Teach Me!

Scene 6

SCENE 6:

I mixed in with the crowd of students who were entering school. It was morning - a peaceful morning until I saw - Alfred Ricks. His blazing red hair, which stood out among the other students, heated up my temper and at the same time, took out the fear I had for him. There were men with him who had the same aura he displayed. They wore the same uniform the school had, an indication that they were my new schoolmates. Most of them sported a punk look. Spiky hair, ear piercings. The way they paraded towards the school’s entrance left an impression on the students. Some of them even stood aside just to make way for Alfred and his gang.

  What a way to start the day. Anyway, as long as they didn’t do anything that would cause trouble for others, then everything would turn out all right.

 Gossips abounded from every corner of the hallway. All of them talked about a new student who just transferred to this school. He couldn’t have been just an ordinary student because they seem scared.

One student whispered, “That red-haired guy might actually be part of some huge crime syndicate! I don’t want to get close to him!”

The other whispered back, “He’s so intimidating! I’m lucky he’s not my classmate.”

Well, I hoped he wasn’t my classmate, either.

Just in the front of the classroom I was going to enter into was Mr. Crest who was talking fervently to a teacher. I tried to listen in to their conversation.

“Think you can handle it?” The teacher insinuated to Mr. Crest’s ability to handle something.

Mr. Crest nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I assure you that I will be able to discipline him despite his background.”

“I expect to hear good results from you.”

“I will do my best.”

The female teacher left the scene. Students who noticed her gave their due respect by greeting her.

“Hey, do you know about the rumors?” Mr. Crest called out.

“Yeah, what was that all about earlier? Everybody’s talking about Alfred.” I asked in a curious fashion.

“Well, this is kind of a bad news considering his um... attitude.” He groaned. I raised my brow and prepared myself to hear it then he finally said, “He’s going to be in this class.”

In our class?! This wasn’t right at all! “Can’t you transfer him to another one?” I demanded.

Mr. Crest refused. “No, he was assigned to this class since his enrolment. I can’t change the rules here,”

The bell rang but Alfred wasn’t here yet. He even entered school ahead of me. I guessed he went somewhere else first.

“Get inside now. If you just ignore him, things might probably work out well.” Mr. Crest patted my back.

“Thanks.”

He boosted my spirits up, giving me strength to pass this trial. I was glad that I had him by my side; he always gave me solace in tough times. Nobody could ever replace him.

When I sat down, Matt asked me, “Do you know who’s coming here today?”

I wanted to say his name at first but instead I just pretended that I didn’t know him. “Um… I don’t know. Almost everybody’s talking about him.”

Lately, Matt and I have ignored ignorance. But still, we didn’t know how to form the relationship we once had as a whole.

Nicolle softly called out from across her seat, “Michael! Tell me who the new guy is or you're gonna get a beating.”