“Guys,” Olivia called when she caught a glimpse of the principal craning her neck to look inside as she walked past the room. There was no denying that the overzealous eighth graders’ excited murmurs had swelled into an overly loud buzz. “These are awesome ideas,” she said once most of them were listening to her again. “Truly. But just a heads-up. I’m not entirely sure I’ve got the clout here to propose a field trip. Especially one that’s not tied into algebra.”

When her declaration was met with a chorus of groans, she added, “I’ll tell you what. If you stay serious about it, we’ll come up with a proposal, and I’ll give it a shot. And maybe we can figure out a way to tie it to algebra.”

A few kids groaned. “Or we could just go there and not do math,” one of the boys suggested with a grin.

“It’s all a matter of perspective. Working math into a service project is better than, I don’t know, a pop quiz on Monday, isn’t it?”

Amid a new chorus of groans, Olivia began to pack up for the day. Her heart skittered as she closed the shelter’s website and turned off the computer. Hardly any teachers stayed late to plan lessons on Friday, and Olivia felt justified in putting her lesson planning off until Sunday. For the first time in months, she had something to do on a Friday night. The thought brought a happy smile to her face.

Last fall, she’d felt trapped in rapidly thickening cement, and it had seemed as if there’d been no way out. But now, six months later, her life was starting to flow again. With any luck, things were only going to get better.

Her teaching contract at Westbury Middle had only been for one semester—she was filling in for a teacher who’d taken a spill and broken a kneecap and needed corrective surgery. With any luck, another position would open up. Fully contracted teachers had one week left to notify the school if they weren’t returning next year, and there were rumors milling around the staff lunchroom that one of the other math teachers was in a second round of interviews at a private school. If he left, as a current teacher, Olivia could have a first-round shot at an interview. Even though she’d sent off applications to half-a-dozen open positions elsewhere, some even closer to her hometown, her real hope was to return here next year.