman? Because she didn't belong in their community? She didn't think that was entirely true, otherwise Mr. Molina wouldn't have hired her to begin with. And yet, why did he not give a damn about what happened to his students after they left the high school? It was as if he was giving the kids the realization that they couldn't become anything at all other than a native who lived on the reservation. They were all destined to stay on the reservation in his eyes, and he didn't care for giving them anything other than that to believe in.
And then there was Jacob Black. That poor boy who already had to take care of his father and himself. Isabella knew more about that than anyone else. She'd had to take care of her mother as well as herself while growing up in Phoenix. Her mother who had been so flighty, and had barely even thought to sit down and pay the bills so that they wouldn't loose their power or water supply. Sure, Isabella had been bitter about it growing up, and still was a little, but still, the way that boy had gotten so angry. So irrationally angry at her.
The tears came harder then, and again Isabella was confused as to why they kept falling. The ache in her chest seemed amplified and grew bigger as every minute passed.
Outside the rain ironically began to fall harder and thunder started to accompany it. It was so loud, and Isabella realized how empty this house felt with just her inside of it. Perhaps she would need to get a cat to keep her company...
Finally she managed to stand herself back up and walk into her small blue bedroom. There was barely enough room to walk around her full sized bed to her white dresser that held all of her neatly folded clothes. She slowly undressed from the restrictive blouse and skirt, and kicked off her heels without falling over. She took out her silver earrings and unlatched her bra. She almost moaned at the feeling of letting the girls go free.
Despite the fact that she was a small girl, she definitely wasn't stick skinny. She had a C cup bra size and her hips were shapely as a woman's ought to be. She was a petite girl, and by no means fat, but she was absolutely no super model.
She slipped into a clean pair of black cotton panties and threw on a soft heather gray t-shirt with a pair of black calf socks. Throwing her hair into a messy bun, she picked up her dirty clothes and tossed them into the hamper next to her dresser. She then snatched the heavy, white cable-knit blanket from the foot of her bed and wrapped it around her shoulders as she walked back towards her kitchen.
Her hand unconsciously reached up to rub her chest where she felt the ache inside of her. It was a strange feeling that she'd honestly never recalled having before. Perhaps it was just because of the entirely stressful day she had endured.
With a sigh she took down a white mug from her sparse cabinet and filled her kettle with some water, setting it on the stove to boil. In the meantime, she sat at the kitchen table, her hands folded under her chin as she thought over everything once again.
Now that she thought back on it, the events of the day seemed to have happened so quickly, although during, they had felt excrutiatingly drawn out. Shaking her head, she wondered what she would do for the rest of the four days that she had to work. For the first time since college she found herself wishing for the weekend to hurry to meet her.
The high pitched whistle of the tea kettle blared through the kitchen and Isabella poured the steam water over her tea bags in her white mug. Once it was finished she sat back at the table and held the warm cup in the both of her hands. The reddish color of her tea made her think of Jacob Black's russet colored face twisted in anger. Her own gut twisted at the memory and the ache sharpened in her chest, making her draw in a deep breath.
Perhaps it would be better if she just watched some mindless TV.
In her tiny living room she settled on the comfy gray loveseat she'd bought after moving to Forks, and settled her blanket over her body. Flicking on the television she settled on some pointless drama series, hoping that the over dramatic problems of the characters on screen would distract her from her own dilemmas.
She managed to watch three episodes of whatever show was on, when she had finally finished her tea. Looking at the clock on her cable box she realized that it was already ten o'clock. Had that much time honestly passed? It hadn't felt like it.
Standing up, she stretched her legs and put away her mug into the sink. Wrapped up in her blanket she made her way back to her room, turning off the lights as she went. As she settled into her bed, underneath her quilted white comforter she lay in the darkness and listened to the rain against the roof. As the ache in her chest grew impossibly larger, so did her dread for the next day of her new job.
-8-
The next morning, Isabella sat in her old Kia Rio in the parking lot of La Push High School for at least fifteen minutes. For a long while she just stared at the entrance to the school, watching some of the kids enter. She wouldn't admit it, but she was looking specifically for Jacob Black... And she was mentally preparing herself for the day ahead. It wasn't until she caught sight of the clock and realized that her class would be starting in only ten minutes that she drew in a deep breath and got out of the car.
"I'm a grown woman! I have nothing to be nervous about! I didn't do anything wrong," she whispered to herself, hoping that her pep talk would soothe her nerves. However she found her anxiety level flying through the roof the closer she got to her classroom. As she reached for the doorknob she breathed in deeply and pulled her head up high, trying to at least look the part of the adult she was supposed to be.
Walking into the room, it seemed as though the entire class went silent at her entrance. Isabella hoped that the kids would at least be easier to teach today.
After setting down her tote bag beside her desk again she reached into it and pulled out one of the text books inside of it as well as her folder full of lesson plans.
"Good morning class," she said in what she hoped was a steady voice. Her hands were shaking as she pulled out the roster and a red pen to mark everyone in class.
"Quil Ateara." she said softly, praying that the boy wouldn't be in class. If he was there, then that probably meant that her friend would be too.
"Here." came the reply that made Isabella's stomach twist in knots.
"Jo-Joseph Birchman?" Isabella stammered slightly and swallowed nervously, afraid to even look at the next name on the list.
"Here."
Isabella paused for a moment and tried to steady her quivering.
"Jacob Black." she finally called out.
Silence.
Isabella looked up from her paper in surprise, scanning the room for the angry Jacob Black. But all she saw was an empty desk where he should have sat. There was an immediate sense of relief that she felt wash through her, but it disappeared as quickly as it came and she felt the ache inside of her rib cage reappear.
She tried to ignore it as she continued with the roster. Everyone else was here. Except for Jacob Black. Something about that made her uneasy. Where was he? Had he gotten into trouble with Mr. Molina? Maybe he'd stayed home because he was afraid of her. Millions of scenarios passed through her head but she trudged on with her lesson as she'd planned.
Somehow she was able to find comfort as she began her lesson on The Scarlet Letter. Literature had been her friend throughout most of her life and she felt at ease reading over the words that she'd read many times before. Although, not many of the students seemed to be as interested in it as she was. But that didn't mean that she wasn't still determined to make these students just as interested as she was.
After her first period class was dismissed she prepared for her second class of the day and briefly wondered if Jacob Black would show up for any of his other classes. Maybe he was just avoiding her class out of fear of what she might say to him.
But she was wrong, because Jacob Black didn't go to any of his classes that day.
And he didn't show up on Wednesday.
Or the day after that.
Or the day after that...
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