The silent school - ENG. ver.

Chapter 2

For him, the lesson seemed never to end, and as soon as it did, he headed outside immediately, unable to stay in front of those frantic people. Danny saw him and, noticing his gloom, joined him outside, waiting for the next teacher to arrive.
“How are you, Professor? You look a bit disturbed” he said.
“Yes, I am. Your classmates are nerve-wracking, and I don’t know how to handle the situation better. I’m sorry if you couldn’t follow the lesson well because of all that racket; I could see you were quite interested, though” he replied.
“Your lessons always interest me; history is definitely important, and I want to learn it.”
“Students like you, still eager to study and learn about the past, have always given me hope for young people, a hope that is only extinguished by the incompetent.”

After exchanging those few words, when his colleague arrived, he headed to the meeting room, where there wasn’t a soul.

He entered the room calmly, looking for a specific file: the one concerning class 3C.
He needed to make notes about those students, referring to their inappropriate behavior towards anyone not in their clique. Just as he started writing, a medium-height woman with short, curly brown hair approached him and asked:
“Still having problems with that class?”
“Exactly, we might as well have a cabinet just for them” he replied.
“I understand, it’s hard for me too to teach my subject to those kids. What can you do? Not everyone likes math, just as not everyone likes history.”
“I understand, but I at least demand a little respect and, above all, silence.”
“I think you can only get that in your sleep; it certainly won’t happen here.”

She was right, it was impossible to have a perfect and pleasant silence with all those people around the school, but he had already come up with an idea on how to remedy it. He spent his entire free hour listening to none other than nothing, and if any noise bothered him, he simply put on headphones.

However, he had to be ready; the next hour was recreation, and he couldn’t miss another “selection.” He headed to the cafeteria, a noisy and annoying place. All those loud conversations made no sense to him and perhaps to someone else as well. He was about to start his culling when he noticed the boy he had a half-conversation with earlier. He approached him, sitting at the table he occupied alone.
“Why are you here away from the others?” he asked.
“I didn’t feel like being with them” he replied, looking at his lunch.
“Did something happen? I’ve noticed you seem troubled. You’ve been like this for a couple of days now.”
“Even if that were the case, it’s certainly none of your business, if I may say so.”
“You might be right, but if you need anything, you know where to find me” he said, getting up.

He took a few steps, and the boy immediately called him back:
“Aren’t you staying to eat?”
So he did, he stayed and talked about this and that with him, postponing his beloved appointment somewhat reluctantly.

Midway through their lengthy conversation, some boys passed by and, after whispering, started giggling, which left the professor with some questions:
“Who are they?”
“Just leave it, that’s just Aaron, and the others just follow him” he replied.
“Are they the ones causing you this distress?”
“Maybe, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”
“I’m sure they’ll stop.”
“You’re always so positive. Anyway, what were we saying?”
And they finished their conversation.

The next three hours passed quickly, like the thoughts that wandered through Robert’s head, the history professor. After a twenty-minute drive home, he lay down on the brown leather couch, resting his feet on the coffee table. He turned on the square TV and started watching “Superclassifica Show” but fell asleep in a few minutes.

It was 8:00 PM when he finally woke up, rested but hungry, so he headed to the small kitchen and started looking in the fridge for something to eat. He didn’t feel like spending too much time, knowing he wanted something ready or quick to prepare. He ended up ordering a pizza.

When it arrived, he sat at the table after covering it with a red and white checkered tablecloth to avoid staining it. He took his favorite, the one with anchovies, and while savoring it, he pondered his dream. He couldn’t stop thinking about it; it was beautiful: The school was finally silent, no one dared to shout, only whispers or low-voiced conversations as he liked. Even the footsteps made no noise, almost for fear of being recognized.

Even the noisiest kids were quiet, making Robert realize it was just a dream. And then the fun part, where everyone admired him for making the school a place of calm and idolized him for the horrors he had committed, giving him a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. Those images of veneration stayed in his mind until the next day, Thursday. He cursed the person who abolished the holiday that day in 1937, lovingly giving them all an extra day of work.

Unfortunately for him, history class started at 9:00 AM, a time when the students were already wide awake and eager to cause trouble, hindering the lesson’s progress. He entered the class, immediately getting hit by a grain of rice. He turned, trying to understand how it got there and especially why it was in the classroom.
“You know you’re not allowed to eat in class” he said, not understanding what was going on.
They let out a contained laugh and hit him again, revealing the mystery: they had put rice grains inside a pen, using it as a blowgun. He said nothing about this, staying serious and placing his bag on the ground next to the desk.

"Alright. I hope you remembered that today there's a test" he said with a smile.

Their faces turned pale, having forgotten about the test and just having pulled a prank. They thought they were now doomed, needing to pray to some deity for a miracle, and so it happened.
There was a knock at the door.