"Babe, where the hell is my shirt? It should be on the back of the computer chair and it's not there. I'm already running late." I force one last sip of coffee in my mouth and put my mug down on the table next to the heaping glass bowl of cheesy scrambled eggs. If it were any other time that I was late, I wouldn't care, but it's the first day of the new year which means I have to be more punctual than I've ever been. The first day is already hectic; I can only imagine the amount of panic and the number of meltdowns students would have if I were late myself.

"I put it on the ironing board after I ironed it this morning, honey." My wife busies herself pouring orange juice into two separate sippy cups and making plates of eggs and cut up blueberry pancakes. Usually I'd help her, but like I said, I'm running too late. "Check on the ironing board, maybe you overlooked it." She drizzles a little bit of maple syrup over the small pieces of pancake and puts the plates in front of the two little beauties sitting at the table.

"Alright," I take a quick sip of orange juice straight out of the Tropicana carton and put it back down. My wife rolls her eyes at me. I know how much she hates when I do that, but it's a tough habit to break. "What about my work phone?" I screw the cap back on the carton. "Where's that at?" I know how annoyed she gets with me when I can't keep up with any of my things, but I think that's the whole reason god sent me someone as organized and structured as my wife.

"It was with Tori's Leapster the last time I saw it." My wife pulls Tori's sleeves up so she can eat without getting herself dirty. If there's one thing my wife hates, it's a mess. She hates all messes. She hates when the kids are messy, the house is messy and she even hates when the playroom is messy. Personally, I don't mind messes that much, which is probably why both my girls are daddy's girls.

"It's not supposed to be with the Leapster, Victoria." I reprimand her with a stern voice. Tori's in the stage where she just barely understands the concept of punishment, "NO", and "BAD." My wife's a fan of smacking their hands and putting her fingers in their face, but I personally don't think any of that crap works. I think a proper yell is sufficed enough for little girls their ages.

Victoria looks at me and shoves her sticky fingers into her mouth. We can't get her to eat with a fork just yet. I could never stay angry or upset with my little beauties; they're way too adorable. Their eyes are my weaknesses. I lean town and fix Tori's long, pretty dark brown hair. I kiss her on her cheek and she offers me a smashed pancake in her tiny little hand. "No thanks." I push her hand away softly. "You go 'head and eat this one. Daddy'll get his own plate."

"One hour, Joe." My wife grabs the container of baby wipes from under our kitchen sink and starts wiping off Livy's face with them. Livy swats her tiny little hand at her mother and jerks her head to the side. They both hate when we wipe their faces or get boogers out of their noses. It's so cute how they hate it. I glance at the clock on the stove. It's almost 7:30. My wife's right. My first class starts in one hour. I've really got to get going.

I put my dirty coffee cup in the kitchen sink for my wife to wash it and go back upstairs. I go back to our room. My wife is amazing. She's only been up a half hour longer than I have, and she already has the bed made and the babies fed. Sure enough, my plain white button-down shirt is hanging on the ironing board. I grab it and put it on, tucking it inside my pants and pulling my belt tight. I sit on the edge of our bed and shove my feet into my dark brown dress shoes. I tie them tight, grab my dark blue tie and go back downstairs. "I'm gonna get going now, babe."

My wife stands in front of me and ties my tie. "Okay honey." She stands up on her tiptoes and kisses me on my lips. "Have a nice first day back." She swats away dirt on my shirt and adjusts my tie. She even smooths my hair down. "I'm gonna drop the babies off at the babysitter's around 9. I have to be at work by 9:30."

"Mmmkay." I kiss her on her lips and stroke her beautiful light brown hair. "You have a nice day at work too." I let her go and grab my cell phone off the island. I'm actually excited to go to work. I lean down and kiss both my beauties on their cheeks. "Daddy will see you guys later, okay?" Livy sucks on her pacifier and just looks at me. Tori's beautiful blue/green eyes well up with tears.

"Dada!" Tori reaches her arms out to me and whimpers. "Dada…" I really hate to see my girls cry, so even though my class starts in 45 minutes, I walk back over and pick her up. She coughs hard and starts to cry in my ear. I guess I could understand why they'd be upset to see me go. I've been home with both of them all summer long, and it's coming to an end now. "DADA!"

"I'm coming back, baby. I'm coming back." I rub her back and kiss her on her wet cheek. "I'll be right back, Tori." I keep rubbing her back and bouncing her up and down softly. I hand her over to my wife. My wife kisses her and comforts her. I give Livy one last kiss on her cheek, grab my car keys and head out the door. I'm glad Livy's too little know that I'm leaving, because I can hardly deal with Tori crying. I would never leave the house if both my little beauties were crying.

