Leonard's Decision!
Leonard starts getting acclimated to his new life.
Disclaimer 1: I rarely, if ever, write cannon. I write how the story takes me.
Disclaimer 2: I don't own TBBT or their characters. To clarify, I OWN NOTHING.
Chapter 4: Fresh Start
Leonard again woke before his alarm went off on Wednesday morning. He got up and looked out of the window and was pleasantly surprised to see the rising sun reflecting off of the lake. Yes, Leonard thought, I could definitely get used to this. He stayed in that spot watching as the sun continued to rise until his alarm actually went off snapping him out of the trance this tranquil scene had lulled him into. Leonard went and took a shower and dressed in a suit. He skipped breakfast as his nervousness was affecting his stomach. He went and jumped into his car and off he went to his 9:00 am meeting with the president of the school.
Back in Pasadena, Penny awoke with swollen eyes and a very red nose. She had cried herself to sleep. She laid there thinking about the huge mistake she had made. She sniffled a little but was determined not to cry anymore. She had no one to blame but herself and lying around crying wasn't going to change anything. She still had bills to pay and she had no safety net now that Leonard was gone.
Penny got up and staggered into the bathroom to take a shower. When she was done, she dressed and applied her makeup on automatic pilot. She then went into the kitchen for coffee and food. She ate some cereal and had a cup of coffee trying unsuccessfully not to think of Leonard. She pulled herself together and left so she could start her shift at the cheesecake factory all the while wondering what Leonard was doing.
Leonard was currently in a meeting with Dr. Connors and Dr. Stevenson. The two men were currently trying to keep their amazement off their faces. Dr. Connors had presented Leonard with the syllabus for his teaching assignment and Leonard had presented both Dr. Connors and Dr. Stevenson with a copy of the teaching curriculum he had constructed which not only matched the syllabus perfectly but added some very unique teaching methods and training aids that both men could clearly see greatly enhanced the classes Leonard would be teaching.
Both men thought they would have to give Leonard at least two weeks to prepare for his teaching assignment but were pleasantly surprised to see he was ready to teach immediately. They looked at each other and smiled both thinking the same thing. How in the world had Caltech let this guy get away?
"Dr. Hofstadter," Dr. Stevenson began. "We were prepared to give you 2 to 4 weeks to get situated and get your training plan together but you have already gone beyond what we were expecting from you. This makes it easy as your classes are already full and ready to go. We informed the students to sign up before we even knew you were coming. We have been doing this for a while now so that when we did get an instructor, all we would have to do is notify the students. They were notified as soon as you accepted. The times for your classes were kept as open slots for the students so no other classes would be interrupted when you began. I will leave it up to you when you want to start teaching."
"Well, I guess tomorrow would be too soon for the students in case they have made plans for those open slots so how about we put the word out today that classes will start next Monday. That gives me the rest of the week to get acquainted with my fellow professors, get my lab set up, get my orientation around the campus accomplished, do some grocery and clothes shopping and of course go over my syllabus and class curriculum." Leonard answered.
"That sounds perfect Dr. Hofstadter." Dr. Stevenson replied. "There's a huge mall not too far from the campus for you to do your clothes shopping and a large supermarket right outside the campus for your food shopping. If you want, we can assign someone to be your tour guide to help get you oriented with the campus. There's a faculty meeting scheduled for tomorrow and we will introduce you to your fellow professors there. If there is anything else we can do to help make your transition a smooth one, don't hesitate to let us know."
Leonard thought for a moment before answering. "No Dr. Stevenson; I think you guys have me set up pretty good. I should be ok for now."
"Very well Dr. Hofstadter; we'll cut you lose so you can finish setting up your lab and teaching schedules." Dr. Stevenson informed Leonard bringing the meeting to a close.
All three men rose and shook hands before Leonard left to continue his day. The rest of the week was very busy for Leonard. He used the rest of the day to get his lab set up. This took a while as this lab was much bigger than the one he had at Caltech. He took his time and made sure everything was in exactly the right place as his time was going to be in short supply with him also teaching. He needed to be able to come into his lab and get right to work without a lot of adjusting or moving things around.
On Thursday, he went clothes and food shopping. He missed Penny but in this instance, he really missed Penny. She would have been able to hook his wardrobe up in no time. He was fortunate enough to find a young saleslady named Jessica who was able to help him. After telling her his job and explaining to her that he didn't want to look like an old fuddy duddy professor, which had Jessica cracking up, she was able to hook Leonard up with a stylish wardrobe of suits, leisure, casual and athletic wear. Before Leonard left, he sought out the manager and gave Jessica a glowing report and asked if they had a card that he could send up to their corporate headquarters acknowledging their outstanding customer service.
