Counter Torque

CHAPTER ONE

Jack Hotchner ran down the sidewalk towards his fathers' tall form. "Dad!" he shouted, "You're here!"
Aaron grinned widely and knelt down to catch his son, hugging him tightly, "Yeah, buddy, I'm here. How was your day at school?"
"It was good! Miss Wilson taught us about cyphers today!"
He pulls him back so he can look at him, "Cyphers? Wow, that's really cool, Jack." Aaron looks up and sees a familiar figure walking towards him, smiling. "You teach cyphers to eight year olds?", he laughs.
Ms. Wilson laughs, "Yeah, we teach simple substitutions with alpha-numeric solutions, in order to decode messages and picture images." She's wearing a yellow sun dress and white, low key sneakers with some simple jewelry. Her auburn hair shines in the sunlight and her smile is blinding as she happily talks about Jack with his father.
Aaron smiles widely, "Well, you seem to have Jack's full attention. He really loves you." Then to his son, "Hey Jack, can you stay with Miss Wilson for a bit? I need to go inside and speak with Ms. Bell, ok?" He looks up at her, and smiles, raising his eyebrows, "Would you mind? I shouldn't be more than ten minutes, and then maybe I can give you my full attention?"
She smiles back, "It'll be my pleasure. Jack here is always a treat. He's one of my best students. I'd imagine that's because of his hero of a father. He's always talking about how you save people every day. Doing so much good in the world...you know, you're Jack's biggest fan...and I might be yours." As she looks at him shyly, Aaron feels his cheeks flush, not used to praise, "Um, well, heh, he's way smarter than I was at his age, that's for sure. I-I'll be right back, and thank you, again." He smiles at her again, awkwardly, not knowing what else to do, and ruffles Jack's hair as he stands and strides into the school, headed to the new guidance councilor's office.
Ms. Alex Bell had taken the place of Jack's long time counselor, John Turner, who'd retired after twenty-five years of service to the school community. He'd been the one to help Jack through Haley's death and the last five years of his development since. Aaron had done a background check on Ms. Bell, of course, and found that she was very capable of assisting in Jack's recovery. Having only been on the job two weeks, she'd been doing well; regular check in's with him, Jack's grades were still improving, his attitude was getting better, and he was interested in team sports more than ever. Everything was on the up and up, but he received a voice mail from her that needed a face to face. She wanted to speak with him personally about Jack's improvements.
Aaron paused briefly, collecting himself, smoothing his tie, before knocking on the door. He hears a soft voice behind it say, "Come in, please." As he opens the door, Ms. Bell is sitting behind her desk and Aaron starts profiling her before he can stop himself. "Old habits die hard," he thinks. Her small frame is almost lost behind the large walnut desk. She looks up and smiles, standing and extending her hand, "Hello." She's older, early forties, wearing a grey sweater that appears too big for her, most likely because she chills easily. Her blouse is a soft lavender button down that brings out her eyes and disappears into the waistband of a pair of black slacks and belt; business professional, but calming to the kids. Her chestnut hair is draped over one shoulder, tied loosely with a band. She most likely can't be bothered with more than that. Aaron takes her hand, realizing that his encompasses hers completely, "Ms. Bell, I'm Aaron Hotchner, Jack's father. How are you?" Her porcelain skin is cold but soft, nails unkept. They remind him of Emily's hands, cuticles chewed on, nails cut short; she worries, and fidgets when she does. She wears no jewelry; it shows simplicity and low-maintenance.
"Mr. Hotchner, I'm well. I'm so glad you could come in. How are you?" Her smile is genuine, her demeanor relaxed. Her hazel eyes shine brightly as she quickly glances down at their joined hands, a faint smile forming.
He answers, "I'm well, thank you. You wanted to see me about Jack? Is everything ok?"
She smiles and gestures with her hand, "Please, take a seat. Everything is fine, but I do have some concerns that I wanted to discuss." As she sits, she opens a file on her desk and looks through it before speaking.
As Aaron sits there, he notices there are no photos on the wall or desk, just several degrees; BA in psychology and early childhood development, a Masters in counseling, her license to practice, professional certification, and specialist degree. The only other things he sees in the room are books and note pads. There is nothing telling about the life of the woman sitting before him besides her education, which is extensive. Looking back to her, he smoothes his hands over his thighs once and interlaces his fingers, giving her his full attention.
"So, Mr. Hotchner, your son, Jack, is quite the student," she says, finally looking up at him. She smiles warmly, "His grades have improved greatly over the last few years and his attitude, as I'm sure you've noticed, has gotten so much better. His interactions with other students as well as the teachers has improved. He's like a new boy compared to the one we started with five years ago, based on these reports."
"Well, with someone with such an impressive education, I have a lot of it to owe to professionals like you and Mr. Turner, and teachers like Miss Wilson," he says. He notices a quick wince in her face when he mentions Jack's teacher.
"Yes, well, Miss Wilson is precisely why I wanted to speak with you," she replies.
"What seems to be the problem?"
"There seem to be some complaints coming from the other parents and I was curious if you'd noticed if Jack was acting different around her or mentioned her outside of school?" She flips through a few pages before her eyes focus back on him.
Aaron glances from side to side, searching his brain, thinking, finally answering, "No, nothing comes to mind. He's happy, tells me about his day, and especially how much fun he has in her class. May I ask what the complaints are?"
"We're still conducting an internal investigation, and we're not worried about anything illegal, but there have been some allegations of bouts of favoritism and grading based on such actions. As you know, we have a reward system in place and it seems some students are exceeding where others are not. The students are saying that they are doing the same work, but not being rewarded the same," she closes the file and interlocks her fingers over it on the desk.
Aaron simply looks at her, "What are you suggesting? That Jack's teacher favors him over the other students? I don't see how that is something I can control and that Jack should be punished or blamed for, Ms. Bell."
"Mr. Hotchner, forgive my forwardness, but, do you and Miss Wilson have a relationship outside of the school?"
"Excuse me?" Aaron's brows knit together instantly in a frown. "Who the hell does she think she is?"
"If you have some sort of romantic relat—"
"I'm going to stop you right there, Ms. Bell," Aaron puts his hand up to silence her. "Whatever you think is going on between Jack's teacher and I is completely unwarranted to Jack's performance and I do not appreciate it. So if there is anything pressing about my son specifically, I suggest you speak about it now. Otherwise, I think we're done here."
Alex stands and comes around the front of the desk as he rises. He towers over her at six foot two as she looks up at him and smiles with just her lips, "Yes, I believe that will be all for now, Mr. Hotchner. Forgive me, I just wanted to keep you in the loop as far as your son is concerned." Aaron nods, turns abruptly, and leaves, closing the door harshly behind him. Alex is left leaning on her desk, wrapping the sweater around herself tightly. Her face contorted, "Oh, Aaron Hotchner, I do believe that we are just getting started."

