Jason's Story
Copyright© 2025 by writer 406
Chapter 10
Jason was reviewing his notes and sipping coffee in the Husky Den when his phone buzzed. A text from Rachel Morrison, the 29-year-old AP high school English teacher he’d dated a couple of months ago.
Have a situation. would U call me?
He dialed immediately. Rachel taught at Capital Hill High School, one of Seattle’s more challenging urban schools.
“Jason, I need a favor.” Her voice was stressed but not panicked. “I know this is crazy, but are you doing anything?”
“Research. Classes. The usual. What’s up?”
“Jim Patterson—our World History teacher—just got rushed to the hospital. Appendicitis. And our usual substitute pool is tapped out. We’ve got 150 kids across five classes for the next week with no teacher. The principal is about to put them all in the auditorium to watch movies.”
Jason closed his laptop. “That’s rough. What’s that got to do with me?”
“Listen. I’ve been telling my principal about you—about your background, your knowledge base.” Rachel’s voice quickened. “Would you consider emergency subbing? Just for a couple of days? The kids are studying World War I and the Middle East. I bet you could teach that in your sleep.”
Jason was quiet for a moment. Substitute teaching had never occurred to him.
“I don’t have any certification, Rach. Don’t you need...”
“Emergency certification. I know. I can walk you through the paperwork. The district is so desperate they’ll approve anyone with a bachelor’s degree and a clean background check. And Jason...” Her voice softened. “These kids need someone who actually knows what they’re talking about. Not just someone reading from the textbook.”
He found himself thinking about his graduate seminars and about Emma and Trevor and the others struggling to understand concepts that seemed obvious to him. About cultural frameworks and the importance of truly understanding rather than just memorizing facts.
“What exactly would I be teaching?”
“World History. Tomorrow’s lesson is supposed to be about the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the origins of modern Middle Eastern conflicts. But honestly? You could teach them anything. These kids have been getting watered-down textbook summaries all semester. I think Patterson checked out a long time ago.”
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