“So…” Charity looked at her expectantly. “We’re all agreed then?”
Before Mairi could answer, Rose twisted around to frown at all of them as she hissed from the bottom of the stairs, “They’re coming!” She made the students’ parents sound like a huge wave of zombies out to get them.
And so they came, indeed walking as slowly as a blushing bride who was about to go down the aisle. Since her Aunt Vilma was Hollywood’s favorite divorce lawyer, Mairi had been exposed early to the rich and famous. But even after all these years, she still couldn’t get over the air of privilege and entitlement these people had. They walked, talked, and acted like the rest of humanity was lucky to breathe the same air they did.
Rose greeted the first batch of parents and guardians with courteous charm, her soft but well-modulated voice setting the tone for the rest of the day.
Don’t look at them in the eye for too long.
Don’t call them by their first names – even if they invite you to.
Don’t let them know their daughter is not the most beautiful, smartest, and kindest person on earth.
Jaw aching with the effort to remain smiling, Mairi greeted every parent and guardian that came her way, relying on Rose’s script to make sure she didn’t inadvertently become anyone’s worst enemy. After all, the Greeks were notoriously good at holding grudges.
But as morning turned to noon her hopes started to fade. And when the lady attendants started to close the school’s doors, the last of Mairi’s hopes crumbled to dust.
She had followed all the rules, darn it. She had gone over every “bedtime story” Aunt Norah and Aunt Vilma had told her when she was a kid and she applied what she could. Against all odds, Mairi had managed to make her way to Greece, obtain employment in one of the finest international schools in the country, and with it Mairi had conquered Step 1.
She had successfully placed herself in a Greek billionaire’s line of sight.
So where was he?
By the time lunch break came around, Mairi was more than ready to have some time off and get away from all the noise. Who would have thought PTC would be this horrible? Nothing – not even after listening to the older teachers’ countless horror stories about it – had prepared her for the sheer torture of having to tactfully explain red marks to Greece’s crème de la crème.
“I don’t understand how she flunked her English test,” a parent had protested earlier. “I see my baby reading all the time!”
That’s great. I see that too, but text messages don’t count! That was what she wanted to say but couldn’t. Instead, Mairi had summoned one of the canned responses from Rose’s script, murmuring her agreement and telling the mother she believed that her daughter’s turn to shine might come next term.
The memory of the episode made Mairi shake her head tiredly and she hurried to one of the balconies on the third floor, needing a breath of fresh air to help relieve her stress. Throwing its doors open, she slipped out and closed her eyes with a sigh, soaking in the rays of the Greek sun and savoring the way the weather’s now familiar warmth relaxed her.
From below, a sea breeze blew close, making her hair whip against her back. She inhaled the scent of the sea with another sigh before opening her eyes. The view beyond the school’s walls beckoned and she leaned forward happily, settling her elbows on the marbled top of the balustrade.
Situated on top of a towering cliff, GAYL boasted of idyllic views of a tropical paradise, a sight Mairi knew she would never grow weary of. It was located right in the center of Oneroi, which translated to ‘dreams’ in English. That literally made Mairi a resident of a place called the Island of Dreams, and it was aptly named with its turquoise waters and white powder-fine sandy beaches, along with the emerald hills in the south and the glittery resort town up north.
The sound of lapping waves was like a lullaby, and Mairi let out a big yawn.
“Ms. Yay?”
She immediately snapped to attention, feeling guilty for being caught yawning as she turned around. Mairi sighed with relief when she saw that it was one of her Class E students and not Charity. The other woman had a tendency to snoop around in hopes of catching one of her teachers violating any of Rose’s gazillion rules.
“Hello, Diana,” Mairi said cheerfully, gesturing for the younger girl to join her on one of the rattan benches nearby.
After a moment’s hesitation, Diana came forward and lowered herself on the padded bench. Dark haired and doe-eyed, the young girl was like the huntress goddess come to life, only this time Diana’s vibrant loveliness hid a very shy nature.
But shy really wasn’t the right word to describe Diana, Mairi thought with a pang. If she had to be honest, Mairi would have described the fifteen year old as insecure. It was a painful sight, seeing how someone as pretty, smart, and wealthy as Diana Leventis could be so lacking in self-esteem.
Since she had started teaching in GAYL, Mairi had made it her personal goal to make Diana more confident. Hoping to make the girl more comfortable, Mairi said with mock severity, “You must stop calling me that, you know.”
The younger girl visibly relaxed at the light-hearted subject, even saying teasingly, “But Ms. Yay---”
Mairi groaned. “You girls are bullies! Will you never let me forget about that? I was just really happy to start teaching in Greece!”
Diana’s profile became visibly less tense even as she remained seated with a straight back. “I don’t think anyone of us will forget it, Miss.”
The fond look on the girl’s face made Mairi wince. She knew Diana was recalling every embarrassing second of that incident.
Diana started to giggle. “Oh, Miss. I can remember every moment---”
“Please don’t.” But it was useless since Mairi’s brain had also started to recall the incident – every embarrassing second of it.
It had been her first day to teach in GAYL and Rose had made a huge deal out of it, taking the time to introduce Mairi to the entire student body during the morning ceremony. Rose had boasted about Mairi being the author of a bestselling phrasebook on Amazon and raved about her fluency in several languages as well as her ability to read hieroglyphics.
“And so without further ado, I present to you Ms. Mairi Tanner, the most eloquent individual you would probably ever meet in your life.”
Rose had then gestured for her to ascend to the stage and she had done so with quaking knees, her underarms perspiring at the sight of over a thousand students gazing at her expectantly.