"Ma'am, respectfully, I disagree."
The deal began with Dr. Spencer Reid, the special education teacher for all years at Cal-Tech. The alumni and incoming loved him, even the kids that would never experience his teaching style and simply had him for a monitor for their study hall. It was his optimistic outlook, most of all, and his dedication to understanding his students was unparalleled in their administration.
It had slowly come to his attention that some of the other teachers weren't so partial to him. The math teacher sometimes sat next to him during lunch hour when the others were in their little cliques, asked him if he liked math ("I love math," Reid excitedly replied, launching into an enlightening lecture by a graduate of Harvard that he'd memorized), but other than that, there weren't many times he could completely make acquaintanceship with them, as their schedule were drastically different. He didn't teach the whole day, only three different sessions with three different five-student classes, and he left around three in the afternoon while the other instructors were there until seven. They most likely had an inclination of jealousy due to his job. He knew that considered it easy, but because most of them hadn't gotten their M.S.E. and most likely couldn't comfortably approach any child on any level of the spectrum, much less teach the students how to analyze poetry and develop their knowledge of calculus. But, being the optimistic, kind person he was, Reid kept his mouth shut about it.
Often, Reid's participation in the teacher meetings was lacking. He'd raise his hand to vote on things to better his students' experience in school, but the majority of the time he sat in the back corner of the break room and edited his lesson plans quietly. In the first teacher meeting of the second semester of a particularly progressive year, Mr. Gideon, the maths instructor, stood from his chair during the silence in between speakers and told everyone about how all of his students adored Dr. Reid, and how one of the student's younger sister (Amy, Reid noted silently. She's progressing very well in her English lessons.) was slowly developing her communication with her family after years of silence and gesturing for what she needed. Reid ducked his head down as the attention of the room was turned unto him.
"That's amazing," the Literature professor commented, "Dr. Reid, have you considered conducting your own lectures?"
"I, um..." He cleared his throat, not used to speaking in front of his colleagues(?), "I don't have enough students for a lecture, sir."
"That could be changed," another teacher piped up. "You work with mentally challenged students, but there are many more people at the school that struggle with learning disabilities."
"Oh, I..." Reid looked around the room, startled but flattered. "That would change things, definitely. For the better, I mean. Amy was a joy to work with, as are all of my students."
The group of them came to a consensus. Each one would send an email to Chancellor Strauss requesting and recommending that Dr. Spencer Reid gets a lecture block once a week, if not twice a week, for his own students as well as those who had learning impairment. Everyone drafted and sent theirs during the last moments of the meeting, typing away at their computers (while Dr. Reid wrote his own request on the stationary he always kept tucked in his bag for special occasions).
Later in the week, as he left his classroom and waved to Mr. Gideon as he headed to lunch hour, a tall man with black hair stopped him in the hall. The man was wearing a dress shirt, suit pants and a blue tie and he smelled like cedar. Reid thought he looked very official, had it not been for the wide grin on his face.
"Hey," the man said slowly, "I'm Strauss' assistant for the time being."
"Oh, hi." Reid felt excitement bubbling up in his stomach as he held his hand out, "Dr. Spencer Reid. It's nice to meet you."
"Aaron Hotchner," the man replied, a soft smile on his face. "She wants to see you in her office. If you're not busy, of course."
"I just finished my second class of the day. I've got a few hours before I'm due back," Reid said, his eyes sparkling.
"Well then, let's go."
Her office was all the way across the school. Mr.(?) Hotchner often initiated a conversation about Reid—what he taught, how old he was (when Reid told him, his mouth fell open), and why he thought he was getting called up to the Monster's Den. Reid had been called up the several offices in his day, and he knew not to get his hopes up, but he couldn't help but get giddy as they reached the door.
The giddiness did not last long.
The conversation was one-sided and condescending, something Reid was used to, however it was also long. He kept his mouth shut, though, as the reasons why he wasn't qualified to teach a full lecture hall flew from his boss's mouth and struck him in the chest. Mr. Hotchner grimaced where he sat next to Reid, glancing up from his lap every few minutes to check and see if the other man was okay. Which he seemed to be.
