March 22, 2005

Jim Halpert was nervous. He had spent the last four years of his life away from this place, and now, here he was back in high school. Four years of undergraduate education at Penn State, and now here he was back at West Scranton High School. When he left four years ago, he was positive he would never come back. But here he was, waiting to interview for a teaching position at his alma mater. He wondered about this new principal; he heard he was quite a character. He was also glad that there was a new principal, because there was no way the old principal would even consider hiring him after the senior prank he orchestrated. At the time, he found it hilarious to have the principal’s car towed to the center of the football field. Okay, it wasn't just at the time- it was still funny. His mom wasn’t happy when they considered not letting him walk at graduation, but c’mon, he was a senior and the class clown- it was his sworn duty to create a perfect senior prank. And when he combined that with everyone leaving their car at home so that the school buses were completely overfilled and the administration was overwhelmed with the complaints of parents whose children were stuck at school until the buses could get back, well, he felt he had done his duty.

But now, he was thinking of becoming one of them. He was applying to become a teacher. He hadn’t really seen himself doing this when he was here the first time, but the more he thought about it, the more he liked it. He always had a knack with people, and one day he decided that it might be cool to help inspire America’s youth. Or something like that. He just thanked his lucky stars that this principal was a total outsider who had never heard anything about him.

“Mr. Halpert?” said the secretary, shaking him from his reverie.

“Yes?” he answered.

“They’re ready for you. Go on in.”

“Thanks,” he grinned, starting to feel a bit nervous. Here goes nothing, he thought.

March 22, 2005

Jim walked through the door to the principal’s office, shaking off the feelings of déjŕ vu that this walk gave him, and immediately his eyebrows hit the ceiling. Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw.

“Dwight?” he creaked out.

“Hello, Jim,” Dwight said, in almost a cackle.

“What are you doing here?” Jim asked.

Dwight answered, from his stance behind the desk, which looked really creepy, “I’m the new Assistant Principal here.”

“Assistant to the principal,” answered the man sitting at the desk, with a slightly irritated tone.

“Same thing,” Dwight said.

“No, it’s not, it’s lower,” said the principal. “Michael Scott,” the man said, rising and extending his hand.

“Jim Halpert,” Jim answered, shaking his hand.

“Dwight here has been telling me all about the times that you two shared together back here at old West Scranton High School.”

“Really?” Jim asked. He thought he might as well leave now. No one would hire someone to be a teacher that had his past.

“Yes, I have,” Dwight said seriously, with a smug smile on his face.

“Yeah,” said Mr. Scott. “What you did back then with Mr. Truck’s car…” Mr. Scott finished, beginning to trail off…
Jim started to stand up to leave…
“Was awesome,” finished Mr. Scott, as a huge grin started to take over his face.

“What???” Dwight yelled out.

“Awesome. Mr. Truck was a total lamewad. I met him right before I took over. Jim, you remind of myself back in my high school days. Which weren’t that long ago,” said Mr. Scott.

Jim was positive that Mr. Scott’s high school days were at least 25 years behind him, but he began to realize that maybe this interview wasn’t a lost cause. “Really?” asked Jim.

“Oh, yeah,” answered Mr. Scott. “I ruled my school; me and my best friend, Todd Packer. We were always playing jokes on people, picking up ladies, just being utter badasses.”

Wow, Jim thought, no one has ever said badass to me in an interview before. “What kind of stuff did you do?”

“Well,” said Michael, leaning back, “this one time I was in the cafeteria, and I thought it would be hilarious to pull the fire alarm and freak everybody out. So I waited until the lunch line was empty, so no one else would be near me, and I pulled the alarm and ran out screaming ‘Fire! Fire!’ and pushing everyone out of the way. It was…” Michael stated through his laughter, “hilarious,” Michael stopped laughing. “Except that this one girl I pushed actually broke her arm when she fell. It kind of ruined the girl’s basketball season. And her boyfriend, well…he was pretty unreasonable about the whole thing. I mean, he really didn’t need to act that way…” Michael said quietly.

What??? Jim thought. What a disaster. “That sounds pretty funny, actually,” Jim said. Ugh. I really hate sucking up to get ahead, but…

“Yes! Thank you, Jim. It really was! I wish you would have been around when I was in school. We would have been best buds!”

“Weren’t you friends with that Todd guy, though?” Jim asked.

“Yeah, we were. But sometimes he didn’t… anyhoo, Jimbo, from your resume and what we’ve done here, I think you would make a fine English teacher. Grades pretty good; you’re a funny guy; you get my jokes. Yup, we’re ready to make you an offer.”

