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atlafan · 2 years

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a/n: this story is very heavily inspired by Window Shopping by the lovely Tessa Bailey. I literally cannot consume a piece of media without turning it into a fic about Harry, so here we are! These are the only parts I’m posting on here. The rest will be on Patreon!

Warnings: substance abuse, trauma

Words: 2K

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Prologue (1)

Ellie

***

It’s crazy how just a few moments can affect the rest of your life. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, but I’m really trying to be better. Sometimes you have to figure out things for yourself the hard way. I’m the poster child for that, I suppose.

Today’s a really big day for me. In the first time in three years, I actually have a job interview. If all goes well, which I’m really hoping it does, then I’ll be able to stop mooching off my parents. They helped me with the down payment on an apartment, but they can only help with the rent for so long. Plus, I really hate relying on them. They’ve done so much for me, and I want to show them that I can be an adult on my own.

My mom took me to a consignment shop so we could find me some interview clothes. I’m feeling pretty good about myself. Black blazer, sleeveless red blouse, and a black pencil skirt. I’ve got my portfolio, past lesson plans, copies of my certifications, and literally anything I could possibly need to prove that I’m a good fucking teacher.

Not everyone likes teaching eighth graders, but that’s what my specialty is in. I always wanted to teach middle school. I got to, for a little while. Before everything went to shit.

Things are okay now, though, so I’m not going to dwell on it. Dwelling is a step backwards.

***

(2)

Harry

***

Firing and hiring teachers is never easy, but it’s part of the job. I’d rather spend my time applying for grants so my school can have the funding it needs. My teachers think that because I’m part of the administration that means I don’t care about any of them. But I was a teacher myself for a number of years. I know how it goes. I wanted to become a principal so I could start making some real changes to help a larger number of students.

It's not all about budget cuts. Budget cuts are the last resort. I actually end up buying a lot of school supplies myself for the teachers. I declined a pay raise so that my janitorial staff could hire another person. I also did nothing after my super intendent told me to stop them from unionizing. That’s technically illegal, and unions are important. Case closed.

A lot of teaching professionals are leaving to go onto other careers. I get it, I really do. You only get four personal days a year because of all the “free” vacation time we get. You don’t get paid overtime for any of the extra work, so you either burnout or you just stop doing the extra work, which means your students suffer.

Because we need new teachers that we want to have longevity with, we’re offering larger salaries. We were able to get better benefits all around for everyone this last year. We’ve got dental like you’ve never even seen. Also, I helped make sure the pension system stayed intact. Even with all of that, many of the current teachers are upset that they weren’t offered the same salary when they were first hired on. I do all I can to help with raises, but the one drawback of the teacher’s union is that they have fixed raise percentages. It’s a whole thing.

And now, hiring has totally fallen on my shoulders. Usually, I could get a search committee together. I like having a mix of teachers on the committee because I value their input. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get anyone willing to meet off contract over the summer. I don’t blame them, but still, I’m insanely frustrated. So, it’s just me and my staff. The majority of us work remotely over the summer. It’s more cost effective.

We’re on our fourth search of the summer. Our previous sixth grade social studies teacher quit to go work in corporate America. Something about wanting to put their secondary degree in economics to good use. This has been a tough position to fill. Most people with social studies backgrounds prefer to teach at the high school level. Middle school isn’t a ballgame a ton of people are trying to play in.

My secretary, Helen, has been helping me cycle through resumes. We were on zoom late into the evening one night. I asked her to show me some of the candidates that we may have passed over. There was one in particular that I couldn’t understand why Helen didn’t bring her up sooner.

“She has a master’s in curriculum and instruction, and has a certificate in online instructional design. Do you know how valuable that could be if we ever have to go fully remote again? She could host training sessions.” I said to Helen.

“There was a three-year gap on her resume…it was a red flag.”

“Maybe she had a kid or something. Sometimes people have to step away from work for different reasons. We shouldn’t rule this woman out. I’d like to give her an interview.”

“Alright, I’ll send her an email and see if she can come in within the next week. It’ll be good to give her a tour of the school like we did with the other candidates.”

“Agreed, thank you, Helen.”

And so, she set it up. The candidate, Ellie Bishop, will meet with Helen first, then a few other administrators, then me. I want her to have a feel for the school before having to sit down with me.

I get set up in the conference room so Ellie and I can chat in a less domineering environment. Not that my office holds a negative space, but I want to level the playing field a bit. Helen brings her in around 10AM, and my jaw nearly hits the floor. This woman is…wow.

“Principal Styles, this is Ellie Bishop.” Helen smiles. “I’ll be at my desk if you need me.” She leaves, and I make my way over to Ellie to shake her hand.

