A Girl’s Tale

Eavesdropping is a superhuman skill all teachers have– we just don’t let anyone know it. Trust me, I don’t want to know the details of a fifteen-year-old’s life, but I do want to know who is working hard and who is pretending to. So I listen closely.

There were maybe twenty minutes before the final bell. The classroom had that late-afternoon heaviness: backpacks rattling against chair legs from the early packers, pencils shuffling quickly to outrun weekend homework, and then I heard Mia.

Another Rendez-Vous

Knock-knock.
“Yes?” I yell.
“Good afternoon, Judge Harris,” says my secretary, Layne, from behind my office’s closed door. Layne continues in a voice that seems hesitant and nervous, “Remember, the first trial begins at 3pm- that’s in two hours. You’ve already pushed it back twice.”
“I know, I know. I’m getting ready now!” I respond with a sigh. Even though we both know that’s a lie- I’ve only just arrived.

The Loudest Silence

We were on our way out of the building when it happened. The halls were almost empty; the usual after-school rush had faded. The three of us cut through the wing by the theatre to save a few steps on the way to the parking lot. It should have been nothing.