I shut and lock the front door behind myself and unlock my car. Boy, I live the dream. I have two beautiful little girls and a wife that completes my whole life. My wife's got a good job at the hospital, taking care of cancer patients, and I'm a college algebra professor. Every single time I think about it, I get excited. I'm so glad I live the life I live.

I back out of the driveway, staring at my house as I drive down the road. We just bought this house four years ago. We bought it when we found out we were going to have Victoria. It's a three bedroom house. We have a pool in the backyard, a two-car garage, a playroom down in the basement and two bedrooms.

I look at the clock on the dashboard of my car and speed up a little. The campus is only twenty minutes away from my house. I have a half hour until my first class starts. I'm excited to see the new faces of the freshman class. I'm excited to give them my famous first-day quiz. I'm just excited to get back to work and make my money.


The first bell of the new school year rings, and I keep my back turned to the desks, writing my name on the whiteboard in case they don't know about me. Some of the students are probably repeats that didn't pass my class last year, others I'll probably know one of their siblings or so. I'm sure the students have heard about me, because I'm one of the "cool" professors, but on the off chance that I get a student that doesn't know me, I'd like for them to at least know my name. So, in red dry erase marker, I write my name down on my whiteboard; Dr. Joseph Jonas.

The door to my classroom opens up, and I hear the loud bustle of students walking the halls and some wandering into my room. I sit down in my big swivel chair and open up my laptop to get my class roster. I don't assign seats or anything in my classes. They're college freshmen. They don't need limits like that. I take attendance sometimes, but sometimes I don't. It doesn't really matter to me whether they come to classes or not. It's their grade, not mine. I'm their professor, not a policeman.

I hear excited giggles and the metal parts of chairs clinking and clanking together as my students take their seats. I stand up and pace back and forth in front of the room, waiting for the late bell to ring so I can shut my door and start class. Some students sit in the front two rows, but most sit in the back two. The middle is all filled up. I think I have a total of 20 students in this class. I grab my clipboard and look at the printed roster. Yep, there are 20 students.

The late bell rings, and just as I walk over to shut my door, another tiny little freshman girl walks quickly past me and sits in the only available seat at the front of the room. She looks like a freshman in high school, not a freshman in college. I let her sit down and then I shut my door. I clear my throat and sit down at the edge of my desk. "Welcome to College Algebra 1. I don't have rules for this class, other than when I'm talking, you aren't. I'm Dr. Joseph Jonas; call me Dr. or Mr. Jonas. This is my fifth year teaching this course here at Arizona State, and for those of you that are wondering, yes I am old enough to have my master's."

I get a little bit of laughter from a few students at that, which is a plus for me. I remember when I was a freshman in college and my professors scared the shit out of me. I don't want my students to be afraid to laugh and have fun in my class. "In this class, you are allowed cell phones, iPods, iPads, laptops, etc. I don't mind to joke around and have fun in class, as long as we can be serious when needed. Now; I need help putting names to faces. So when I call your name, let me know that's you." I hold my clipboard to my face and read off it.

"Lauren Anderson?" I look up from the clipboard. A very skinny little thing stands up. She has dark black hair with pink tips and a Van Halen t-shirt on. It's a hot day outside, so her incredibly short shorts are acceptable. I nod my head at her and she sits down. "…Alana Bradford?" A light-skinned girl with curly hair stands up. She looks like she rolled out of bed and came here. I nod my head again and she takes her seat. "Matthew Black?" I nod at him when he stands up. "Jordan Childers?" I nod at him. "Taylor Davidson?" I nod at her. "Alexis Fope?" I nod at her. "…Help me out with this name, please. Is it… Jenera? Is that how you pronounce that?" I ask.

A dark-skinned girl with long dreadlocks stands up and smiles. "Yes, it's Jenera Fuwagbugu." Her accent suggests that she's from Jamaica. She's probably the coolest kid I've had in my entire five years.

"I'll remember that." I chuckle and keep reading off. "Mikayla Gollum?" I nod at her. "Melena Gollum?" Mikayla's twin stands up. I smile at them. "How do I tell you guys apart?"

"I'm taller and she has brown eyes. Mine are green." Melena tells me. I nod again.

"…Selena Gomez?" Another tiny little thing stands up. She's tan with really long brown hair. She has the cutest little face I've ever seen. Again, she looks like she belongs in high school, not college. I nod at her and she sits down. "Haley Hook?" Her name is cool, I'll remember that. I nod at her and she sits down. "Seth Jacobs?" I nod at him when he stands up. "Noah Jerrick?" He stands up, I nod, he sits down. "Kyra Kennington?" She doesn't stand up, she just raises her hand. "Shayne Lewis?" He stands up and I nod. "Toby Lim?" The only Chinese kid in the class stands up. I nod at him and he sits down. "…Demetria Lo… Lovato?" The tiny one that got to class late stands up. She's cute, but not as adorable as the tiny Hispanic one.

