Concealed Hearts (Hometown Jasper #4) - Nicky James Page 0,98
when he headed off to work. I had two things to take care of today. My first stop was the local high school. A few cars sat in the staff parking lot, which told me I was right about the slow trickle of teachers coming in to get ready for the new school year.
I found my way to the office and introduced myself to the secretary, who was tapping away at a computer with a stack of folders beside her.
“Registration is tomorrow. It’s going to be crazy here. How can I help you?”
“I was looking to speak with Nadine Kilimanjaro. Is she in today?”
“She is.” The woman checked over her shoulder. “I’m not sure where she got up to, but I’ll have her paged. If you want to have a seat and wait, it shouldn’t be too long.” She waved at a row of benches just inside the doors to the office.
I found a spot and was immediately launched back in time to my high school days. It was strange being back, yet at the same time, it was oddly grounding. My teenage years had been rough and ended in catastrophe. I never thought I’d see the day when I would be ready to rectify those mistakes and take a new stand.
Nadine Kilimanjaro entered the office. I didn’t recognize her, so I didn’t think she was a Jasper original.
I stood and offered my hand to shake. “Ms. Kilimanjaro. Thank you for seeing me. I’m Dr. Tomi Lee.”
“Lee? David’s son.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Come on into my office.”
We headed to the back section of the main office and into a private room where Nadine had her own space. It was nicely decorated with warm colors and simple furniture.
She sat behind her desk and offered me a spot in front. “How can I help you?”
I jumped right in, explaining my work history and how I was looking to relocate to Jasper.
“And you’re a math and physics teacher?”
“Yes. Primarily. I am qualified to teach English as well.”
“Why would you want to go from teaching at a university level to high school? It seems like a step backward to me.”
“I can see how it looks that way. To me, teaching young minds is the same at any level.”
“True.” She sat back, steepling her hands under her chin as she studied me. “I’ve been shuffling teachers around for the new year. We had a teacher retire in the spring, and I wasn’t planning to replace him if I could fill the gaps with other staff. So far, I’ve shuffled staff around and made it work.” She leaned forward and rifled through some paperwork on her desk. “Physics is a course we haven’t had on offer in a lot of years. No one to teach it. I like the idea of returning it to the curriculum.”
“I’d also like to make a proposal for an extracurricular program. Are you aware of what transpired the other day here at the school?”
Nadine lost a few shades of color. “I am.”
“I think introducing an LGBT awareness program could strongly benefit the kids. Maybe prevent situations like that in the future.”
“And you’d like to run this?”
“I would. Felix is staying with Chief Elkhart indefinitely. His family has kicked him out. He’s scared to come back to school. I want kids like him to know they aren’t alone, and I want them to have a safe place to be themselves. Education is key. For teachers and other students alike.”
“You talk like you have experience.”
“In essence. I want to take an active role in making this community better for kids like Felix.”
She nodded, but I could see the question behind her eyes.
And because I felt like it was something that should be disclosed—or maybe it was just that I needed to say it out loud to someone who wasn’t family—I said, “I’m gay. I can help these kids. I can relate to them. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in life because I couldn’t accept who I was for a long time. I know what it’s like to be afraid of who you are.”
“I can’t offer you the same wage you make at the university. I also can’t guarantee you a full-time position for the first semester since most of our classes figured out already. But I can shuffle things around and assign you to some of our senior-level mathematics classes, including physics, come the second term. Dylan will thank me since math is not his most favorite thing to teach, and that’s where I’ve stuck