Leonard's clothes shopping had taken hours and he was exhausted. He didn't know how Penny thought this was a fun way to spend the day. He felt a stab of pain in his heart as a picture of a laughing Penny flashed in his mind. He knew he would never get over her but he also knew he had to move on.
Leonard got all of his purchases back home and started separating them. Socks, underwear and other items that did not need to be ironed or dry cleaned to get the wrinkles out of them were thrown on the bed in the spare bedroom. He wasn't sure if he would have enough energy to put them away later on and he didn't want to move them off of his bed when he was ready to go to sleep. Everything that was going to the dry cleaners was put on the back of the couch so he could grab them when he went back out. Leonard got a Dr. Pepper out the fridge and went and sat out on his back porch and just relaxed while taking in the scenery. He loved the tranquility.
After relaxing for a while, Leonard finished his drink and felt he was energized enough to go to the supermarket for food shopping. Leonard had decided he was going to eat less take out and do more cooking. He had found an online healthy cooking site that he thought would be perfect for him. Just browsing through, he had seen a couple of dishes he wanted to try. The website was setup to make creating a shopping list easy. You just downloaded the app onto your phone. Once you opened the app, you just tapped on the dish you wanted and then tapped shopping list and all the ingredients you needed to make the dish came up in a shopping list format.
Leonard picked up his clothes to drop at the cleaners and headed out. After he dropped the clothes at the dry cleaners on campus he headed over to the main building to attend the faculty meeting. He was introduced to everyone and was welcomed by all. After the meeting, Leonard headed off campus to the supermarket. He was able to find everything he needed. Leonard returned home and put all of his groceries away. He had picked up some take out on the way home as he knew he was not going to be in the mood to cook today. After eating, he took a shower and was glad he had put his new clothes on the bed in the spare bedroom. He barely had the energy to crawl under the covers and was asleep before he knew it.
On Friday, Leonard requested a guide to help him learn his way around the campus. Dr. Connors was free and volunteered to take Leonard around himself. He said he wanted to talk with Leonard some more on his laser projects. Dr. Connors and Leonard toured the campus for hours while Leonard explained where he was with the project, the breakthroughs he had made so far and the goal he wanted to ultimately achieve with his research. Dr. Connors was fascinated with the way Leonard's mind worked. Some of the things he wanted to do with lasers were unimaginable but were definitely possible.
Once he was back home, Leonard once again grabbed a Dr. Pepper out of the fridge and went out on his back porch to relax. Along with the regular patio chairs, there was also a lounge chair on the porch and Leonard decided to put it to good use. He lay back in the lounge with a smile on his face and couldn't stop the moan of contentment that escaped his lips as he got comfortable.
Leonard used the weekend to pick up his dry cleaning and get his home in order. This was his last free weekend before he began teaching. He spent Saturday arranging the house as he wanted it and putting all of his clothes in the closets and drawers. He cooked several different dishes so he would have lunch and dinner that just needed heating up during the week. He dedicated Sunday to reviewing and tweaking his class curriculum. By the time he went to bed, he felt well satisfied that he had put himself in a very good position to be successful with this fresh start on life.
The next morning, Leonard was ready for his first day of teaching. He had an excited type of nervousness about him but he wasn't afraid. He was actually looking forward to it. The thought of being able to open up young minds to the endless possibilities of the universe was an unbelievable motivational tool for him to draw upon. Leonard sat at his desk as the students started to enter. Leonard was surprised when the last student came in and his class was fairly large. Leonard got to work right away. He got up and went and stood in front of the class.
"Good morning everyone; my name is Dr. Leonard Hofstadter. I have written the correct spelling on the board behind me. I realize that can be a mouthful so any of the following names will be ok with me: Dr. Hoff, Professor Hoff, Dr. H or Professor H."
That got a couple of snickers throughout the class.
"Now, a little about me; I'm an experimental physicist by trade. High powered lasers are my specialty. I transferred here from Caltech in Pasadena, California. Yes, I came from heat to even more heat."
This got another chuckle out of the class. Leonard had gotten their undivided attention right away when he mentioned he worked with high powered lasers. Leonard continued speaking to them as he went back to his desk.
"If you all will just bear with me a minute, I will take roll and then we will get to it." Leonard advised them.
After he had taken roll, he again went and stood in front of the class.
