Nora looks at herself in her full-length mirror on the back of her closet door. Today was her first day of being a teacher. She couldn’t believe that it had taken two weeks for her test results and background check to clear. She should have done her own background check and handed it to Principal Kramer. She still held a Top-Secret clearance, but it took a security company almost two weeks to clear her.

Christina was back from Hollywood and was working on another project. Kelly had gotten a job as a receptionist with an insurance company. She met the manager one night at the bar where she worked. She had just come out of the closet about her sexuality and divorced her husband. He had been seeing another much younger woman behind her back.

She ran an insurance company and their former receptionist had moved with her husband to South Carolina. So, she needed a new receptionist. Kelly had always been nice to her and helped her through her divorced. She also got along with the customers extremely well. So, she offered the receptionist job to Kelly and she accepted.

Melody was in school and was taking special classes. Nora had her seeing a therapist about her abuse. So, she could overcome the nightmares and self-doubt about herself. Ginger and Melody were getting along like they had grown-up together. During the two weeks since Melody came to live with Nora. She has come to find out what a true parent is. She knew that Nora and Kelly would always be there for her. She was becoming close to Ginger and loved the fact she had an older sister.

Kelly walks up behind Nora as she stood feeling nervous before the mirror. She knew Nora was nervous because today was her first day as a teacher. She had seen Nora work hard last night putting together her lesson plan for her classes she was teaching. Not only was Nora teaching the government class that Mr. Talbot had walked out on, but she was teaching an advanced Spanish class.

“I have never seen you this nervous before. You, have always had a calmness about you. Why, are you so nervous?”

Nora just looks at Kelly’s reflection as she stood behind her. She was nervous because she was dealing with teenagers, not grown-ups.

“Because this is a new experience for me. Adults, I can deal with. Teenagers, on the other hand, are something that is going to be new for me.” Nora couldn’t just pull her gun out and shoot them or punch them if they got in her face.

She was going to have to use a different set of skills to handle hormonal teenagers. She knew they were going to test and push her to see what they could get away with. However, she knew how she was going to handle them. As for Ginger being in her class. She was going to treat her like she does other students.

“Well, I know you can handle those students. Just be yourself and trust your instincts. I know those students will learn you are a teacher that they don’t want to be on the bad side of.” She places a kiss on Nora’s cheek.

“Thanks.” Nora goes and grabs her bag and purse.

“You ready to go Ginger?” Nora looks over towards her older daughter.

“Yes, ma’am.” Ginger was just finishing up her breakfast.

Melody had already left for school. She felt comfortable enough to take the school bus to her school. She knew she didn’t have too because
either Kelly would take her, or Nora would take her. Sometimes, Christina would take her as well. She had made a friend in school and wanted to spend time with her on the bus.

Nora and Ginger take the Mustang to school. Kelly took her car to work. Christina was taking her truck to work when the weather wasn’t nice outside. Normally, she took her motorcycle to work.

“You’ll be fine mom.” Ginger saw how nervous her mother was.

“Thanks, sweetie.” Nora drives them directly to the school.

She parks her mustang in the teachers parking lot and walks inside the school. Nora checks in at the office and pulls any mail that was in her box. She heads towards the classroom assigned to her and start writing her name on the board. She also put the pages they were going to review today. Plus, their homework and chapters they needed to read before coming to class tomorrow.

While she waits for the students to show up for class. She reviews the student’s names in her first class and their grades. Some of them were doing okay, but the others weren’t so bad. She did read the letter left by the substitute teacher that had been teaching her class. She said that a lot of the students that were failing because they weren’t reading the assigned pages. When she called on them. They had no idea what was going on.

Nora makes a list by class of which students had been called on and weren’t understanding the material. She was going to call on them and have them read the book in class. When the first bell rings, Nora stands outside by her door and watch as the students come walking in. She was also watching the hallway for any problems.

Once the students were inside the classroom. Nora closes the door behind her and heads towards the front of the class. She notices some students were already writing down everything wrote on the board, but others weren’t writing anything down.

She takes a deep breath and slips into her professional personality. The same one she uses when she is giving instructions to a bunch of new recruit’s.

“Good morning class. My name is Nora Midnight and I will be your new government teacher. Each day when you come to class. I will have our agenda up on the blackboard, along with any announcements you need to know about. When I start writing on the board, I suggest you do too. If you need help in this class. I have a free period on periods 4 and periods 7. I am also here early in the morning and an hour after period 8. My door is always open for you and if you need help or have me explain something to you. Then feel free to ask me at any time. I’m here for you and to help you succeed. When I take roll, please say here and raise your hand so I know where you are sitting.” Nora looks down at her grade book and starts calling names.

