Oh yes, I forgot to mention, these are short stories. It was a deviant art category thing that I took too seriously at the beginning so I'll keep this sort of format until it gets to the good parts~
Note: Japan in AU...what would his wisdom-like words be? I tried ._.
Chapter 3, Questions of You
Maddeline's day went without a hitch, except for when a few students stared holes into her face, right where her nose was. Due to her love at playing hockey, she wasn't so embarrassed by the bandage close to the tip of her nose. Although her teachings went well throughout the day after the morning's incident, she couldn't help at feel distress by the thoughts of a certain student of hers.
It wasn't good, in her opinion, to let a student find her attractive. She hadn't thought that she was that attractive. It was troublesome. That very thought was a problem. Yet, as much as she wanted to put her foot down and tell him that she should only be looked at as his teacher and not as a woman, she couldn't help but to feel flattered. With those red eyes looking at her like that...
'Wait, looking at me...? No, even if I did find his eyes...captivating...no, no! What am I thinking? He just has nice eyes. That should not mean a thing to me and...and what Maddeline?' Maddie thought as she put her pen down and removed her glasses, rubbing her temples. She had been tapping her pen for 15 minutes on a sheet of paper she had on the desk. Classes have ended half an hour ago, and so Maddeline stayed behind in her last class trying to do some paper work; trying being the understatement. With a heavy sigh, she placed her glasses back on and packed her things.
'I need a cup of tea or coffee or...something...' Exhausted, Maddeline quietly left the empty classroom.
Out in the hallway, she could hear various sounds. The beautiful music, the screams and shouts of students playing soccer, whistles coming from the football field close by, and even high pitched shutters rand through the halls. Maddie continued to the faculty room, finding the sounds from the clubs and sports soothing.
At opening the door to where her fellow teachers were, she bumped into Mr. Jansen who was in a hurry. He apologized quickly and ran towards the direction in which Maddie came from. She looked back at the open door after a while and entered, finding a desk to place her bag on and slouched on a nearby chair.
Mr. Honda, who was sitting right by Maddeline, noticed her lack of enthusiasm. He stopped what he was doing and faced her in his seat.
"Is something the matter Ms. Williams?" Mr. Honda asked, being polite as ever. Maddie heaved another sigh and tried to put up a friendly smile. It made her look more exhausted. Seeing the bandage on her nose made him guess what had happened to her.
"Oh, just me being clumsy on the first day" said Maddeline, mumbling 'it's like I'm back at high school myself...', on the side. Of course, Mr. Honda caught on that and hmm'd at that.
"Do not beat yourself up Ms. Williams. Be happy at what good you have now instead of what is not necessarily important to reflect on." Mr. Honda said. Maddie looked a little enlightened and gave a small, genuine smile.
"Your right, thank you Mr. Honda"
"It is no problem at all. After all, you are the youngest and newest of all the teachers. It would be nice to talk from time to time."
At that moment, Mr. Kirkland butted in and gave a sly smile to the two who were sitting. He took up a seat and sat near them.
"What's the matter? Already in hot water?" Mr. Kirkland said, sounding much friendlier than what he portrayed.
"The first day is always the roughest for anyone." Mr. Honda replied calmly, as always. This made Mr. Kirkland fall back a bit and started getting cozy in his chair. He directed himself to Maddeline.
"That's true, I guess." He blushed a bit, now seeing the bandage on the young girl's nose, "Oh! That rough?! Who's the inconsiderate boy that did this to you?" Mr. Kirkland said, standing up fast and bawling his fists up; getting angry at the mere thought of a boy hitting a lady. To this, Mr. Honda got nervous while Maddeline raised her hands in defense, wanting to clear up the misunderstanding.
"No! No! It's not like that!" Maddeline quickly said, flustered. Mr. Kirkland slowly calmed down and sat back in his seat. Maddeline continued.
"I got this injury 'cause of my clumsiness...and a student of mine gave me a bandage for it..." She blushed as she mentioned the other half of her story.
Mr. Kirkland sighed and put on a smile on his face, his big eyebrows frowning. "Well, at least that student had some manners. Don't let that bit of misfortune put you down."
Maddeline looked up at Mr. Kirkland from her side and smiled. "Thank you Mr. Kirkland."
Mr. Honda smiled a bit, feeling the nice peaceful moment they were all having. Mr. Kirkland changed the topic after that, seeming to be excited about some news.
"Now, I'm still pretty amazed how a young lady such as yourself made it out to be a teacher of all things!"
Maddeline blushed now. She received this sort of talk with A LOT of people and it never stops her from feeling so embarrassed. "Oh, t-that. Um..." She quietly said, letting Mr. Kirkland do much of the talking.
"Why, a prodigy like yourself could have been doing something for human kind or an amazing discovery of some sort but your here! It's amazing to have you here Ms. Williams, really." Mr. Kirkland excitedly said, now wanting to shake her hand. Maddie was super flustered at the compliment.
"Th-thank you!" was all she could muster. How she would give anything in the world so to stop this topic of conversation.
And right on cue, a nice melody wafted into the faculty room. Someone strumming on their guitar from nearby and singing a nice tune reached Maddie's ears, cooling her hot face from the embarrassment she was feeling. Without a word, she stood up and looked at the window. Mr. Kirkland stopped his talking and looked at her first, then followed her gaze towards the window. Mr. Honda, who had been observing the whole time, heard the melody come into the room second. Mr. Kirkland was the last that heard it well enough. The window was slightly open, letting some wind and the tune come into the room.
Maddeline went towards the window and opened it with one lift. This astounded both men greatly for they already knew that the window was hard to get open. She looked out of the window and searched for the source of the tune. She found someone, singing, right under her nose. She was only a few feet above from the said person and to say the least, she was a little shocked from who was singing.
"Cause you make me feel like...I've been locked out of heaven!" sang out Gilbert as he sang a much gentle version of a popular song the other students were hearing earlier in the class room. He stopped for a second, oblivious to Maddie's stare, and fixed the strings on his guitar. He continued singing and adjusting much of the song he was remaking for himself. Maddeline relaxed after awhile, enjoying the view, and settling on the rim of the window.
Mr. Honda told Mr. Kirkland of what was happening and both decided to leave the young teacher alone. She deserved to relax, after all, and she seemed to be doing so now.
As she looked at her student, Maddie slowly started to soften her face and smile bit by bit.
'At least, I get to know a little about this student first.'
/~^_^ School is so rewarding~\\\
