Lover of Mine ~Chase Elliott

this is me trying | 17

J A D E W R I G H T

It only takes one moment, one decision, and you can change your whole day, someone else's life, and maybe even your own life. I found myself last week at a crossroads. The choice I made to get up on the stand and testify for Chase would define the rest of my life and career. Usually, when people are faced with the unknown, most people turn around and avoid it, but I wasn't letting Lauren get her hands on Mackenzie again.

I woke up early Saturday morning with an empty feeling in my stomach. My whole future depended on this one day. I kept having to constantly remind myself that I made the right decision. The right decision might not always come out the right way to others, people perceive someone else's decision differently, they weren't me, they didn't know my thinking process. All they saw was a teacher, who broke a school policy. I wasn't going to walk into the school board meeting with a grand, pre-written speech. I was going to speak from my heart, this job meant everything to me and I was going to prove that.

I forced myself out of bed, getting myself ready for what seemed like another trial. Chase was over in Las Vegas for NASCAR's annual West Coast Swing. I missed him like crazy, he gave me a sense of peace and I really need that peace and reassurance today.

Clyde 💙: Good morning darling, sorry I can't be there with you today. I love you always no matter what happens today!

Jade: I love you too, I'll call you later after the meeting. Good luck in qualifying, I'll be thinking about you!

After getting ready, I walked to the kitchen looking for something to eat even though my appetite was nonexistent. I forgot about breakfast and got ready to leave for school. My whole body was filled with anxiety and stress, it almost seemed like I'd forgotten how to function. I felt like I was stuck in an unrealistic reality, some sort of crazy dream that you can never wake up from.

It was a short ten-minute drive from my house to the school, it was the longest ten minutes in my whole damn life. I walked down the school's hallway towards the school board's conference room, which was already was full of board members.

"Ah Ms. Wright, come on in."

I stepped in, closing the door behind me shut.

"Have a seat Ms. Wright and we'll get started."

I sat down in front of the line of board members before me. All people who I knew well from throughout my years of teaching here. Some of the members were even current or past parents of my students. Normally, people would think that I would have some of advantage knowing so many people on the school board, but I knew I wasn't safe and I wasn't planning on being saved.

"Today we are here to determine the state of Ms. Wright's fourth-grade teaching career. Ms. Wright has violated a policy set in place four years go. Policy number 6-A, section 4 was broken. Ms. Wright has confessed a relationship with a current student's parent within her class."

"We'll start with Ms. Wright's statement and proceed with any further questions. Ms. Wright, the floor is all yours."

"Thank you." I stood up. "I made a choice and because of that choice my student ended up with the right parent, she ended up in a safe and loving environment. A safe and loving environment that I want all my kids past, present, and future to have whether it's in my classroom or in their own homes. I am the type of teacher that would do anything for all my kids to succeed, and I did just that for one of my kids who was in need. And yes, in the process it came out that I was dating this particular student's father but that doesn't make me biased with the rest of my students. My standards and expectations for my students have remained the same despite my personal life and decisions. I didn't ask to fall for this student's father, it happened naturally. This student's father and I go way back and our relationship was going to happen eventually, this situation was not avoidable. But I would never in a million years let my personal relationship dictate how I treat the rest of my students or how I run my classroom. At the end of the day, this decision rests in your hands but I don't regret a single thing. I believe that this happened for a reason and that's why we're all here today. In the school's eyes, I did something wrong but in reality, I did nothing wrong. All I did was fall in love, helped my student be with the parent she deserves to be with. I did those two things and the school is calling it a crime? What the school should really call it is life. I love this school and all the kids and I hope you all see that. Thank you."

"Any further questions for Ms. Wright?"

The room was silent, I didn't know whether it was a blessing or a curse. I couldn't read anybody's facial expressions, there was no clear answer.

"If there are no questions, Ms. Wright at this time we'll ask you to step outside for a few moments  and we'll discuss and put it to a vote."

I nodded and immediately left the room. My breathing felt heavy as I tried to catch my breath.

"You said everything you could," I whispered to myself as I paced back and forth. I could hear their voices muffled through the wall, barely catching a few words here and there. I stood outside for what seemed like hours, but twenty-five minutes later I was called back in.

"Ms. Wright, before we get to our decision, we'd like you to know your service to this school and our community is greatly appreciated. Your statement was quite powerful. A few years ago, the same policy violation came up with another teacher. We let that teacher go and we have to be fair and just and consistent with our decision. If we fired the first one and then kept you? That would put out a bad and inconsistent message. We're sorry, it was a close vote, but we have decided to terminate your job, effective immediately."

One choice, one damn choice can change everything...

I left that room with my head held as high as it could be. I stuck by what I believed in and just accepted the fact that maybe teaching at this school wasn't meant to be in the first place.

I went to my classroom, collected my things, and never looked back...