Page 68 of Fireworks at Pennycress Inn
Indicating, Stacey swerved the car and pulled up on the side of the road as the car behind them sounded its horn.
‘What are you doing? We can’t be late.’ Polly frowned. They were nowhere near the school.
‘We won’t be late. This is me. I’m never late for anything.’ Unclicking her seatbelt, Stacey turned to face Polly.
‘What? Have I got lipstick on my teeth or something?’ Pulling the visor down again, Polly pulled her lips back and scrubbed at her teeth. Not that she could see anything on them. She looked back towards Stacey.
‘No, you do not have lipstick on your teeth.’ Stacey rolled her eyes.
‘Then what? And why do you suddenly look so mad with me?’ Polly frowned. The last thing she wanted to do was to upset her friend. Zac was going to be annoyed with her when he found out what she’d done. She needed Stacey in her corner.
‘I am mad at you because I’ve just figured out what you’re playing at.’
‘I’m not playing at anything.’ Polly tried to look away, but Stacey caught her gaze again. Great, this was it. She’d had a feeling she wouldn’t be able to keep this from her.
‘You’re quitting so Zac can take the promotion. I can’t believe that man! And to think I thought he was good for you.’ Stacey shook her head vehemently and brushed her hair from her face. ‘What a low-level rat.’
‘No, he’s not. You’ve got it all wrong.’
‘Huh, not from where I’m sitting.’ She held out her hand. ‘Here, give me your phone. I want to give him a piece of my mind.’
Gripping her mobile tightly in her hand, Polly shook her head. She’d have to come clean now. ‘It’s not what you think. Zac doesn’t know I’ve quit.’
Dropping her hand to her lap, Stacey stared at her. ‘You’re making no sense. No sense at all.’
‘He has a lot more riding on this promotion than I do. If he doesn’t get the rise, his gran will have to move nursing homes or else his parents will have to put the family home up for sale.’ She spoke quietly, hoping Stacey would understand.
‘But you’re missing out on what you wanted? Why? He’s a grown man. He can sort things out for himself.’
‘I know, but I…’ Polly whispered the rest of the sentence. ‘I think I love him.’
Sitting heavily back in her seat, Stacey let out a long, slow breath. ‘You think you love him?’
Polly shook her head and looked out of the window, watching a cyclist mounting the path to cycle around them. ‘I know that I love him, and I don’t want him to go through what I had to with my grandma. I don’t want him to have to worry about money like I did. I want him to be able to enjoy the time he has left with her. And if I still worked at the reserve, and he got the promotion, I know he’d feel bad for me and that would come between us. I don’t want anything to ruin what we have. It’s taken us long enough to get here.’
‘Oh, Polly.’
She glanced across at Stacey. ‘You’re not going to have a go at me?’
‘Would it do any good?’
‘No.’
‘Then there’s no point. But I’m warning you, he’ll find out and he’s not going to be happy about it either.’
‘I know.’ Polly took a deep breath in. She’d have to cross that bridge when she came to it. She just needed a little more time to think of a way to present this to him, to show him she’d done it for the both of them and that she’d be happy teaching again. Because, given time, she was sure she could be. If she just didn’t let the unnecessary paperwork and politics stress her out this time round, she could be. Things would be better. Yes, the reserve would always have a special place in her heart but she was doing this for the right reasons and she’d learn to live with the sacrifice. She knew she would. ‘Now, can you please start driving again before I’m late for my interview?’
‘Fine. Whatever.’ Stacey clicked her seatbelt back on. ‘I still think this is a mistake.’
‘I know.’ Polly nodded. ‘I’ll ply you with coffee and cake as an after-school snack whilst we mark together and I know you’ll come round.’
39
Letting the heavy door to Daisy Chain Primary click shut behind her, Polly made her way through the car park and down to the street, thankful that the schoolchildren had long since disappeared home.
Sinking to the wooden bench on the edge of the grass verge, Polly slumped her shoulders. Stacey had warned her the interview process had changed since she’d last got her teaching job, but being on show all day had been gruelling. First a lesson observation, followed by being scrutinised as she spoke informally to a group of children about their visions for the school and what they were looking for in a new teacher and then the actual formal interview and all that between endless hours of waiting around.
Watching the wind drag a leaf across the pavement, Polly pinched the bridge of her nose. Stacey had told her to go straight into her classroom to tell her she was done, but she’d just needed to get out, to get away from the people she used to work with, who were now sitting around discussing her flaws and imperfections and deciding on her future.
