work hard.
He had trouble getting them to focus, and it left him irritated on his lunch break as he sat in the lounge with a cup of coffee between both hands.
“You look how I feel,” came a voice from the doorway that Nik didn’t recognize. The person sounded masculine, shoes clicking with purpose as they hit the tile floors, and the metal legs of the chair squeaked as it was pulled back from the table. “I’m new here.”
That explained it. Nik was mostly familiar with all the staff, and apart from subs, most people didn’t make him feel off-kilter. “Nik Mandroux,” he said, not offering his hand. “Orchestra.”
“I’m Seth Sjöberg. Kids call me Mr. S. I just took over for Bettina.”
Bettina Smith was the other fifth grade teacher who had been trying to delay her maternity leave as long as possible. Nik wasn’t surprised to hear she’d gone though. She’d been miserable the last time he spoke to her. “Yeah, I go with Mr. M myself,” he offered, a sort of olive branch because he knew his attitude was far from welcoming.
“I had a feeling. The kids never shut up about Mr. M,” Seth answered him. He drummed his fingers on the table. “I hope they aren’t too hellish for you today.”
They would be, he knew. He had fourth and fifth graders after lunch, and this late into the year, there was no getting them to focus after they’d eaten and played. “Trust me, it’s fine. I’ve been doing this a while.”
Seth hummed in thought, then stopped drumming his fingers, but the annoying echo of it stuck in Nik’s head. “Can I ask you something?”
Nik tried not to bristle. “Sure.” He was positive his smile was a grimace, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.
“Is it hard?”
He knew what Seth was asking, but he played dumb anyway. “Is what hard?”
Seth made a choked sound, then sighed. “My sister’s blind. Or well…visually impaired? I never know the right terms, you know? Like hearing impaired is bad, visually impaired is… good?”
Nik waved his hand. “Personal preferences. Some people with some usable sight prefer the term, some don’t.”
“And you?” Seth pressed.
Nik’s jaw tightened. “I have no eyes, so blind works for me.” He let that linger between them before speaking again. “Are you asking me because your sister wants to be a teacher?”
“It’s like a family curse,” Seth said, then let out an awkward laugh. “Teaching, I mean? My parents are teachers, grandparents are teachers. I wanted to be a fire fighter, but I bombed the exam so badly.”
Nik let out a small laugh in spite of his irritation. “Yeah?”
“I’m the opposite of athletic. I’m not even sure what I was thinking. Uh. I got my degree in German studies.”
“And now you teach fifth graders?” Nik asked, his smile getting a little wider.
Seth huffed a small laugh. “Looks like it. Liz wanted to, though—teach, I mean. She graduated at the top of her class, and her first year in college was straight As, all that shit. Nothing like me. Then um…” He breathed out. “She was having trouble seeing at night, and they found out she has this thing, Stargardts?”
“I know it,” Nik said, which was true, he did. But a lot of people tended to think every blind person in the world was an encyclopedia of eye disease, and he was definitely not.
“She just started using a cane this year. She’s thinking about getting a dog,” Seth told him. “She’s gone back to life, you know? Like before. But she kind of freaked out a few weeks ago and said she wasn’t sure anyone was going to hire her. I had no idea what to even tell her, but then I saw you, and…”
Nik felt for Seth’s sister, even if he didn’t understand. He had strange, vague memories of sight that made absolutely no sense whatsoever. But his was never really a loss, it just…was. “I didn’t set out to become a teacher,” Nik told him after a beat. “I wanted to be a musician. And I was, but my mom died, and my dad got sick. I have a very prestigious, very expensive degree from two music academies, and I teach orchestra to ten-year-olds. I can’t say that it’ll be easy for your sister.”
“Oh,” Seth breathed out.
Nik shrugged, not really in the mood to sugar coat anything. “I’m not saying it’s impossible, but she’ll have to fight. It sucks. It’s exhausting. It makes you want to quit some days. Hell, I