Touched by Angels Page 0,4

purpose. The feeling had stayed with her in the days that followed, and when she'd penned her name to the contract, Brynn had felt instinctively that she was doing the right thing.

Following the break, Brynn headed down the crowded hallway. Several students leaned against their lockers in passionate embraces. This was a foreign element to Brynn, since she'd attended a parochial girls' high school as well as taught in one. It was a bit of a shock to discover how friendly students were allowed to get in the school hallway.

A ruckus broke out at the end of the corridor, and several heated words in Spanish flew at her like fiery darts. Brynn's knowledge of the language was limited, but she was well aware the two boys weren't exchanging pleasantries.

After making her way to the problem, she found Emilio Alcantara and an African American she didn't know staring each other down. A crowd had circled around the two.

"Is there a problem here?" Brynn asked, maneuvering into the tight circle.

"If you know what's good for you, Teach, you'd better leave," Emilio advised.

"I can't do that, and now I suggest you two boys give it up and go about your business. Fighting isn't going to solve anything."

The black boy looked at her with such unadulterated hatred that for a wild second Brynn was caught speechless. She'd never had a student, or anyone else, look at her in quite that way.

A shiver ran up her spine when she noticed both boys had knives. She grabbed Suzie Chang, the shy girl from her class, by the shoulder. "Get help immediately," she ordered, her heart in her throat.

Suzie took off running.

By then the Hispanic youths had lined one side of the hallway and the blacks dominated the second half. The two ethnic groups glared at one another, waiting for an excuse, any excuse, to fight. The atmosphere was explosive, the tension as tightly strung as a fiddle.

Without thinking, Brynn positioned herself between the two boys. Her head was spinning and she felt lightheaded with fear. "Stop," she ordered in her most authoritative voice, but the request sounded hollow even to her own ears.

The sound of footsteps running toward her was so welcome, Brynn nearly collapsed with relief. A male teacher and a janitor exploded onto the scene, and the knives disappeared as if by magic. Emilio and the other youth looked as if they were the best of friends. Emilio wrapped his arm around the black youth.

"What's happening, bro?"

"What's going on here?" Doug Keast, the teacher, demanded, looking to Brynn.

"Emilio and this young man were involved in an exchange of words. Everything's under control now. Thanks for your help."

"Knives?"

Brynn hesitated, not wanting to rat on Emilio but at the same time unwilling to lie. "They both drew out knives, but - "

"I don't need to know anything more than that," Doug barked, escorting both youths to the principal's office. "I'll need you to make a statement."

"What's going to happen?" Brynn asked, scurrying behind Doug and Emilio. A second male teacher appeared to escort the other boy.

"I'm gonna be suspended," Emilio said, glaring at her as if she'd turned traitor on him. "I thought you were different," he spat out. "You ain't no different than any of the other teachers." His dark eyes, leveled at her, were filled with animosity.

"Listen here, Emilio, it wasn't me who got involved in an altercation."

"A what? You know, if you're going to teach English, the least you could do is learn to speak it first."

"A fight," she said, losing her patience. She was half trotting in order to keep up with Doug's long-legged stride. Her fellow teacher was making haste for Mr. Whalen's office.

"You know the rules about knives on school property," Doug told Emilio.

"What knife?" the youth demanded. "She was seeing things. I didn't have any knife, and neither did Grover, ain't that right, bro?"

"The new teach needs glasses," Grover claimed, sounding as if they'd been strolling through a bed of wildflowers.

"Tell him, Miss Cassidy," Emilio said, staring at her. "There wasn't any sign of knives, now, was there?"

"If you expect me to lie on your behalf, I won't do it," Brynn told him in no uncertain terms. "And if you're both expelled, then - "

"They'll be suspended for three days," Doug interrupted.

"Then you have no one to blame but yourselves," she finished.

"I ain't coming back," Grover announced in chilling tones. "School ain't gonna help me or my homies. I'm outta here, understand?" He jerked his elbow free from the