Alexander Harlow was the most tenured teacher at the school and so got his pick of the schedule.

Alexander lived alone after his first wife left him after a year. But they were so young, he'd tell people, fresh out of college and starry-eyed. He saw no reason to tell them the truth.

But it did leave him with a bad case of the quivers whenever he thought of asking someone out on a date after that. It took him twenty years to finally accept an invitation from Abigail Schoonmacher when she asked him to accompany her to monitor the eighth grade dance.