AVA
Teaching was usually such a joy, but today dragged on for far longer than necessary. It didn’t help that I was dealing with a mild hangover,
either.
I wasn’t looking forward to seeing Theo out in the parking lot. Knowing that he’d been there the whole day made me feel like some kind of prisoner.
Still, a small part of me felt bad for leaving Theo outside. I felt guilty, like I left my dog out in the yard or something. But I didn’t want to just accept his being assigned to me, either, because that would mean Dad would win.
He always got to win.
When the final school bell rang, I packed my things, hanging back for a few minutes in case any of my students needed to pop in. I had an opendoor policy. If anyone had any questions about homework or just wanted to talk, I made an effort t