She looks up each time she calls a name and makes sure she memorizes their face. Out of the twenty-five students she has in her class. Two students were missing.

Once she is done with calling each person. She looks at the student directly in front of her desk.

“Mr. Mckenzie, will you please read the first paragraph to us on page 185.” Nora had her book opened to follow along.

“Yes, ma’am.” Jack couldn’t believe Ms. Midnight had called on him to read to the class.

He turns to the page and starts reading the first paragraph to the class. He stumbles at first but recovers and continues. He finishes the first paragraph.

“Your turn Ms. Taylor, if you’ll read the second paragraph, please.” Nora looked directly at the young lady who had been texting during class, instead of following along in her book.

“Before Miss. Taylor start. All of you who are texting or surfing during. Please put your cell phones away. If you continue to use your cell phones during my class. I will take measures, so you can’t use them.” Nora looks at each student when she says that.

“You can’t do that Ms. Midnight. We have responsibilities and the right to have our cell phones out.” Clair needed to stay contact with her girlfriends all day long.

Nora just smirks “Ms. Roth, not only can I do it, but this my classroom. You are here to learn so you can become productive members of society. If you’re on your cell phone, you aren’t learning.”

She was going to bring a cell phone jammer to class. That way they couldn’t text or surf the web during class. Cell phones have become a distraction now a day.

“Now, Miss. Taylor. Please start the second paragraph.”

Clair just glares at Nora for a while. She wasn’t going to let a teacher tell her what she could and couldn’t do with her cell phone. She had every right to use her cell phone when she wanted to.

Nora notices Clair Roth glaring at her. A smile appears on her face as she looks directly back at her and letting her see how dominant she is. She has had the best trying to stare her down and they never succeed.

Clair diverts her eyes after she notices that staring down Ms. Midnight wasn’t going to work. She and her friends were going to have to think of a way to get rid of Ms. Midnight. She listens to the next student after Sera Taylor, which was Jackie Dickerson read the third paragraph.

When the last person finishes reading the chapter they were studying and came to the Q&A questions at the end. She glances at her list of students who weren’t doing so well in each class and ask them to answer the question. If they were following along, they should be able to answer the question.

Five minutes before the bell rings, Nora looks at the class “remember to do the Q&A questions for the next chapter and for extra credit points. I want you to find an article about what our government is doing now and tell me why you chose that article. Also, print it out and put your name on it.” She watches as they leave the room.

Her next class was homeroom. She reviews those student names and waits for them to come in. Once the bell rings letting everyone know they should be in their homeroom. She goes over the roll and notices that none of the students assigned to her homeroom were missing. She goes over the announcements that had been left in her mailbox to inform the students about. She also introduces herself to the students and gives them the same speech she gave her first period.

For the rest of the school day. Nora does what she did during her first-period class and during her advanced Spanish class. She insists that the students, speak, think and write in Spanish.

During her free periods, she patrols the halls making sure there weren’t any students roaming. When she spots a few students “excuse me, but why aren’t you in class?”

The students look at the new teacher. They never had any teacher ask them before.

“Well?” Nora was in her agent mood.

“We don’t have class during this period.” Jake answers for him and his friends.

“Do you have a hall pass?”

“No ma’am.” Jake and his knew they didn’t.

“Then get to your class and make sure I don’t catch you roaming the hall again without a pass.” Nora takes a picture of them.

“Yes, ma’am.” Jake and his friends run off to their class.

Nora checks the stairwells, where she knew students use to hang out when she was in school. When she comes across the security people patrolling the hallways, she gives them a copy of the students she found and where they had been. Once that was done, she heads back to her classroom and prepares for her next class.

At the end of the day, she stays an extra hour as Ginger meets her, in her classroom. She has been hearing rumors about her mother all day long. She heard how the students that, had her for class either liked the way she did things or hated how she didn’t do things.

She knew the popular kids didn’t like the fact she didn’t allow the use of cell phones in her class. There were a few students that really liked her and hopes she is staying permanently.

“So, what is the word around school about me, Ginger?” Nora looks towards her daughter.

“You are stirring things up, mom. There are students that like how you do things and ones that don’t.” Ginger had been working on her homework while waiting for her mother.

“Good.” Nora closes her things up and put everything back in her bag.

“So, how are going to stop students from using their cell phones, mom?” Ginger had heard what she told one student.

“I have a cell phone jammer at home. I’m going to bring that in and turn it on during class.” Nora had checked the regulations and there was
nothing in there that said she couldn’t do it.

“Oh, you really are going to make some students mad, mom.” Ginger never used her cell phone during class.

They head down to the parking lot, after letting the office know she was leaving and head home.