Twilight is the property of Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.
Thank you to ajr818 and Melissa at Project Team Beta for their help with this story.
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Catalyst: A substance that lowers the activation energy of a chemical reaction by forming a temporary association with the reacting molecules; as a result, the rate of the reaction is accelerated. Enzymes are catalysts.
"Ohmygosh, Bella! Did you hear?"
"Did I hear what?" I turned from where I was sorting temperature probes from dissolved gas probes to see Alice Brandon, a Chemistry teacher and my closest friend in the building, standing in my doorway, bouncing up and down.
"Alice, what the hell did you do to your hair?"
"Isn't it awesome? I was totally scared it would be ridiculous, but I think it turned out pretty well, huh?"
"It's um ... it's something. It suits you, I guess. Is that ... is it pink?"
Yesterday, Alice had looked like a reasonably normal woman. Well, as normal as someone with a supergenius IQ and the mannerisms of a valley girl-slash-cheerleader on methamphetamines could be. Now her formerly longish brown hair was cut short and had been dyed dark red with pink highlights throughout.
"Yep! We did three different highlight shades in addition to the red. It cost me more than my car payment, but it's super fun, right? What's the use of having money if you can't spend it on fun stuff?"
"I guess," was all I could reply, while she took a breath and continued.
"I'm so glad you like it! We should totally get yours done. I think you would be fantastic as a blonde, or you could go red, too! We could be like twins!"
"Alice, was there something you needed? I kinda need to get ready for class ..."
"Oh yeah! I almost forgot!" She turned and closed the classroom door behind her. "You know Mr. Banner?"
"Alice," I replied, trying to conceal my impatience, "of course I know him. He's been across the hall from me for the past five years."
"Oh yeah! Anyway ..." She lowered her voice and looked around the room as if someone could have snuck in through the closed door in the last thirty seconds. "He's like ... gone." She opened her eyes wide and nodded dramatically.
"What do you mean, gone?"
"I mean like, gone, gone."
"Did he die? Retire? Was he abducted by aliens?" It was very unusual for a teacher to leave in the middle of the year, and I was surprised by the news. I was even more surprised to hear it about Mr. Banner. He was an institution. He'd been teaching science since before most of the current faculty was born, and he hadn't changed his technique in most of that time. He was still using the same handwritten laminated lesson plans, the same overhead notes, and the same scowl he had employed for the past forty years or so. He refused to use an LCD projector or any instructional technique other than lecture. The computer in his room was rarely switched on, and the faculty meeting in which he'd delivered a fifteen-minute diatribe about how online gradebooks signaled the doom of public education was the stuff of legends. He wasn't popular, or pleasant for that matter, but his class was practically a rite of passage.
"Ohmygosh! That's the most unbelievable part! Apparently Friday afternoon after school, Dr. Cullen was walking through the building, and he heard noise coming from the auditorium. He went in, and Banner was up on stage with a microphone singing at the top of his lungs ... in his underwear!"
"Whaaa?"
"Yep. Then when Carlisle tried to get him off the stage, Banner started calling him Simon and rambling about how no one was going to steal his dream! Carlisle finally talked him down off the stage, but only after he told him that Paula wanted to see him in her dressing room to talk about his future." Alice giggled. "Can you imagine old Banner up there in his boxers, belting out 'I Will Survive'?"
I shuddered at the image. "I don't want to think about it. How on earth do you know all this, anyway?"
"Oh, that's the best part!" she squealed. "Rose was still in her room, and Carlisle asked her to sit with him while he went to call Mrs. Banner. Did you know there was a Mrs. Banner? I didn't. Anyway, Rose said he kept calling her Paula and asking where Randy and Simon had gone. Then he asked her if she wanted his help choreographing her next video!" She shrieked with laughter loud enough to make me want to cover my ears.
We were giggling together when we heard the unmistakable sound of a key sliding in the door lock and looked up to see our principal opening the door. We composed ourselves quickly.
"Ladies," he said, greeting us with a polite nod.
"Morning, Carlisle," I replied.
"Dr. Cullen," Alice squeaked. She was still new enough to be a little cowed by him. He had intimidated us all at first; I had barely spoken for the first several minutes of my interview with him, overwhelmed by his good looks and charisma. He was arguably the best-looking man I had ever seen in real life. The students called him Dr. McHottie behind his back. He was also one of the kindest men I had ever met and an outstanding educator. I felt honored to have the opportunity to work with him.
"Ms. Brandon, may I have a moment with Ms. Swan?" he asked with a smile.
"Yes, sir, Dr. Mc- Dr. Cullen!" Alice blushed scarlet, and Dr. Cullen managed to control his expression, except for a twitch at the corner of his mouth.
"Have a good day, Ms. Brandon," he said, patting her shoulder as she passed.
"You, too!" she managed to squeak out before sprinting out of the room. Dr. Cullen pulled the door closed behind her and gestured to a seat at one of the tall lab tables in my room.
"Have a seat, Bella."
I sat down on one of the stools, and he did the same, placing himself across the table from me. He grimaced slightly.
"I always forget how uncomfortable these things are," he said, shifting around a bit.
"I know," I replied. "The kids don't seem to mind them, though."
"That's good." He smiled graciously across the table at me, and I could not help but smile back.
"Bella, we have a bit of an issue, and I think you may be the best candidate to help us out. Mr. Banner has decided to take early retirement, starting immediately."
