Sweet Caroline

#72 Good teachers are hard to find

Monday is the longest day ever. The kids seem to sense that I'm nervous about my meeting later that day, so they act out, making we wish I wasn't such an open book. When there are only fifteen more minutes left until the bell will set me free, I decide to just give up. I put on some music and tell the kids to get up and dance. Rose is used to me doing things like this at home, so she joins in without hesitation, dragging Gracie along with her. The other kids take a bit longer to truly let go, but once they do, we've got ourselves a dance party.

"Hey!" Tiffany sticks her head into the classroom, laughing when she sees what we're doing. "You're too loud, Miss Collins. Turn it down! Unless you're planning on inviting my class, of course."

"Yes!" the kids cheer. "Invite them!"

Tiffany runs back to her classroom next door and returns with all her kids in tow. That means the room is now filled with about fifty kids jumping around and doing the steps to the popular pop song they've been practicing during lunch breaks. I know the steps as well – courtesy of Rose – so I join in and teach the steps to Tiffany.

"Miss Green is much better at dancing than you are," Manny Thompson informs me, grinning.

"Yes, much better," his brother Tommy agrees.

I smile and ruffle their hair. "I'm still better than the two of you."

"No, you're not," Rose says, deciding the dispute between the four of us. "You're the worst dancer ever."

"Hey!" I say, not able to stop myself from grinning. This is the most fun I've had all day.

When she bell sounds, Tiffany and a few kids do the dance one more time while I walk some of the more quiet and sky kids like Will Fillon to the playground, making sure they're alright while Tiffany watches the loud ones that jump around even when I don't want them to.

"Hey!" I spot Nathan waiting for Rose, chatting to Mrs. Fillon and Therera's father. "Rose and Theresa are still inside. We had a little impromptu dance off with Miss Green's class," I explain. Will is right next to me, smiling up at us. "Will here as some moves, Mrs. Fillon. He's a talented dancer." As Will beams with pride, I throw Nathan a nervous smile. He knows my meeting with the headmaster is this afternoon, deciding my faith at the school.

"Let's go see what our girls are up to," Nathan tells Theresa's father. "If we don't go get them, they may never come out. Not when there's dancing involved."

I give him a grateful smile. We can't touch or kiss or even have a conversation longer than five minutes at school, since that wouldn't be professional, but it's nice to just be around him for a little while, even if it's with other parents around. It makes me feel calmer.

"Holy shit," he breathes when he sees the insanity going on in my classroom.

"Language, Mr. Storm," I chastise him. "This is still a school."

"Yeah," Theresa's dad agrees, grinning at us. "Save that talk for the safety of your home." He's one of the parents that if openly supportive of my relationship with Nathan. He even told Nathan a few days ago that he thinks we're good for each other.

"Daddy!" Rose exclaims when she spots us. "Can I stay a little longer?"

Nathan shakes his head, ignoring his daughter's sullen face. I know that he needs to get her to the dance class he signed her up for a few weeks ago, but she isn't happy about it. She loves the class, but right now she wants to stay and dance with her friends instead.

"How about we do this again the last five minutes of class tomorrow?" I propose.

"Yes!" she cheers. "Can I pick the song?"