“Michael,” Dwight finally spoke up, “Hiring Jim Halpert would be a terrible mistake. He is a slacker and will never take his job seriously. I told you what his reputation around this school is…”

“Shut it, Dwight. Jim seems fine to me, and this place is WAY too uptight, anyway. I want this place to be somewhere people look forward to coming to and hate leaving. These teachers and the administration are like family to these kids. We are all like their moms and dads. I want to have teachers that the kids can look up to, not people that have their panties in a wad all the time.”

“Michael…” Dwight pleaded.

“Enough!” Michael yelled. “If Jim wants this job, it’s his.”

Wow. “Mr. Scott, I accept your offer. I can’t tell you how excited I am to be joining this team.”

“That’s the kind of attitude we need! All right, talk to the secretary on your way out. She’ll give you some paperwork and stuff you have to fill out. I actually don’t know anything about that end of things, really, because I’m too important to worry about those kinds of formalities, but she’ll set you up. See you when the school year starts.”

“Thanks a lot,” Jim said, shaking Michael’s hand, “Looking forward to it.” Jim turned to leave and walk out the door, when he suddenly turned back around. “Bye, Dwight,” Jim smiled at him.

Dwight narrowed his eyes at Jim as he walked out the door.

March 22, 2005

“Hello?”

“Mark, what up man?” Jim had called his friend Mark on his drive back to Penn State.

“Jim- how was the interview?”

“Oh. My. God. You wouldn’t believe it if I told you.”

“You’re probably right…want to go to the basketball game tonight?”

Mark, Jim’s roommate, and Jim were in their final semester at Penn State. Mark was going to work at a hospital for a year, and then get his master’s in psychology, hopefully, starting the next fall.

“So you really don’t care about what happened in my interview that would make me say you wouldn’t believe it?”

“That’s about right.” Mark paused. “Of course I care, moron, what happened?”

“Do you remember Dwight?”

“Dwight…”

“Schrute.”

“From high school?”

“Yup.”

“Yeah…I remember him- I just wish I could forget him. Why are you asking?”

“He’s the new assistant principal at West Scranton.”

“You’re shitting me.”

“Nope. And he had informed the new principal all about my high school days before I got there.”

“Wow. That…sucks. Sorry about that, man.”

“Yeah. But the thing that may be even more unbelievable is that I got the job.”

“What? How is that possible? What principal would hire someone who four years ago had the car of the then principal towed to the middle of the football field? The only person who would do that would have to have like… the worst judgment in the history of the world.”

“Yeah, and I think I just spoke with that person today. He told me it was hilarious and that I was exactly what the school needed. I am going to be the new English teacher at West Scranton High School.”

“Wow. Congratulations, man. That’s awesome.”

“Thanks, Mark.”

“Although…”

“What?”

“It just sucks that I will probably know the next subject of the Dateline student-teacher scandal. Do you think I’ll have to testify?”

“Har har, Mark. Shut it, alright?”

“You know I’m just messin’ with you. Seriously, congratulations.”

“Thanks. See you later.”

“So, will you be back for the game?”

September 2, 2005

Jim Halpert groaned. Don’t get him wrong- he was excited to start his job. Career, actually, though that word had always kind of scared him. He was just going to miss summer. He had done basically nothing for the three months since he graduated. Mark and his other friends had started their jobs, and Jim’s job was to be there waiting for them when the weekend started, and otherwise be an absolute bum. It was the kind of existence that made him stress-free and without a care in the world, except that he sort of knew that living such a life at twenty-two years old was somewhat childish. But it was his last summer as a free man. Except that he was going to be a teacher and would thus still get his summers off. But still, it would be different after he started his job. Or career.

Jim got out of his Toyota Corolla and entered West Scranton High School. He had called Mr. Scott, the principal, three times last week to figure out what he needed to do when he got here, but had never actually spoken to him on the phone, each time leaving a message asking what time he needed to come in and whom he needed to ask for. Each time Michael called back, Jim let it go to voicemail, and then instantly regretted doing so, although it was probably better than having to actually speak with Michael. He couldn’t believe this guy was first of all, his new boss, and second of all a high school principal. The first time Michael called back, the message he left said, “Jimbag. Jimbo. Jimaroni. This is your new friend, Michael, returning your call. I’m just chillin’ right now, ya know, enjoying the summer tryin’ to keep all the ladies off me. Gimme a holla later to tell me what you’re doing.” That message answered none of his questions and was just kind of…weird. The next message, Michael spoke in a weird voice and said, “Fat Halpert. Fat Halpert. This is Michael again. Just callin’ ya back. Phone tag- smack! You’re it. Later.” Again, just creepy. The third message, Michael said, “Can’t wait to see you in a couple days, Jimsock. I guess it will be on Tuesday. Holla!” At least that one told him to come on Tuesday.

