"How can I help you today, Miss?"
"It's Tracey McGrieson."
"Ah, hello, Tracey. What can I do for you today?"
"I can't make it to school today, Boss. It's snowing like a blizzard up here. Callie doesn't think the truck will make it down there in one piece."
"Well, that's a problem, isn't it?"
"Come again?"
"Well, you know that you have finals today, Tracey, and we can't reschedule everyone else's finals just for you."
"I don't want you to that. I thought that I could make them up on Monday."
"I would have to check with your teachers on this, you know. Are you sure there's no way you can make it down here?"
Everyone who worked and went to Middlebury called Parish Barton 'Boss'. He was in charge of pretty much everything. There was a Headmistress, Gretel McKenna, but she delegated most of her responsibilities to him.
"You know there's no convincing her to do something against her will. You know her better than most people."
"And you know the rules, Tracey. Finals are finals, no matter what. You should have stayed in the dorms. I can't go making exceptions for anyone. Then, everyone will want an exception. Fair's fair."
"It's a weather condition. I can't predict the weather. I'm not clairvoyant. How was I supposed to know it was going to blizzard? It's spring for Christ's sake."
"Tracey, what do you want me to do?"
"Go ask Madam Mahfoud and Miss Groton if I can take their finals on Monday. If they don't mind, I don't see why they would. It will be a collaborative effort that way, and you won't be mistaken for someone who has a sense of compassion and human decency."
"Watch it, Tracey, I don't appreciate your tone or sarcasm. I am still your administrator no matter how casual our relationship outside of school. Having said that, I'll give them a call, and give you a ring back."
"Thanks, Boss."
"Good bye, T."
"Don't call me that."
He'd hung up the phone before she could say it. 'T' was what she allowed Callie, and only Callie, to call her. It was a relic from her childhood, and reminded her that she was still considered a kid to everyone who used it, and Parish knew that. When she was ten, she snapped at her father for using it, saying, 'I'm not five anymore, Daddy.' They both laughed about it, but he didn't use it again.
Parish and Callie were dating, off and on, for about eight months at that point. They were dating steady for two years when they were in school, but Callie ended it when she found out she was going to a college in Montreal. He was the one devastated. She moved on faster than a rabbit on ice. Not more than a month of being in Montreal, she had a new boy. Before Parish, she'd never dated anyone. They gave up their virginities to each other after a dinner party Parish's mother threw for some obscure Catholic holiday. Parish's family was the only Catholic family she knew. He wasn't devout by any means. Tracey was the only one who knew Callie had an abortion because of him. He didn't even know.

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