"I hope you understand. Our personnel are fully capable of instructing their students, especially those who have incapacitated learning skills. We have training for all our teachers," Chancellor Strauss nodded slowly. "We do admire your work here, Dr. Reid."
"Ma'am, respectfully, I disagree," Reid replied, picking up his messenger bag and setting it on his lap to search for the files he had made ready.
"Excuse me?" Strauss asked as Mr. Hotchner whispered "Holy shit."
"There are approximately 2,240 students of which you oversee," he pulled out a pile of folders and nudged it onto Strauss' desk. "Four percent of them, that's about 90 students, have learning disabilities. Enough to fill a lecture hall, including my own students."
"Dr. Reid, we know the numbers."
"I don't think you do," Reid replied, gesturing to the pile. "In your training on learning incapacitation, which I've been to all of them, you've only covered acute dyslexia and others that very few of your students have."
The chancellor just stared, her lips parted in what seemed to be a mixture of confusion and rage.
"I'm qualified, ma'am. I've gotten as many teaching degrees as I could, I'm perfectly capable of teaching any subject these students need," Reid looked to Mr. Hotchner, who just grinned subtly. "Any qualifiers or applications that you need me to finish, I can do within a lunch hour. You can oversee that, if you would like."
"What do you suggest a qualifier would be, Dr. Reid?" The chancellor almost hissed. Mr. Hotchner glanced to Reid with a hint of excitement in his eyes, ready to see what would come from his mouth next.
"Okay," Spencer said, crossing his ankles as he settled back into the ancient chair. "It's obvious you doubt my ability to teach all subjects. Give me the highest level SAT you have. If I don't pass with flying colors in all subjects, you can personally shoot me down in front of all of my coworkers, totally humiliate me, whatever you want. Whatever would fuel your confidence in my lack of experience in this line of work."
Chancellor Strauss raised an eyebrow, challenging him. "And if you pass?"
"I want a public apology."
Mr. Hotchner choked beside him, and Reid just sent a sunny smile to the woman of whom his job rested with. He cared so much for his students, they made his day every day, but if this was how his superior treated him and his work, he'd recommend every one of them to a new place and transfer them and himself.
"That can be done," Chancellor Strauss said stiffly. "We will administer the qualifier in a week. Aaron will accompany on your studying efforts."
Reid frowned at the implication that he would cheat, but he would accept and appreciate the company. "Yes, ma'am. Thank you."
Mr. Hotchner—or Aaron, Reid chose to call him—followed him outside the office and waited until they were around the corner to grab Reid by the shoulders and shake him gently.
"Spencer!" He all but yelled in the empty hallway, his eyes twinkling and crinkling at the edges. "You stood up to the Witch!"
Reid's eyes were wide, but he managed a panicked smile, "You call her the Witch?"
"Everyone calls her that. She lives up to it," Aaron smiled for a long time before realizing he was still holding onto Reid and quickly letting him go. "Sorry, I just... that was awesome."
"Thanks?" Reid gave a lopsided smile before he started walking again with Aaron in tow. "So, are you gonna be my classroom/study buddy for the next week?"
"Yeah, I guess. Hopefully, that's okay," Aaron murmured before shaking his head, "I've never seen anyone stand up to her like that. I mean, you literally gave her in paper form all the reasons why she was wrong. I have no doubt you're gonna win this."
"Neither do I."
Aaron quickly proved to be helpful in the classroom. He simply wouldn't leave Reid's side, even during class time, completely enthralled by the way Reid taught that he was eager to help with whatever he could. When Reid gave him a direction or asked him to help one of the kids with their understanding, he jumped at the chance and was pretty good at it, too. After each class, Reid would settle into his desk and pull out his studies for the SAT, and Aaron would sit on the desk and watch. He'd give some advice about Strauss, or comment on how fast he could read.
