Vanilla & Smoke || A.I.

Black.

Black
/blak/
adjective
of the very darkest color owing to the absence of or complete absorption of light; the opposite of white.

~~~

"I would like the lovely students who came in late to my class to stay back after the bell rings," he was saying, wrapping up the lesson. Who knew how he knew that the time was almost up, but sure enough, there were only a few more seconds until the bell rang. "I will write you passes to bring to the office and have them change your attendance from 'absents' to tardies, on the understanding that it won't happen again."

No one objected as the bell rang, and everyone packed up, quickly scurrying out of the classroom. All but two, of course, as Thora and Calum hung back.

"I bet I could ditch," he muttered, leaning down slightly so his mouth was level with her ear. "He doesn't know there were two of us."

"And ignore the free pass I'm giving you, the letter to the office? Really Mr.Hood, I would expect better of you."

Calum tensed as Mr.Irwin walked up to them, stopping a little further away that a normal conversation.

"And you... Miss Faye, I pressume?"

They were both trying not to gape, completely unsure of how he knew their names. Their faces showed all of their thoughts, but Mr.Irwin sighed and shook his head at the ceiling.

"I imagine you're making some very interesting facial expressions, which I'd love to see, but this whole communication thing works out a lot better if you use words."

Calum was the first to collect himself. "Yeah, probably... makes sense." He coughed awkwardly, looking at Mr.Irwin's covered eyes, not sure what to make of the situation. "How did you..."

"The only two people not in class, Calum Hood and Thora Faye. I'm assuming you're Calum, and you're Thora?" He gestured at each of them individually, still a little bit too far away.

Calum spoke for the both of them. "No, I'm thora. I just have a low voice, that's all. I'm actually quite sexy."

It was hard to tell if Mr.Irwin was amused or not. Most likely the latter, judging from his stoic expression. "I'm sure you're plenty sexy Calum, and I appreciate you mocking me."

"Anytime, teach."

The man puffed up, looking straight into Calum's eyes like he could actually see them. "It's sir. To you."

"Well, as you can see, Thora left so I'll just-"

Mr. Irwin scowled, still staring straight at the boy in a way that was almost unnerving, what with his lack of sight. "You're almost nineteen, still in high school making snarky comebacks to your professor who's trying to help you. I may not be able to see, but I'm not an idiot, and I don't appriciate being lied to. Thora, don't move."

She had been about to sneak away, not wanting to deal with the agressive teacher, but somehow he knew. How did he know?

He walked back to his desk and pulled out a pad of paper, stumbling for a pen and opening it, slightly shaky. "If I give you these passes, I expect for both of you to be in your seats before class starts tomorrow, is that understood?"

Thora shrugged, and Calum mumbled something along the lines of "fine."

The teacher chuckled a little angrily, tearing the paper off and holding it above his head. "Pathetic. You can do better than that."

"Yes sir." The pair said in hesitant unison.

The word felt unnatural, even though technically they were supposed to call every member of the staff from the principal to the janitors "sir" or "ma'am". But Thora and Calum didn't like that rule, and did everything they could to ignore it.

Calum was given the paper and told to go to the office and get both of their attendence records straight, while Thora was left standing against a desk, alone in the room with her new, blind teacher.

He made an apologetic smile her way. "Can I make an odd request?"

"Um, no?"

"Can I have your hand for a moment?" He reached out in front of him for a moment, his hand open. Thora hesitantly grasped his hand, not sure what kind of game he was playing. "Great. Now, can you put my hand on your head?"

"What?"

It was obvious he didn't like explaining it as he grumbled uncomfortably. "You girls are all different heights. I need to make sure I'm looking in the right direction."

Mr.Irwin had had a few close calls then, with girls. As a blind man, it wasn't like he was actually looking at anyone in any indecent way- or in any way, period. But people sometimes actually doubted his blindness when they found his gaze on impolite places.

Though hesitantly, Thora grasped his hand and placed it on her head. He had been looking a little to the side of her, but now his gaze was trained directly on her face.

She let go, expecting him to draw his hand back but instead he kept it there, running his hand softly over her dark braids. "Tell me, what color is your hair?"

"Black," she announced, her voice coming out as more deliquaint and less innocent as she reached up and slapped his hand away. "If that's all, then I'm leaving."

Mr.Irwin stood straighter, and one could almost see the gears turning in his head, trying to figure her out. "Please do. I'll see you tomorrow before class starts, Miss Faye."