Chapter Four:
Exactly at five thirty, I picked up the whistle that hung around my neck and blew into it, listening to its shill tone fill the vast space of the gymnasium. All the students quieted, watching me with wary eyes. Most were awake by now; some were still struggling to shake off the sleep.
"Listen up," I raised my voice, even though I knew it was unnecessary, "Anyone that is late— cannot come to the class, earning a zero for the day," I said, locking the gym doors to fortify my statement,
At that moment, Mike Newton decided to attempt to enter, jiggling the door handle. His expression was one of anger, "Hey, what gives!" he yelled outraged.
I smirked, "Mr. Newton, you are late," I deadpanned, wondering how hard the simple concept was to understand.
"By two minutes!" he shrieked, his tone crawling up an octave.
I glared at him, his mere presence through a door was irritating me, "If you have a problem, please go wake up Mr. Varner," I said as sweetly as I could, whirling away to attend to the rest of my class.
Half of them were indifferent to the scene— others snickered at Mr. Newton's fate.
I clapped my hands, catching their attention, "The rest of you," I bellowed, my voice echoing nicely in the spacious gym, "Run around the gym until I tell you to stop," I said before picking up the silver whistle and blowing the high pitched instrument.
As the boys ran, I couldn't help but think how Mr. Varner would skin me for locking a student out on the 2nd day. But how much damage could he do, truly? These boys had no idea what they were up again, and I was the only one who could tech them.
I ignored the pointed and pleading glances the boys gave me as they ran. I checked my watch to see that fifteen minutes had gone by. It was miniscule to what they had to eventually run, but it would do.
"Alright, stop," I said, listening to the agonized groans that came from the boys as they collapsed to the floor.
I rolled my eyes at them. Pansies.
"While you're down there," I said lightly, "Give me fifty," I said firmly, leaving no room for argument.
The boys groaned but complied into what I was saying. I gave them five minutes before I stopped them, whether they had done all fifty or not, "Stop! Get up," I ordered, scowling as they slowly got to their feet, "Come on! There is no time to be lazy!" I bellowed, a little more satisfied as they stood faster.
I exhaled, standing in front of the group, "This," I said, motioning to where they had been running, "is your morning workout," I barked coldly.
Automatically a hand shot up as I finished the sentence. I tried to quash the irritation that rose in me. I was a teacher now— I had to answer questions.
"Yes, Mr. Yorkie?" I droned in a bored tone.
He hesitated for a moment before continuing to ask his question, "What will we learn from this?"
My eyes narrowed as an automatic reaction. The rest of the class groaned at the stupidity of the question. I turned to the group, my eyes meeting a pair of ocean colored ones before looking at everyone else, "I teach you what you need to know. No questions asked," I snapped.
Mr. Yorkie's head bobbed up and down, "Yes ma'm," he squeaked, his head bowed in shame.
I sighed, disappointed at how truly inexperienced the group was, "Today, will be about defense," I said remembering the files that cluttered my room. I walked around the group watching for a person to use as demonstration.
"All of you know, to an extent, how to attack and flee if necessary. But the most important part of a fight, is knowing when to defend and throw a punch," I explained, pointing a finger at a young boy with blonde hair that hung in his face, eyes a soft ocean blue.
"What's your name, boy?" I barked as he stepped forward.
"Jasper, Miss," he responded politely, a hint of a Southern accent in his tone.
I nodded, committing the face to memory. I then inhaled deeply, "Defend yourself," I commanded, winding my arm back and releasing it to his midsection.
Like a true amateur, his arms came in a cross motion to ward me off, which gave me the open opportunity to take the attack to his kidneys, via his back— causing him to double over in agony.
"Instead of protecting yourself, you avoid," I announced, taking a step away from Jasper, allowing him to recuperate, "It sounds cowardly—but it's observing," I explained throwing a kick to Edward, who skillfully dodged it and automatically set himself in a defensive position, awaiting my next move.
I nodded curtly, "Like that," I said pointing at Edward, "Observe your opponent and find openings quickly. Take too long and they gain advantage. Everything us a matter of balance," I barked.
I looked back to see Jasper had stood, one hand clutched at his stomach, "Couldn't you have softened the blow, miss?" he groaned.
I felt my body stiffen and grow cold at his words, "No," I said frostily, stalking up to the boy, "I was sent here, to train this group everything I know I nine months," I hissed circling the boy, "If I soften my blows, you will learn nothing."
My entire class was silent, only blank looks coming from each one of them. I recognized this as either one of two things. They either understood what I said and did not know how to react to my statement— or they thought I was off my rocker an didn't want to anger me. But either way, at the moment, they were a waste of space.
"I wan each of you to run ten more laps and fifty more pushups," I instructed, giving each of them a look when they began to protest.
"I wasn't asking you," I snarled, "Hop to it!"
The boys automatically began their excess cardio. I sighed, rubbing my temples with exhaustion. None of them understood how important they were to the situation at hand— hell, even I didn't know.
But one thing was for certain. These boys were a part of the bigger picture and it was my job to make sure they were prepared for whatever it was.
I sighed, leisurely walking over to the set of double doors that held weapons and gadgets. Using the key around my neck, I unlocked the sleek white door and entered the small room.
