Brrrrriiiiiiing.
At 2:45, the bell finally rang.
What had been a silent classroom earlier suddenly burst into life. Pencils, papers, and books were quickly stuffed into backpacks, some falling haphazardly on the floor. Girls' high pitched giggles and the excited lower mumblings of teenage boys could be heard through the fray. Chairs scraped loudly along the floor as they were pushed in.
Rei stood at the door and held it open, smiling at each student. "Okay now, Suzie, don't forget the summer reading you have to do for your APs…and Jason try to keep your stunts to a minimum, okay?"
Said student grinned and hailed Rei with a lime green arm cast and several band aids.
"Bye Mr. Kon!"
"Yeah! See you next year!"
"Have a good break!"
"Don't forget your promise to send us pictures of you at the beach!"
Rei rolled his eyes as a gaggle of preppy, madly giggling girls pushed their way out of the door, handbags barely making it through.
"Okay kids, have a great summer! Be safe and don't forget sunscreen!"
Within two minutes and forty two seconds the classroom was completely empty.
Except for Rei.
Sighing, he went around picking up the last traces of the students and straightening the desks. Sometimes, I wonder if I should settle down. I was starting to become too attached to those kids…
He dropped the miscellaneous pieces that he'd picked up into the trashcan by his desk (no one would need them now, as school was over). Then, after taking stock of the bare classroom, he grabbed his briefcase, and headed down the hall to Max's classroom, artfully dodging the stragglers in the hallway.
Rei found Max trying to stuff the last of his paints into the top shelf of the cupboard. He dropped his briefcase and went over to help.
Max grunted in greeting. "Oh! Hey Rei."
"Hello Max. Need a hand?"
"Naw. I'm almost done anyway. This is the last box." Max stood on his tiptoes, trying to nudge the box onto the shelf.
Rei smoothly reached up and gave a gentle push. The box slid into place with a slight thump.
"Thanks man." Max wiped a hand across his brow and started weaving his way among the easels. Rei watched as Max sheepishly picked up a near bursting folder of paintings, drawings, and projects.
Grinning, Max said almost apologetically, "It's just so hard to throw some of them away."
Rei laughed lightly and replied, "I don't know Max. There's nothing nostalgic about a stack of essays."
"Oh come on. In art, you need to reach into yourself and express it and make it into something tangible. These are pieces of my students' souls here. On the other hand, there's nothing personal about what you teach."
"Don't even get me started about personal voice and development of ideas, Max."
"Trust me. After those three hours of enlightenment at Starbucks last week, I've had enough of English and composition." They headed out of the classroom and back into the hallway, heading for the front doors.
Despite their bantering, Max and Rei were actually very close friends. Rei had recently begun teaching in the middle of the year, coming in as a long term substitute to relieve a certain very pregnant Mrs. Hammers. They had met and bonded on Rei's first day over the water cooler, when Max had casually remarked that he wished the school board would increase budget for more art supplies. This led Rei to disagree and to argue that as activities piled on and internet networking became the norm, students had spent less and less of their free time reading, so as a result the school board should set aside some money to buy new books and to promote reading as a beneficial activity. The discussion had combusted and became a full out three hour debate that included the topics of different forms of expression, art, popular culture, one disgruntled principle, and many thirsty colleagues.
Rei was lost in his thoughts when Max suddenly stalled and stopped. Rei bumped into him and nearly knocked both of them over.
"My bad." Max grinned in apology up at Rei, "but I need to head up to Tala's to ask him some questions about the party tonight. Would you mind coming with me? We can get Kenny along the way, instead of him always meeting up with us."
Rei just nodded absentmindedly. After scrutinizing his friend's face closely, Max just huffed and muttered something about "those writers and their crazy ideas" before heading down the hall.
After three flights of stares and an overly affectionate Mrs. Bagsham (the secretary) wishing them a good summer later, they finally arrived at Tala's classroom in the science wing.
Rei shivered as he entered the chemistry classroom. Although he had met Tala a few months back, he had never been inside his classroom. He now understood why students had named Tala the Ice Despot, and heard the horror stories about air conditioning in the middle of winter. Looking around him, he saw familiar blank walls, devoid of material. It was regulation to clear everything off in the classrooms for summer break. The room was almost identical to his own (Mrs. Hammer's own, he corrected himself), except the individual desks had been replaced by black lab tables, and there were lab stations encircling the whole perimeter.
Max immediately approached the feisty redhead, who was behind his desk, and began discussing something with him in hushed tones. Rei idled at the door, looking at everything and nothing in particular.
He dubiously brushed a dusty footpint off of the black surface of the nearest lab table. Professor Tala was known for his unusual, often passionate lectures, which occurred with one foot on the desk, the other on the floor, and piercing, intense blue eyes glaring and scaring the students into submission. There was a reason why Tala's classes had higher grade point averages than many of the other teachers.
