“This is Ms. Yutesler. You’ll be working with her,”
“Don’t scare him away,”
said their principal, forming the entirety of their introduction. “Don’t scare him away,” he quipped as he exited, leaving the two alone in the back of a high school cafeteria, smiling awkwardly in a manner that would not be out of place had the school been holding a dance instead of curriculum training.
The first month of teaching middle school, it turns out, is not unlike the first month of being in middle school.
Subsequent interactions
over the next couple months didn’t fare much better, with Adam, still struggling to learn his coworkers’ names, spending most of each interaction trying to remember who the devil this person was and whether or not he was in trouble. (The first month of teaching middle school, it turns out, is not unlike the first month of being in middle school.)
“Labay, you ignorant slut!”
No first year teacher succeeds alone,
and Kelly was determined to take the new guy under her wing. The usual professional pleasantries got her nowhere, so Kelly tried a different tack. While Adam was grading papers, Kelly barged in, channeled an old Saturday Night Live bit and exclaimed, “Labay, you ignorant slut!”. He looked up, confused, but nevertheless acknowledged her presence.
Success!
Grading papers and planning lessons morphed into Sunday-long events
Adam started popping by Kelly’s room after school,
their chats breaking the monotony of endless paperwork. Complaining about work gave way to animated conversations, ending only when the night janitor kicked them out to lock the building. Grading papers and planning lessons morphed into Sunday-long events, with brunch at Pete’s in the morning and drinks in the evening at Tune Inn.
Adam would set up her classroom every morning and help grade papers every evening.
The students, for their part,
concocted an entire narrative around a fictitious romance between their math and English teachers, never knowing just how close they were to the truth.
Adam eventually left Stephen Decatur Middle School to pursue educational data science. Kelly left a year later to teach in DC, where Adam, unable to fully shed the teacher lifestyle, would set up her classroom every morning and help grade papers every evening.
He pulled over at the same overlook where they had paused for photos years before.
In October 2020,
they decided to take a break from the rigors of distance learning and rent a cabin in the West Virginia mountains. Using the beautiful weather as pretense, Adam suggested they take a detour along Skyline Drive, where they had taken their first road trip as a couple. He pulled over at the same overlook where they had paused for photos years before. And there, after six years together - and twelve of being told they were perfect for each other - Adam finally proposed.