So Jim walked in at 8:00, not wanting to be late, and made his way to the principal’s office. As he walked in, he stopped at the door as he noticed the secretary, and his breathing stopped. She. Was. Gorgeous. And not the same person he had met in March. She wasn’t really glammed up like some girls were, but she had that understated, natural beauty that so few people were truly blessed with. Her dress was professional-like, with a striped button-down and a cardigan, but she still looked absolutely beautiful. She had curly hair pinned up in a barrette and a gold chain around her neck. He was in love.

“Um…hi,” he said to her, as he walked up to her desk.

“Hi,” she said sweetly, smiling at him.

What a smile, Jim thought. She could light up a town with that. “Um, I’m the new English teacher, and I think I need to speak with Mr. Scott.”

“Oh. Michael won’t be in probably for…” she looked up at the clock, “a couple of hours. It’s his summer break and he has to ‘get his beauty sleep for the ladies,’” she told him, as she made air quotes around the end of the sentence.

“Wow,” said Jim. He instantly admired her contempt for her boss, as he had grown to feel the same, though he had only had one conversation with him. “Do you know… I mean… do you have any idea what I should do until he gets here? I mean… it’s my first day as a teacher and I don’t really know…”

“Oh, yeah,” she interrupted his rambling. “Angela Martin is the head of the English department; I’ll just take you to see her. She’ll know what to do.”

“Thanks,” he smiled at her.

She got up and walked to the door. “C’mon.”

They had walked down the hall for a minute or so when Jim said, “So I’m Jim, by the way. Jim Halpert.”

“Pam Beesly,” she said, sticking out her hand to shake his. He noticed that it fit perfectly in his.

“So did you just start, or…”

“No, I’ve worked her for three years, I guess. When Mr. Truck retired, Michael decided to keep me on. Said I would do a great job as ‘the face of the school,’ whatever that means.”

Jim cringed a bit; he was starting to realize that maybe his boss was a creep. Though, if his boss had any sense, he wouldn’t have hired him after he heard about Jim’s antics, so maybe it wasn’t all that bad. “Oh. It’s just that I didn’t see you when I came to interview last March, so I figured…”

“Yeah. I was pretty sick for a couple of weeks last spring, so they had someone come in and cover for me. I missed most of the interviews for your job.”

“How many people did they actually interview?”

“Um, I’m not sure. I think about ten. Michael told me all of them were too ‘buttoned up’ except for the guy he hired who was hilarious.” She paused. “I was actually kind of scared to meet you when Michael said that.”

Jim chuckled and looked at her. She was grinning up at him. “Yeah, I think I would be, too, actually. But I don’t think I’m too scary.”

“Me neither. But what did you say to him in your interview?”

Well, here’s where she finds out how pathetic I am. “Um, do you know Dwight?”

“Schrute? Unfortunately.”

“Yeah. Well, he was in my high school class here at West Scranton. And I used to kind of play pranks on him and stuff. And Dwight told Michael all about them, and then a couple of the senior pranks I pulled, and Michael thought there were awesome. I actually kind of thought I was done for, but Michael said I was just what the school needed.”

“What kind of pranks?” she asked curiously.

“Well, I don’t know all of what Dwight told Michael, but I used to just mess with his locker and stuff. Like one time I popped a stink bomb in it and it smelled for like a week and everyone was pretty mad at him. I convinced everyone it was some kind of beet odor from his beet farm, and that got him even angrier. And one time, I got a hold of his car keys out of his book bag while we were in gym class and moved his car to a shopping center down the road so that when he went to drive home at the end of the day, his car was gone. And one time I switched out his P.E. uniform with a girl’s uniform. I don’t know, stuff like that.”

When he finished, he looked over at her. She was looking at the ground and laughing with her arms wrapped around herself. He thought it was adorable.

“Wow,” she finally said. “I really wish I could’ve seen Dwight’s reaction to all of that.”

