Language of Love

Lassata

Fitz opens his eyes again. He look at the boy and then looks at me.

"No." We both say with certainty. Sally winks at me from the corner of the classroom. Fitz didn't see it.

Devin walks in halfway through the movie.

"Gray, Can I borrow your directors chair?" She asks. "Oh wait you're using it. Oh! Fitzgerald, can I use yours?"
"Don't have one," He says without opening his eyes.
"You can use mine," I say, standing up.
"Thank you!" She says.

Fitz stands up. He motions to the chair he was sitting in.
"You can sit, I'm alright." He says.
"I'm good, I'll just find a desk in the back." I say.
"Okay..." He says.

He sits down and closes his eyes. I walk to the empty desk not to Sally. He nods off a little and then looks back up. I glare at him.

"Fitz. Did you not sleep last night?" I ask, because he's almost fallen asleep three or four times.
"You know the answer to that." He says.
"Right," I mutter. He closes his eyes again. Sally leans into my ear.

"Oh my god, you two like did it. All night?" She whispers.
"No. The people who live above me decided to fulfill their dreams of being a rockstar, at 2am last night," I answer.
"Wait so you were with him at 2am last night?" She whispers. I hold a "shh," finger to my lips and nod. She smirks.
"Not like that," I clarify.
"Wait why is he so tired then? You seem fine." She says.
"My mother, the alcoholic, would play watch television at full blast while she drunk the night away. I've learned to sleep with noise. Fitz, on the other hand, had a much more peaceful childhood and couldn't fall asleep
with all that noise," I explain.
"Ah. My mother, the meth addict, can also be quite loud. It's not typically the tv, it's her frustration when she can't find a vein. But hey, that means she hasn't overdosed yet." She says.

"Trust me. Overdoses are not quiet." I say.
"Wait, who overdosed?" She asks.
"My father. Sleeping pills." I say.
"You can OD on that?" She says.
"Yeah. What a stupid way to die." I say.
"What was he like?" She asks.
"I don't know, I was like 14." I say.
"I'm like 14," She remarks.
"I thought you were like 17," I comment.
"I'm 15, my birthday was Friday."

"Hm," I say. The kid in front of us turns around. He stares with wide eyes.
"Did you hear that whole thing?" I ask. He nods.
"Welcome to my life, I don't recommend it." I say. He turns around. I look over Sally and snicker.

Courtney walks in. She sees Fitz and looks around, but clearly doesn't see me in the corner at the desk.

"Fitzgerald, hey, where's Gray?" She asks. "Hello? Fitzgerald?"
"He's been asleep for like an hour. I'm right here," I say.
"Oh, hey, wait why is he napping?" She asks.
"My neighbors decided to become a rock band at 2am last night," I answer.
"Your neighbors?" She says and I raise my eyebrow. "Right. Anyway, can you watch my class I need to find Devin."
"She was just in here. She stole my chair. But, I will watch your class." I say.
"Thank you."

I peel my head into her room. It always smells like mint in her room. I wave at her 4 students.

"How many kids do you have?" Courtney asks when she come back.
"I had 12, Fitz has 8." I answer.
"I forgot, you two are the cool teachers." She says.
"Hey, you have four. Marx said he had 2 and one of them changed her mind and left. So now he has one student," I say.
"That poor student. I can't imagine being trapped in a room with literally just Marx. You know how dorky he is. That poor kid." She says.

"I'll go get him." I say.
"Marx or the kid?" Courtney asks.
"Both." I say.

I walk down to his room. I poke my head in. I see the one poor kid. She is on her phone. He sits on a desk.

"Hey. You want to combine?" I ask.
"Yeah, how many kids do you have?" He asks.
"I had 12, but Fitz combined too and he had 8, so there's like 20 in my room." I answer.
"Do you want to go in there?" Marx asks.
"You're the cool teacher right?," asks the girl.
"I'm not sure." I say.
"Aren't you Ms. Throne?" She asks.
"Yeah?"
"You're the cool teacher." She says.
"Really?"
"We have adjectives for all the teachers. You're cool," she says.

"What's Mr. Marx?" I ask.
"Dorky." She says, not missing a beat. He laughs.
"What about Ms. Brasher?" I ask.
"Perky."
"Mr. Kennedy?"
"Hot."
"Mr. Coleman?"
"Old."
"Ms. Tomlinson?"
"Chill."
"Devin. Wait no, sorry, Ms. Pruitt?"
"Lesbo. I don't know if it's true but all the students thinks so."
"I always thought so," I say.
"See."

"What's your name?" I ask.
"SJ."
"Nice to meet you."

I show her into my room and she takes the desk I was sitting in. I walk over to Fitz and sit on my desk.
"What happened to your desk?" He asks.
"Marx's one student took it," I say.
"He had one student?"
"There were two but one left."
     "Poor kid." He mutters.

    The movie finishes soon. I ask Fitz if he has any idea of what to do with the kids and he nods.

    "What do y'all want to do?" He asks.
    "Can we play kickball?" One girl asks.
    "Any other ideas?" He asks. No one raises their hand.
     "I guess we're playing kickball." He says.

    We take the kids outside to the baseball field. I sent Marx to the gym to grab a ball. Fitz divides teams.

    "Are you playing?" He asks.
    "Sure."
    "Okay, team two."
    "I'll be team one."
     "Oh it's on." I say.