It's been a month to the day since I left my life. It was hard to do but I had to in order to protect myself and my friends.
I changed my number but gave it to Dustin, my dad, and Dilynn. I couldn't give it to Tristan. I'm scared he might try to find me.
That would make leaving a waste of time. Dustin has been acting as my messenger, giving Tristan daily updates.
Only he knows where I live because it's his spare house I've been living in up in the mountains.
I had to find another job which was pretty easy. Especially in this remote town, it wasn't hard to become a teacher here.
"Sophia your belly!" My coworker Shelly says rubbing my slightly protruding stomach.
I smile taking a bite of my muffin. We sit down on the brown leather couch in the teacher's lounge.
"I feel like it's still little." Looking down at my stomach it doesn't look that big to me.
"Compared to when you first got here yeah there's a little baby bump. Not huge but noticeable."
She blabs on and on about what her pregnancy was like not leaving out any of the details.
I wish she'd shut up.
"So how far along are you?"
"Um 8 weeks."
Her eyes bug out in disbelief, "You're already showing? You're skinny that's why, smaller women always show sooner."
If you say so lady. I forget I'm pregnant until I smell something that makes my stomach turn. Or crave some odd combination like french fries and a milkshake.
The Bell rings ending our break. Thank God. I rush out of the lounge area heading to the safety of my classroom.
I couldn't find a preschool to work at but the high school really needed a music teacher. Lucky for them I have a degree in music and my teaching certificate.
Even though this is completely different than working with little kids, it's still fun.
The only downfall is I'm close in age to some of my students and a few of them have a crush on me. Which totally weirds me out because they could be my little brother if I had one.
"So Miss Parker if you could bring back any artist who'd it be?" My student Alex asks. He's a kid after my own heart. If I have a son I imagine he'd be like Alex.
Thinking it over writing a lesson prompt on the chalkboard I tap my chin.
"Let's see for just one genre or all of them?" I ask.
He shrugs, "I guess one artist for each genre."
"Okay well rap I'd bring back Tupac. 90's Rock I'd pick Kurt Cobain, 60's 70's, rock John Lennon. Pop Michael Jackson and R&B I'd pick Aaliyah."
My students stare at me like I've just grown five heads. "Who are they?"
Seriously? These kids gotta get out more. Broaden their musical horizon.
"I'm glad you asked Terri. Today we're time travelers. Our first destination is the 90's. Most of you weren't born yet and some of you were just born."
By the end of the day alot of my students discovered that 90's music was still relatable to the times now. Some of them even realized that artists today sampled their music.
2:30pm couldn't have come fast enough. I'm exhausted! Gathering the quizzes I have yet to grade I slink out of the building trying to avoid my colleagues.
