She turned away from the mirror and went to get ready for her day. She
had a meeting with the principal before her afternoon classes. She was an
elementary school teacher, and that morning was a late start for a half-day
for a teacher work day. Normally, she'd be in her classroom, either setting
up for the next week, grading papers, or working on lesson plans, but the principal had wanted to see her, and that meant she needed to be on her best
behavior.
Most people wouldn't think of her as an elementary school teacher since
she seemed to be the more outspoken one of her group of friends. But just
because she stood up for those she cared about and herself, didn't mean she
couldn't take care of children. She loved teaching, adored enriching lives
and watching for that spark when a child truly understood what they were
trying to learn. Her job wasn't easy, she worked far too much and got paid
way too little, but she still loved almost every moment of it.
But even as she thought that, she couldn't help but wonder if today
would be her last day—that sense of knowing coming at her again. She
tried to brush it off like she usually did. There was no reason that she
wouldn't be a teacher after today. No reason at all. She worked harder than
any of the others at her grade level. She was the one they sent the so-called
problem students to. She didn't think any of her kids were problem
students. Some just needed a little extra help or had a different way of
learning. That was her job as a teacher, to facilitate what each student
needed. Some people didn't understand, but she did, and she wasn't going
to stop fighting for her kids anytime soon.
And now she was getting angry and standing on her soapbox for no
reason. The principal probably just wanted to talk about her lesson plans or
something. The woman was very hands-on, a former teacher herself, even if
she was a little standoffish in the personality department. Just because
Lia had dreamed a really weird dream didn't mean it would leach into
the rest of her life like it might have in the past.
By the time she had her coffee, did her morning yoga that she really
didn't like but needed to do anyway, and got ready for her day, she was still
a little early when she got to her classroom. That meant she had a few
minutes to make sure that the students' desks were situated and that
everything would be ready for them when they returned that afternoon.
When the time for her meeting came, she rolled her shoulders back and
did her best not to act as if she were worried when she stepped into the
principal's office.
"Shut the door behind you, Ms. Burner."
Ms. Wayne had a stern voice and an even sterner reputation. Lia
wasn't afraid of her, but she wasn't going to lie and say that she wasn't
intimidated.
"What was it you wanted to meet with me about?"
"Take a seat."
Lia did, that sense of dread in her belly tumbling around and growing
bigger by the second.
"Ms. Burner, there's no easy way to say this. But after this meeting, I'm
going to ask you to calmly pack up your things and go home. There's a
substitute teacher waiting to take over your class. You are no longer needed
at the school."
Lia blinked. "What? What are you talking about? You can't just fire
I'm a damn good teacher." She probably shouldn't have cursed, but it
was too late now, and she was scared—not even angry at this point. The
anger would probably show itself soon.
"It's come to my attention, no…it's come to the board's attention that
you took off too many days in a row last quarter. And while some schools
may allow that, we do not. Your personal life seems to have bled into your
professional one, and the board is not pleased. We are not pleased. There is
no union here, Ms. Burner. There is no recourse for you. If you fight this,
it'll be harder for you in the end. I'm sure your friends will be able to help
you."
Lia had taken time off to help nurse her friend back to health after
Dannie had been hurt. And then she'd done so again when Emmy was hurt.
She had used what she thought was accrued vacation time but, apparently, that wasn't how the board wanted to play it. She hadn't missed the way the
other woman had emphasized the word friends either.
The board wasn't happy that Lia was friends with the Halos.
And because the new relationship between the humans and the shifters
was so fragile, there was no recourse for her. She could fight, she could go
to the press, she could try to sue for discrimination, but what would that
accomplish?
She'd always been a fighter. Always stood up for others. And yet, right
then, she couldn't think of a reason to fight for her job…but she could stand
up for what was right.
Stand up.
The words slid into her mind like the dream had, and she did her best to
ignore them, not understanding why that sense of knowing would come
back with a vengeance now.
"You can't just let me go," she said, her voice growing stronger by the
minute.
"Ms. Burner, this wasn't my decision alone. And, yes, we can just let
you go at our discretion. We strive to have teachers who help enrich our
students' lives. We cannot have someone here that will keep them in danger.
And you having to spend so much time away from the school and with
those people, tells me you're not putting your students first. You're putting
them first."
Lia had heard a lot of prejudiced things in her life. Had witnessed it
firsthand and had stood up for those who needed her to do so. She had
never been one to back down when someone was in pain because another
was misguided or just ignorant or frankly, an asshole. Yet she had never
thought the words coming out of this woman's mouth would actually be
directed at her. What the hell was wrong with people that they didn't want
someone who happened to know shifters to teach their children?
Now, she was pissed.
"You're telling me that the board is a bunch of prejudiced assholes that
are going to let me go because I happen to be friends with a Pack? That's
some bullshit right there."
"Watch your language."
"You're firing me anyway. I might as well do something to make it
legit. Because you using some lame excuse that I took too much time off—
which we both know is a lie—is just petty. You might as well come out and
just say that you're elitist and don't want your precious little humans
touched by a wolf. Guess what, I'm human, too. And let me tell you
something, honey, the wolves were living amongst us long before you
realized you were going to judge them for not being like you, so you can go
fuck right off."
She couldn't quite believe she had just said that, but it didn't matter
now. She wouldn't have gotten that angry, wouldn't have said what she had
if the woman hadn't had such vitriol in her tone about those that Lia
called friends. Because, fuck that shit.
"The parents don't want you here. They're the ones that called, and we
agreed that you're not wanted here. Get out of my office. Now. Before I call
the police."
"Oh, don't worry. I'm done. But the children that I'm leaving better get
the best damn education out there. Because they are the ones you're
hurting. Not me." A lie. She hurt so damn badly, but she wasn't going to
give this vile woman and her precious board the satisfaction. "And if you
try to fuck me getting another job anywhere outside of this school, I'll go to
the press. I'll name and shame this damn school. I'll name and shame you
personally. I didn't sign a confidentiality agreement, and I won't be quiet
when it comes to the way the board is being a bunch of prejudiced
assholes."
And with that, Lia stormed out of the office and past the other
teachers who had totally been listening in. No one would meet her eyes, so she flipped them off on her way out. She was done with this school and the
way she'd had to hide who she was so she could fit in. She wasn't the calm
and demure type. But she had done it for the students.
And now she was being kicked out.
Seething with rage, she went to get her purse out of her desk and froze.
Someone had written wolf lover and whore in red marker on her
whiteboard, and now she knew exactly where she stood.
She wasn't wanted. And, apparently, in the school, she had never been
wanted.
Just the way Hunter didn't seem to want her.