Instigate.

Instigate a Project

Instigate a Project

                The school bell rang just as all students shuffled and stumbled towards their seats, straightening when a man wearing dark jeans and a blue sweater strode in. He threw a folder carelessly on the teacher’s table and students sat straighter in their seats, alert and watching. As he plopped himself on the chair behind the desk, one of the two o’clock sun’s rays fell on the side of his face, making the earring pierced on his right lobe twinkle. He made no standard greeting to his class as he stared at his students, gauging their expressions. Some looked alarmed, some bored, most of them wanting to go home for this was their last class for the day.

                “As you all know,” the young bald teacher with neon green reading glasses began, leaning on his reclining chair and putting his feet on top of the teacher’s table. This was his usual domineering stance that everyone thought ridiculous but effective. “In my class there is a tradition for senior students who are about to graduate.” The teacher grinned, showcasing his pearl white teeth, and at that moment, he looked evil to his students.

                A collective groan echoed from the class.

A boy in the middle row named James Dawson looked up from his book, raised a brow, sighed, rolled his eyes and went back to reading. He had thick brown hair that looked bright under the sun, a lanky figure, huge brown eyes and a face that anyone rarely saw smile.

A girl in the last row named Anna Figueroa looked up from her journal with a slow smile threatening to take over her whole face and her eyes glittered as she looked at her classmates excitedly. She had bright red hair, a thousand freckles, and eyes as bright as her smile. And she was the only one who looked excited

                “I call it Project Instigate.” Mister Hale is only 28 years old, and he’s still young for a teacher, but he has already made a reputation amongst his students and co-workers for being impulsive, eccentric and informal. And that’s putting it mildly.

                Anna, the redheaded girl with hazel-green eyes, whispered a silent yes to pump herself up. James rolled his eyes again at his teacher’s dramatics.

                “Instigate, meaning, to provoke, to incite,” He made a dramatic pause, his hands waving in the air as gestures “To make something happen, to cause it to begin.” He grinned again, and in one swift motion, he stood from his reclining chair and began walking around his class. “You, my dear students, will be partnered up. You have four months to write me a story, any story at all, of any genre and of any theme. I want you all to rev up your minds, create a little something out of your thoughts. It could be about anything at all!”

                A random boy with a pencil in his mouth raised his hand “Even porn?”

                Laughter from the students, even the teacher himself “Yes, Greg,” answered Mister Hale “Even porn, even if it would hurt my eyes to see your head, I would do it.” Another chorus of laughter, but James still wasn’t laughing.

                Anna was still smiling.

                “I don’t care if it’s short, or if it’s a poem, or if it’s literary nonsense. As long as I see a glimpse of you in that piece, it would be enough. Two heads are better than one.” He paused, reaching the teacher’s table once again. He whirled around, dramatics even then, and stared evenly at his students “I have but two rules.” His voice turned grave, almost threatening “No stealing of other people’s words, or works. That’s called plagiarism, and it’s unfair and illegal. And secondly, you’re partners for a reason. Should I find out that only one of you made a story meant to be written by two, I would not accept your project. In fact, I’d tear your piece into bits in front of you.”