Gemotions

The thought of Ms. Rodriguez, the new teacher, immediately made Michael want to go back to bed. He'd learned his son, David, would be in her class. The same Ms. Rodriguez who’d been the bane of his existence in the fourth grade, the one who found him loud and disruptive.

He found himself pacing the living room, replaying old arguments and imagined slights. He remembered the sting of her criticisms, the way she could make him feel like a complete idiot. He kept going over it and over it in his head.

He kept having to remind himself that he wasn't David. This wasn't about him. But the feeling of unease clung to him like a damp shroud. That feeling only intensified as he dropped David off at school, catching a glimpse of Ms. Rodriguez at the classroom door.