It was the first thing in the morning, students were pouring into the building before for the first period of the day. Some were stopping by their locker or catching up with old friends they hadn’t seen all summer. Some eating breakfast in the cafeteria or looking for their favorite teacher and some nervous looking freshman still frantically looking for their classes. The excitement, chatter, and confusion of the second day of school still at its peak at Barton High School.

It was a small high school in a small town. This year she was teaching the same students she taught last year, only a year older. She was very familiar with almost every student on her roster. She grew up in this small town. Of all the students, she was connected to each family in some way, either through friends, sports, jobs, or family. It was a close knit community.

Mrs. Fierro walked in as the first bell of the day rang. She had 5 minutes until school officially started and started mentally preparing herself for the long day ahead.

Mrs. Fierro was a second year science teacher. She is newly married and has a new gorgeous wedding ring to show for it. Her glowing tan skin was the envy of every teacher she talked to. She excitedly showed her coworkers the gorgeous pictures of her luxurious honeymoon in Bali.

She went to college to be a teacher. She thought she was pretty good at it and it came natural to her. But it slowly started to wear her down in the short time that she was in the career. Over the summer, she dreaded returning in the fall, but she didn’t have any prospects at the school year was starting up again. So, she mentally decided this was her last year teaching.

She made it to her classroom door at the end of the hallway. She pulled out her classroom key from her purse and unlocked the door. The smell of her perfume wafted through the air as she walked across the room and set her things on her desk. Students that had formed a line outside of her door began to pour in. She thought she heard a commotion in the hallway, but thought nothing of it because the final bell was about to sound.

The final bell finally rang and students were chattering and running to their seats. Mrs. Fierro walked towards the door and moved the door stop out of the way. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t even see an unfamiliar face walking right towards her and running to grab the door as it closed.

“Good morning, Mrs,” said the unfamiliar student as he gave her a sly smile. His eyes darkened as he walked through the door and into the classroom. He had dark bags under his eyes and a mop of shaggy red hair on his head.

She got an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach. She furrowed her brow at the sight of his smile.

Right away, she noticed his large backpack, camouflage pants, and combat boots. This was a small redneck town. He was the only one who wasn’t wearing jeans and cowboy boots or sweatpants.

“Good morning,” Mrs. Fierro smiled. “You can grab your things out of your bag and put them on your desk, but you need to run to your locker and put your backpack away. Go do that really quick before I do attendance.”

The unfamiliar student nodded and walked to an empty desk. He set his backpack down on the desk knowing Mrs. Fierro and many of the students’ eyes were locked in on him.”

As he was emptying some of the contents of his backpack, the door to the classroom swung upended with a crash.

She could no longer hear the rumble in the hallway and the lockers slamming shut.