“Hi, Principal Styles.” Ellie smiles as she shakes my hand.

“Please, call me Harry. It’s nice to meet you, Ellie. Have a seat.”

“Thank you.” She smiles, and sits down. I sit back down as well and watch as she takes out various folders from her bag.

“Did you enjoy the tour?” I ask her.

“Yes, the school is lovely. Although, I’m sure the smell of prepubescent B.O. will be coming back before you know it.”

“Very true.” I chuckle. “The stench usually gets masked by the aroma of Axe Body Spray.”

“Oh, God. I didn’t think kids still used that stuff.” She laughs.

“They think it works like deodorant.” I roll my eyes. “Anyways, I wanted to let you know I was impressed with your CV. You have quite the educational background. You were at another middle school for a couple of years, but then there’s this gap…”

“Yeah.” Her cheeks heat up a little, turning a tinge of pink. “I had to take a few years off for some personal reasons.”

“I figured as much, I’m not judging. But I do need to ask, you’re not a felon, are you?”

“No.” She shakes her head. I was mostly joking, but I can tell she’s getting a little uncomfortable from the way she’s tugging at the sleeves of her blazer. “Can I ask why I got this interview? I was a little surprised, given the gap in experience.”

“Your master’s and certification intrigued me. We had a really tough time when we had to transition into fully remote. If we had someone like you on our team, maybe more of the teachers wouldn’t have felt as lost. We need more tech savvy people here, people who aren’t afraid of 21st century skills.”

“So, it was less about my experience with teaching social studies…”

“Don’t get me wrong, that’s a major plus as well. I mean, that’s what we’re in need of at the moment. Your extra qualifications set you apart from other candidates.” I tell her honestly.

“If I get this job…I’ll have to disclose some things with human resources, right?”

“You only have to disclose what you feel comfortable with, Ellie.”

“No, I mean, they’ll do a background check on me, right?”

“Well, yes, that’s pretty standard.”

“And if something were to come up, I could easily not be offered the job.”

“It depends on what it is. You said you’re not a felon, so as long as you weren’t lying about that, then you should be fine.” I lean forward a little, trying to make my body language a little more comforting. “You don’t have to tell me what it is, but if I know ahead of time, that could be helpful.”

“But what if you’re not going to offer me the job?”

“Full disclosure, Ellie, you’re getting this job. You’re more than qualified, and your references were impeccable. Your previous principal had nothing but good things to say about you.”

“Oh, good.” She smiles with a sigh. “I don’t want to get into too much, but it may come up that I stepped away from work because I went into a private business with my ex-boyfriend. Um, I wasn’t getting paid enough to cover the cost of my master’s, and he was making a ton of money, so I joined him. What he was doing wasn’t totally legal. I got sick from it, um, really sick.” She chews on her bottom lip. I can’t help but look at her mouth. “It may come up that I was in a rehabilitation facility for a while.”

“Wow.” I sit up straight and blink a few times. “Thank you for sharing that with me. That must have been tough.”

“I went so I wouldn’t go to prison. They couldn’t fully prove that I was involved. My parents wanted me to go to rehab anyways, so I figured it would be better to…to detox there with other sick people than around inmates.”

“So, when you said sick you meant-“

“I was addicted to drugs.” She admits. I place my hand over hers and give it a squeeze. “It was an accident. I regret it. I’ve been sober for almost two years now. It’s why I haven’t worked in a school for some time. I was living with my parents after I got out of rehab, and I started off working for my mom. She had me doing some secretarial stuff. I’ve been living on my own for about six months at this point.”

“That’s amazing. You should be proud of yourself.”

“I…I am.” She swallows. My hand is still on hers, but neither of us seem to mind. “I would never dream of putting kids in danger. I take something every day so I don’t have the same craving I used to, and it genuinely helps. It’s how I’ve been able to stay sober. I don’t want to get into more detail than that right now, but I just wanted to assure you that I’m not a danger.”

“Thank you for disclosing that with me. HR definitely would have found out and brought this up to me. I’d like to take a chance on you, Ellie. I think you have some great potential. We could start you off on a probationary contract, for the year, and then go through a formal review process to see if renewing your contract makes sense.”

“Would I still be getting paid the advertised salary?”

“Definitely.” I nod, and take my hand away from hers. “You have your master’s, you should get paid for that.” I smile. “Helen will give you more details, and will email you all the paperwork you’ll need to fill out.” I extend my hand to her again to shake.

“Thank you so much, Harry.” She beams and shakes my hand. “You have no idea what this means to me. I promise I won’t let you down.”

***

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