BFB High (with a continuous plot wow)

Chapter 14: The TA's Secret

Teddy didn't know what to make of this. Although Professor Four's words were like any other introduction to a teacher's assistant, his expression told a different story. Their smile was clearly strained, showing that they were not too happy about this. The TA himself seemed to notice as well, as he clearly looked uncomfortable being too near the teacher.

"Uh, thanks for the introduction, Professor Four," Don said, before turning to the class and not so subtly stepping away from the teacher. "Anyways, I'll be here everyday from now on. If you have any questions about the material or you find yourself struggling, then feel free to ask me for help." Teddy noticed that he sounded noticeably less grumpy than he did when she first saw him a few days ago. Although, to be fair, he wouldn't be a very good TA if he was. "Now, I'll be taking attendance."

"Oh right, I forgot attendance was a thing," Ruby commented from the front of the classroom. Teddy expected Professor Four to punish this interruption severely, but it seemed he didn't care as long as he wasn't the one interrupted.

Don frowned at this. "Huh? How could you forget about attendance?" he asked.

"Well, we haven't had any teachers take our attendance since the start of the school year so..." Ruby was saying this whole thing in such a flippant way, clearly unbothered by this. However, Teddy blinked as she realized that there had been no attendance up until this point. She found it strange, and judging by the looks that many of her classmates were giving each other, it seemed they found it strange as well.

"Wait, really?" Don questioned, looking at Professor Four.

The math teacher rolled their eyes and shrugged. "Principal Announcer said something about this class being new, so none of us teachers were supposed to punish the freshmen for attendance this first week."

"What?" Stefan cried. "Then why did Felicity and I get detention when we were late the first day?"

"Detention again for speaking out of turn," Professor Four screeched, before turning back to Don. "You can skip taking attendance." He said this last sentence with clear annoyance.

"I don't know. I think it's a good to get in the habit of taking attendance," Don replied, before glancing at Stefan. "And it doesn't seem entirely fair to put him in detention when he asked a reasonable question. If the principal told you not to punish the students for attendance, then why did you punish him and Felicity for being late? ...Well, assuming that it's true. I mean, I wasn't there."

"It is!" Stefan piped up. Beside him, Felicity nodded furiously.

Teddy was admittedly a bit nervous about what would happen next, especially since she saw Professor Four grow angrier and angrier with every word that Don said. Finally, the math teacher simply slammed their hands on the teacher's desk and screeched, "Fine! Whatever! It's not like it's my class to teach or anything!" He slowly stepped towards Don, who seemed to back away nervously. "You! I never liked you. I have no idea why the principal keeps insisting that I need a TA or why he chose you out of all people to be one!" Suddenly, they paused, and an evil grin formed on their face. "Oh wait, that's right. I know why."

At this, Don gasped. His face suddenly turned angry, as he yelled, "Don't you dare!"

Professor Four opened his mouth, before suddenly closing it upon realizing something. "Fine," they finally said through gritted teeth, "I know what consequences await if I say anything, so your secret's safe... for now." With that, Professor Four angrily stomped over to the classroom door. As they opened it, they said, "I'm going to have a talk with the principal about this... arrangement though. One year of having you as a TA is bad enough. I can't deal with it anymore!" With that, he opened the door and slammed it shut behind him.