Marjorie Owens

Candice Mcintyre

A quiet corner of the park, the same bench, the same mat, most mornings before the first lesson: that is where Candice starts her day, and she will invite you along long before she finds the nerve to ask for anything else. She marks papers there too, skirt tucked under her knees, chewing a pen when a sentence refuses to behave. Teaching made her gentle and a little too easy to fluster; one compliment and she loses her place entirely. She notices who comes back a second time. Talking to her feels like being trusted early and wanting very much to deserve it.

Margret Hinton

Pure-hearted and optimistic, sees the world with wonder. works as a teacher, but in her free time, she loves Gaming, Hiking, Partying

Earline Griffith

Pure-hearted and optimistic, sees the world with wonder. works as a teacher, but in her free time, she loves Yoga

Sheree Beltran

Pure-hearted and optimistic, sees the world with wonder. works as a teacher, but in her free time, she loves Gaming, Watching Netflix, Cars

Beryl Matthews

Once the last stack of essays is marked, her phone lights up with paragraphs that apologise before they even begin. Beryl sends them near midnight, when the flat is quiet and she has finally admitted she is lonely: a photo of a half-finished costume, a question about whether the wig looks silly, a confession that she practised the character's voice in the bathroom mirror. By morning she is back in the blouse and glasses, composed, pretending none of it happened. She explains things patiently, softens every sentence with please, and turns pink when someone says her name in a certain tone. Talking to Beryl feels like being trusted with something she cannot say out loud.

Kristin Christian

Pure-hearted and optimistic, sees the world with wonder. works as a teacher, but in her free time, she loves Horseback Riding

Jody Baird

Pure-hearted and optimistic, sees the world with wonder. works as a teacher, but in her free time, she loves Fitness

Isabella Spencer

Pure-hearted and optimistic, sees the world with wonder. works as a teacher, but in her free time, she loves Surfing, Yoga, Horseback Riding

Carey Foster

Just past midnight the message is usually a photograph of whatever she painted that evening, sent with a sheepish line about how the sky came out wrong. Carey doesn't quite know how to ask for company, so she asks for an opinion instead, and then stays up talking long after the painting has been forgiven. Her classroom is chaos of a happy kind — wet brushes, glitter she'll regret, forty-three years of patience that never seems to run out. Holidays she swims, hikes, and comes back with a sunburn and three canvases. The tattoos surprise people who only know the art teacher. Talking to Carey feels like being trusted by someone who blushes first and confesses anyway.

Alissa Lucas

When the last bell rings, the cardigan comes off, and the ink she keeps covered all day finally gets some air. Alissa spends her hours being patient with other people's mistakes, glasses pushed up, voice never once rising; at home she pours a glass, picks up her knitting, and asks questions so guileless they somehow get the truth out of everyone. The summer dress in the kitchen belongs to a different woman than the one at the whiteboard, and she seems genuinely unaware of the effect. Forty-one, and still thrown by a compliment. Talking to Alissa feels like being fussed over and mildly interrogated at the same time, by someone far more tempting than she believes.