New Beginnings (Charlie Bartlett Fanfic Starring Robert Downey Jr.)

Chapter 25 - Why Not?

On Monday morning, Sydney walked through the front doors of Western Summit High doing her best not to smile too widely. She couldn't help being happy today, despite the fact that she only had a few hours of sleep the night before. She and Nathan talked on the phone until somewhere around three a.m. After an hour of serious dialogue, the mood lightened. They both kept their voices low and giggled like teenagers during several points of their conversation. Just hearing his voice made her heart feel light; she was letting go of all the fear she tried to push onto herself and Nathan still agreed to keeping the relationship to themselves. The more he'd thought about it, the more sense it made, professionally, for both of them.

Her heart racing at the thought of seeing Nathan, she was caught very much by surprise when Principal Hawkins called her into his office after she had checked her faculty mailbox. She was thrown for an even bigger proverbial loop when Nathan was already seated inside - his coat still on and his new glasses off. She hid her immediate fear as best she could.

"I'm glad I could catch you both together this morning," Joe began, pacing nervously. "There's a little something we need to discuss."

Nathan began to go through the rules in his mind. He was certain there was no way they could be punished for seeing one another. He was more concerned about how the "mentoring" would look if others knew that he was sleeping with the woman he was supposed to be guiding. "Oh? Everything all right?" he asked as casually as he could.

"Uh, well...yes and no, I suppose." Joe cleared his throat. "As you both know, our school has a little image problem. We're not at the bottom of the district's barrel, but we're certainly not at the top." Both Sydney and Nathan began to panic internally. "However, I have given some thought to a few things and I've come up with a solution to part of our dilemma." The dread the lovers were feeling quickly jelled into confusion. "You two seem to have this whole 'mentoring' deal under control, wouldn't you say?"

Nathan smiled, relieved. "It's worked out better than anticipated."

Joe returned Nathan's smile. "Exactly! You've come up with a way to create a smooth transition for a new teacher here. So, I was thinking about how no local college students ever want to use Western Summit for their student teaching...ever. In fact, on the rare occasion someone does get assigned to us, they beg and plead for a transfer."

"I remember one of them screaming in terror and running out of the building," Nathan chuckled. He quickly cleared his throat. "Sorry, go on."

"We're working on the student body, slowly, and we have finally gotten a good bid on renovations, but what's really going to help us are the little college kickbacks if we can do a good job with their student teachers. I want to get them here and I think that you two are the perfect pair to come up with a mentoring platform."

"You do?" Sydney asked.

"Yes," Joe answered. "Sydney, this can very much work to your advantage. It's a good experience for you, helping to design a program..."

"Never mind the fact that nobody else in this building would possibly volunteer," Nathan interrupted, snidely.

Joe sighed. "You're not wrong, Nathan, we both know that." He looked at Sydney again. "It sounds like Francine is considering an earlier retirement than expected. You've already upped the grades in her room, doing something like this for the school can only help you with your future here."

Sydney did everything in her power not to smile at the possibility of a real position. "I'm onboard if Nathan is."

"Wonderful! It's going to be some extra work, I mean, I don't see you getting through what you might need to during your planning periods."