Project A.L. (BFB AU) (COMPLETED)

One - And So We Rise

The air was brisk as X walked his way to the local school. Their scarf floated along in the breeze with them, as X moseyed their way to their job. They'd been so excited last night, thinking of all the ways they could creatively teach math to their students.

The school towered over X, as the hundreds of students cluttered around the small double doors. They formed a bubble to the door around X, as they used their keycard to unlock the facility. Behind X coming into the building, were two of their students in X's third period class, Match and Pencil. They could hear the two girls behind them gossiping about a new steakhouse in town, owned by one of X's other students, Gelatin. X had, in fact, tried it the previous night, and thought it was delicious.

A beep from their phone snapped them back into reality. Opening their phone, X saw a message from Two.

Wyd tonight?

X stopped in their classroom and put his bag down as another message popped up.

My job is hosting something and they said I'm allowed to bring someone else. X plopped down in their chair and looked through the mini calendar on their desk. Nothing was on their radar for the whole day.

I'm not doing anything, so I guess I'll go.

Great! See you at my house at 7.

X put down their phone and got their papers out of their bag for their first period. It was test day for the students, so not much work went into preparing. X went easy on their students in first period, as they were the worst, relative to average test score. They wanted them to pass, to have an equal chance in life.

The first bell rang as a five minute to the students still in the hallways, and the first few kids came in. Bell and Bracelety both said hi, then moved to their respective desks. As the last bell rang. Pen, Eraser and Blocky all came in and sat in the remaining seats, as per usual. X didn't care today if students came in late, however, it was time to start testing.

"Everyone get out a Pencil, it's test day!" X announced to the room with an all around groan for a response. They handed out each paper, some kids giving a scoff as X walked by.

"You have until the end of class today to finish these tests," X said in their test taking voice, standard to every teacher, "then I will come collect every paper. And... begin!"

The sounds of writing utensils hitting the paper relaxed X. It meant everyone was working their hardest, but more importantly, it meant X got a break from the normal stresses of teaching. It gave them time to grade papers from last week. They stretched their arms before they started. After all, a relaxed body is a relaxed mind.

But their mind refused to be relaxed. They were distracted by Two's mystery texts. X had never really asked about their job, and they didn't know why Two would invite them.

Then, a ding from their phone. Speak of the devil, it's Two.

Just saying, my boss might want to talk to you at the event. X felt slightly uneasy by the statement. What would Two's boss, of all people, want with someone they've never even met? They sighed quietly to themselves, as to not disturb the other people in the room.

Paper rustling and chairs squeaking made X snap into focus as someone turned in their test. X bent over their desk to see Ice Cube struggling to turn in their paper. X took it from her and smiled. She smiled back, returning to her desk.

X spent the rest of the day dissociating as students came in and out of class, thinking about the event happening later that evening. Why would Two ask X, of all people, to come with them? After all, Two knew a lot of people, most of which were a lot closer than X was. Perhaps this is just a one time thing.