[ WP ] A substitute teacher falls in love with the absent teacher from their notes .

Susan glanced down at the notes the regular teacher had left her. She had finally gotten the children to quiet and they were all reading their copies of Lord of the Flies. She was proud of the fact that she had gotten them to settle so quickly. It was no easy feat for a substitute to enter a classroom and gain respect. It took a special blend of humor and a look of “ Do Not Fuck With Me ” to bend a group of ten-year olds to your will. Susan imagined it was similar to someone ’ s first day in prison. Minus the fist fight in the cafeteria of course. After a final skim of the tops of her student ’ s heads she turned her attention to the notes of their regular teacher. One Mr. Jim House. 
 
 
 Hello fellow educator. Welcome to room 312! A few notes to make your day easier: 
 
 -Do NOT use the bathroom in the teacher ’ s lounge after recess. I don ’ t know what Bob Jenkins eats for breakfast every day but I don ’ t think it contains much fiber. I ’ m not a doctor but that man needs to see one. 
 
 -If you are looking for a good conversation during lunch sit with Edna Cooper. She will be the steely haired woman sitting by the window. Ask her about Alaska. You won ’ t be disappointed. 
 
 -Andy Taylor has been having a hard time ( he is the red headed boy sitting in the back ). He might act up at some point but please be gentle with him. He is not the type of kid who learns in this environment. If he gets upset ask him to draw you a picture of a horse fighting something. He really is very talented. I also think something is going on with him at home. He comes in with odd bruises some times. He really is a great kid. Remember. Horses! 
 
 -There are some candy bars at the bottom of the desk, feel free to help yourself. I sometimes use them as rewards but mostly eat one whenever I feel like jumping out the window. 
 
 Take good care of my kids, 
 
 Jim House 
 
 
 Susan smiled to herself and re-read the note. She liked this Jim House already and found herself wondering what he looked like. Men with both a sense of humor and beautiful handwriting were hard to come by nowadays. 
 
 The morning passed as well as could be expected when dealing with modern ten-year olds. Andy Taylor did indeed have a mini-meltdown when faced with a math problem he couldn ’ t understand. Susan whispered her long unfilled dream of seeing a horse fighting a wizard. He immediately calmed and got to work. She was amazed at the result. The evil wizard gave her a chill. 
 
 At recess she made sure to stay clear of the bathroom after a large pale man exited. He was sweating slightly from his efforts. *Mr.* *Jenkins* *I* *presume. * She made a mental note to thank Jim House for the warning. 
 
 At lunch she met the acquaintance of one Edna Cooper. The woman was gruff and strong but happily recounted her adventures as a crab fisher in the seventies. When Susan asked what Jim was like the woman immediately softened. She smiled a knowing smile and produced her phone, bringing up a picture of a brown haired young man. He had kind eyes and needed a haircut. Susan felt her heart skip a beat as she stared at the picture. Edna Cooper gave her a look and took her hand. 
 
 “ If I was thirty years younger I would be on him like a fat kid on an orange crush. ” 
 
 Throughout the afternoon Susan found herself thinking about Jim House ’ s eyes and re-reading his note. This was crazy. She knew that. She hadn ’ t even met the guy and was already imaging what their children would look like. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before. Despite her best efforts she couldn ’ t shake the feeling that Jim House was the man she would marry. By the end of the day she felt flushed and light headed. 
 
 After the final bell she made her way back to the teacher ’ s lounge with the intention of asking Edna Cooper for Jim ’ s number. The room was unusually quiet. Teachers stood in clusters whispering to each other. Susan approached Edna, who was quietly crying into a tissue. 
 
 “ What ’ s going on? ” she asked. 
 
 Edna turned to her. Her normally sturdy face was melted by grief. 
 
 “ Oh. Oh my. My dear girl. It ’ s Jim. He went to a student ’ s house today. A kid named Andy Taylor. He confronted the father or something. He ’ s been shot! ” 
 
 The woman buried her sobbing head into Susan ’ s blouse. Susan felt the world do a slow spin. She was very heavy all of a sudden. She began to fall but Edna caught her. 
 
 “ Susan? Susan!... ” was all she heard before the world went gray. 
 
 edit: grammar is spelled with an a. 
 
 edit 2: Thank-you to everyone for the encouragement. I started to work on part two this evening but was reminded that I am a morning writer. So I promise to attempt part deux tomorrow morning. 
 
 edit 3: Part two is posted below and the final part is [ Here. ] ( http: //www.reddit.com/r/JoeCormier/comments/312gna/the_substitute_part_3/ ) Thank-you for reading everyone!
