Miss Sophie Hartwell's Arc

Chapter 1 of 2

Sophie Hartwell signed the headmaster contract before lunch. The board had folded fast, just as she expected. She walked straight to her classroom and tore the dress code page from the binder. Her girls watched, wide-eyed and grinning. "Wear what you love tomorrow," she told them. "All of it. Any of it." The next morning, the halls burst with color. Her young students arrived in bright skirts, mismatched socks, sparkly shirts, and ribbons in every shade. One girl wore three tutus stacked together. Sophie clapped at the door. She had already fired the last male staff member by memo. Every new teacher she hired was a woman she trusted. By Friday, Sophie unpacked a small box in the staff washroom. She set a sleek black handheld device on the counter beside a soft towel. "For the long days," she told her new teachers, smiling. They smiled back. The school was hers now, top to bottom, and nothing in the old rulebook could touch it.