"It's Low-vah-toe. Not Low-vay-toe." She corrects me. She has a really unique speaking voice. I've never heard a girl's voice so unique before. Her voice is melodious, like she's singing every word she says. It's pretty.

"My apologies." I nod at her and she takes her set. "Penelope McAllister?" She raises her hand. "Eric Phalanger?" I nod at him. "Quinn Slevin?" A boy stands up. I nod at him. "And last but not least, Tyler Zerkosky?" I put my clipboard down on my desk and put my hands in my pockets. "Well, now that I know everyone's name…. let's get to know each other. A lot of professors don't take the time to get to know their students, but that's not the case with me. We're going to spend four semesters together, we ought to get to know one another, don't you think?"

I sit back down on the edge of my desk again. "So, I'll start. My name is Joseph, my friends call me Joe. I'm 28 years young and I really like math. I graduated from here, Arizona State, and I'm married with two pretty little girls that drive me nuts. Victoria is three, just turned three in the summer, and Olivia turned two last week. These are my girls." I turn my projector on so that my laptop screen is projected on my Promethean board. I get a bunch of "AWWs." "Yes, I know my girls are adorable. Victoria cried this morning when I left." I stand up on my feet and finish off my life story. "My wife works down at the hospital, her name is Blanda, but she likes to be called Bea. I've been married to her for five years." I clear my throat again. "So tell me a little something about you guys. Tell me your nickname, if you have one, what you prefer me to call you, something you like to do, and what you're majoring in. We'll start at the front of the room." I point to the tiny girl. I think her name is Demetria, but I'm terrible with names, and I forget that quickly. "You. Do you have a nickname, what do you want me to call you, what do you like to do, and what's your major?"

She plays with the spiral part of her notebook and shyly puts her head down. "Um… my nickname is Demi. I don't want to be called Demetria, call me Demi. I um… I'm… I like to play softball and do gymnastics. I'm majoring in Neonatology…."

"So you're a softball player and a gymnast? That's cool. Are you playing ball for the school?" I ask her just to seem like I'm interested in what she has to say. She seems like a pretty sweet little girl. I can tell by the way she talks that she's a good kid.

"Yeah, I'm actually going to be the starting pitcher for the team."

"That's really cool." I nod at her and move on. "Mr. Zerkosky?" I'm actually pretty decent with names, so the fact that I remember almost all their names already isn't a shock to me. I really like getting to know my students on a more personal level. After all, I do have to spend four semesters with them. Four semesters is a very long time. They'll get to know me and I'll get to know them. It's another one of the reasons why I love to be a teacher.

Tyler looks up. "My nickname's Ty. Call me Ty. I like to draw and play football. I'm majoring in sports medicine." He looks like the type to play football. He's big and burly and really stocky. I wonder if he's any good, because I do like to check out the football games sometimes, when I don't have to watch my girls. Tyler looks back down at his paper and continues to write something down. I don't bother with him anymore. It's the first day; I understand how nervous they all must be.


Demi's Point of View.

"I think I'm gonna transfer out of college algebra. I can tell already that I'm gonna have a hard time in that class." I lean forward and effortlessly go down into my forward split. I rest my elbows on the ground and stretch out my back. "I was talking to Alex last night and he said that Jonas is an asshole when it comes to grading. He said he takes off points for not circling your final answer." I stretch over to one side and hold my foot. "And I already suck at math. I think I'm gonna take another English instead." I put my nose to my kneecap and hold the pose.

"I'm gonna give it until the end of the first semester. If I don't like it by then, I'll switch out to integrated math or calculus." Selena lies flat on her back and pulls her knee to her nose. "I just can't see myself failing classes knowing damn well that if your GPA slips below a 3.5, they don't let you compete in any sports." She leans forward and stretches out her hamstrings. "I know I'm not all that good, but I sure would be pissed if I didn't get to compete in a meet because of my stupid grades. And Jonas seems like an asshole. I just got the "asshole" vibe from him."

"I thought he seemed really nice." I lie flat on my stomach and touch my feet to my head. "He was the only professor today that took the time out to get to know our names and stuff. I thought that was nice. He didn't seem like an asshole to me." I shake my legs out and stand up. "I hate this leo with a passion. It keeps riding up my ass." I pull my leotard out of my crack and adjust it. "But if he's anything like what Alex said, then he really is an ass. Alex told me that he'll give you a zero on a test if you don't put your name on it. Or he'll give you a zero if you don't hand it back after you look over it." I grab my wrists and stretch them out too.

