Canary in a Coal Mine

(Rural Appalachia amirite?
Jk I know for a fact I’m right they still talk to me like this lol)

“Hello Mrs. Robinson,” Sadie said tiredly.

“What do you have to say for yourself?” She puffed up.

“Nothing,” Sadie said, then thought for a moment. That wasn’t a good answer. It tacitly admitted guilt; and she didn’t feel guilty in the least. “I’m not turning any kids gay or otherwise. It’s a play. Make pretend.”

“It’s an abomination!”

“It’s not even cast yet,” she scoffed.

(So rude.)

"What can you give her?" she asked. "Aside from a sermon and an awkward memory?"
"Mary." Martin gave her a stunned look. Nicholas winced and patted Uther again.

(Dang Mary coming in hot lol)

“Good,” she hissed. “Then you damn well better cast it right.”

“Oh, I will,” Sadie said, voice sickly sweet. “I’m the teacher, after all. Any cast I pick will be the right ones.”

The woman’s face flushed with rage.

"It's true, though. Dad, you can't repay her. So it falls on us--"
"Just stop." Martin put a hand on her shoulder. "Please. This was supposed to be a pleasant reunion, Mare. Let's just let him sober up and we can have a good time in the morning."

“You’ll be sorry!” the woman bellowed.

Sadie was quiet for a moment. Then, “… Thank you for expressing your concerns to met. If you’ll excuse me, please—“

“I will not—!” She shifted her weight to block the door.

Sadie looked at her coldly. “Ma’am. It is eight…” she looked at her watch. “Twenty-three on a Tuesday evening. This is well outside of work hours—“

“Guess I’ll see you tomorrow, then!”

She sighed again.

"Fine." Mary got up. "Alright. I'm going to bed; I'll see you guys tomorrow, okay?"
"G'night." Nicholas waved. "Love you, Mary."
"Love you too, Dad." She sighed heavily and hugged him loosely, then headed to the guest room.
"You got the couch?" Nicholas glanced at Martin. He nodded.
"It's no biggie."

“Alright. Have a good night.” Sadie nodded to her and squeezed past her. Gods. That'd be a nightmare if she had to deal with the woman at school. But, well, she guessed it’d be good to have her principal involved. Maybe. Or not. Fuck. Who knew? She made it to her car and headed home, discouraged.

"You want my bed?"
"No, you should have it. You're drunk, Dad."
"Yeah, but..." Nicholas rubbed his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Martin. I'm sorry. I lost track of time..."
"Yeah." Martin stood. "Hey, let's get you to bed, okay? We can talk in the morning."
"Hm? Okay..." He tried to stand and stumbled. Martin caught him.
"Okay. I've got you, let's go."

Sadie got home and prepped her supplies and lunch for tomorrow, then sat by the phone waiting for Meyer.

(Wanna skip?)

(Yup! Where to?)

(Maybe the next day, life around the town or back at school?)

(Sure ^^ hmm I guess we could go back to school, then? No particular scene in mind tho)

(Works for me! Maybe an art class?)

(Sounds good!)

Sadie had spent her morning planning session getting screamed at in the principal’s office by Mr. Robinson while his wife smugly added interjections. By the time that was over, she was nearly late for her next class. The art tests were still ungraded. But it was what it was, she supposed.

She got to her classroom a few moments before the bell and got the kids settled while she took roll. “Alright, guys. So we are moving into the absurdist period, which had a lot of whacky themes. We’re going to look at some examples and then I want you to take some time to brainstorm some ideas because you’re going to be doing your own absurdist piece next time.”

Did she look as beaten down as she was? Probably. But she didn’t know how to hide it any better. This was all the energy she had to offer.