TEACHER TEACHER! [re-uploaded due technical issues with first upload]

Prologue

Do you believe in fate?

In things being written in the stars?

Aahan Patel didn't.

Well, not until he became a supply teacher at
Marleyport Secondary School
and Sixth Form, where he met a whole host of weird and wonderful people, students and teachers alike.

But that was two years ago.

You probably don't want to know what the school was like before Aahan  arrived, do you?

But it's important to know how this man, who could barely function two years ago, arrived at the school in the first place.

So let's go back to where it all began.
Or rather, before then.

■■■

The faint smell of sweat lingered in the air.
It would be horrid to most, but
Mr. Harold More was all too familiar with it now.
After all, teaching teenagers who were
fresh off the 'pubescence bus' brought a bag of challenges far more tricky to navigate than the stench of sweat.

In most of the classrooms, there were long tables that could fit two to three students on them, but Mr. More
wasn't a fan of them.

Instead, he ensured that the desks were smaller, and could only fit one student on them—similar to most American schools.

He said something about
'wanting the kids to think for themselves, instead of cheating off their partner's work.'

Mr. More's daily routine consisted of six things:

One—arguing with his wife.
It didn't matter what it was about.
His porridge being too sweet, his tea being too cold, the sun shining too bright at that particular time of day. Anything.

Two—getting the bus.
It was a ten minute bus journey to school from his house.
He liked to get off a stop before his destination so he could buy a couple of scratchcards from the local corner shop.

Three—avoid talking to anyone as he walked to his classroom.
In his thirty years of teaching, he could count the number of morning conversations with colleagues on one hand.
Well, it was more like ten years, because that's how long he'd been teaching at this school.

Four—get all his materials out for the lesson.
If it was up to him, he'd just talk at the students for fifty minutes, but he was required to have a powerpoint and worksheets now.

Five—teach.
Scold a few students along the way too.

Six—exit swiftly, ignoring anyone who spoke to him along the way.
By then, his only goal was to get home.

Rumours had circulated that he was always in a hurry to leave early because he wanted to catch his wife cheating on him.
Over the years, more details were added.

The current consensus is that she started having an affair with a friend from the Bingo a few years ago, after finding out that Mr. More no longer loved her, and that he meets up with a string of ladies every other night, just to get back at her.