“Well, if you’ve spent any time with him, I’m sure you can guess what happened. He always ran to tell Mr. Truck. Which was especially funny when he was in the girls’ P.E. uniform. I never could figure out why he kept that on, or never realized it didn’t fit him, but it’s Dwight, and I gave up trying to explain his actions years ago.”

She laughed out loud, and it was like music to his ears. “So that’s what Dwight told Michael that made him hire you?”

“I actually don’t know what Dwight told Michael, but the thing that Michael thought was the coolest was when I had Mr. Truck’s car towed to the football field one day.”

“What? Why would Michael think a prank on the principal was hilarious? He’s the principal now.”

“Yeah, that was what had me so baffled. But, it’s Michael, so…”

“Yeah,” she said.

Things got quiet, then, as they walked down the halls. Soon, they arrived at their destination. “Angela?” Pam said as she knocked on a classroom door.

“Yes?” said Angela coldly. Angela was a short, skinny blonde woman who was sitting at her desk dressed in a gray sweater over a white collared shirt buttoned all the way up. The way she answered Pam coupled with the way she was dressed made Jim shiver a bit.

“This is Jim Halpert. He’s the new English teacher.”

“Very well,” Angela said, with almost no emotion. “I’ll take care of him. You may go, now.”

“Okay, um, bye, Jim.”

“Bye, Pam.”

September 2, 2005

“Hi, Ms. Martin, I’m Jim Halpert,” Jim said, extending his hand.

“Yes, I know,” Angela said, shaking his hand firmly. “I would have liked to participate in the hiring process myself, but Michael assures me you will do a good job.”

“Well, I’m certainly going to do my best.”

“Yes. Okay. Well, this is the curriculum from the county. You need to draw up lesson plans and submit them to me by Thursday using this curriculum. There is a suggested list of outside reading, beyond the textbook, listed in the curriculum. You need to pick at least five of those readings and submit your choices to me. I also need a syllabus by Thursday, which generally outlines your lesson plans, lists classroom policies, and includes how you will evaluate your students.”

“Evaluate?”

“You know- grades? The reason students come to school. Learning? Where did they find you?”

“Um… Penn State?”

“Party school. Figures. Nothing but heathens coming out of there.”

“So you went to…”

“Messiah College. In Grantham. I majored in English and was certified to teach for grades 7-12. I received a 4.0 grade point average. I also minored in Biblical and Religious studies, which brought me even closer to the Lord. I then began here three years ago and have quickly risen to become head of the English department.”

“Wow… that’s um… quite impressive, Angela.”

“Ms. Martin.”

“Ms. Martin. Sorry.”

“What did you major in at… Penn State?” Angela asked, saying ‘Penn State’ with utter contempt and distaste.

“I actually double majored in English and Education. Which is why I’m here trying to be an English teacher.”

“Hmmph. Well, how were your grades Mr. Halpert?”

“Um, I did pretty well. A’s and B’s.”

“Well, maybe you will be adequate as a member of this department, then. Here are your materials. Your classroom is Room 707. I suggest you get to work, since you have never before written lesson plans.”

“Well, actually I did that when I student taught, but thanks for the advice, I guess. Good to meet you, Ms. Martin.”

“Good bye.”

Jim walked out of the room and let out a big exhale. Why did he just feel like he stepped down from the witness stand after cross-examination? The two people that he directly answered to were an uptight disciplinarian and a middle aged man who acted like a misguided teenager. Pam’s pretty cool, though, he thought. I need to get to know her. Jim walked down the hall and turned right into his classroom. Wow. His classroom. It was only six years ago that he sat in the back of this classroom and shot a spitball at Dwight. He laughed to himself. Dwight had jumped up and yelled, “Mucous!” causing the whole room to erupt in laughter. Even the teacher had chuckled, having long ago tired of Dwight’s brownnosing, weird opinions, tattle-tale nature, and just…everything else about Dwight. Jim sometimes missed those days. But now he had to get to work creating lesson plans and a syllabus. Jim sat down at his desk, pulled some paper and a pen out of his messenger bag, and got to work.

Forty-five minutes later, Jim’s head hit his desk. He thought he might die of boredom. Yes, he had written lesson plans before, and yes he was somewhat excited about being a teacher, but this was painful. He was coming off a summer of doing nothing. How could anyone expect him to jump right back into some kind of working routine with both feet? Jim groaned and walked out of his classroom, noticing the bare walls and thinking he would have to do something to spruce this place up a bit. Jim walked toward the faculty break room. He knew where that was from his school days. He smiled and remembered the time that he told Dwight that some teachers were in there plotting against Mr. Truck. Dwight ran in and began yelling accusations at the teachers, who were none too pleased. When Mr. Truck pulled Dwight out of the room, Dwight spent twenty minutes trying to explain that his actions were only out of loyalty and that it was the teachers who should be punished. Yeah, that was a good day. Dwight deserved it though for raising his hand during Algebra class and telling the teacher that Jim was playing tetris on his calculator and that it was ‘disruptive to the learning environment.’ Ugh. Jim stepped into the break room, and for the first time today, saw his nemesis.