Aaron walks briskly out the door to where Jack and his teacher are kicking a ball around. "Dad! Look! We're playing soccer and I'm winning!" he shouts. Miss Wilson lets the ball whiz past her and throws her arms up in mock defeat, "Ugh! You win again Jack!" She turns as Jack runs past her to his father, "Hey, how did your meeting go?"
Aaron takes Jack by the hand and bends down to him, "Hey buddy, can you kick the ball over there on your own and practice your dribbling just for a bit? I want to speak with Miss Wilson."
Jack gives his father a full head shake and grabs the ball, running off into the practice field next to the school. Once he is out of earshot, Aaron approaches her, "What the hell do you think you're doing, Maggie?"
Her face drops instantly, "What do you mean, Aaron?"
"I mean, you're putting everything we've been working towards with Jack at risk! Why the favoritism? You know you can't do that because of who he is or who I am...our history, you know what we've been through!"
Maggie frowns, searching his eyes, "Aaron, I don't know what this is, but I would never...I treat Jack and all my kids as equals, you know that. What on earth did Bell say to you?""Well, it seems that some of the other parents have noticed otherwise. You give Jack extra credit, treat him differently. I told you when we started talking that I didn't want this to happen. That this can't happen." Maggie has tears trapped in the corner of her eyes, "Aaron, please."
"I'm sorry Mags, my son is all that matters to me. You can still be his teacher, but you and I have to stop this. I can't let this affect him. I'm sorry." His face is sad but firm, his thumb rubbing his index finger, nervously. Without another word or backwards glance, Aaron walks off into the field to collect his son. Maggie Wilson looks on, those trapped tears now falling, wondering what the hell went wrong.

A small, shadowed figure watches the body language between two adults out in front of the school. After a few moments, one walks away quickly towards the practice field, and the other is left alone, shoulders sagging, finally turning to walk slowly back into the building. As they reach the door the figure wraps themselves tightly, and retreats back into the cold, silent hallways of the school, smiling to themselves.