Chapter Text
It started with an automated call at 5:10 am:
“Substitute job available for Mr. Benjamin Solo, Grade 11 English.
Full day: 8:15–3:20.
Leia A.S. Organa Secondary
Press 1 to accept.”
Blearily cracking her eyes open, she keyed “1” on her phone and then scrubbed at her eyes, feeling some of her leftover mascara from the previous day come away on her hands.
Rey rolled over, bumping her hip into BB, an orange-furred lump who refused to move. He let out a small noise as he readjusted, stretching out his scraggly legs and clawing into the duvet. Her eyelids sagged and feeling herself starting to drift, she let out a huff and unlocked her phone to Google Maps, locating Organa Secondary.
“Shit, why is it so far away?” she mumbled to BB, who continued to snooze indifferently. “Bougie, too.”
She glanced over at her closet, bemoaning the lack of clean laundry. Promising herself that she would finally get her shit together next week, she got up and ready, scarfed down several handfuls of dry corn flakes, and shrugged her jacket and boots on before heading out the door.
The bell over the door at Dameron’s Coffeehouse rang as she bustled in from the cold. Tapping the snow off her boots, she looked up with a smile at Poe, who stood steaming milk behind the counter. His curly hair was artistically mussed and a towel was slung over one of his muscular shoulders. He looked up and took in her appearance.
“Morning Rey! Usual? Looks like you could use a triple shot this morning,” Poe said with a sly grin.
“Hey, don’t be rude. Do I look that bad?” Sidling up to a bar seat at the counter, she rummaged in her bag for a compact.
“No, but you’ve got some mascara smudged on your left cheek.”
“Ah, yes, better make it a triple. I’m at a new school today, the high school in Riverside.” Rey swiped at her cheek, scrubbing away the old makeup and heaving in a lungful of pastry-scented air. She briefly assessed her appearance through her compact. Her brown hair was in a slight frizz, and the concealer she had hastily applied was not completely blended into her cheeks.
“No shit? Well, yeah, triple and maybe a breakfast sandwich? With those snobby bastards, you’ll need the extra fuel.” Poe tamped down the espresso and fitted the portafilter handle into the machine. Rey appreciated the way his hands moved precisely, with no wasted extraneous movements.
Her stomach growled at the thought of one of the delightful croissant sandwiches. “Better not, my last paycheque was a bit light. Already had the Rey special anyway.”
“Ah, yeah, I gotcha, those cornflakes at 6 am really hit, eh?” Poe said with eyes crinkling as he slid the steaming americano her way. He leaned back on the bar and folded his arms. “I’d spot you but with the new property manager, I have to cut back on the freebies.”
“Don’t sweat it. New property manager?” She took a savouring sip, allowing the espresso to settle into her stomach, already feeling more awake.
“Yeah, there’s talk with the other tenants about rents raising, and I think a new business is moving into the spot where Chewy’s used to be.”
“Ah, that sucks. Anything I can do?”
Poe gave a laugh as he leaned forward, reaching a hand across the bar to flick her nose. “Not unless you happen to know the property manager. Just keep buying your americanos, and pray that Chewy’s gets replaced with somebody nice, quiet, and not another coffee shop.”
“Ah, well, here’s hoping for a sedate little bookstore or something,” Rey lifted her cup to toast. “And wish me luck at this bougie-ass school today. I have a feeling I might need it.”
Two hours later, she stood behind the fastidiously arranged desk of room 214, assessing the way that the teacher had left the desk. A tweed suit jacket with elbow pads was hung over the back of a wooden rolling chair. Rey rolled her eyes at the cliche, lifting up the jacket and hanging it by the collar on the nearby coat stand. As she did so, she caught a whiff of sandalwood and something slightly spicy. Shucking her puffer jacket off and slinging it onto the coat rack, she turned and took in the leather folio perfectly centered on the desk. Her eye caught immediately on the gold-embossed logo on the bottom corner, perhaps the school crest or emblem? Unfolding the folio, she took in a stack of unlined pages, letters beautifully calligraphed by hand.
“What is this? Can’t be just cardstock? Freaking vellum paper? So extra,” she muttered under her breath as she held the lesson plan up to be backlit by the fluorescent light. Her fingers felt the grain of the paper and traced over the lettering.
Slumping down into the slightly uncomfortable chair, she sat down to read the lesson plan.
“Good morning and thank you for stepping in at the last minute. Today’s plans are enclosed here for you, and I have also attached a seating chart for your reference. We are currently covering Orlando by Virginia Woolf, and please ensure that students hand in their discussion reflections by end of day. I’ve included a brief summary of the work, in case you have not read it.
A few notes on the classroom:
- Please keep students and desks in the arrangement listed.
- Tara P. and Karly L. need to be separate -- past issues with disruption.
- Wendell G. may be late but please do not mark him tardy if not more than 30 minutes late.
- Maya M. will need to leave for a nurse's visit at approximately 10:00.
If you could kindly record the following, as it would greatly help my lesson planning for next week:
- Any unusual student behaviours.
- Which discussion questions seemed to prompt the most nuanced responses from students.
- Anything that surprised you.
Thank you again, and I hope your day proves as engaging as the students are,
- B. Solo.”
