LisRene (Oneshots)

The One with the Substitute Literature Teacher

Author's note: This is just a very short story. My apology for the grammatical errors.

Irene's POV

I'm currently taking my master's degree while I work as a substitute Literature teacher in high school. Last week, I got a call from this school that their lit teacher had just given birth and is on maternity leave.

Today is my first day and before I make my way to my class, I need to head first to the office of the principal. I stared in awe as I walked towards the office. The school is big and I must say one of the most beautiful schools I've ever seen.

I gave a couple of gentle knocks on the door and greeted the principal.

The school principal welcomed me warmly. However, the excitement I was feeling was suddenly replaced by anxiety. The principal told me that there was a miscommunication and instead of teaching the 9th grade, I will be teaching the 12th grade.

The only good news she told me was that my class will start in the afternoon which means I have half of the day to prepare and change the materials I've prepared for my class. After the talk with the principal, I immediately went to the library and looked for a particular book.

A book about a play that I need to reread so I won't miss any details since it's been forever since the last time I read it. I was surprised to know and a bit disappointed that they still made the senior year here to read that play.

I was expecting they would give the 12th graders here Jane Eyre, To Kill a Mockingbird, or at least The Great Gatsby book for them to read but instead, they made them read a play that already has a lot of different versions of movies.

I bet not one person on earth doesn't know that tragic love story even if they haven't read that play.

After I skimmed the book, I made my way to the school cafeteria to buy myself a drink as I made revisions to my materials. As I continued to finish my teaching materials, I noticed that the cafeteria was starting to get filled with students.

I just realized that it was already lunch time which meant I needed to hurry up. I already lost count of how many black teas I drank when I finally finished my materials. I sighed in relief as I saved my presentation on my laptop.

I finally made my way to my first class.

{Fast forward}

It's the last class I am currently teaching now.

The students here seemed to be more chaotic than the first 2 classes I've taught for today. I guess the principal wasn't kidding when she told me that this class is a pain in the butt. When I entered the classroom, the students were all over the room.

Some are playing basketball inside the room, eating, chatting and some are sleeping. I had to tap my desk hard just to get their attention. Good thing, the class president helped out to control her chaotic classmates.

"But Miss Bae, it's a tragic story." Said by one of the students.

"Yes, you're right. It's a tragic love story driven by too much passion."

"They were stupid, Miss Bae." Said by another student, making me mentally chuckle.

"Stupid is a strong word but you see, dying because of love is the most romantic thing during the time it was written. In the modern day, yes, you can say it's stupid and pretty irrational. However— well not as exaggerated as dying but grand gestures are also seen as a very romantic gesture up to this day." I said as I noticed the class became really quiet and seemed more focused on me now.

"You see— when people think of love, they always picture love with grand gestures. Where in reality, genuine love shows in little things. Like knowing and remembering how many teaspoons of sugar you want in your coffee. Like knowing that you can't sleep at night because of a fight you two had so that person will always make sure you two reconcile before you sleep. Like how much you love to sit by the window so that person will always take the seat on the aisle even if that person hates it when passersby bump their elbow. Like how much you hate overcooked ramen noodles so that person always times the cooking so you won't have to eat soggy noodles. And like how that person knows how your feet get easily cold so they will put socks on your feet whenever you forget to wear them before you sleep. It's always the little things that count." I added but my attention suddenly went to this student.

"Ahem." I cleared my throat as I stared at this particular student who seemed to be enjoying my lesson so much that she thought I was lulling her to sleep.

I walked towards her seat and tapped the book on her table hard to wake her up.

Her eyes started to open and she began to check if she was drooling. I took a deep breath to calm myself down since it's my first day and I do not want to lose my cool in front of these students.

I worked hard on preparing for my first day and I even made last-minute changes earlier when the principal suddenly changed the class that I was supposed to teach. So, I really don't appreciate even one student sleeping in my class and ignoring the lesson I worked hard to prepare for them.

"Since you were clearly not listening to my lesson, care to share with us what your dream is all ab—"

"You were talking about how love isn't measured by big gestures but by the little things, Miss Bae." She said as she cut me off.

"Like we should settle for someone who will give you marriage instead of a grand wedding. Someone who will build a home with you instead of a house. Someone who won't just give you a promise ring but will fulfill every promise to you." She added.

"That's right." That's all I could say.

I didn't expect her to be actually listening since I knew she was clearly sleeping. I was even loss for words when she used a different analogy but the same meaning as what I was trying to point out.

I continued my lesson until the school bell rang. Indicating that the classes are over for the day. I immediately reminded my students to start reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" as they fixed their things before they went out of the room.

I was in the middle of gathering my things when I saw a hand placing a chocolate bar on my table.

"What's this for, Miss Manoban?" I asked in confusion to this student who was the one sleeping earlier in my class and the one who already made an impression on my first day of work.

Lisa: I saw you at lunch earlier at the cafeteria, Miss Bae. Your head was buried in your laptop and seemed to be swamped with work. I know the first day can be overwhelming but no matter how unhealthy and greasy the food is in the cafeteria, you shouldn't skip meals. See you tomorrow, Miss Bae.

She said and made her way out of the classroom.

I just stared at this chocolate bar with a short sweet message printed on the wrapper that says "You did great! So here's a chocolate".

"I think I'm going to like this school." I uttered to myself with a smile as I carefully tore the wrapper so I could eat the chocolate.