"Rei." He looked up in surprise as he was suddenly addressed.
"I trust you are coming tonight?" The redhead's calculating blue eyes sparkled with something Rei couldn't discern.
"Um…of course. At the Tonbo(1) Gardens, right?"
"Yes. We've rented a nice little patio for ourselves. I trust you are going with Max?"
"Yeah. He's picking me up at around six."
"Perfect." The redhead now stood up and was collecting his things, ready to go.
Max had a few more words with Tala. As they left, Rei tried to figure out whether or not Tala had meant to sound ominous with those two syllables…
They found Kenny bemoaning the tattered state of a textbook that a student had turned in late. After assuring him that the water damage would not affect anyone's retinas, Rei went around the library and turned off all the computers while Kenny finished shelving the books. Max made a last trip to the staff room to file away his gigantic folder of artwork.
"So what are your plans for the summer, Rei?" Kenny addressed him from behind a shelf.
"Actually, I don't have very many yet. I'm waiting on the next book in the Twilight series, though." He clicked the red "turn off" button and moved on to computer number thirteen.
"Ahh. Twilight. Those were the most checked out books this year. Out of curiosity, I did read the first one." Kenny admitted as he stepped down from the ladder. He pushed it to the right, and climbed back up again.
"Compelling, aren't they?" Rei pushed in a stray chair.
"Yes. I would like to know though, Rei, how they rate from the English teacher's point of view," Kenny said while hefting a big pile of textbooks.
"Well, it is a very good story line. Normally, I don't agree with such simple word choice, 'cuz I want students to improve their vocabulary, but its different in this book. The other significant thing I noticed is that the book is very smooth." Rei leaned against a shelf, waiting for Kenny to finish.
"Smooth? What do you mean?"
"Have you ever read Harry Potter?"
"Why, yes Rei. I would think that it's a must for a librarian to know his most popular books."
"Well, in Harry Potter there are very complex plot lines. There are also places where you can feel safe to stop and put down the book. But in this case, the story just goes on from start to finish. Ironically, I would say it just bleeds into itself."
"Ah. I know what you mean. And what about–…" Kenny was stopped in the middle of his inquiry by the appearance of someone at the doorway.
"Excuse me, but I have a textbook." The voice was deep and husky, sounding like velvet rustling over dried roses.
Rei suddenly felt very self conscious.
Kenny, however, was not affected in the least. "Oh! In that case, Mr. Hiwatari, I'd be glad to take it for you." He hopped down from the ladder and went over to the math teacher.
"I'd thought that I had all the textbooks in to you, but a student just handed me this today. I'm sorry for the trouble."
"Oh. It's fine. At least they got it in, no? Lemme see, Advanced Math Analysis? Hmm, over there in row J." Muttering to himself, Kenny bounded away to shelf the book.
Out of the corner of his eyes, Rei observed the math teacher. He was dressed in a dove gray shirt and white slacks, the shirt hanging open a few buttons at the top to reveal creamy skin and a toned chest. The professor held himself in a confident, but relaxed manner.
Kai Hiwatari…
Rei was not personally acquainted with Kai Hiwatari. They had been introduced by Max, but had only exchanged a few quick words, as the break bell had rung rather too soon. All the same, he felt very drawn to the stoic math professor. He assumed it was because he had heard one of the female students remark that she didn't know if she wanted Professor Hiwatari or Professor Kon was hotter.
Speaking of hot…
Rei's ears turned a bit pink around the edges when he recalled the day he had seen a stray piece of paper on a student's desk, and picked it up. It appeared to be a rough draft, with many crossing-outs and adding-ins marked with red pen. Upon reading the content, though, Rei had discovered that this was definitely not a school paper. It included a certain math professor and a certain English teacher, doing certain things that were quite naughty. But of course, it wasn't anything important.
There is nothing personal. Just professional interest.
"So are you coming tonight?" For the second time in an afternoon, Rei was snapped out of his thoughts. This time though, it was more violent.
"O-oh. O-of course. How about you?" He tried to stay calm, but why were his cheeks insisting on turning pink?
"Do you think Tala would let me not come?" Hiwatari's perfect lips arched up in his trademark smirk.
"Well. I have heard that he can get pretty adamant." Rei forced himself to grin.
"Oh. More than that, believe me."
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Rei jumped at the sound. Hiwatari, however, calmly pulled out a sleek black cell phone from his pocket. Checking it, he made a "Hn" sound, then turned to walk away.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to."
"A-alright."
Gold clashed with crimson in an electrifying stare that was charged with curiosity, hope, and so much more.
"I'll see you tonight, then."
(1)Dragonfly.
Ok. I know this is very rough. I barely edited. This was meant to be a one shot, but I HAD to post. I had to.
If I get enough reviews I'll continue. If I continue, and keep on getting reviews, maybe I shall attempt a lemon.
So please, share your thoughts, and be at peace.