teacher's pet

death

𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳

≛

karl rubs his hands against his thighs, trying to wipe away the building claminess as his heart thumbs sporadically in his chest. he watches blankly as the people around him disperse, laughing and talking and moving on with their lives in such a normal and undisturbed way.

"you'll message me if you have to stay later?" sapnap asks as he pulls his bag up over his shoulder, raising one brow at the brunette.

karl nods. "yeah, it might not be long but just in case he wants to go over stuff," he excuses.

karl wants to tell sapnap that he and dream can go straight home and not wait because he is so blindly hopeful that he will be staying later with lucas, but he needs a backup if that isn't the case. if lucas really is done with him, karl doesn't want to have to walk home seconds after finding out.

sapnap nods understandingly and says, "see you in a minute, hopefully," before turning to funnel out with the rest of the class. it's a normal thing for him to say because he obviously doesn't think that karl would want to hang around after school to go over the final product of his opening chapters, but it still makes karl feel like his friend is rooting against him.

karl knows his insecurities are irrational but that doesn't mean they will magically disappear. realising something is wrong and actually accepting it are two very different things.

the brunette lets his eyes fall to the front of the room, landing on lucas. the older man is sitting at his desk, his eyes on the monitor of his screen as he types quickly, gaze dancing every now and then as he follows along whatever he's writing. he doesn't even seem to notice karl sitting there with his hands in his lap, fingers wringing together anxiously.

a long moment passes, the door to the classroom clicks shut, and the older man presses the enter key before finally looking up.

he seems mildly surprised to find karl still sitting there, but he masks it well. "you scared me," he says with a casual, polite laugh, before turning in his chair to face the brunette. if karl didn't know better, he would think the older man was mistaking him for some other student. "everything okay?"

karl's brows pinch together in confusion, not understanding the generalised question. surely, after leaving karl to walk home in the dark, he should have a bit more to say. so karl shrugs, not knowing what to reply, and nods down at the pile of papers sitting in front of him, waiting on his desk.

lucas' face lights up with a smile. "is that the finished product?" he asks, seeming excited. it's a pretty obvious assumption to make, because the deadline for the contest is next week and, during their last few meetings, karl has constantly mentioned how close he is to completing it. he nods. "bring it over," lucas gestures with one hand, prompting the brunette.

karl stands up. he takes his bag in one hand and his work in the other, trying not to display his nerves as he makes his way around to the front of the room.

lucas holds out a hand as karl nears him and the brunette hands over the work to the older man, his eyes tracing the movement as lucas stacks the papers together and places them down gently on his desk. "i'll read these tonight and get back to you. i'm sure it's perfect, but i'll email over any comments, just in case."