Hamilton Oneshots

im just thinking // Leerens

I loved working as a teacher. I loved seeing children's faces light up when they understand something. I loved being asked questions that have nothing to do with the topic at hand, but still made sense.

"Mr. Lee! Mr. Lee! Are you married?" one of my students, Joan, asked. It caused an uproar during silent reading time.

"Guys, calm down, I'm single and happy," I said with a laugh.

"You sound like my mom after she kicked my dad out for doing something really mean," Philip said.

"Yeah, your dad has been staying with my dad and me!" Frances called out.

"Guys, guys, we need to quiet down, some of us are trying to read," I said. The class quiet down to a mumble, which was reasonable enough for silent reading. The school bell rang shortly, causing my students to shut their books and either put them into their bags or into my class library. I had them line up and we left the classroom. Immediately, kids ran to their parents. Frances stood by me, looking at the crowd.

"Mr. Lee, I don't see my dad," she said with a pout. I looked around for a parent searching for their student. The crowd was thinning fast.

"I'm sure he's on his way, let's wait a few minutes," I said. The crowd dissipated into just a few stragglers, but none of the parents seemed to be Frances's father. After 10 minutes, I led Frances back to my room. I let her play around a little while I unlocked my computer. I looked her up in my attendance, finding her father's phone number. I picked up the school phone, calling the number present. I heard it ring twice before I got an answer.

"Hello, is this Mr. Laurens? Frances's father?" I asked. I got a frantic answer.

"Yes, yes, I'm so sorry, I got a little caught up with work, I promise I'll be there in 5 minutes," Mr. Laurens said.

"We're in my room, A106, please get here soon," I said. I nodded at his answer and hung up the phone. I glanced at Frances, who was happily playing with the building blocks. She was always one of the first to leave, so it was odd for this to happen. I shook my head and started to grade today's writing assignment. Sure to his truth, 5 minutes later, a man appeared in my doorway and Frances ran over to him.

"I'm sorry, I would've been here on time," he said, with the same frantic voice he had on the phone. I spun in my chair, leaning back a bit.

"Hey, as long as it doesn't become a habit, it's fine," I said. I'm sure he expected a stricter teacher, not me with my foot on the seat of my chair.

"Dad! We need to go! We're missing the new Paw Patrol episode," Frances complained.

"Well, give me a second. Thank you so much for making sure she was safe," Mr. Laurens said. I nodded and turned back to grading. I heard them leave, so I finished the assignments and began to clean up the classroom. I did a quick inventory of my books, glad to find none missing. I put away the blocks Frances was using and put the chairs on the desks. Finally, I grabbed my bag and clocked out. I stayed behind to chat with Mr. Kings. A few of the teachers claimed he wasn't a great teacher, but I thought he was alright. I finally headed home, much later than usual. My roommate, Samuel, was rightfully worried.

"Where were you? Is everything okay?" he asked. I just laughed a little, I was only a half hour late.

"A kid's father was late by a few minutes, that's all," I said, stretching a little. Samuel nodded and headed to his room.

Parent-teacher conferences came sooner than I imagined. I held a poll during class for the day's movie and played the class Frozen. The lunch bell rang right as the movie ended. I lined the students up and took them to the cafeteria. I headed to the teacher's lounge for a cup of coffee, knowing I'll need it for the parents. The bell rang, and I left to collect my students. They were all chatting with each other, just like the rest of the cafeteria. We headed to the front so parents can pick up their kids. There was no issues with students remaining, so I headed to my classroom to prepare for the conferences. I put all of the chairs up, except for one table. I sat my laptop on one side along with some papers. I found my coffee empty, so I decided to run to Starbucks before the conferences started. I saw Mr. Kings's room open. I popped in, seeing him going through some papers.