"Oh? That's, um, unexpected …" I tried my best to stifle my laughter, but I failed completely and had to fake a coughing fit to mask it instead. Dr. Cullen graciously ignored me, but I again spotted that twitch at the corner of his mouth.
"Yes, well, it was a, ah, sudden decision. There will be a substitute covering his classes this week. She will be using his emergency lesson plan today, but beyond that, we are at a bit of a loss. I trust you knew where he was in his curriculum?"
"Yes, sir, I have some idea." As department head, it was my job to keep track of the teachers in my department to make sure everyone taught the required subject material at an appropriate speed.
"Excellent." Dr. Cullen sat up straighter and rubbed his hands together. "We are fortunate that the substitute we have employed for this week is a retired math teacher and can handle a classroom. Can you work with her after school today to come up with plans for this week? I don't want his students to suffer from this, ah, incident any more than absolutely necessary."
"Of course, sir," I replied, running over my own lesson plans for the week in my head and contemplating how they could be altered to work with a substitute. "Um, sir … what's happening after this week?"
"That's a good question, Bella." He scrubbed his hands over his face, and for just a moment, I saw behind his professional demeanor and got a glimpse of the stress he was experiencing because of the situation. "It will be difficult to bring someone in at this point in the year, but I have some ideas. I am hoping to have someone qualified in place this time next week. Can I count on you to help get our new colleague up on his feet?" He gave me a rueful smile that said he was sorry to add more work to my already very full plate.
"Of course, Carlisle. I'll do everything I can. Just let me know as soon as you find someone. The sooner we can start preparing, the better."
"Will do. Thank you, Bella, for all of your help. Come and let me introduce you to the sub." He stood up, and I followed suit. We crossed into the classroom across the hall where he introduced me to Mrs. Eller, a tiny wisp of a woman with fluffy gray hair and bright blue eyes. I worried for a moment about her ability to handle the students, but after hearing that she taught math for thirty years and spent ten of those in an alternative school for students who had been removed from regular school because of discipline problems, my worries evaporated.
"I only look sweet, dear. I've taken teenaged criminals twice my size down to the ground and held them there, waiting for the deputies to come take them away. I think average high school students will be quite refreshing." She smiled as she talked, and her eyes sparkled like she was some kind of magical creature. I couldn't wait to hear about the students' reaction to her.
Just then, the warning bell rang for first period. I dashed back across the hall to my classroom to finish prepping for the day's lab, and just like that, another sprint of a day had begun.
By the end of 7th period, I was exhausted. My day had begun before six am, and despite teaching a full day, I was not nearly finished. My own plans were firmly in place, and I didn't have too much grading to do, but I had yet to come up with any lesson plans for Ms. Eller. Level I Biology would be simple; I taught the class as well, and I could easily adapt my lessons to be self-guided for the students. The problem was Mr. Banner's Environmental Science class. I had taught that class in the past, but it had been a few years ago, and I had no more than a vague idea of what he had been covering. I sighed as I looked at the clock; three-thirty already. I turned on some music and dug in for a few more hours of work. I had hoped I could leave by five. Glancing down at my to-do list, I revised that hope with another sigh. Maybe I could leave by six.
About an hour later, I was startled out of my work-induced focus by the sound of my door opening. I looked up to see who it was, expecting to see a colleague stopping by to say goodbye on their way out of the building. I was surprised to see Dr. Cullen entering the room, followed by a man I had never seen before.
He was pale, as if his skin had never seen sunlight. His body looked stretched, almost too tall and skinny. His hair was parted severely on one side, and it might have been brownish-red. I couldn't quite tell, since it looked wet due to all of the product he'd used to keep it in place. It looked like it might be curly if released from its strict gel-enforced restraints. He wore an ill-fitting white button-down with short sleeves and khaki pants that were just a bit too short; I caught a glimpse of white socks between the hem and the tops of his black dress shoes. I realized after a moment that the pattern on his tie was little cartoon drawings of molecules. He didn't seem to notice my perusal; instead, his attention appeared to be focused on examining my classroom.
Honestly, he was kind of a mess.
Carlisle cleared his throat. "Bella, everything has worked out much more quickly than I could have anticipated. You said the sooner the better, right?" He smiled at me hopefully, and I nodded in response. He cleared his throat again and raised his eyebrows at the other man until his attention was directed our way.
"This is Bella Swan, the head of our science department. Bella, I would like you to meet the newest addition to our faculty. This is Edward Masen.
The man gazed at me through narrowed eyes before extending a hand for me to shake. I took it, and his skin was surprisingly soft.
"Edward, it's nice to meet you. Welcome to King Phillip Academy. We have great spaghetti," I said with a smile.
Carlisle chuckled at my joke, but Edward's eyes narrowed even further, and he removed his hand from my grasp. He glanced over at Carlisle before looking back at me with a scowl.
"Ms. Swan, it is nice to make your acquaintance. You may call me Dr. Masen."
This was not going to be pretty.
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I hope you enjoyed my new little story! A plot bunny attacked me and this was the result. My plan for Particle Collisions is shorter chapters and more frequent updates – I am shooting for once a week.
The King Phillip Academy spaghetti joke is based on a mnemonic device used to remember the order of classification in biology – Did King Phillip Come Over For Good Spaghetti?
Click the little button and tell me what you think!