Jennifer smiled akwardly at the challenge, her cheeks becoming sore as she struggled to keep her face from falling into doubt.
She wanted to lower her brows, squinch her lids, and ask Ms. Polluck if she was serious or if this was all some elaborate hazing mechanism used to tease the new teachers. But that wouldn't be very in-character for the Jennifer Walker that these women had all grown to know these past few days. So, without much of a choice, she just shrugged her shoulders and gave a vague response that resembled a morally murky positive answer and let the small crowd of teachers around her cheer.
In all honesty, she was getting a little tired of stuff that was bad for her. In every class she'd had for the past three days a gaggle of engorged gourmands had placed some kind of sweet, or chocolate, or something to that effect on her desk. The first couple of days were the biggest hauls, Jennifer racking in more than her fair share of envious glares as she struggled to carry her bounty to her golf cart, munching delightfully on a Mars Bar or two as she steered contentedly with one hand. The second day had been smaller, noticeably, though still quite the reaping when it came to sweets. Her arms still struggled to contain the baggies of candy that she had been supplied with. By the third day it was easy to spot the brown nosers, they were the only ones who still bothered bringing anything by then. A light load, but considering that she had just barely polished off her first helping she had quite the ways to go.
And now, on the fourth and only day that she hadn't received anything from her lovely students, she had been faced with a most daunting challenge.
Ms. Polluck had insisted that she join the rest of the teachers for the first time in the Break Room for lunch. While Jen had never put much time into stock with the other teachers around here, she agreed that she would stop by for some small talk under the impression that the entire thing was a meet-and-greet designed by Ms. Polluck in an effort to break her out of her shell. Jennifer was more than happy to cooperate, happy that someone had thought so much of her in such a short time.
Until, that is, she took her first steps into the room and was greeted with cheering. That frightened the poor sugar-stimulated woman a bit. Before she had a chance to catch her breath, Jennifer was assaulted with hugs and embraces of all kinds- mostly big and squishy. When finally she was tossed to the portly principal, her hand locked in another one of her firm handshakes.
"Well Jen, surprised?" she chirped, her round cheeks appled with makeup, "Didn't think we'd throw you a Welcome Aboard party so soon, did you?"
"W-Welcome..." Jen struggled to get the words out, "Aboard?"
"That's right!" Ms. Polluck said with an eerie smile before sitting Jen down in a chair, "And as a sort of Buttercombe tradition, we've got a little present for you..."
There, on the other side of the table, it sat. "That cake over there is for you, Jen. All of it, just for you!" she said with a childish pinch of Jennifer's cheek, "We all pitched in for the decorations, and Ms. Flatterly was more than happy to deliver the cake!", next to Ms. Polluck, talking to a portly black woman, the mentioned woman smiled and waved slightly before going back to her conversation.
"Th-The cake...?" Jen's stomach grumbled at the sight of it. A monster of a pastry, at three levels and looking to be... cheesecake? They'd gotten her a welcome-aboard cheesecake? That's a little odd, even for what she'd been observing about her new working environment.
'Ooog...' her stomach whined as it processed the thought of eating something so heavy, on top of everything else she'd already eaten today. Eggs, candy, candy, cake, a granola bar, candy, and candy. What exactly were they trying to do to her at this school?!
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