Middle of the Week Motivation

Freak Show

"Don't touch him, don't talk to him, heck, I wouldn't even look at him if I were you. He wears all black, his hair is black and his eyes are such a dark brown they might as well be black. You'll know who he is as soon as we walk in the door." The blonde advised, walking with Jack down the hall.

"Why? What's so bad about him?" The Irish exchange student asked curiously.

The blonde spoke up again, his brown eyes staring into the irishman's blue ones. "He's a freak, man. But don't tell him I said that." He freaked out a little as he spoke that last sentence, fear overwhelming his eyes.

"Ok, ok. I won't." Jack reassured him. The other student seemed relieved. 

"Here we are. Mr. Jones room.  He teaches math." The student opening the door, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. Jack followed close behind. "Mr. Jones, this is the foreign exchange student from Ireland." The blonde explained.

The teacher held out his hand for Jack to take. "Sean, right?"

"It's Jack actually." The green haired boy replied politely, shaking the out stretched hand.

"Oh? Really?" The teacher replied, confused. "The paper I got said it was Sean."

"That's my given name." The blue eyed boy explained. "I just go by Jack."

The teacher nodded before addressing the whole class. "Listen up everyone! This is Jack, the Irish exchange student you've all been hearing about."

"Hi." Jack squeaked out as all eyes turned to him. He immediately recognized the boy that the guide had described, dressed in all black, just as he was told. He didn't look like a freak, but looks can be deceiving I guess? Jack wasn't one to make snap judgements just based on someone's appearance.

"You can go sit next to Mark." Mr. Jones pointed to the only empty seat, next to the brown eyed boy in all black. Jack walked down the row, slightly nervous as he took his seat. But Mark did nothing, just watching the blue eyed boy as he sat down. "Ok. Now that that's settled, turn to page 362 in your textbook." Everyone opened to that page, pulling out their notebooks and a pencil to take notes. As the teacher continued to talk, going over this and that, Jack heard a huff and tiny growl of annoyance come from his left. He turned his head slightly, trying not to gain any attention as he shifted his gaze from the board to Mark.

Mark leaned back in his seat, grumbling to himself. "The one day to not have a freaking pencil."

Jack averted his gaze back to his paper, debating on what to do. After a few seconds of debating, he decided to be helpful, grabbing a wooden pencil out of his backpack. He glanced back over at Mark, avoiding eye contact as he placed the pencil on the other students desk. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Mark's eyes widened, glancing over at Jack and picking up the pencil other was gifted to him. Jack smiled slightly as the black hair student whispered a quiet "thank you" and began to take notes.

Mark had grown to enjoy the presence of the green haired exchange student. As time went on, Jack became less and less shy, giving off this energetic vibe wherever he went. He seemed to have an always happy, always positive and generally upbeat aura that hung around him. Mark had grown quite fond of that positivity hanging in the air, and it soon became one of the only reasons he actually came to the math class. So, of course, when Mr. Jones introduced a project they would be working in pair for, Mark took it upon himself to claim the blue eyed student as his partner.

"Class, we are starting a project today. You will work in partners, and it will be due Friday. Everything you need to know can be found on this paper." The teacher held up a paper he held in his hands, waving it slightly in the air before passing them out.  "Go ahead and get into your pairs. You can begin working tomorrow."