Little by Little
- 2 -
A Textbook for Two
Pitter-patter, goes the droplets of the rain as it rapidly hit any surface.
Mathias made a mad dash across the school yard. Earlier this morning, he had woken up thirty minutes past his usual time and had to double his pace. In his haste to pack up his school materials, he had forgotten to include his umbrella. By the time he was halfway to school, the rain suddenly fell from the sky with a vengeance.
"Ugh, I really hope my books and notebook are okay." He said to himself as he took a fresh change of clothes and a tube of his favorite hair gel brand from his locker.
"Andersen! Looking rough from Mother Nature's shower over there eh?" A taller man called out from the other side of the corridor.
It was one of his teachers from previous grades, Mr. Beilschmidt. Even though their position dictated Mr. Belischmidt as a teacher and Mathias as a student, they were rather close. Mathias closed his locker before walking towards the other man with a sheepish smile.
"Hey teach. I forgot to bring my umbrella." He explained.
"I can see that. You better get going and change your clothes already. You might catch a cold." Mr. Beilschmidt prodded him with his elbow.
As if on cue, Mathias let out a very loud sneeze. "Achoo!"
"Told you." The teacher gave his student a smug smile.
Mathias stuck his tongue out while the teacher just laughed.
"Advice taken, teach. I better hurry up or else Mr. Edelstein might kill me if I show up late to his class." Mathias excused himself.
Minutes later, the Dane arrived in his classroom sporting a new set of clothes and a freshly gelled hairdo. He did his usual morning greetings and quickly made his way to his seat. He placed his soaked bag on top of his desk and started checking his books and notebook. To his dismay, his music book was halfway soaked through. The poor book was the only one he hadn't wrapped in plastic and had placed in front of his other belongings. As a result, it got the most damage among his school materials.
"Oh shit." He groaned as he madly swung his music book in an attempt to dry it.
Unbeknownst to him, his rough movements woke up his napping seatmate. "So noisy…" Luka grumbled as she sat upright.
Mathias paused as he looked to his right.
Strands of long blond locks moved gracefully along with the movements of his seatmate's body. Mathias couldn't help but to silently watch Luka as she made a little stretch in her seat. Her midnight blue eyes locked with his cerulean ones. He hadn't notice it at first, but she looked pretty than he had initially assessed.
Even if she has those circular red marks on her forehead.
Luka continued looking at him, as if waiting for him to speak up.
Oops, was he staring at her for that long?
"Hi Luka. Didn't notice you were there. Sorry about that." Mathias apologized.
"What are you doing?" Luka asked, eyeing his music book.
"I'm trying to dry my book. It got wet while I was on my way here." He resumed flailing his book around.
"You'll only end up destroying the book if you keep on doing that." Luka pointed out.
"I'd borrow other people's book but we're the only class who has Mr. Edelstein as our music teacher. He uses a different textbook too." Mathias sighed in defeat.
The bell rang, signaling the start of classes. Students scurried to their respective classes and sat on their seats. Usually, there'd be lingering chatter among friends inside class but for Mathias' class, everyone was silent. After all, their first subject was the dreaded music class.
The class in which Mathias might get scolded in because of his drenched book.
Everyone knew that Mr. Edelstein was very particular with his class and that included his class requirements. He had mentioned in the beginning of the term that everyone should take care of their textbooks and that he will have unannounced inspections of their textbooks.
Yet here he was, holding his one and only shriveled up textbook. Mathias knew that anything shriveled hardly translates to something aesthetically pleasing to one's eyes.
Oh the horror.
In less than five minutes, the front door of the room opened. Mr. Edelstein walked on the front aisle, stopping once he reached the teacher's desk. The class stood up and greeted him good morning in unison. Mr. Edelstein returned the greeting.
Without skipping a beat, he immediately asked the class to bring out their music book. While waiting for the class to place their music books on their desk, he silently checked whether everyone brought their textbook.
Mathias stared at his still-soaked music book. If he had to, he could still use the book. Then again, the pages might get damaged once Mr. Edelstein starts instructing them to flip through various points of the book.
His seatmate, seemingly oblivious to his silent suffering, brought out her own textbook. Unlike his, Luka's textbook was still in pristine condition. It was carefully covered in a translucent plastic cover. Oh, and it was dry too.
He should have covered his, damn it!
He should have brought an umbrella too.
He should have really brought an umbrella in the first place.
A tap on his shoulder momentarily distracted Mathias from his petty self-loathing. He quizzically looked at Luka, who had placed her textbook on his desk. She tugged at his desk, silently beckoning him to move his desk closer to hers. Mathias wordlessly did so, while mouthing the words What is this for?
Mr. Edelstein took notice of their strange actions and went towards them. Once he had asked what was going on, Luka gave the said music teacher a small smile and told him that she had wanted to share her textbook with Mathias, since she had accidentally spilled water over his.
Mathias could only blink rapidly in silence as he watched the two exchange words. What did just happen? It wasn't only him that wondered what was happening. He could feel the eyes of the other thirty students boring into their backs.
As sudden as Mr. Edelstein approached him, he left Luka and Mathias without a word and immediately began his lecture. The class went on its usual pace and Mathias soon didn't notice that he had somehow gone through the one and a half hour lecture without being scolded.
Later on that day, he asked Luka as to why she had to lie to Mr. Edelstein. The only response he got was: "I just felt like it."
End of the Chapter
A/N: Hi guys. Yes, I know the second chapter is already up. I'm on a roll right now HAHA. Thanks for the views and reviews HUE HUE. Keep the reviews coming – I appreciate it.
If you guys are wondering what subject Prussia (Mr. Beilschmidt) is teaching - it's history.
Once again, please bear with my amateur writing skills.