"See, I hate professors like that. The ones that abuse their power are literally SO annoying. Like we know you're the teacher and we're the students. You don't have to keep enforcing it on us." She stands up too and fixes her sparkly green leotard around her boobs. "And he's too young to be that much of an ass. Though, I do like the fact that he said he allows phones and iPods in class. That's cool." She ties her hair up in a high ponytail. "Where are you starting at?"

"I'll start on floor, you can start on beam." I walk over to the TumbleTrak and step up on the steps. She goes behind me to the balance beam. "What kind of tumbling do you want me to do?!" I yell over at my instructor and start bouncing up and down on the trampoline. "Do you want me to do my level eight stuff, or my level seven stuff?" I do a couple toe touches to stretch out my legs. My coach is busy dragging out a mat on the tumble floor. I gulp. I hope that's not for me.

"I want YOU to come over here and try some level eight passes, without the TumbleTrak." She puts the thick blue mat down and waves me over. I jump off the TumbleTrak and look at Selena. She's being spotted on a few aerials on the beam. She's only a level six, but I think if she trained a little more, she could be a level eight like me. I watch her do an aerial flawlessly, but Mr. Dean, her spotter helped her kick over on it, and her feet weren't pointed at the end. That's a deduction.

"Wish me luck." I say to her, rubbing my hands in the bowl of chalk. I've never done level eight stunts off the track before, so I'm pretty confident that I'm going to break my ass or something. I go over to the tumble floor and stand in front of my coach. "…What do you want me to do?" I ask. I crack my knuckles to seem like I'm ready, but I'm scared half to death to do any of my level eight stunts off the TumbleTrak.

"I'll spot you." She stands up and puts her hands on me, one underneath my butt to help me kick over and one on my lower back. "Do your layout motion. Just the motion." She sounds like she means business. I swallow the lump in my throat, jump back and do one good, solid, layout motion. "That was good, Demi. But try to keep your legs extended, you look like you're doing a tuck drill." She lets me go. "Here. Go back into your handstand."

I push my hair out my face and go forward into my handstand. Coach grabs my legs and pushes them forward, making my elbows buckle. "Wait!" I try to collapse myself down but she won't let me. She sighs haughtily and I can tell she's annoyed with me. I've only been training with Miss Charity for a few weeks now, because I had to leave my old gym in order to compete with the school. But I can tell that she hates when I get scared. "I'm sorry…"

"You're gonna hurt yourself if you don't just trust me. I'm not gonna hurt you, Demi." She grabs my hands and pulls them back, stretching my shoulders. "Go to the edge of the mat." She points over. I walk slowly to the edge. She moves off to the side to give me room. "Throw your full layout. Throw it. I know you can do it, because that's level six stuff. Throw it." She sounds angry or something. "You're one of the most talented gymnasts I have in this gym, and you're going to do level eight stunts if it kills you to do them. I want you to be able to throw a double layout off the track by the end of this week."

I take a deep breath, run a little bit and start with a roundoff. From my roundoff, I go into my back handspring and throw my full layout. I don't think Miss Charity realizes that gymnastics is NOT my first priority. Softball is the only sport I truly care about. I do gymnastics for fun. "How was that?" I swat my hair out of my face again and finish with my end pose.

"…Good. Your legs could be straighter, but that was good. Go get a drink, and when you come back, we're starting on your double." She points to the benches. "How's she doing on beam?" She asks Mr. Dean about Selena.

I walk over to the watch room and grab my phone. I don't have anything to drink, and I left my money in my purse in Selena's car. I refuse to drink out the water fountains, so I'll just be thirsty. I sit down on the bench outside in the gym area and check my phone. I have a missed text message from Alex. He asked me where I am. I'll text him back after I leave. I lean forward on my knees and breathe heavy. Man, I want some Gatorade. I look up and grab Selena's purple Gatorade. She won't care if I drink some. "Selena, I'm sipping this." I call to her from across the gym. She shrugs.

I take a long sip of it and breathe hard. I look up in the stands to see who's here. Some people stay and watch gym practice if they don't want to go straight back to dorms after classes. Others wait for their class to begin in the stands. I look around. Is that Dr. Jonas up there? I squint a little. Yeah, that's him. He looks down at me. I look back and wave at him. He probably doesn't remember who I am, because he teaches four classes a day and I'm the last class he teaches, but it's still nice to wave.

"Demi, back over here!" Coach calls to me. I sigh, put my phone down, put Selena's Gatorade down and fix my leotard just to go back to floor. When I glance back up in the stands, Dr. Jonas waves back at me. He looks down at his watch, turns around and leaves.

I wonder why he stayed to watch gym practice.