Making your approach

When the bell rings for the period, Ashley rushes to the front of the class as the students stream out and you see her talking to the young teacher and pointing at you. Kayden McCloud nods a few times as Ashley talks to her, then your assistant gives you a thumbs up as the last student leaves.

"I'll be in the car," Ashley tells you as she walks out, closing the door. There's a poster stuck to the inside of the door about the school dance, and it covers the little window on the classroom door where people can look in through. You walk to the front of the room where the teacher is standing by her desk.

"Miss McCloud, it's a pleasure to meet you. Congratulations again," you say.

"Thank you mister mayor. I voted for you and I think a lot of the students look up to you."

"Thanks! Anyway, I was quite impressed with your work and I was thinking we could use someone like you at city hall to help us with our education policies for the entire city. Imagine how many more students you could help."

Kayden looks surprised and pleased at the same time. "Really?! That would be awesome. I enjoy teaching, but if I could reach even more students and raise the standard of education, that would be a dream job!"

You step over to her desk and lean back against the edge with your arms crossed. She's excited about the opportunity and you can see that she's already thinking about what she can accomplish. Just then, the classroom door opens and a student walks in. You recognize her from the back row in the class just now.

"Oh, sorry Miss McCloud, I left my pen here," the student says.

"It's okay, Mindy. Go get it, the mayor and I were just chatting," Kayden says. You two wait as the student retrieves her pen and leaves. You go and lock the door this time. "Don't want any more interruptions," you explain to Kayden and she doesn't seem bothered.

"So, the job?" she prompts you.

"Yes. The job. We can probably pay you more than your teachers' salary," you say, rubbing your chin as you walk back to her. "The problem is..."

"Yes?"

"You're very young and there are people with way more years of experience who want the job. I would have to stick my neck out for you." You're standing in front of her with just a small gap between you two, looking down into her eyes.

"Oh," she says. Her eyes look to the side as she thinks about how to convince you. You reach for your magic rings, but you stop yourself at the last second. You'd already come so far without using them, and you decide to see if you can get what you want without them. Instead, you raise your hands and rest them on Kayden's shoulders and she looks back at you.

"Oh," she says again.