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she pretended to arrange papers on her desk while avoiding eye contact with them. Her first class was trigonometry, one of her favorites in high school. She looked forward to showing them all the wonderful applications math could have in the real world.
     
    When the bell rang, Delia stood and began her rehearsed spiel about the expectations of the class while trying not to sound too rehearsed. Then she passed out the syllabus and the student textbooks. When she looked at her watch, she noticed that she had finished her forty minute presentation in just under twenty three. She was more nervous than she thought. Now she had to figure out a way to occupy the rest of the class time.
     
    “Um, so, like I said, I’m Delia James, um I mean Clark.” The students eyed each other skeptically. They were either confused as to why she wasn’t sure about her own name or confused about why she was starting her rehearsed speech from the top again. 
     
    Delia didn’t want to have to explain the name thing. Her divorce wasn’t final so technically, she was still Delia James. But soon she would be Delia Clark again, so she decided, in order to avoid further confusion, she would start the school year as Clark. But James was so ingrained in her mind that she had made the error and now didn’t know whether to go take it back or not.
     
    She decided to kill time by trying some math. After writing the problem on the board, she went to her roster and randomly selected a name.
     
    “Ian Landgren , would you like to give it a try?” she asked, holding out the marker for him. A tall athletic boy with a shaved head approached the board and took the marker from Delia all the while smiling politely.
     
    “Um, Ms. James, Clark, whoever you are, you’re new here so you probably don’t know this, but this is the dumb class.” Two or three other students giggled while a few more voiced their agreement. “And I’m the dumbest of the dumb. The only reason they let me into this school is because I can knock people over really good on the football field. That and my daddy’s rich.”
     
    Ian smiled at his willing self-effacement. He didn’t seem the slightest bit embarrassed by the fact that everyone thought he was dumb, including himself. In fact, he seemed quite content with the realization. His complete acceptance of his academic failings incensed Delia. She could relate to how Ian had obviously been told something so many times that now he believed it.
     
    Just like Jason had told her that no one else would ever want her. He had told her that so many times that she believed it and it prevented her from leaving him sooner. But she knew he wasn’t right. She had the memory of being wrapped in Chase’s arms to remind her that she was wanted. For a brief moment, she thought about trying to find him and continue their relationship, but decided it was probably best to just leave it in the past. Maybe she would seek him out next summer and rekindle the passion.
     
    For now, she decided to concentrate on being the best teacher she could be. That included walking Ian through the current math problem and building up his confidence.
     
    ***
     
    After the first day of school, Principal Samuel Howard had a meeting with all the new teachers. He was new as well and he just wanted to make sure everyone was adjusting all right.
     
    Delia sat in his office alongside the five other new teachers and eyed him uncomfortably. Something about Principal Howard’s appearance didn’t work. His features seemed far too young for the full head of grey hair and grey mustache he sported. If he dyed his hair, he could easily pass for late thirties, but he seemed as though he purposely tried to make himself look older. Why would anyone want to do that?
     
    “As you know, this is my first year as a high school principal. Last year I worked at Greenbury Boarding School as an Assistant Head of School, and I am very happy to have been offered the position as