Read Online Chemistry Lessons by Rebecca H Jamison - Free Book Online

ask me, Alan Erskine needs professional counseling.” Rosie
realized once she’d spoken that she’d been a little too bold. School-wide
discipline wasn’t her domain. “He has a lot to deal with at home. It’s no
wonder his mouth gets him into trouble.” The truth was, Rosie related to Alan.
She knew what it was like to deal with multiple stepdads.
    During his mother’s last breakup, Alan had come to school, over and
over again, with the smell of hard liquor on his breath. What made it even
worse was that he was over six feet tall and at least two-hundred and fifty
pounds.
    Once, he’d been drunk enough to make a pass at Rosie. She hadn’t
reported him. You had to guard your reputation in a small town like Lone Spur.
There was already plenty of talk about Rosie dating a man four years younger
than herself. How would it be if Betty found out that Alan made a pass at her?
    “Alan’s an intelligent boy,” Rosie said, trying to sound objective, “but
as teachers, we just can’t give him the help he needs.”
    Principal Moore gave her a cursory “thank you.” He grabbed another
stack of files and headed for the auditorium, where they held their faculty
meetings. They arrived to find four rows of teachers sitting there. The
auditorium was exactly the same as it had been when Rosie went to school,
complete with the gold velvet curtain across the stage and the purple painted
letters on the wall that read, “Spurred on to Victory.”
     The principal glanced around at the other teachers and whispered, “The
new hire isn’t here yet. I’ll introduce him when he arrives. It’s going to be a
banner year for our science department.”
    She wasn’t sure why Mr. Moore was so reluctant to say the name of the
new hire. Maybe he had hired someone from Morrisville or Copper City—someone
Rosie didn’t know. Of course, anyone would be better than Ms. Klein. The woman
had a temper the size of a tsunami. She actually threw a potted plant at Mr.
Moore’s head two months before when he announced their insurance premiums would
be increasing. Needless to say, Ms. Klein had decided to find herself
another job.
    She sat down in an auditorium seat next to her friend, Jade Harris, who
taught Spanish. Jade was a country woman through and through. She had been a
rodeo princess during high school and still looked the part. Hardly a day went
by that she didn’t wear at least one article of clothing with sequins. Today,
she wore her honey-colored hair swept up in a chignon that she had accented
with sparkly bobby pins. “Did I hear right? He’s finally hired a new science
teacher?” Jade asked.
    Rosie nodded, smiling, as Principal Moore started the meeting. It was
the usual beginning-of-the-year business, which mostly involved implementing
funding cuts. This year, the board had decided to do away with the band
program. The year before, it’d been the pottery class—thanks in part to a
broken kiln. Rosie doodled flowers on her notebook—daffodils, hyacinths, roses,
and irises—as Principal Moore fielded questions from the other teachers. Then
she heard that voice. “What if I found some donors to help us keep the band
program going? How much would we need?”
    Rosie’s seat squeaked as she turned to see who was speaking. There,
sitting three rows back and wearing a pink oxford, was her new neighbor—the one
who wanted to bring former drug addicts to Lone Spur. She balled her hands into
fists. What was he doing here?
    Principal Moore flipped through his stack of papers. “Last year it ran
us about twenty thousand dollars.”
    While Destry wrote down the number, Principal Moore extended his arm as
if he were introducing a celebrity on a late-night talk show. “Faculty, I’d
like to introduce you to our new science teacher, Destry Steadman.”
    “What?” The word sprang from Rosie’s mouth unbidden. First, he bought a
ranch without knowing anything about ranching. Next, he wanted to build a
resort next door to help drug