"Ok ladies and gentlemen, we are going to do something a little different today so put your books away; you won't need them today. As a matter of fact, put everything back into your backpacks as you won't need any of it today." Leonard instructed.
After everyone had followed Leonard instructions, he began speaking to them again.
"Good, now everyone come down here with me." Leonard again instructed.
Once Leonard had everyone down at the front of the class, he began breaking them up.
"I want all of my scientist who also play sports to sit over there" Leonard instructed pointing to the left side of the room.
All of the jocks went and sat where Leonard had instructed them.
"All of my scientist who are also musicians, please sit over there" Leonard instructed pointing to the right side of the room. "Just to clarify, if you are taking music because you needed an elective, you do not belong in that group. I only want my scientists who are seriously considering music as a career to join that group."
Some of the students who had started to go over there stopped and came back to the center of the room.
"Now, all my scientist who actually want to be scientist please go and sit in the back of the room." Leonard stated.
After this was done, Leonard had the remaining students sit in the front of the class. Leonard then instructed all groups to arrange their chairs in a circle facing in including one empty chair for him to sit in.
"Now here is what we're going to do" Leonard began. "I'm going to come around and speak with each group individually. We are not going to get into anything to heavy or technical today but I do want to get to know you a little and I want you to get to know me. Basically, we are just going to have a rap session. Does anyone have any questions so far?" Leonard asked.
No one raised their hand.
"Good, I'm going to start with my science athletes so I want my science musicians to talk about Bob Marley until I get to you. I want my scientist in the back of the room to talk about black holes until I get to you and I want my smorgasbord scientist to talk about Stephen Hawkins until I get to you. Just a word of warning, telling me he was a really smart guy in a wheelchair is not going to cut it."
This brought a laugh from the class.
Smiling, Leonard continues "I'm not kidding; I want some serious talking points to discuss with you when I get to your group. I'm going to ask questions about what you discussed and you should be somewhat on the same page to prove you were discussing what I asked you to. Ok, go to it." Leonard instructed as he walked over to his science athletes and dove right in.
"Ok ladies and gentlemen, here's the deal; there are going to be two types of science athletes in this group. The first type of science athletes is the ones that only have a passion for athletics but need this class to graduate."
Leonard saw a couple of heads go down or look anywhere except at him automatically outing themselves.
"I'm warning you now you will struggle in this class and probably fail. In my class, you will come in and work your butts off. I'm sure there are other science classes you can take if you just need it as an elective but rest assured, this class is not an easy A or B or C or D. In other words, there is no easy grade in my class. If you are here to coast through I highly suggest you find another science class but if you are here to learn, this class will not be a problem for you. If you have no interest in science, I seriously advise you to make this the last time you enter my classroom."
"Now, the second type of science athletes is the ones who have more than one passion but are being forced to choose just one. This can be a coach directing you that you need only concentrate on the sport you play or a parent stating that to be successful you need to pick one or peer-pressure from your friends and finally maintaining your cool points and cool reputation. It's a common misconception for athletes to think that if they also have a passion for mathematics or science, they are not real athletes and will be ridiculed and laughed at. I know no one wants that and I'm here to tell you that that is not the case. You will learn this in our next session."
Leonard paused and made it a point to look into the eyes of each of them before he continued.
"The reason I have you isolated like this is because we are going to come to an understanding. First, those of you who need this class to graduate, I suggest you come in here prepared to work your butts off and not disrupt my class in anyway. This is not your sit in the back of the room and do-nothing class. You do that and you will fail. You disrupt my class, you get kicked out. I will sign any transfers at the end of class today if you want out."
"For those of you who have a passion for your sport and an equal passion for science, this class will be your haven. I will challenge you to open your minds and reach for the stars. I don't believe one passion should be disregarded for another passion. I think you are all young and bright and should be allowed to challenge yourselves and go all out for every passion you have. I'm warning you now, I will push you hard. I will not give up on you. I will never ever tell you to give up one passion for another."
"Now this session is just a preliminary session to let you know what I'm about and for you to realize you have a choice. What I want you to do is find a quiet place and think about what I have said here today and figure out what you want to do. I will hold another session like this one but it will only be with you guys in class that day so we can really get into this. Some of you won't be there which is fine but those of you who are in that session; I can promise you right now that you will get to explore science to the fullest extent of your imagination."
"Ok, I'm going to go talk to my science musicians now. You guys are not to discuss anything we just talked about in this session. For the rest of the class you are to discuss Jackie Robinson." Leonard said with a smile as he got up and left the group leaving some very confused students in his wake.