"She's wrong, by the way."
Reid looked up, his finger frozen on the page where he was tracking what words he was on.
"Earlier," Aaron gestured behind him like the conversation was taking place right there in the classroom for him to point to, "When she said you aren't cleared to do lectures because you're younger than what most consider the usual age."
"I know," Reid replied, a smile playing on his lips. "I'm glad you agree, though."
"How long have you been working here?" Aaron wondered aloud, kicking his legs in a very small but nervous maneuver.
"Three years and..." Reid decided not to give the exact time stamp, "...some change."
"For what it's worth, you're much more of a teacher than any of the other people that work here," Aaron said seriously.
"You're nice."
"I'm being truthful."
"Huh," Reid nodded slowly before looking down to his papers. Aaron could swear by his own eyes that he saw a sort of smile he'd never seen before. "Thanks, Aaron."
A week came and went, and Reid was confident. Mostly because of the after-hours pep-talks that Aaron prescribed to keep morale high. Strauss required that both she and Aaron were in the room as to lessen any room for misadministration. Reid required, in return, that he sit on the desk at the head of the room whilst Aaron sat on his desk ("It's the way I studied, ma'am. I'm used to it," he said, batting his eyelashes) and Strauss sat in one of the students' desks.
He had 4 hours to complete the test—but fifteen of those minutes were in five-minute breaks that he didn't need. Reid wasn't worried; it would take him about an hour (an hour, two minutes and forty-five seconds, he thought) to complete, and that would have only applied if he hadn't had the newly gained confidence of Aaron perched on his desk with his legs kicking back and forth and his hands tapping out a gentle rhythm on his thighs. If it was anyone else, if would have driven him insane, but for some reason, it didn't apply to the man that had been at his elbow every moment in the classroom for a week. Maybe he'd been conditioned.
"Done."
Strauss looked up from her book with a raised eyebrow, but Aaron just stared at Reid with a goofy smile on his face.
"Did you look over your answers?"
"Didn't have to."
They stared at each other from across the room—Strauss was thinking about how her face must have looked, secretly hoping she didn't look as impressed and intimidated as she felt. Reid was thinking hard about he shouldn't laugh while imagining how long it would take Strauss to wriggle her fat body out of the bars of the desk. Aaron kept staring at Reid.
"Aaron, will you run this up to the office?"
"Yes, of course." Aaron hopped off of the desk, gathering Reid's test materials and smiling at him. "You're amazing, Spencer."
"Thanks," he sent a shy smile before standing and pushing his chair in. He looked at Strauss expectantly; waiting either for her to attempt to squeeze herself out of the desk or tell him some condescending statement that would be intended to make his head spin. But his head was too fried by the trials and tribulations of mandated tests that he knew, either way, he'd not be affected.
"We'll have the results by this evening." Condescending statement, it was.
"Hope to see you then."
When Reid returned to his classroom, he found his students standing near the back of the classroom with nervous looks on their faces. As soon as he stepped into their line of view, though, they all clambered across the room (except, of course, for Amy and Paul, who were hesitant about touch) and jumped on him. He laughed as he was brought down to his knees in the embrace, gathering everyone into his arms as best he could and pressing his cheek against someone's head.
"Hello everyone!" He said, his voice cracking happily.
"How was it?" Amy asked hesitantly from across the room, a shy smile on her face.
"I promise," he said, helping everyone to stand and brushing off their shoulders one by one, "If you pay attention in my class, your exams will be a piece of cake."
"I don't like cake," Paul murmured. Reid smiled at him.
Aaron filtered in sometime during their self-selected reading time and gestured with his head to come outside. Reid followed tentatively, his eyebrows furrowed as Aaron slowly closed the door behind him. Reid smiled gently at the raven-haired man, but all he got was a frown in return.
"99 percent."
Reid blinked. "What?"
"You got 99 percent," Aaron murmured.
"No, I didn't," Reid said slowly.
