I finished the paperwork over the weekend. It took a while, but I also had time to go out Saturday night. We were having a new teacher initiation outside the official one. I mostly fell in with my regular crowd, the other guidance counselors when I arrived. Still, this time, Hannah, the school secretary, brought over one of the new teachers. She was pretty, tall, with long brown curly hair. She was talking to Darel before Hannah dragged her over. She wanted to make an impression before the people who lived in the woods closed in. 

"OK, this is Monroe; she is a new English teacher," Hannah introduced. "Monrow, this is Esme, Sally, and Kara. Esme Sally and Kara are guidance counselors." 

"It is nice to meet you all." she seemed polite, but as she glanced back at Darel, I realized that she was probably already a woods person. "you can call me Roe." 

"I see you have met Principal Darel," I said as he walked away. It looks like they had a conversation, and he moved on. 

"yes, he hired me, and we have mutual friends," she answered 

"Oh, I thought you just moved to town," Hannah said, emphasizing town to tell us where this Roe girl stood. Hannah is a bit older, and while we are all aware of the rivalry in the town between townspeople and woods people, the younger generations are not as vocal about it. 

"I did, but about a week later, I met Baxter Avery, Ethan Green, and Max McGuffin, Darel's husband," She informed us. Baxter Avery was a bit older than me. We never went to school together, but I had heard of him and his family. They were rich and owned the whole gated community in the forest. They owned a logging company and a company that made furniture. To say he was rich was an understatement. Most of the jobs at his company were filled with people from the woods. That may be where the rivalry started because the rest of the town benefited less from his ventures. 

"you met Baxter Avery; I hear he is the most handsome man in town," Sally gushed; for a married woman, she was always very boy-crazy. 

"I guess you could say that, but he isn't my type. Honestly, we are like different species, practically cats and wolves," she responded; on the other side of the room, Darel coughed and spit his drink up on himself, trying to cover his laugh. It was crazy timing because it looked like he was laughing at what Roe said, but there was no way he could hear.

"well, if you wanted to meet someone, I could introduce you to some good boys," Hannah suggested. Kara and I smiled, knowing those boys would all be town people. 

"I am not looking for that right now. I just graduated and want to get my feet under my new responsibilities before I look for a grown man to babysit." Roe smiled, but she looked back at Darel again, who, this time, came to her rescue.