Collins walked into his new classroom. He had just graduated from college a few months ago and already got a job teaching high school. The first teacher had suddenly quit, leaving the school with nowhere to turn. Collins was very lucky. He could hardly pay his bills and he needed this job. He'd been mooching off his boyfriend, Benny, but they had recently broke up. He sat at his new desk and noticed a small letter.
To the new teacher:
There's a few students I always helped out and now that I'm gone, you need to take over. I want you randomly call on Mark Cohen in 8th period to participate in class more. Just so you know, he has short, blonde hair, blue eyes and black glasses. He'll stand out from the other kids.
The letter went on and on to list several students to pay attention to. Collins smirked. This teacher really shouldn't have quit. She's too into it to have quit. The bell rang and students piled into the room.
Later that day...
Midway through his senior year of high school, Mark Cohen was on his way to his eighth period class, history, with his best friend, Roger Davis. They were in almost complete silence until Roger broke it.
"I heard Mrs. Griffin quit yesterday," Roger told Mark. Mark glanced over at him.
"Our history teacher? Who gonna replace her?" He didn't know if they would have a new teacher already. Less than a day isn't really much time.
"Some new guy right out of college. We'll see when we get there." After a few more seconds of walking, they entered the classroom. Sitting behind the desk was a dark-skinned young man. Mark couldn't take his eyes off him. His eyes were glued to a book as he leaned back in his chair. After the piercing ring of the bell, the students hurried to get in there desks. The man dropped his book and took in all of the faces of his young students. His gaze stopped on one particular kid. Blonde hair, blue eyes, glasses. Mark noticed this and nervously stared down at his desk. The teacher stood and moved to the front of his desk. He leaned against it.
"I'm your new history teacher. Call me Collins," he announced. He started walking around the room. "Collins, not Mr. Collins. I just wanna make that clear." He went on to ask questions and pick on students to answer them just to get a feel of what these kids already knew. Mark couldn't concentrate on one word that was coming out of his mouth though. He was busy staring at him and thinking. Why do I always fall for teachers that don't want anything to do with me, he thought to himself. This wasn't the first time Mark had been attracted to a teacher. There had been many teachers. Mark had a thing for older men. Oh yeah, if you didn't already know, Mark is gay. His thoughts were broken when Collins stood in front of his desk staring down at him.
"Do you know the answer," he asked. Mark looked away and tried to think of what he was saying. He couldn't come up with anything.
"Um, what was the question again?" Collins showed a small smile.
"What year did the Fulani War in Nigeria start," he asked again. Mark thought for a moment.
"1804," Mark guessed shyly. He was pretty sure it was right.
"Correct." Mark let out a sigh of relief. That was one of the reasons he never raised his hand; he didn't want to be wrong. Collins turned around and walked to his desk. "What's your name, kid?" His eyes were on Mark.
"Mark Cohen."
"Mr. Cohen, come see me after class please," Collins requested. Mark shot a nervous glance in Roger's direction. Roger just shrugged and continued to not pay attention. The rest of the class went by faster than usual. Before he knew it, the bell rang and the day was over.
"You wanted to see me," Mark asked approaching Collins, who was leaning on the door frame.
"Yeah, Mark, you seemed distracted in class today. What's up?" The guy has been my teacher for fifty-three minutes. Like I'm gonna tell him that I think he's cute. Mark was silent. "Look, I know you're a good kid. You're old teacher left me a note about some kids I should look out for. This class is going to get harder. I want you focused."
"Okay, sorry. It won't happen again. I just have a lot of things on my mind," Mark finally replied.
"See you tomorrow," Collins smiled then started to turn around. But he heard a loud thump and whipped back around. He saw Mark on the ground and his books scattered all over. Collins bit back a laugh at Mark's clumsiness. He bent down and started to help Mark up. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm good." Mark blushed and started picking up his books. Before Collins could try to help, Mark had jumped up and hurried away. Collins chuckled then glanced down. He noticed a thick, hard-cover book lying on the ground. He bent down, picked it up and read the title. It was called Young, Gay and Proud. Collins raised an eyebrow then took the book into his classroom.
Later that night...
Roger, Mark and Maureen walked into their usual hang-out, a diner called Monterey. It was a cool, little place. Very few people went there. The staff knew all the customers by name. The trio sat at their usual table, a booth in the front corner of the restaurant. A waitress took their orders then left them to talk. Well, Roger and Maureen talked. Mark had noticed something more interesting.
"Mark," Roger said, waving a hand in front of Mark's face. Roger followed Mark's gaze to Collins and another black man. "Mark, you're crushing on this new teacher." Mark just shook off the teasing.
"Aw, Marky likes a teacher," Maureen taunted.
"Shh, he'll hear you!" He continued to watch as the other man made angry hand motions and stood from the table.
"Get it through your head! We're over," he heard him yell. The man walked away and Collins slumped in his chair.
"I think his boyfriend just broke up with him," Mark whispered across the table. He felt bad for him, but a little part of him was happy. Now Collins was single. Mark doubted anything would ever happen between them, but he could dream, right?
"Don't get too excited," Maureen joked. "He's your teacher. That can't happen."
"Who cares if he's my teacher-."
"The school," she interrupted.
"Fuck the school. If Marky wants to fuck his history teacher, then nothing should stand in his way." Mark quickly changed the subject as their food arrived. They ate the food while chatting about random things. And again, Maureen and Roger did all the talking. That was until Collins had noticed Mark. Mark could feel himself blushing as Collins smiled at him. Mark went back to his friends and acted like he didn't see the teacher. The three left a twenty minutes later and started walking down the sidewalk past Collins car.
"Mark," he called out. Mark approached the passenger-side window cautiously. He handed Mark a book. "You dropped this in the hallway today. I started reading it if you don't mind." Mark was extremely embarrassed now.
"Uh, that's okay. Thanks." Mark hid his embarrassment and walked away quickly, almost hitting a street sign as a result.
"Weird kid," Collins laughed to himself as he entered his own car.
A/N: The last part is the only different part. So yeah. Reviews?