Like Father Like Son

The next day was like the previous. Elaine, Jason and I met outside of the school, went to our lockers, then headed to homeroom. We took our seats and talked until the bell rang, but that's when things changed. Instead of Ms. Lane walking in, Mr. Fuller, our principal, came in. He was a white haired, top heavy man who wore the same brown suit almost everyday. He usually had a smile on his face but not today.

"Good morning, class." He announced.

The class chimed in reply, "good morning, Mr. Fuller."

Mr. Fuller sighed and shuffled his seat around in place, peering down at them, and then back up at us, "Ms. Lane had a very serious accident last night," He said, making the entire room go quiet, "and she will probably not be back until near the end of the year, if at all."

My eyes flickered toward Elaine, who looked shocked, and then to Jason, who just stared at the man with a blank expression. Mr. Fuller continued.

"This class will be taken over by the school substitute, Mrs. Tanner, until we find out anything more." Mr. Fuller said as everyone seemed to squirm uncomfortably in their seats. There were two men standing the doorway, which I had not noticed, who moved aside for Mrs. Tanner, the small, fifty- something year old school substitute stepped in. She wore a hot pink, long sleeve shirt and a black, knee length skirt. Her slightly grayed hair was pulled back into a bun on the back of her head. She stood with a tiny hunch which made her seem a lot shorter than she was.

"Everyone be respectful." Mr. Fuller reminded us, then nodded to Mrs. Tanner, and stepped out of the room with the officers.

I leaned over to Elaine and Jason and whispered, "That's crazy! I hope she's alright."

Elaine nodded, "I wonder what happened."

"I don't know," I said, looking at Jason, "do you have any ideas?"

Jason shrugged, "I heard sirens last night, maybe something happened at her house."

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Elaine replied.

I smiled weakly, "let's hope, she's a pretty nice lady."

"But she's weak, and that's obvious." Jason pointed out.

Elaine and I looked at him, and I said, "What do you mean?"

"I'm just saying," he said, "it probably wasn't anything bad, probably just.. fell or something."

"You think?" I said, exchanging glances with Elaine.

"I'm sure she'll be just fine." Jason smirked and nodded, leaning back in his seat.

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