It was a bright and mild day as a young would-be teacher drove to the secluded Buttercombe Academy. Paige Callahan had the windows down so she could drink in the woody scents of the mountainous surroundings, which were particularly fragrant after a heavy downpour the night before. While the neophyte had rolled into town the night before, she refused to make the treacherous climb in amidst such awful weather; someone would have to be mad to drive up those steep, winding roads in the middle of a terrific storm. Thankfully, the following morning was so sunny and pleasant that one would be forgiven for thinking there had been no rain at all, so after a light breakfast at a diner, Paige was on her way.
Beyond being excited for her first teaching position, the brunette was extremely curious about the school she would be working at for the next year. While she had practically flooded the market with applications, she did not seem to recall sending one to Buttercombe, yet she had received a phone call from one Shannon Polluck all the same. The headmistress's voice was like liquid gold, but it was the offer she extended to Paige that hooked her more than any other school. Twice what the pharmacy was paying her, free room and board, and free food, among many other amenities, had the young woman so enticed that she leaped at the job immediately. In retrospect, she should have taken her time to do some research, but for the woman who was sick of counting pills all day long, it was the best thing she could have ever asked for.
Afterwards, Paige looked up the school to find out whatever she could, but the official website was horribly outdated--it still had Shannon's mother listed as the headmistress, for example. There were some reviews of the academy on other websites, though with how glowing they were, the dietician assumed that they had to be either bots or students and faculty told to fake reviews. Regardless, she would take a mystery over the misery of being at a relentless pharmacy, so she handed in her notice and headed out to the enigmatic academy.
When she pulled up outside the gothic gates, a speaker on one of the posts crackled with a greeting, "Welcome to Buttercombe Academy! Name, please?"
"Paige Callahan," the brunette answered with a smile on her face.
"Callahan...Callahan," the voice on the other end mused before announcing, "Ah-ha! Welcome to our lovely school, Ms. Callahan."
"Thanks, sweetie!"
With that, the gates creaked open and Paige drove her sleek car up the drive to the academy proper. She parked in front of a towering building that looked more like a palace than a school, but that only added to the mystique for the young woman. When she stepped out into the sunlight, it would have been easy to mistake her for a model or movie star: large sunglasses adorned her face, a silk scarf wrapped loosely around her neck, and driving gloves fit perfectly on finely manicured hands; a flowery blouse belied the trim body underneath, cream pants clung to her toned legs, and high heels that cost more than what most people make in a week clicked along the road. The young Ms. Callahan looked and felt like a million bucks, and she knew it.
When she waltzed up the steps to the grand doors, but before she could use one of the aged knockers, they swung open to reveal a woman whom Paige was almost certain had to be Ms. Polluck. The portly blonde wore her hair in a not-so-small bouffant and was clad in an amber-colored business suit and skirt, plus she had a good hundred-odd pounds on Paige, yet the new teacher could not help but be stunned by her. Shannon carried herself with the regality of a queen and seemed to radiate with warmth and majesty; the brunette felt like a peasant in her presence. So floored was she that the young woman missed half of what the headmistress told her with hand extended.
"--a good trip up?"
"Um...uh, yes! Yes, ma'am!" Paige fumbled as she reached out and shook Shannon's hand a bit too excitedly.
"Splendid," Polluck chuckled, a soft smile creating dimples in her chubby cheeks. She let go of Paige's hand and gestured into the halls of the academy as she explained, "I wanted to greet you personally and show you around our fair school, if you are so inclined."
The brunette nodded eagerly and replied, "That would be great! I've got to say, I was so excited to get here that I almost chanced it with the rain last night."
"You would not be the only one, Ms. Callahan; one of our other new bees arrived in the thick of it. Poor Ms. Walker--I'm surprised she managed to get here with how thick it was coming down. Oh, I almost forgot!"
The headmistress paused and reached into her pocket for a tin, which opened to reveal an assortment of butterscotch candies. "Would you like a little sweet? It's an old Polluck recipe, and I like to share with everyone that comes to join our little hive."
Paige paused as she looked over the little sweets. While the brunette would not brag about it, she was a calorie counter-extraordinaire; she could accurately guess the calories of virtually anything she came across. A typical butterscotch candy was a mere twenty calories--hardly a blip in one's daily intake--so, not wanting to be rude, the new teacher accepted graciously. She popped the golden sweet in her mouth and hummed as the flavor danced on her taste buds, and her eyes shut in a moment of bliss.
"I thought you might enjoy them, my dear," Shannon remarked with a grin. "I haven't met anyone who doesn't; in fact, we have bags of them for sale in the school canteen if you'd care for more."
"Maybe," Paige politely replied. While the taste was heavenly, she knew that having a bag of those around could be dangerous.
As they toured the school, Shannon pointed out each classroom, office, and even the storage rooms. Paige was quite impressed with the academy, but most especially with its headmistress's stamina. For a woman of Polluck's weight, the blonde practically flew around the school; the brunette even found herself having to play catch-up a few times. It was not that the new teacher had a stigma towards the heavier population or believed them incapable of the most basic of exercises, but even she had some trouble getting up five floors of stairs.
The tour finally came to a stop at Ms. Polluck's office, and Paige hoped she was not breathing heavily after her roundabout route. Her new boss told her, "And last but not least, my little nest. If you ever need to talk to me or just want to visit, all you need to do is reach out and I'll make room in my schedule."
"That'd be great, Ms. Polluck," the young woman said with a smile after discretely catching her breath.
Shannon nodded at her new employee and asked, "Is there anything else I can do for you, my dear? I like to make sure my busy bees have everything they need before they get to work."
Paige pondered for a moment before she replied, "Actually, there is one thing. I know it might be too early on for me to ask, but I was wondering if I might have a secondary position along with my classes?"
"A bit of an odd request, I admit, but not out of the question," the headmistress answered. "What did you have in mind? Perhaps a coaching assignment? I could arrange something between you and Ms. Alberway, our new softball coach."
"Well, it's more in the vein of counseling," the brunette explained. "I was hoping to either work with the school nurse or the guidance counselors as a dietician!"
For the first time since they met, Paige felt a chill as the smile on Ms. Polluck's face dipped for an instant. Though it returned in a heartbeat, there was decidedly less warmth behind it, which made the new teacher want to shrink back into a corner. Regardless of how she appeared, the bulbous blonde replied, "That's an interesting idea, Ms. Callahan. I'll tell you what--let's see how your first few weeks go, and if you think you can handle that extra challenge in your schedule, I'll make it happen."
A contented sigh escaped the brunette's lips, glad that she had not made some sort of faux-pas on her first meeting with her new boss. "Thank you, Ms. Polluck--and I promise, I'm going to give you everything I have!"
"I'm sure you will, Ms. Callahan," the headmistress replied, the warmth returning to her smile. Paige was not sure, but she could have sworn that the woman's eyes glimmered for a moment, but that could have been a trick of the light. "Would you like to stay for a bite to eat? I'm sure all this walking around has worked up an appetite."
The young Callahan blushed a faint pink as she felt her stomach rumbling. Perhaps she had not eaten as much as she thought she had during breakfast, and Polluck was right--she had done a lot of walking around. Paige thought for a moment before answering...
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