In all his years of life, John Watson never expected to actually be excited for school, yet here he was, heart pumping against his chest in anticipation for the new school year. Finally, it was the beginning of the end, and in less than a year, he will graduate, join the army, and get the hell out of here. Words could not properly express how completely and utterly sick he was of Baker High School. Absolutely nothing exciting happened here, and John Watson was dying for some excitement.
The sandy-haired boy had woken up promptly at five a.m.. He made sure he would have enough time to shower, pick an outfit out, brush his hair so it didn't look too terrible, and eat a nice, hearty breakfast before having to go to school. Currently, he was waiting for the bus. Though he had a license and could drive, there is no way he could afford to get his own car, and his father was not the type of man to buy a car for his son. John's father earned everything he ever got in life, and he was adamant on raising John to be the same. "A real man works hard for the things he wants in life," he would say.
The school bus stopped in front of John's house. He stepped onto the old, rumbling bus, greeted the driver, and took a seat across from his friend Molly. "Morning, John! How was your break?" she asked cheerfully.
"Oh, not too bad, yours?" John spent the next few minutes catching up with his friend. She, of course, had an uneventful break, and it came as no surprise that the most exciting thing that happened to her was getting a new kitten and teaching it to use the litter box in just a single day. She seemed genuinely proud of herself though, and as she showed John pictures of the kitten, Mr. Muffins, John made sure to put off a good act of enthusiasm. There was no sense in hurting her feelings just because he was bored of normal, everyday occurrences being treated as something interesting - God, how John craved something actually interesting.
Almost as if she were reading his mind, Molly changed the subject. "Oh, did you hear about the new chemistry teacher?" Now, that peaked John's interest. Baker High hadn't had any need teachers for as long as John had been there. Suddenly, he wasn't so upset about chemistry being scheduled as his first class of the day.
"No, I didn't actually. My parents never read the newsletters from the school; who is it?" John was leaning forward in his seat now, waiting to hear any gossip Molly had about the new teacher. Girls always knew gossip, somehow.
Molly subconsciously could tell that John was finally genuinely interested in what she was saying, so she was happy to share the information she had. "Well, all the newsletter said was that there was going to be a new chemistry teacher and his name is Sherlock Holmes."
"Holmes? Like - ?"
"Yeah, like Headmaster Holmes, it must be his brother or something!" she said in excitement. "I wonder if they are anything alike?" Suddenly, she wasn't so excited. "Oh God, I hope not…do you have him first period too?"
John nodded to answer Molly's question, but his mind was a million miles away. Headmaster Holmes was a very, very smart man, but instead of passing his knowledge on to students, he wanted to be in charge of the people that did. It was obvious that he enjoyed being in a position of power, and he ran the school on a strict "no tolerance" policy, and there was a lot he had no tolerance for, mediocrity being at the top of his list. It's for this reason that Baker High School students test higher than any school in the district, and had the largest amount of graduates in the nation. So, anyone related to Mycroft Holmes couldn't be much different from him...maybe taking a chemistry class taught by a Holmes wasn't so exciting after all… John was already uncertain that he would pass the class, and now that a Holmes was teaching it, he will be held up to much higher standards.
Hopefully Molly will be his lab partner. She was a much better student than he was. If it weren't for her he wouldn't have passed biology last semester. She was just so damn good at dissecting those frogs..
As the bus pulled up to the school, John's excitement turned into anxiety. If he doesn't pass this chemistry class, then he doesn't get to graduate, which would mean staying here longer than he wants to. Maybe it won't be so bad. Maybe this new teacher will only ensure that he passes the class, the same way the Headmaster ensured that as many students graduate as possible. John just had to think positively, if he didn't he might have a panic attack. Graduating meant everything to him, so he would make it happen, and that was that.
When John and Molly entered the chemistry room, they expected to be able to sit wherever they pleased like most teachers let them do on the first day. Much to John's surprise, there was a seating chart already neatly drawn out on a whiteboard on the left side of the room, which was new in addition to one on the right side of the room. Before, this room had only had the single whiteboard in the front of the room. The year prior, this classroom was Mr. Anderson's History room. He appeared to have been relocated across the hall to a much smaller classroom. He couldn't have been too happy about that.
Unfortunately, John wasn't supposed to sit next to Molly. So much for having her as a lab partner. As John approached his spot in the front of the class next to Jessica Laney, a really attractive, yet really dumb girl, he sighed in annoyance. Her boyfriend, Clarence O'Malley, was sitting in his seat. "I believe you're sitting in my assigned seat, O'Malley."
Clarence was a big guy, Captain of the Rugby team, with when he scowled at John, that was all it took to make him shut his mouth and just sit in O'Malley's seat next to Molly on the other side of the room. Mr. Holmes was a new teacher, so he wouldn't know. He would just assume that John was Clarence. Oh well, it's only one class, it wasn't a big deal, especially since he would have Molly as a partner after all.