Leonard had basically the same talk with each group except his science smorgasbord group. Their talk went a little differently.
"Ok people, as we are almost out of time, I'll make this short and sweet. If any of you are in my class for a free ride, see me after class and I will sign your transfer slip. This is not the class for you I am definitely not the professor for you. If you don't believe me and want to take the chance of failing this class be my guest. I can guarantee you right now you won't make it past the first week. If you are tardy twice, I will kick you out of my class. If you are absent twice, I will kick you out of my class. I will not tolerate anyone coming in here and doing nothing. I will not tolerate anyone disrupting my class in anyway. I will not let anyone interfere with those who want to learn."
"Don't take this the wrong way; I'm not saying you have to want to be a scientist to be in my class. What I am saying is you will come in here ready to work and participate in all science experiments and discussions. You will come in here with your completed homework assignments and they had better show that you put some thought and effort into them. As I said, you don't have to want to be a scientist to take my class but your actions and your work should look as though you do want to be scientists. If any of you decide to stay, you will be a part of my science group that I had sitting in the back of the room. I will only have three groups and a smorgasbord group is not one of them."
The bell sounded. As Leonard got up, he gave them one last statement.
"Think about what I have said very carefully before you come back in here. Everyone who wants to drop my class, line up at my desk and I will sign your drop slip."
A line formed at Leonard's desk as the others filed out of the classroom. As the students walked down the halls to their next class, they were all deep in thought. They were all thinking that the nerdy little professor who looked like he was scared of his own shadow was no pushover. That is the only thought that they all had in common. After that their thoughts were all over the place. Some were already trying to think of another class they could transfer to that they could slack off in. Some were trying to figure out if this guy was for real. Some were thinking should I really believe that his class will be a safe haven which will allow me to pursue my passion for science also. Unbelievably, most of the students were thinking 'yes' finally a real physics teacher who will actually teach physics.
Leonard's day and week went pretty much the same as he wanted to trim his class down to just serious students and get to work with them right away. By the end of the week, Leonard had his class set. It was smaller than it was on the first day but it was still a full sized class.
He instructed his science athlete group to come in on Monday and they would have free periods on Wednesday and Friday.
He instructed his science musician group to come in on Wednesday and they would have free periods on Monday and Friday.
He instructed his scientist group to come in on Friday and they would have free periods on Monday and Wednesday.
He advised his students that the following week would be the last time they got free periods. The class would be meeting together as a whole after that. He gave homework assignments to the whole class and advised them that they could waste their free periods doing whatever they wanted do or they could use that time wisely and get their assignments done. He warned them that he could care less which option they chose but he would not except any excuses if their assignments were not turned in completed and on time on the following Monday. He also reminded them that they were in college now so book answers and subpar answers were not acceptable. Answers had to be correct and they had to show that some original thought was put into them. Leonard smiled as he heard the groans from his students.
Back in Pasadena, Sheldon finally got what he had been claiming he wanted; Solitude. Leonard had not only moved out but moved away. Howard never liked Sheldon because of the way he treated him and talked down to him. He only came over to the apartment because Leonard was there. Now that Leonard was gone, Howard no longer had a reason to go to Sheldon's apartment and stopped going. When Howard stopped going, this automatically stopped Bernadette and Raj from going by association. Penny no longer went over to the apartment because it would remind her of Leonard and cause her to cry. Amy continued to go over to the apartment since her boyfriend lived there but without the others as a buffer, she was finding out that it just was not fun to be alone with Sheldon all evening.
Unfortunately for Sheldon, he was starting to learn the hard way that not only had his personal life been tied to his roommate but his professional life as well. He never knew Leonard had acted as a buffer between him and management. He didn't know about the numerous times Leonard had spoken on his behalf to save him from getting fired.
At first little things at work started happening that Sheldon couldn't figure out. He was back to eating alone in the cafeteria at lunchtime. He tried to tell himself that he preferred it this way because everyone at Caltech was beneath him. He barely said a word at work anymore as there was no one to talk to. He mistakenly thought upper management was finally starting to take notice of his brilliance as several of them had stopped by to ask him questions on string theory. That was before the head of the Physics department informed him that he had 6 months to present something positive on his string theory work or it would be completely shut down. Sheldon screamed that they couldn't do that but he was reminded that he had been working on this for years and had not produced one single significant discovery to support continuing to waste money on this project.
Sheldon had gone home on automatic pilot. He was sitting at home in his spot, numb. He was just staring off into space. He just could not figure out what was going on in his universe.