I just don’t even know what to do anymore, it’s like… I thought I was doing everything right, you know? Like, I went to college, I got a job, a GOOD job, teaching history at the high school here, which is, obviously, a big deal in a place like this. Everyone knows me. Everyone knows my parents, my grandparents even, because they all went here too. So it’s not like I’m some outsider coming in and disrupting things, I’m one of them, I’m FROM here, I know how things work, and part of how things always worked was that teachers stuck together. We had our little group, our after-school rituals, honestly, it was kind of the only social life I really had outside of my family, and it was FINE. It was comfortable. I liked it. But now… now it’s like everyone’s just decided to suddenly become these… these incredibly interesting people, all at once, and I’m just supposed to, what, applaud them? My colleague, Mr. Henderson, he’s like fifty, right? Been teaching here forever, and suddenly he’s decided he’s a ceramics artist. Ceramics! And he’s good, too, apparently, he’s even got some pieces in that little gallery down by the hardware store, which, okay, good for him, but now he’s always like, “Oh, I can’t stay for coffee, I’ve got my ceramics class,” or “Sorry, can’t make it to the football game, I’m working on a commission.” A COMMISSION. Like he’s some kind of professional artist. And it’s not just him, it’s everyone. Mrs. Rodriguez, she’s taking tango lessons now, and Mr. Davies is apparently training for a marathon, and the new science teacher, Ms. Chen, she’s doing some kind of competitive birdwatching, like a serious club, with trips and everything. And I’m just here, you know? Still grading papers, still complaining about the cafeteria food, still… still being me. And honestly, it makes me SO MAD. Not because they’re doing these things, I guess, that’s their prerogative, but because it feels like they’re just… leaving me behind. Like I’m not good enough or interesting enough to keep up with their new, exciting lives. And it’s not like I haven’t tried! I looked into the ceramics class, but it’s like a four-month waitlist, and the tango lessons are an hour’s drive away, and I hate running, and I don’t even know what competitive birdwatching entails but it sounds absolutely miserable. So what am I supposed to do? Just sit here and be the only one who still wants to grab a beer after the late parent-teacher conference? It’s humiliating, honestly. And it’s not like there are a lot of other options in this town, you know? This *was* my social circle. Now I just feel like… like the last kid picked for the team. And I’m angry about it. I’m just so, so ANGRY.