The entire classroom was buzzing with multiple conversations, all centered around the new teacher, who still wasn't anywhere to be seen. Most teachers were in their classrooms before any students showed up, especially on the first day of school. It was already apparent that Mr. Holmes was not "most teachers".
The first bell rang and everyone rushed away from their friends and to their assigned seats. Well, everyone besides John and Clarence. The class waited in silent anticipation. The entire room was practically humming with energy. John tapped his fingers lightly on the table anxiously, where was the teacher?
Five minutes went by and the second bell went off, signifying the start of class. If a student wasn't in class by that second bell then they would be considered tardy.
When the door to the classroom suddenly swung open, there was a collective jump amongst the students. A tall, lean figure swooped into the room, his hair was dark and curly, and he sported a long coat and a scarf, which he promptly slipped off and tossed onto his desk in the corner of the room, which happened to be across from where John was supposed to be sitting. The man did not dress like most teachers dressed. He was wearing a dark purple button down shirt with no tie, very nice, black dress pants, and expensive-looking shoes. The darkness of his clothes was an amazing contrast to his pale skin, which also seemed to make his cheekbones stand out more. He looked nothing like his brother, though they did have the same upright posture. All of the girls in the class instantly swooned, especially Molly. John had never met a teacher that was so young and conventionally attractive before. Needless to say, his interest was caught once again.
The teacher hardly even looked at the class before turning his back and writing his name on the whiteboard. "I am Professor Holmes, and I will be your chemistry teacher. Do not refer to me as 'Mr. Holmes', I spent many dull years at a university to jump through all the proper hoops to be able to get my teaching degree even though I was smarter than my teachers and you can't imagine how insufferable that was, so I didn't go through all of that to be called 'Mr.' besides -" he finally turned to face the class, "Mr. Holmes is my brother, and there's no need for confusion." There was a very brief moment of silence before he continued, "This class will not be easy. I should be educating university students, but I am doing this as a favor to my dear brother." it was clear from his tone of voice that he wasn't too fond of the Headmaster. "Even though the majority of you are mindless twits, some of you may still have potential, so as such I will hold you each up to the expectations I have of you. Know now that if you start to fail my class and I don't seem to care, it's because I don't. I already who is going to fail or pass just by looking at you all, but, a few of you may surprise me." Wow, he certainly was direct, wasn't he?
"Now, if you haven't noticed, I talk fast, so do try to keep up. Don't bother trying to take notes, it will only slow you down. I want everyone engaged in this class, and before anyone asks, I will hand out small packets with all noteworthy information at the end of each class so that you all may study at home. Now, let's get started, shall we?" Professor Holmes scanned the classroom with his bright blue eyes, and a slight crease appeared in between his eyebrows. "For God sake, I put up a seating chart for a reason. O'Malley, please tear yourself away from your girlfriend and give Mr. Watson his correct seat."
John was slightly stunned. How could he possibly know that they were sitting in the wrong seats just by glancing at the room for a moment? Clarence stood up from the seat angrily and stomped his way to the other side of the classroom. As he passed John, he made sure to slam his shoulder into him, almost knocking him over. Even though it hurt, John did his best to not react or let O'Malley have the satisfaction of successfully bullying him. He just quietly took his seat next to Jessica, his arm throbbing in pain.
Sherlock narrowed his eyes at Clarence, but once he was seated in his correct seat, he started the class without any other distractions. It was the quietest John had ever witnessed his classmates be. Everyone paid complete attention to the new teacher. By the end of the class, John actually felt like he learned something. It was such a relief to not have to worry about taking the right notes while listening to everything being said. When the bell rang, everyone actually waited for Professor Holmes to dismiss the class.
"Don't forget to grab your packet of notes, there will be a quiz in three morning." At the corner of his desk there was a small box with, as promised, sufficient notes. John purposefully took a while to pack up his stuff so that he would be the last to leave.
John approached the desk and took the last packet out of the box "I uh, I just wanted to say, that was brilliant. All of it."
"Yes, I know." Sherlock said, hardly looking up from his lesson plans as he did.
"And, erm, thanks for sorting the whole thing with Clarence. He's a git." John felt a bit awkward. He wasn't sure where to go from here, or why he was talking to the professor at all.
"Yes, it would appear that he isn't he's not as tough as he seems. He's physically strong to hide emotional weakness. Next time, stand up for yourself. Now, run along, don't be late to your next class, I have no tolerance for tardiness" ah, there was that bit of Mycroft in him. It was apparent that the conversation was over, and John did as he was told and hurried to his next class, still bewildered by his new teacher.