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Facebook Photos

The most embarrassing moment of Lena Sorensen's life was the day one of her students found her personal Facebook account. That may not have been the worst thing in the world under ordinary circumstances, but the fact that this student hated her for failing him during the Fall semester – and the fact that Lena's Facebook page, unknown to her, had dozens of tagged photos from parties, nights of barhopping, and similar escapades – conspired to create an incredibly embarrassing, downright humiliating experience.

The student in question was Scott, a spoiled kid that reminded Lena a lot of her brothers and sisters. His family didn't have a lot of money (as most families in their inner city district didn't), but that familiar sense of entitlement was there all the same. Everything had been handed to him since he was a young child, and he expected that his grades at school would be handed to him as well. Working for something was a foreign concept to Scott, and when he learned the hard way that not doing his work had consequences, instead of trying to raise his grade or improve his test scores, he opted to get even.

Scott found Miss Sorensen's Facebook account and, by becoming friends of her friends, was able to access all the photos in which she had been tagged and had been posted by those friends, thereby getting around the privacy settings that Miss Sorenson had set for her own account. Thinking about it now, Miss Sorensen was rather amazed at the resourcefulness and drive of her student, and couldn't help but think how much Scott could accomplish if he put his mind toward his studies instead of juvenile pranks.

On a Monday morning – the Monday, coincidentally, right after report cards had been sent home – Miss Sorensen arrived at school to find pictures of her posted all over school; cheap-looking, low-grade digital photos from a variety of bars, clubs, and assorted get-togethers; all of them featuring Miss Sorensen inebriated to some degree or another. Lena had begged her friends not to post those photos at all, and now she was beginning to wish she had been a little more persistent. Everyone was allowed to cut loose and relax sometimes (and Lord knew she wasn't the only one who liked to enjoy a few beverages responsibly while out with friends), but to see the results of a night out, posted in living color on the walls of her workplace was beyond humiliating.

Principal McKenna had the photos taken down as quickly as he could, but there were too many to effectively remove before the first bell had rung. By the time every last one had been confiscated and destroyed, most everyone with a morning class had seen them already.

Scott, secure in the knowledge that this crime couldn't be tracked back to him, spent the entirety of Miss Sorensen's class smirking and grinning triumphantly at the frazzled teacher, knowing she couldn't do anything about it, because she couldn't prove it was him. They both knew it, though, and it was that knowledge that allowed Scott his smug demeanor.

Lena and Principal McKenna had a meeting about the photos. Between Scott and the other student threatening her at the beginning of the year, she wasn't sure that this was the right place for her. She always imagined helping disadvantaged youth and making a different in low-income areas, but she was terrified to come to work now; she just couldn't get the students under control. Principal McKenna was sympathetic and promised that she would get the help she needed to control her classroom for the Spring semester. If she would just give it another shot, another semester to see if things turned around, he would personally help her get a job in another district if she decided that – at the end of the year – she wasn't interested in coming back.

That was the deal they made; all Lena had to do now was live down the shame of having drunken, embarrassing pictures posted for all her students to see.

How many weeks left until summer vacation?

(685 words)

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