My eyes wandered around until I found what I had been looking for. Taking hold of the bag, I dragged it out to the gym, satisfied when I saw that everyone was either done or almost tone with the small task.
Orders…these boys needed commands in order to achieve perfection.
I tutted in disapproval at myself. Did I expect otherwise? Most boys had the dream of being a solder— and what was included, was taking orders. Not only did I have to train these boys, I had to teach them to think.
"Alright, all of you line up at that black line, single file," I yelled, watching as the boys scurried over, doing what I asked.
I dragged the bag over with me, prying it open and taking out a blue rubber ball, "This," I said, holding the ball up to the light, "is a dodge ball. Some of you are familiar with it; some of you have been quite intimate with these objects," I explained, listening to them snicker.
I bounced the ball once, listening to the satisfying sound as the ball smacked the glossy floor, "This exercise is simple. I throw dodge balls at you and all you have to do it get past me without getting hit," I explained.
There were murmurs as they heard the instructions, "What's the catch?" Jared asked, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. I grinned cheekily, "No catch," I said cheerily, "Although," I said, winding my arm back and with perfect precision, threw the rubber ball towards the back wall, listening to the thunderous sound as it hit— slowly rolling back to my feet.
"I don't throw lightly," I said, my tone dead serious and quiet.
My gaze turned to the students, watching their attitudes change from slight fear to determination. James pushed to the front, his gaze arrogant and ready, "Bring it on," he snarled.
My lip curled back in a half smile, picking up my whistle and blowing it— listening to the sharp shriek. James took off, running towards me. I picked up two rubber balls, weighing them in my hands for a moment before throwing the first one and after a beat, the second one, about six inches from the first.
As I predicted, James dodged the first one with perfect agility, coming into perfect contact with my second attack. The blue ball smacked him cleanly across the face, knocking him flat on his back. The guys winced as the hard rubber made contact with skin. I waited for a moment, seeing if he would need medical attention.
After half a minute, he stirred. With a choked groan, he sat up; holding his head in agony, the angry red circle making its appearance on his cheek.
Internally, I sighed in relief that we did not need a paramedic, but continued with my snark as if nothing had happened.
"He lives," I commented dryly, picking up the silver whistle and allowing its shrill tone to fill the gym.
"Next!"
~TMW01~
For the next hour, the same routine continued. The boys would come at me, with caution but only to be nailed by blue rubber. It was disappointing to see that none of my students came close.
Not even Edward— who had so much potential.
But…..as well did the others! Why did I single this child out?
Finally, I blew the whistle, eyeing my exhausted group, "Take five," I announced with a sigh.
A collective gasp of relief emanated from the group and one by one, they dropped like flies. I rolled my eyes, walking to the bleachers and taking a swig of water. It was a wonder these boys had survived this long.
My attention peaked when static came overhead from the intercom, "Isabelle, come to my office," Mr. Varner's tight voice came from above.
When I didn't move, he added a firm, "Now!"
I sighed, shaking my head as the static faded away, signaling the intercom turned off. I turned to the class, seeing that they were still hugging the gym floor, "Mr. Newton seemed to have made a complaint," I explained in a bored tone.
I paused, wondering how long I would take.
Finally, giving up on figuring out a time constraint I said, "Consider this your free period. I'll see you in your afternoon class."
The class sighed and groaned, murmurs going around in conversation as I picked up my water bottle before exiting the gym doors. After I took care of Mr. Varner, Mike would see to it that he'd never be late again.
~TMW01~
I breezed through the office, trying not to make a face at the piss colored walls. I slammed the door to Mr. Varner's office to see the man himself alone— waiting for me.
"What do you think you're doing?" he asked in a quiet voice.
On a normal person, that would have scared them halfway to China by now. But Mr. Varner needed to learn that I wasn't just anybody whom you could intimidate to do what you wanted.
I crossed my arms across my chest, leaning against the doorway, "I'm teaching my class. What the hell are you doing?" I growled.
All at once, Mr. Varner broke, unable to contain his anger, "How? What possibly possessed you to lock a student out?" he bellowed, slamming his hands on the desk.
"He was late,' I said coolly, smirking as his skin tone flushed at my suave persona.
"Yes, but it was their first day! Why?" he bellowed, the glass shuddering.
I glared at him, finally fed up with all the unnecessary screaming, standing myself upright and stepping into the badly colored office, slamming the door behind me— the only clue to my anger.
"Mr. Varner," I growled, my tone soft— almost sweet, "I came here to teach. My manner may be unorthodox, but you need to realize that I only have nine months to teach them all they need," my volume raising higher and higher throughout my little speech.
It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. And that's when I heard a small shuffle, causing me to whirl around and throw the doors open. Just as I expected, my entire class fell in, eyeing me sheepishly.
I rolled my eyes, not bothered that they were eavesdropping. It was only another thing to add on my list: how to eavesdrop without getting caught.
"As you can see, I'm a professional, Mr. Varner. But if you think you can find a better professor, then by all means," I said, waving my hand in an off gesture, stepping over the guys splattered over the carpet and left the office.
A/N: She's marking her territory— I know, I know, not much love or getting to know each other yet. She's focused on her job, but Edward will soon make his move on the lovely Isabella ; )
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Themidnightwriter01
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