Member-only story
The Teacher’s Regret
There were so many warning signs.
Janet Schwartz thought being a teacher was her purpose in life. She loved the realm of knowledge and the idea of enlightening young minds. Though she started as a sixth-grade teacher, eventually she got her dream job of teaching high school kids at a preparatory school. Better yet, she’d even be teaching English — always a favorite of hers.
She was thirty-two, bright and bushy-tailed — and so, so naive.
Back in her own high school days, she had been the ambitious sort — always wafting from club to club, responsibility to responsibility, everything from band to cheer practice.
High school had been the first step onto greater things. Janet wanted to make sure others had those same opportunities.
What she hadn’t realized was that she would have quite a few troubled students in her midst. There was one girl who always showed up to class reeking of weed while one boy slept during class no matter what warnings she gave.
And then there was Ian Wellington.
At first, she didn’t think much of the way she would catch him staring at her — only to smile in a way that was bold instead of shy. Janet assumed he was just an attentive student whose grades reflected the assumption.