“Hey, Dwight.”

“Jim?” Dwight said as he stood up. He had been sitting behind Angela in a chair, and apparently the two had been talking, while both sat in chairs facing the same direction. Weird. “What are you doing here?”

“Just getting some coffee,” Jim said as he picked up the coffee pot and poured some coffee into his Penn State mug.

“Bye, Ms. Martin,” Jim said as he turned toward the door as Angela scurried out of the room.

When Jim turned back around toward the interior of the room, Dwight was three inches away staring right into his face. “Jim, let me make something quite clear. I am now your boss. I graduated college in three years, which is something that takes a slacker like you four.”

“Don’t they call it a four year degree?” Jim interrupted.

“For a normal person, yes, but I am a Schrute. I worked very hard to get where I am today, and am older and wiser than I was when you knew me. Do not mess with me, Halpert.”

“O-kay, then. What were you talking to Angela about?”

“Angela from English?”

“Um, yeah, you know, the person who was just in here talking to you.”

“We were speaking about education business. The new textbooks should be arriving today, and we were also discussing possible changes to the curriculum, not that it’s any of your business.”

“I actually think that changes to the English curriculum would be my business, you know, since I am an English teacher.”

“Jim, do not question my authority. I am Assistant Principal…”

“Assistant to the Principal,” Jim corrected.

“Same thing,” Dwight said.

“Um, I’m pretty sure it’s not. Remember in my interview? Michael specifically said that it’s lower.”

“You can refer to Michael as Mr. Scott. Michael has accomplished things in secondary education that you cannot even fathom. No one in this school will ever be able to come even close to accomplishing what he has.”

“Did you just call Mr. Scott Michael? With all his accomplishments, I would figure everyone would have to refer to him as Mr. Scott.”

“I alone can call him Michael. As Assistant Principal…”

“Assistant to the Principal.”

“I am the number two ranking person in this school. I have earned the right to speak to Michael in an informal matter, as a sign of mutual respect.”

“Sure, Dwight. I’m going to get back to work. I have to fill out those forms Michael wanted everyone to fill out by noon or he’s going to be ticked,” Jim said as he began to walk out of the room.

“What form?” Dwight asked.

“Dwight, c’mon, you know what form,” Jim said, still walking away.

“Jim, as your boss…”

“You are not my boss.”

“Yes, I am.”

“Not really. I checked. Your position is really kind of an informal one. I answer to Michael and Angela.”

“Jim, it’s Mr. Scott and Ms. Martin. Second, I am the second in command here, and as such I order you to tell me what form you are going to fill out.”

“Fine. Mich…Mr. Scott wanted everyone to write down their suggestions for the new cafeteria menu and submit them to him by the end of the day.”

“What?”

“Dwight- you’re the second highest ranking person here. I just assumed you would know about the investigations.”

“What investigations?” Dwight whispered conspiratorially.

“Dwight, if you don’t know, I’m not sure I’m the person to be telling you this. I mean, I don’t want to get in trouble.”

“Jim, as a Schrute I am extremely trustworthy. No one will know. Now, what is the investigation?”

“Okay, Dwight, but this is just between us. Apparently, the Department of Health found some things in the cafeteria that were…well, they should not have been there. Now the whole operation is in jeopardy, and Michael wanted everyone’s suggestions about what we could do.”

“I see,” Dwight said. “Perhaps I should make my own investigation. As a roadside beet salesman, I have a great deal of experience in the food service industry.”

Jim had to contain his smile. This was going just as he thought it would. “Just be careful, Dwight. The people I saw go in there…it’s pretty bad, Dwight. Some kind of virus they can’t identify yet. If I personally were to go back there…do you have like some sort of protective suit you could wear?”

“Of course I do. After I saw Outbreak and heard about the bird flu, I bought a protective suit to protect myself from biological attack.”

“Great thinking, Dwight. I just wish I had one. If you are going anywhere near the cafeteria, I would be sure to put that on.”