"I wouldn't put it past her to skew the results, but there's nothing I can do about it," Aaron whispered. His hands were fidgeting at his sides, "I know you aced it."
"Me too," Reid nodded certainly.
"What... what are you gonna do?"
"I'm going to let her have her fun, but I know she'll mess up somewhere. Don't worry." Reid's hand reached out unprompted and framed the side of Aaron's face. He couldn't help it, and it was almost as if he had no control over his entire arm. He expected the other man to make a face, he was surprised at himself that he didn't make a sound of disbelief, but Aaron just leaned into the touch and closed his eyes sadly.
They stood there for awhile until the sound of footsteps hit their ears and Reid jerked away, startling Aaron into standing up straight. One of the professors passed with a smile before disappearing into one of the classrooms.
"Sorry," Reid said, looking at his hand. "I don't know what inspired me to do that."
"Me neither," Aaron shrugged and found himself interested in his shoes. "So now what?"
Reid hummed dismissively, "I don't know. I guess I wait until everyone's gathered in the auditorium to notice where she made any mistakes."
It took awhile to see it. Strauss was too proud of herself for it to be real, and he should have noticed the glint in her eye when he left the room. Mr. Gideon and the Literature professor had looks on their faces like they knew—knew that Strauss was a conniving bitch, because they'd experienced it firsthand—but Reid just stood beside the podium where she laid him bare with a willing smile on her face while Aaron sat in the front door and threw daggers at her with his eyes. The young doctor's shoulders were rolled back, and he was smiling smugly because he knew exactly where Strauss messed up and it was all because of the bright lights of the auditorium.
In the middle of one of her smug confessions about how she knew the deal was too good to be true, Reid gently brushed her aside and grasped the handle of the microphone, "I really hope you all are ready to have your minds blown."
Strauss' face went through several emotions, but she settled with surprise as Reid gently plucked his test results from her hands.
"Aaron, will you turn the lights off for a moment?" He asked carefully, observing the paper in his hands. Mr. Gideon's eyes were gleaming, and Aaron was humming with positive energy as he gently flicked the switch near the exit. It was so dark that no amount of focus could bring any clarity to the room. Reid took this into account as he began to speak, "I'd like to point out to everyone that you don't need to be a science major to know this, or in fact any person with any knowledge of anything could do this very simple science experiment to see if someone's cheated in a deal. Everyone with me?"
The sound of shifting in the room gave him the impression that everyone was nodding.
Reid fished his phone from his pocket and turned on the flashlight, shining it on himself and giving a brief smile before pointing it toward the paper as he held it in the air, "I would like to call to your attention the blotches of paper that seem to be blocked off, where the light doesn't go through as well. These parts are my test scores."
People hummed, and he could hear the sound of Strauss biting her fingernails. She knew she lost.
"The reason why the light can't go through the paper like usual is because something is obstructing it," Reid pointed the flashlight toward the audience that was watching and smiled to himself as he saw the realization flash on everyone's face. "Anyone care to guess what that obstruction might be?"
Aaron's hand flew up, and he didn't wait to get called on before he yelled, "WHITE-OUT!"
Reid grinned. "I guess I'll be needing the apology, after all."
He switched his flashlight off, and before he could request someone turn the lights back on, he felt lips on his. Reid would have pushed the person off if he didn't recognize the smell of cedar cologne and the feel of scruff that had brushed his palm earlier. Without a second thought, he pressed closer and let his hand search across the chest in front of him for a tie to hang onto. The applause around them was definitely for Reid's ability to stand up to the Witch, but he wanted to pretend like they were cheering for the fact they'd found each other.
Finally, they broke apart just moments before the lights flickered on. The teachers applauded again and Reid bowed, but Strauss was nowhere to be seen. The news that she resigned spread like wildfire the day after the White-Out Incident; Aaron was called to the Super-Intendent's office just three minutes afterward, and two minutes after that Aaron was in Reid's empty office and swinging the newest lecture professor around the room, ranting about his new job as chancellor.