Tuesday, September 5
I couldn't help but smile as I looked in the mirror. The day I'd spent so many years preparing for was finally here. Today was the first day of school, and my first day as a highschool teacher. I smoothed back my hair and straighten my glasses. My vision was fine with or without glasses, but I liked wearing them. It made me seem more professional somehow. I had put on my nicest button down shirt and khaki pants, determined to make a good first impression. It was still a bit too hot outside to wear the sleeves down all the way, but would it look too goofy to roll them up?
I guess you could say I was a little nervous, but also super excited. After all, I was going to be able to teach the next generation everything I'd learned. Like passing a sacred torch of information. Not to mention getting to meet so many fresh faces. It had been a while since I'd gotten to take care of children. Ever since the incident six years ago…
I took a deep breath, pushing those thoughts to the back of my mind. No, I wasn't going to let that event ruin today.
Turning away from the mirror, I grabbed my leather bag, already packed with books and paper. Still, I double checked that I have everything I needed for the day. When I finally satisfied with everything, I grabbed the bag and slung in on my shoulder. It was much heavier than I was expecting, but nothing I couldn't handle. There was a chance that I was a bit over prepared.
I walked over to a desk where my phone was charging and unplugged it. The screen blinked to life in response. There's no real need for me to have a smartphone because I don't use my phone that much. But the map app was nice and I liked being able to see my parent's face when I talked to them. I didn't really use the phone besides that, though, so I wasn't expecting to see a notification for a missed call this morning, especially not from…
"Gwen?" I said softly. "Why'd she try to call me at 2:00 am?"
I felt bad to admit that I hadn't thought about her much these past few years. Sure, the thought of her would pass my mind every now and then, but I didn't spend a lot of time dwelling on it. We hadn't really kept in touch ever since the camp shut down. It was strange to see that she called me, especially at such a strange time. I shuffled the bag on my shoulder as I starred at the little white box on the bright screen. Looking further up at the time, I bit my lip. I'd have to call her back later, I thought as I turned off the phone and put in the front pocket of the bag.
Making my way to the door, I flipped off the light and stopped. I turned around to take one last look at the small, dark house. I had moved in this summer and tried to fix it up a bit. It still had a couple of leaky faucets and moldy panels, but it was cheap and close to Tucker High School, the school I was going to work at. It wasn't much, but it was mine. However, looking over it with the sun low in the sky, I could almost swear that I saw two shadowy figures in the back of the room. Two figures I knew all too well.
I gripped the doorknob a bit harder as I fought to take my eyes off them. I shut my eyes tight and opened the door, stepping out and shutting it again quickly. Taking a couple deep breaths, I forced a smile onto my face.
Today was going to be a great day.
It only took seven minutes to get to Tucker High, and it wasn't that hard to find the place. Tucker High School was the biggest high school in the town, primarily because it was the only high school in town. There were plenty of helpful signs and busy roads that lead me straight there. It didn't really matter because I had already memorized the drive and had the route pulled up on my phone as backup.
Once I got there, I made my way to the teacher's lounge. I wasn't the first one there, which was kind of a surprise. In fact, there was a short blonde girl who looked like she was a little older than me shuffling papers at the table. I recognized her as the mathematics teacher, Gail Nummer.
"Good morning, Ms. Nummer!" I greeted her with a smile. She looked up from her work for a moment and smiled back when she saw me.
"Oh, good morning, Mr. Crann. Um, You can call me Gail if you like," she said in a quiet, nervous voice that didn't seem fit for a teacher.
"Gail it is then. You can call me David if you like," I said. She simply nodded and gathered her papers.
"Okay, David. I should probably start setting up for class," she said, politely excusing herself from the room. "I'll see you after class."
"Ooh, threatening," another man walked in, ducking as he went through the door frame. "Good luck teaching the most useless subject."
"English isn't much more helpful," Gail pouted before slipping out of the room.
"Hey, I'm not gonna deny it," the man laughed. He had a gruff look to him, with his messy salt and pepper hair and unshaven face. He turned to me and frowned. "Oh, sorry, you are…?"
"David Crann," I said, holding out my hand. "It's nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you, David," he said taking my hand and giving it one quick, but strong, shake. "The name's Devin Owens."
"Devin Owens," I repeated. "I'm the new history teacher."
"Oh yeah! I thought I remembered them saying there was a new guy at work. Welcome to the Tucker High, I guess," he shrugged. I smiled even more at the statement.
"Thank you so much! I'm sure I'll love it here!" I said. Devin laughed.
"Oh yeah, you'll fit right in," he said in a strange tone.
"Well, I better get to class. Don't want to be late on the first day!" I straightened my back and gave a short salute.
"I'm sure your students wouldn't mind," Devin said. "Well, good luck."
"You too!" I opened the door to the main hallway and stepped out.
The school seemed so much bigger now that I had a time limit. I pulled out a small piece of paper with a map of the school on it. After looking over it for a moment, I concluded that I needed to get to the classroom that was the third door on the left.
"Alright, let's do this," I said taking a bit step forward before looking up from my map.
That was my mistake as I soon discovered, because I ran straight into someone. We collided and both fell to the ground. Maybe I shouldn't have exited with such excitement. I heard the sound of a backpack fall to the ground and books spill out.
"Oh, sorry, son, didn't mean to-" I stopped when I saw who I had bumped into. Starring at such a familiar face, my mouth fell open as I struggled to remember what I was saying. No way...was it possible?
But there was no denying it. That puffy black hair, tamed only a bit by a pair of bulky black headphones that I didn't recognize. That blue jacket that was so reminiscent of an all-too-familiar blue hoodie. And those striking turquoise eyes.
"Max?" I gasped, dumbstruck. Max's eyes were wide in shock, darting back and forth between my features. This only lasted for a moment, as his open mouth was quickly squeezed shut into a tight frown, eyebrows lowered in a look I knew so well.
I almost felt like I was waiting for Max to cuss me out, to start lashing out just like he did when I was his camp counselor. But instead, he kept that bitter expression as he grabbed his book bag and stood up.
"Don't call me son," he said quietly before turning away from me and sprinting down the hall.
Then he was gone.
