Page 2 of When It Burns

We are halfwaythrough second period when I feel my Apple Watch ping with a notification. I look down to see a text from my best friend, Hannah. She teaches science on the other side of the school, and I have a pretty good idea of what I'm about to find. I grab my phone and scroll down to see her message.

Hannah: WHAT THE HECK CAROLINE?! A bunch of your kids came to my room and said the new fire chief was a total asshole to you. What the hell happened?!

Me: Yeah, it’s definitely been a morning. Monday night margs at Maracas tonight? We can discuss then.

Hannah: You’re on.

I throw my phone in the drawer of my desk, trying to turn my focus back on the lesson I created onThe Great Gatsby. As we are still early into the school year, I'm trying to hook my students’ attention while also building relationships with them. So far today, all I have managed to accomplish is becoming the talk of the school.

When we returned to the room after the incident with Chief Johnson, I spent the remainder of class trying to distract the students from my humiliation. I launched into a monologue about Jay Gatsby and the ideals represented in the novel of the American Dream. Despite my efforts, all my students wanted to discuss was the new chief.

It was clear that Chief Johnson did not make a favorable impression on the students of Springside. While part of me is exceptionally angry at the way he talked to me, I certainly don’t envy the position he is in now. Springside is a tight community, and it’s hard enough for outsiders to find their place here. I’m not going to go out of my way to tell anyone about the encounter, but I have no doubt that the community gossip is already running rampant about the new fire chief. Plus, something tells me that his outburst probably has very little to do with me at all. I wasn’t sure what happened to make him upset, but I was almost positive I’d been a convenient scapegoat. After a few years in education, I’ve gotten used to diffusing situations between my students, and occasionally some of my coworkers, so I wasn’t as upset as I probably should have been.

I try to hold on to my anger, but I know I hadn’t been innocent in our encounter this morning. I generally try to see the best in people, and I know that the new chief will be facing the town firing squad after his inadvertent insult to Huey.

“Okay everyone, don’t forget we will be reading Chapter One tomorrow inThe Great Gatsby. Make sure you bring your books to class and be ready for a pop quiz on the Roaring 20s and F. Scott Fitzgerald,” I declare loudly to my students right before the bell rings. “Have a good day! I will see you tomorrow!” I yell at each of them as they walk out the door.

I start the slideshow over and go to stand outside my door to welcome my next class of juniors into my room. As soon as I enter the hallway I notice Coach Will Thompson coming my way. Will is the Springside equivalent of John B from Outer Banks, and I often find my female students writing his name with hearts in their notes. He graduated a year before me, but we have always been friends.

Will stayed in Springside and has risen through the ranks of football coaching quicker than anyone in town has ever seen. Really anyone could have predicted this since he was the captain of the team all four years of high school. Plus, his charisma, his ability to bond with his players, and his love for Springside combine to make him incredibly popular.

Throughout the years, there have been plenty of meddling women in town who hoped we would end up together, but it was just never in the cards for us. He’s more like a brother to me than any type of love interest.

I always secretly thought he and Hannah would be perfect together, but since the school board frowned on workplace dating, I have never voiced those thoughts to either of them.

“Caroline, what’s this I keep hearing about an asshole fire chief yelling at you this morning?” he asks when he gets close enough to talk to me without the students in the hall overhearing.

“Oh, well yeah, he wasn’t happy with me. He accused me of trying to burn the school down because I had my Volcano candle burning during the fire drill. I meant to blow it out before we went outside but I was uncaffeinated and totally forgot,” I explain sheepishly.

“I heard the fucker started shit-talking Huey in front of everyone,” Will says with a look of horror on his face. Will and Chief Huey have been close ever since Will’s sophomore year of high school. Will had caught his dad in a compromising position with one of his rival teammate´s mom from the next town over, and his parents went through a nasty divorce and custody battle when we were in high school. When his dad lost, he ran off on Will and his four younger siblings. He hasn’t seen him since.

Huey caught Will drinking on the football field late one night and instead of busting him, he sat down and started talking to him. They talked for hours, which led to Will revealing a lot of the anger and hurt that he’d been repressing from his father’s absence. That night on the football field changed Will’s life, and Huey became a stand-in father ever since. Huey sat in the first row when Will graduated high school, found him scholarships for college, helped him get his first job as a coach, and hasn’t missed a Springside game since.

“I think he was just voicing his frustration at the way some of the rules hadn’t been as strictly enforced as he prefers” I reply, trying to reign in his anger.

“What a dick. Are you okay?” he asks, his concern evident on his face.

“Yeah, I'm great. Really.” I add when he hesitates.

“Okay well, I better go. I have a meeting with the mayor and superintendent on our new season in ten minutes, but if you have any problems let me know. I plan to let them know that I don’t appreciate the way the new fire chief handled today,” he says.

“Oh, please don’t. There is no need in getting your panties in a wad. Everything is fine.” I smile at him to prove I'm truly okay, but I could tell it was futile. When Will got something on his mind, there was nothing we could do to change it.

“I’ll see you later,” he calls out over his shoulder, and it doesn’t escape my notice that he completely ignored my plea.

CHAPTER TWO

THEO

To say I was having a shit day would be the understatement of the century.

My first day at work started with a frantic call from the principal at the high school begging us to come before the state department came. After my altercation with the beautiful teacher in the hallway I had the distinct impression I had majorly put my foot in my mouth. I hadn’t meant to come on as strong as I did, but people needed to take fire safety more seriously. If my life wasn’t proof of that I don’t know what is.

We made the rounds to the other schools in town conducting their state-mandated drills, and thankfully, they went more smoothly than the high school this morning. However, it hadn’t escaped my notice that there were still a ton of issues. It seemed to me that Huey and his older crew turned a blind eye to some of the problems and now it was going to be my job to fix them—great. I took a minute to be grateful that several of his most faithful crew members had retired when I’d entered. They had trained their replacements, but as a result, the small station was mostly younger guys.

The sinking feeling only grows stronger as I pull up to the fire station, now later in the afternoon. As I put the truck into park, I notice the mayor’s silver Ford pickup in the lot, and I know my day is about to get a lot worse.

I enter the station and make my way to my office. Sure enough, as I turn the corner, I see Mayor Brian Jones sitting in my office typing away on his cell phone. Great. Might as well get this shit show over with.

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