What You Wish For by Kerry Reichs Read Free Book Online

up and had learning disabilities and illnesses and rumspringa and pain and loss. Wyatt had never been able to do more than briefly lay a hand on slumping shoulders. He wanted more. He couldn’t wait to become tangled in the complications of another life, even the messy bits.
    At 2:55 PM precisely, Harper and her cohorts had been dispatched on two-week suspension, with parental assurances of severe punishment. Wyatt was anxious for the last to leave. He had no idea when Ilana would arrive, and though 4:29 PM wouldn’t be out of the question, he intended to be on the drop-off bench promptly at three. He brought employee evaluations to read while he waited.
    The day was all the unfun side of his job. Wyatt was about to fire one of his science teachers. Terminating Jim Lang didn’t trouble Wyatt—in this circumstance of gross incompetence it was his personal pleasure. The man had failed to give a test all semester out of laziness, and nearly poisoned a study hall monitor through careless chemical storage.
    What frustrated him was that in a time of severe budget shortfalls, where good teachers were laid off, Wyatt had to exhaust rigorous union-stipulated procedures to fire a dreadful one.
    Particularly offensive was that, in addition to his ineptitude, Lang was having an affair with the school’s Summer Program Director. Wyatt didn’t mind dating among his staff—he himself had dated the college guidance counselor until she’d decided a plumber she’d met on eHarmony was better marriage material. What bothered Wyatt was that the Summer Program Director was married. Wyatt was no prude, but he held infidelity pretty low on his personal scale of evils. Or high. Whichever one was bad. Worse than men who fake-tanned, but not quite as sinister as world domination.
    Wyatt found it repugnant that Lang had seduced a young and dumb girl into betraying her marriage, but that was outside of Wyatt’s business. It was squarely Wyatt’s business that the affair had prompted Lang to leave his lab class unattended long enough for Spencer Loveland to ignite his station. Wyatt had to act speedily to prevent Lang from torpedoing the school’s No Child Left Behind scores in science or burning down the whole institution. Wyatt was forced by protocol to complete an exhaustive peer evaluation. Blessedly, the majority of Wyatt’s teaching staff consisted of dedicated, clever instructors, and he was looking forward to their comments.
     
    Jim Lang doesn’t strive to go the extra mile in the classroom.
    Translation: Lang sets low personal standards and consistently fails to achieve them.
     
    Jim struggles to adequately convey the currently accepted science curriculum to students.
    Translation: Lang’s one-celled lab organisms would outscore him on an IQ test.
     
    Jim Lang doesn’t always grasp the nuances of the material.
    Translation: If Jim were any more stupid he’d have to be watered twice a week.
     
    Lang has been inconsistent in his shared teacher responsibilities, failing to show up for his shift as detention supervisor.
    Translation: That jackass made me miss my bowling league.
    Wyatt smiled as he reached the bottom of his stack. He’d saved biology teacher Linda Wei’s for last. The evaluations were anonymous, of course, but he was so familiar with each teacher’s style and handwriting they might as well have submitted their thoughts on monogrammed paper. Linda held nothing back.
     
    Jim Lang is a prime candidate for natural deselection. He has delusions of adequacy as a teacher. As a scientist, he would be out of his depth in a 3mm pipette. He works well when under constant supervision and cornered like a rat in a trap. He should go far, and the sooner he starts, the better.
    He wouldn’t be able to include Linda’s comments in the final report, but they were amusing.
    “Hooligans chase you from your office, Wyatt?”
    Wyatt looked up to see Linda herself, a pretty, black-haired woman in her midforties. He