Teaser Tuesday 1

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme that some writers I know throw up on their blogs each Tuesday. The basic gist is to take a small snippet from a current Work-In-Progress and throw it up on the blog, I have a few things I am working on right now so I figured I would throw my hat in the ring. This is a snip from a WIP that is currently without a title. I am over 10,000 words in and liking where it is going. Please feel free to comment below any thoughts or suggestions. The scene opens on a fifth grade teacher in the middle of leading a class discussion...


Connor was interrupted by a soft knock at the classroom door. He sighed loudly for effect, wiping imaginary sweat from his brow. “Whew…saved!” The class laughed, not worried. They knew Mr. Billson and they knew that he would do something totally off the wall and crazy when he finished with whoever was at the door.


He walked over to the door and looked out the single pane of glass. Mrs. Moore, the school principal, stood on the other side looking pale and drawn. The smile on Connor’s face faltered a bit. Mrs. Moore always walked around the building with a perpetual grin on her face. For her to look like this, something must be wrong. Mrs. Freidman, the school counselor, stood next her not looking much better. Connor opened the door and stepped into the hallway.


“Rhonda, what’s the matter? Are you ok?” Connor asked.


Rhonda Moore swallowed. “I’m ok Connor, I’m ok. Can we walk down to my office for a second? Patti will watch your students. There is something we need to talk about.”


A fist of ice grabbed Connor’s heart. “What is it? Is it Michele? Megan? Chris? What happened?” he asked, attempting to keep the waves of panic he was feeling out of his voice.


Rhonda put her hand on Connor’s arm. “As far as I know Michele and the kids are just fine, this isn’t about them. Please Connor, just come with me. There are some people in my office who need to talk to you.”


Connor felt a degree of relief that whatever was wrong did not seem to involve his wife or children, but the looks on the faces of both women still scared him. “Ok, uh, Patti they are getting ready to read some pages in their social studies textbooks. The page numbers are already on the board.”


Patti laid a hand on his other arm and gently squeezed, her eyes full of what seemed to Connor to be a mix of sympathy and sadness. “I’ve got this Connor,” she said. “You go talk with Rhonda. I am sure everything will be ok.” Then she wiped her eyes and walked into his classroom.


Connor, his eyes wide, turned to Rhonda. “You have to tell me what is going on before I go anywhere. What’s happened?”


Rhonda looked at the floor for a second. Then she met Connor’s gaze. “There are two police officers and a detective in my office...”