Thank you reviewers! This chapter is rather short compared to others recently, but it is still something.
"Any questions for today?" No one called out or raised their hands. "In that case, you are good to go. Please remember that the homework tonight is on ITunes U, as usual. Be ready to share your work tomorrow in class." The students stood, grabbed their bags, and filed out of her classroom just as the bell rang. Maria herself gathered up her things, turned off anything and everything within reach, and locked the door as she left the room. She had half an hour before she needed to be on the farthest field from the school to coach soccer. Plenty of time to walk home, get changed and speed over there, so long as she took the car. Had she decided to walk, it would have taken up about half of the allotted time period. Thats what the students had to do though. Really, they had no time, especially at the beginning of the year- some of the new students still could not find their way around campus. Briefly, as she walked out of the building and to Ferenbach, she wondered if her team would remember how to get to the far fields. Hopefully, they would.
The far fields were aptly named. They were playing fields for all manner of sports, such as soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, baseball, and football. Had they been put on the main campus, navigating from one building to the next would have taken over seven minutes, which is what was given between classes. Instead, some person had realized that there was a sizable lot across from the school that was empty a while back, and would probably be big enough for a field or two. Indeed, the lot was large enough for five soccer sized fields, two football fields, a pair of baseball fields and a track. It was large enough, in fact, that if someone were to run all the way around it, they would run slightly over a mile.
Maria reached the dorm with about twenty five minutes to spare. Take seven minutes out of that for the drive, and there was still enough time for her to get completely ready and not need to run out of the door. She would use every second of her given time, too. With all honesty, Maria wasn't quite sure how her players managed to be there at their field early. JV Girls soccer was not exactly high on the priority of good, close fields. In fact, they had scored the farthest, highest up field the far fields had to offer. It took fifteen minutes for any person with an average walking speed to get there. Ten, if that person were to speed walk, and about six if the were to run the entire way. Students had been late often enough for them to get curious and time themselves. She made a mental note to tell them that they had an extra ten minutes to get there past the usual half hour. They would need it.
"Hello, Erik." He was back before her, which was really no surprise given that his classroom was a floor below hers and that he was a faster walker. Without waiting for him to reply, she jogged down the stairs to her room. One hand reached behind her and set to undoing her dress, while the other opened and closed drawers, looking for sport clothes. Finding what she needed, Maria got redressed, grabbed a pair of cleats, and went back upstairs. He was still in the same place that she left him; sitting on the chair he had fallen asleep in at one point reading a book. She looked at her watch. Seven minutes before she had to leave.
"Are you doing anything today besides reading?" She directed the question at the man in the chair, and it seemed to take him a second before he realized that she spoke.
"Pardon?" So he was one of those types of readers. The type that got completely involved with the book and seemed to forget that the outside world existed for a moment. Fair enough.
"Are you doing anything besides reading today?" Maria paused. "What are you reading?" It seemed like a rather hefty book. Quite hefty, in fact. And old. Perhaps it was one of the books that she had noticed in the desk drawer when she had gone into his room.
"This is Les Misérables." That would definitely explain the size of the old, hardcover book. "I probably will be considering what I should bring up in my classes tomorrow, and then what to assign for the homework, later in the day." Fair enough, but does he not have an extra curricular activity that he is involved in?
"Don't you have an activity that you are involved with after school?" Most, if not all, the teachers had something at some point in the year.
"Not that I am aware of." He frowned slightly. "Do you not need to be at your... soccer right now?" Soccer seemed to be an unfamiliar word on his tongue. He probably knew it better as football.
Maria glanced down at her watch. She should probably go, if she wanted to be there before her most of her players. "You're right. I need to go." Maria grabbed the car keys which she had left in the kitchen. "You should try and find some extra curricular thing to do. They make the day more interesting." She shut the door tightly behind her.