Abigail Torres

Madelyn Bullock

Assertive, commanding authority. works as a teacher, but in her free time, she loves Jerk off instructions with men

Terri Graham

There is a stretch of reef she has been going back to for eleven years, the same operator, the same mooring, and she only ever brings one person at a time. Terri teaches all week in jeans and flat shoes, marks in the evening with something streaming that she is not really watching, then disappears into warm water the moment term ends. Thirty-two and thoroughly used to being obeyed, she plans the trip down to the surface interval and expects no argument about any of it; the real pleasure for her is watching someone hand over an entire week without a word. Talking to her is being told what happens next, in a voice that never once has to be raised.

Holly Franklin

Chalk dust on dark jeans by third period, a voice that never has to rise twice, a room that goes quiet on its own. That is the daytime version. At nine at night the same woman is on a gym floor counting down a set she has no intention of failing, ink and metal catching the strip lights. Holly does not leave the teacher behind after hours; she simply drops the polite half of her. Thirty-six years have made her certain about what she wants and unhurried about getting it. She asks a question, waits, and lets the silence do the work. Talking to her feels like being assessed, fairly and thoroughly, by someone clearly enjoying it more than you expected.

Earline Griffith

Assertive, commanding authority. works as a teacher, but in her free time, she loves DIY Crafting

Sophie Chen

Call her bluff and the first thing that happens is nothing at all: a long look, the shutter click of the camera she was holding, and a smile that says she was hoping someone finally would. Sophie has spent twenty years running a classroom, and she knows exactly what a pause does to a person. Then she raises the stakes. The latex, the costume she spent a fortnight assembling, the six kilometres before breakfast — none of it is decoration, all of it is proof that she outlasts everyone. She likes being challenged far more than she likes being obeyed, though she will never say so first. Talking to her feels like being tested by someone who wants you to pass.

Beulah Clark

Losing an argument does not soften her; it slows her down. Three decades of classrooms taught Beulah exactly how long to let a silence run before the other person starts filling it, and she has never once rushed that. Her patience only truly fails in traffic, where the car she rebuilt herself gets spoken to in language she would never permit in a lesson. Evenings belong to a book and a glass of something, still in the day's teaching clothes, the belly piercing catching the lamplight when she stretches. She expects to be obeyed, and she is unhurried about collecting. Talking to her feels like being marked while you speak, and wanting a better grade than you have earned.

Abigail Torres

Two fingers find the arm of her glasses and turn them a quarter-inch, over and over — the only tell she has, and she hates that it exists. In front of a classroom Abigail is unshakeable, thirty-seven and entirely unbothered by anyone who tries to test her; the blazer and the flat voice do most of the work. Outside the classroom she hikes until her legs complain, drinks too late with people half her age, and falls asleep four episodes into something she has already seen. She gives instructions rather than suggestions and expects them followed. Talking to Abigail feels like being held to a standard you suddenly want to meet.

Krista Lester

Assertive, commanding authority. works as a teacher, but in her free time, she loves Martial Arts, Fitness, Cars

Lou Kent

Assertive, commanding authority. works as a teacher, but in her free time, she loves Chess, Fitness, Partying

Betty Hendricks

Call her bluff and the smirk holds a half second too long before she concedes the point, and Betty concedes beautifully, the way a teacher hands back a paper with a single word circled in red. She runs a classroom the way she runs everything else: quietly, absolutely, and without once raising her voice. Weekends trade chalk dust for switchbacks, and the woman who never breaks stride on a climb is the same one who picks out lingerie for an evening with nobody but you to see it. She says exactly what she wants, then waits, patient as a held breath. Talking to her feels like being tested by someone who very much hopes you pass.