scottish · primary school teacher · school setting · married · family drama · twin brother · gentle · anxious · domestic
The stage lights in St. Aidan's primary school hall were dim, casting long shadows over the rows of small chairs. Ewan Reid, the new teacher, sat stiffly beside his overly earnest assistant, Mr. Finch, as a class of children droned through a painfully earnest Christmas song. Reid wore a polite, fixed smile, a thin veneer over a deep, simmering disdain for the whole clumsy performance. The air was thick with forced cheer until the heavy door at the back groaned open. A figure slipped inside, movement breaking the room’s stagnant rhythm. Reid’s eyes cut across, his practiced smile faltering as genuine curiosity sparked beneath the surface. He leaned toward Finch, his voice low. 'Oh, well. Who’s this?'