MFT 2/ Final Class

Mr. Mitchell is back

 Time jump Monday morning

Together with James I had spent the last two days until he could finally go back to his apartment. Don't get me wrong. I like to spend time with James, but after a while he becomes exhausting and annoying. Today was the day when everything was supposed to go back to its usual course. Feeling good, I brushed my teeth in the bathroom and couldn't wait to get back to my teaching job. But first I had to have a talk with Mr. Stark. Why he had hired me back and the other info about it. Judging by my feelings, it wasn't Mr. Stark's decision alone. I'm sure he was persuaded or pressured. In a few minutes, I would be leaving and heading back to school. I had missed this daily routine in the last few weeks. On time, I left the apartment with my winter jacket and walked to my car. We didn't have any snow in Minnesota at the moment, but it was supposed to come in the next few weeks. I put my backpack on the passenger seat as usual and headed to school. Once there, all was quiet in the courtyard as classes were in session. With the backpack on my shoulder and excitement, I entered the school building. Nothing seemed to have changed in the time I was gone, I noticed, and headed up the stairs. The walk to Mr. Stark's office felt longer than usual. As I passed the cafeteria, it was only a few more feet and I was already standing in front of the door to his office. With a hand shaking with excitement, I knocked and waited for the door to open.

"Good morning Mr. Mitchell. Please come in," Mr. Stark greeted me and I entered his office. "Please have a seat. Would you like some coffee?" asked Mr. Stark, sitting down in his chair across from me. "No, thank you. You know it seems strange to someone when you were yelled at loudly in anger before and now you are surprised with excessive kindness," I tried to explain my situation to him and sat down in response. "Of course. The thing is, my summary dismissal to you was not legally valid," Mr. Stark began to explain. "I could have told you that right away," I mentioned, looking at him skeptically. "In any case, I wanted to sincerely apologize to you. I should not have called you names under any circumstances, much less tried to terminate you," Mr. Stark apologized, looking back and forth between his desk and me. "That's brave of you to apologize to me after such a crappy action but I don't understand your sudden change of heart," I mentioned and waited for his response. "To cut a long story short, the school principal and the school superintendent were here last Friday and educated me about what I had done," he replied and now I understood what had happened. "Let me guess. They gave you a piece of their mind and you had to hire me back," I said, crossing my arms in front of my chest. "Exactly. Over the past few weeks, I've seen how much we've missed you on the team. Your colleagues, in particular, were overwhelmed and some students really wanted you to come back," Mr. Stark enlightened me. "I would be extremely happy and relieved if you decide to return to work here at the school. My opinion about homosexuality has changed and I accept you as you are," he explained, looking at me pleadingly. "So one thing you're really good at. Sucking up is one of your specialties." When I said this, Mr. Stark looked at me uncertainly, hoping I would choose the school. "But I really enjoy working at this school and would love to be part of the team again," I replied, seeing Mr. Stark's heart drop at this sentence.

"I'm glad to hear you say that. Of course, your 5CK and the 4KD will remain with you," Mr. Stark assured me and I smiled. "I was hoping you would," I said and then stood up from my chair as Mr. Stark did. "Thank you for talking with us Mr. Mitchell. I hope we can sweep this thing under the rug," he hoped as he shook my hand. "You know. This incident will stay in my mind for a while, but eventually it will fade into the background," I explained, letting go of my hand as I did so. "Then I'll dismiss you again and let you join your colleagues. Here's to good cooperation," Mr. Stark said as I opened the door and looked to him. "To good cooperation," I agreed with him and closed the office door. Now I could finally enter the teachers' lounge again with a clear conscience. I placed my hand on the door handle and then pushed it down and entered the room. All the teachers seemed to be busy and didn't notice me. Either they were working on assignments for the students, preparations or they were just reading a magazine. I went to my desk as usual and put my things down. "It doesn't get any prettier despite surgeries," I said as Jacob was reading a newspaper where the latest celebrity news was written. When he heard that, he turned his head in my direction and his eyes lit up with joy. "Hey buddy," he greeted me with joy and hugged me tightly. "Hey Jacob," I greeted him as well, enjoying his hug. "Good to see you again," I heard Claire, who was standing behind me and immediately hugged me when I turned to her. "Nice to see you again too," I mentioned with a soft smile. "I can't believe it. You're here again kiddo?", Paul asked incredulously as he came to me with a quick step. "Yes and please don't call me kiddo," I begged as he reached me and hugged me in response as well.

When the bell rang for recess, a few teachers came back into the teachers' lounge one by one and when they saw me they got a smile on their face. "Good to see you young man," Mason greeted me as he shook my hand and smiled. "Hey Logan," Lucy said as she saw me and then walked over to her desk. "I don't believe it. Logan's back!" shouted Tessa with joy, running to me and hugging me with joy. "We missed you so much my dear," she mentioned and I smiled in response. "I missed you too Tessa," I agreed and then released the hug. "Here again too?" asked Franklin annoyed when he caught sight of me and immediately went to his desk. I was cheerful, but in an instant my mood changed. Evelyn entered the room and quickly caught sight of me. She walked up to me with her typical smile and looked at me. With a mixture of anger and discomfort, I looked at her and hoped this situation would be over quickly. "You've been gone a long time. Have you been able to recover?" she asked, putting some things down on her desk. "No. For me it wasn't a rest because of an invalid dismissal, sitting at home waiting until I no longer have a purpose in life," I replied, and she turned around in surprise. "I've never heard such a choice of words from you before. I have to go again," she mentioned and left the teachers' room. "Did something happen between you two?" asked Tessa with interest. "Oh nonsense. Evelyn just has an annoying quirk that sometimes drives me up the wall, nothing more," I tried to explain and left the teachers' lounge as well. In half an hour I would already have lessons and for that I had to go to the gym. Once there, I quickly changed in my locker room and then entered the gym. Abby was in the process of reattaching the ropes to the right side of the gym, but was having some difficulty doing so. With relaxed steps, I walked up to her and stood behind her. "Do you need a strong hand?", I asked, and in response she turned around, startled. "Logan," she said happily and hugged me tightly. I also put my arms around her and enjoyed the hug. When we released the hug, Abby merely looked me in the eyes and said nothing for a short time. "I've missed you... I mean we missed you a lot. We missed you," she told me and I smiled at her. "I missed you too Abby," I admitted and in response she smiled sheepishly. "How are you doing?" she asked, looking at me eagerly. "Pretty good so far. The last few weeks haven't been easy for me," I told her.

"We felt the same way. Your substitution of 5CK was terrible," she mentioned. "Who came in as a substitute?". "Does Mr. Thompson mean anything to you?" she asked tensely. "You don't mean the 65-year-old who has problems with his hip and is already retired?". "Yes, that's the one. The guys have already placed bets on how long he would last," she replied. "Terrible. Tell me, are there any plans for next week?", I asked Abby eagerly. "No not really. What are your plans for the last few days before Christmas?" she asked with interest. "I was thinking about taking the 4KD and 5CK to the thermal baths," I replied, looking at her with a smile. "Sounds good to me. Are you going to tell the classes or do you want me to handle it?". "Let me worry about that. Is December 22nd okay with you?". "Yes. That one fits perfectly". "All right. I'll take care of it Abby," I said and then went back to my locker room.