Chapter Sixteen: Saint of Boston:

I was happy back in Boston. Sometimes I was, to be honest. I just wanted to share my love of reading to my students. Now that I think about it, I don’t think my principal actually liked me. Maybe I’m overthinking it, but I just knew by the way he looked at me. For years, I tried to ignore it. I just loved sharing what I loved to read with my students. I tried to make the learning fun for my students. After all, I was once a student too. I didn’t enjoy just sitting in class all day listening to my teachers just talk on and on. That was so boring. I vowed to never be that kind of teacher. From my first day, I kept that promise.

My first day wasn’t anything to write home about so to say. (Write home about. Why the hell did I say that? I sounded like an old man.) I just step up my classroom and got to know my coworkers. It was the first day of school. I hadn’t expected much. I thought it was going to be an easy day. Nothing remarkable stood out from that day. I made a couple of friends, and everything was just bland.

From there, I laid down roots. I had my friends. I loved my job. My apartment was nice. What could possibly go wrong?

I did see the cracks in my life in the past year. I tried my best to ignore them. After all what school doesn’t have its rumors? I don’t listen to rumors. That’s how mess gets started and we loose track of everything. That’s what I tried to tell myself. Well, look what happened.

I shook my head. Try not to dwell on that. It’s summer. You are trying to rebuild your life. Don’t focus on the backstabbing from your former boss. Your former boss who could lose his job. Your former boss who could be going to jail.

I couldn’t help but smile to myself on that one. Okay, that was pretty funny. I shook my head. Come on, I’m much better than this. Don’t be petty. It’s still kind of funny.

My life in Boston was okay. Not the greatest thing in the world, but it wasn’t total crap either. I don’t know what I am doing after the summer.

My attention came back to reality when my phone rang.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Mr. Muir! Mr. Muir!” a girl’s voice yelled. I held my phone.

“Yeah?” I asked. “Who is this?”

“It’s me!” the girl said on the other line. “Jeannie!” I raised my eyebrow.

“What is it? Is something wrong?” I asked. I don’t know why my former students keep calling me. It was quiet this morning, not counting the texts. I would have to get her off the phone. I looked at the library behind me.

“Did you get my text?” Jeannie asked. I narrowed my eyes.

“No…” I said. I could hear her screaming on the other line. I had to hold the phone away from my ear.

“Come on!” she yelled. “Check it! Check it right now!”

“Right now?” I asked.

“Yes!” Jeannie shouted. I held the phone away from my ear. Why does she have to be so loud?

“Okay, okay,” I said. “I’m going to do it right now.” I opened up the message app on my phone.

“Are you doing it?” she asked.

“Yes!” I shouted. I found her text on the screen and opened it.

“Look at this!!!!” she wrote. I rolled my eyes at the many exclamation points as I scrolled down. There was a link in the message. I tapped the screen. My jaw dropped. Six more of my colleagues got arrested? What the hell was going on?

“Nathan?” I heard behind me. I looked up at the door.

“Uh… coming!” I shouted. I hung up the phone and walked back into the library.