Rey leafed through the sheets with a sigh, soon feeling overwhelmed by the details. She glanced at her watch and gave herself a little shake. Out loud, she whispered to herself, “It’s just teaching. Just do what you gotta do. You’ve got this.” As the school bell sounded, she stood and scrawled her name across the blackboard, dotting the ‘i’s in her last name with her usual smiley face flourish.
As the first period of students found their places, she turned to them with as much poise as she could muster, trying not to let herself feel intimidated. “Welcome everyone. I’m Ms. Niima and Mr. …uh, Solo, is away today, and we’ll be picking up where you left off in Orlando today.”
The day passed by more quickly than she anticipated, and the detailed plans turned out to be quite accurate and helpful. Period by period passed, and she found herself reaching for the leather folio and referring frequently to the notes left.
At her break, she wrote a quick text to Rose, a friend from First Order teaching college.
“At Organa High in Riverside. Bougie af here. I’m completely underdressed compared to the students!!”
“LOL, you at Organa I’d love to see. Bet the students are all entitled pricks.”
“Ouch! I’m not that much of a mess am I? And no, they’re better than I thought. The teacher I’m subbing for left a 40-page monster lesson plan.”
“Oh no, babe, you’re too real for them is all I meant. The teachers there are uptight and snobby, all old-money tryhards who take themselves too seriously.”
“Ooof is someone salty? Who do you know here?”
“Remember that asshole I dated last May? Hux? He’s a science teacher there.”
“Ohhhhh. Right. Okay well if I see him, I’ll spit on his shoes for you or something.”
“Thanks babes. Drinks later?”
“Yep, text me where/when!”
As the notes had warned, a student came in about 25 minutes late in 4th period, shuffling awkwardly to the back of the class. Rey briefly acknowledged the student, consulting the seating chart she had laid on the desk, “Wendell?”
He hurriedly grasped at papers from his backpack, muttering, “Yep.”
“Wonderful, we’re just discussing the shift in gender and perspective in Chapter 7.”
She continued the discussion but noted that Wendell was particularly quiet, and scribbling furiously, clearly trying to catch up.
When she asked the students to hand in their reflections prior to leaving, Rey noticed Wendell lingering at the back of the classroom.
“Wendell, right?” She asked him.
“Yeah, uh, Ms. Niima?” He looked down at his feet, nervously shuffling his shoes. His hands were conspicuously empty.
“You can call me Rey. What’s up?”
“I can’t hand in my reflection. I lost my book and I honestly thought I could follow along just from class but it’s so weird,” he admitted, still staring down at his scuffed up sneakers.
Rey had noticed earlier that he was quieter than the other students, but had chalked it up to him being late and having missed context. “Ah, yep, it’s a confusing one. I bet Mr. Solo has some extra copies. Let me check the notes.”
After some brief minutes paging through the lesson plan, she located a diagram of the classroom, which appeared to be drawn in an architectural style to scale, labelled in tiny script with important information.
“Ah, yes, the cupboard under the third window,” Rey chuckled, striding over and locating Wendell a book. Balancing its heft in her hands, she passed it over to the lanky fifteen-year old. “You’re lucky, it’s a brand new hardcover.”
“Thanks, Ms. Niima,” he replied, folding his arms around the book.
“Rey, please! Okay, now for your confusion. Do you have time to meet during your 5th period break? I can go over the parts where you’re confused. I just don’t want you to be late for your next class.”
“Uh sure, I can do that.”
At the end of the day, Rey sat down to write her substitute note. She slid open the first drawer in the desk, and after seeing only more expensive-looking paper, she opted to use the reverse side of one of the lesson plan sheets. Her ballpoint pen seemed woefully inadequate, but there was no way she was going to touch the gleaming black fountain pens.
“Mr. Solo,
Your class was engaging and lovely. Thank you for your very detailed lesson plan. As for your three questions:
- Wendell had misplaced his copy of Orlando so I lent him one of the spares from the cupboard. I hope that is okay with you! We also spent some extra time together after the fifth period going over the plot points and themes, as he was late and had missed out on some of the context. Other than that, your students behaved immaculately!
- Your students seemed to struggle a bit with the themes around class, and I tried my best to help them connect with the main character and how the perspective shifts through the various genders and social locations represented in the text. Maya and Jeremie had some particularly astute observations on gender and were able to connect these ideas to more modern gender discourse.
- Honestly, there were no surprises, as you’d laid everything out here in this lovely lesson plan. Thank you for that - it made my day much easier. The only surprise, I have to admit, is the stationery itself. Is it some sort of papyrus?? Incredible. I didn’t want to waste any of your supplies, so please excuse this note being on the back of one of your plans.
Thank you again, and I wish you well.
- R. Niima”
Rey signed off, and after a moments’ hesitation, added her smiley face flourish above the ‘i’s. A text from Rose was waiting for her and she gratefully looked forward to getting to debrief the day. As she flipped the lights off and locked the door, she stole one last glance at the leather folio she had realigned on the desk, wondering if she’d ever step foot in Organa High again.
Her phone bleeped and she cracked open her eyes groggily, her eyelids carrying the weight of the drinks she’d had with Rose yesterday.
Email notification.
“Subject: Substitute Request
Teacher: Solo, B
Course: ENG3U
Notes: Plans on desk. Attendance via PowerSchool. Key available in office.
Preferred Substitute: Niima, R.”