“I keep one in my office. I’ll be sure to get it. Jim, you did the right thing in telling me about this.”

“Dwight, it was my honor.”

September 2, 2005

Jim smiled and waited one minute. Then he left the break room and began to walk towards Dwight’s office. He did not want to miss this. Sure, he had promised himself before he began this job that he would grow up and would resist the temptation to mess with Dwight. But he couldn’t help himself. Who throws around titles like that? I mean, sure, Dwight had a good job now as Assistant (to the) Principal, but c’mon. Plus, Michael specifically hired him to lighten this place up a bit, so he was just doing his job, right? Right, he told himself as he walked into the office and saw Pam again. Still breathtaking. I need to ask her to lunch, Jim thought.

“What’s up?” she asked him as he walked in.

“Nothing much, just um…did Dwight come in here?”

“Um, yes, he ran in here just a second ago. Why?”

“No big reason. Just wondering,” Jim said with a small smile.

“What’s going on?”

“Okay, I’ll tell you, but you can’t rat me out.”

“Rat you out? What is this, a mob movie?”

“I’m seriously, Beesly, I can’t lose this job on my first day.”

“Okay. What’s going on?”

“I told Dwight…I told him the department of health is investigating the cafeteria, and suggested that maybe he should investigate. I told him he shouldn’t go in there without some sort of protection, and he just so happens to have a biohazard protection suit in his office.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Um, no, I’m not.”

“That is awesome. So is he…?”

“Oh, yeah, he should be changing right now. I just came down to give him some last minute warnings. And to take pictures of him with my phone. Which I will plaster all over the school.”

Pam laughed at him. Man, she’s so beautiful when she laughs; her whole face lights up. I gotta get her to do that more often.

Just then, Dwight came out of his office in his suit, complete with a mask and some sort of heavy duty rubber gloves.

“Dwight?” said Pam.

“Yes, Pam?” answered Dwight.

“I just read the reports from the Department of Health. It does not look pretty. Please, please be careful.” Jim looked at her and grinned broadly. He had just found an accomplice.

“Pam, as a volunteer sheriff’s deputy, I have been in these circumstances before. I know exactly what to do.”

“They send the police to handle stuff like this?” Jim asked. “Volunteer police?”

“Jim, my job requires me to subject myself to all types of danger. In my line of work, this is nothing new.”

“In your line of work as Assistant to the Principal?”

“No, Jim. My weekend job as a volunteer sheriff’s deputy.”

“Ah. Well, be careful, Dwight, like Pam said. I wouldn’t personally go in there, but I’m sure you can handle it.”

“Of course I can. We Schrutes have been warriors for generations, and with my genes this suit may not even be necessary. I am impervious to many types of germs and bacteria that would normally kill a man.”

“Then why do you even have the suit?”

“Safety, Jim. Who knows what the enemies of America have cooked up to fight us.”

“And then unleashed on a high school cafeteria. In Scranton.”

“Right.”

“Right. Well, good luck, Dwight. Oh, one more thing, can I…get a picture? I mean, if you end up being a hero, the papers will want a photo, and…well, this shot could be valuable.”

“Of course, Jim. But I will need 80% of the proceeds.”

“Obviously. Okay. On three…one, two, three.” Jim snapped the photo, and looked at it on his phone.

“Yep, this came out great. Good luck.”

“To infinity and beyond!” Dwight yelled out as he ran towards the cafeteria.

“Oh my god!” Pam laughed as she watched Dwight run off.

“Toy Story was a popular movie, Pam. Buzz Lightyear was a hero to all,” Jim said seriously as he leaned his body against the counter.

“What does he think he is going to accomplish in there?” Pam asked.

“I don’t know exactly. I’m just concerned that he may give someone a heart attack in his Darth Vader outfit. Considering no one else knows about the dangerous biohazards in the school. The ones that don’t actually exist.”

“Right.” She was still grinning up at him from behind her counter. Jim felt like he could look at her forever. And if he wanted to do that…

“So,” Jim began, “since the cafeteria is obviously going to be shut down for a little while, do you want to go out to lunch today?”

“Oh…um…”

“C’mon, Beesly. Tell you what- it’s on me. So long as you stick to the dollar menu.”

“Well…um…okay. If you put it that way, how can a girl refuse?”

“Good. I’ll, um, be back here at like, noon?”

“Sure.”

“Okay. See you then.” Jim shot her one last grin as he walked out the door. As he walked down the hallway, he heard screams coming from the cafeteria.

Maybe this job wasn’t going to be so bad.