Glimpses

Chapter 1

September 10th, 2021

"Mr. Hodson," Rory greeted, nodding in greeting to the tall senior student whom she noticed heading upstairs, as she was on her way down. 

Rory wore a navy blue pencil skirt, a dark fitted blazer and a pair of modest loafers. Her hair was pulled into a low bun at the back of her head, a few loose hairs tucked behind her ears as it was already the end of the work day.

"Ms. Gilmore," the student replied with a similar nod. 

The teenager had a bit of a celebrity aura to him, making him, no doubt, popular amongst his peers, and his attitude reminded Rory very much of Tristian or Logan. Girls were constantly chasing guys like that. Other guys looked for their company too, hoping their popularity would rub off on them. In high school it was mostly about popularity, but once, not if, he went to college it would soon turn into a game of business connections and landing the whale for many. The teenager had no idea how well Rory knew the type.

"I hope your trip to Cape Cod was productive," Rory added with a hint of sarcasm, the young man having missed the first week of his classes in the beginning of the semester, family obligations a.k.a parties, travelling, business meetings, and on occasion also mischief providing convenient excuses for him to miss school. 

Rory, however, was not intimidated by things like that nor his father's money, having had her share of experiences with spoiled students and the Hartford society.

Rory knew, of course, that students like that weren't just spoiled, they were also often deeply neglected from parental love and caring, parents being too busy or genuinely heartless - even that happened. Often the mischievous behavior of these students was a result of attention seeking and rebellion for the lack of truly free will, it being the only way they knew how to handle their emotions. But this didn't mean Rory should or would give them slack. There was no slack in Chilton. There was just understanding and compassion that she could offer them.

"I expect that make-up report on my desk by Monday," Rory said, cleverly, heading down the carved wooden staircase she'd walked down so many times before that she already had muscle memory of it.

"Yes, Ms. Gilmore," Mr. Hodson, first name Jeremy, said, adding a dash of flirting by saluting her in passing. 

Rory knew Jeremy liked to win over teachers like that, being all friendly and even flirting with some. And even if she would never think about any of her students like that, deep down a woman approaching 37, having not been on a real date for nearly a year and half, nothing that could be considered a good date at least, took any compliment she could get, even if she would never admit to being flattered by one coming from an 18-year-old.

Rory had her leather tote bag pulled over her shoulder, the bag holding her laptop and a pile of 10th graders pop-quizzes that she was taking home to check. Teachers had homework too, and this was just the beginning of the school year. 

"Second week on the job and you look tired already," Rory said as she reached the ground floor, making an observation of a familiar dark-haired, now greying from the sides, man looking particularly disheartened. By the looks of him he was heading back to his office.

"I've just got to go call back Rebecca Chester's mother who's insisting we remove sugar, gluten, lactose and meat from all food selection served at the school," Max explained with a roll of his eyes, checking that there wasn't anyone to overhear him, not looking particularly enthusiastic at the prospect. He looked older, naturally, and a little rounder, the wrinkles only adding to his character.

"I think Hanlin had the students do a debate on that the last time that topic was raised," Rory recalled. 

She had more recent experience from how things were run at Chilton these past few years than Max did, and there were some very capable students in Chilton who could do research like nobody's business.