Teach me How (Baldi x Principal)

Chapter 3 - War of Kind Words

Class goes by like a breeze. I'm teaching my students about algebra, and there's nothing better than hearing the 'ohh' of realization when the lesson finally makes sense to them with some explanation. I let my students come up with word problems for the rest of the class to solve so it really feels interactive, and everyone loves to participate.

I can't stress enough how lucky I am to have such wonderful kids in my class.

After class, the students and teachers enjoy a 15-minute break. Kenneth and I hang out in the teacher's lounge reloading on coffee. He really seems to need coffee. His eyelids are usually a quarter of the way closed, and I can never tell if it's because of stress, lack of sleep, or simply because he's relaxed.

I guess that I can describe him in a bit more detail while we're on the topic of appearance. He has fluffy brown hair and always wears sweaters in variations of grey, most commonly a dark grey, complimented by a simple pair of jeans. He sometimes has dark rings around his eyes.

I pointed the dark eyes out to him once and told him that I didn't mean to make him feel self conscious but recommended getting more sleep. Instead of denying me and making excuses, he simply thanked me and told me he'd take my advice. Kenneth is down-to-earth like that.

I like the part of our friendship that's banter and jokes, but I also really appreciate how we can be serious and pragmatic without it being awkward.

"Hey, could I ask you sort of a weird question?" asks Kenneth.

"It depends. How weird?" I question.

"Well, just sort of a physical trait of yours that I noticed."

"Shoot."

"How come there's a single strand of hair on your head? I mean, how does that happen? No offense or anything, I think it's quirky in a good way, I was just curious."

The casual observation and compliment sort of makes me feel nice. Warm nice. I make a mental note to never underestimate the effect of a compliment.

"Well, it's sort of a funny story," I begin. "One of my students pointed it out to me in class one day, and ever since then it's just sort of grown on me, no pun intended. Apparently, everyone had noticed the hair before too, but were too shy to say anything.

"I was going to snip it off with some scissors when the class all protested its removal and told me to keep it, so I did. I think it's a bit ridiculous, but the kids love it. They even gave the hair a name; Harry. Cute, right?"

Kenneth looks at it in awe with a grin on his face. "That's the most amazing backstory for anything ever," he says with a hint of a laugh.

"Yeah. I have no idea how I never noticed the hair before, and I have no clue how or why it's there, but I'm just rolling with it."

"That's sweet of you. You know, putting the kids' wishes ahead of your own. You're a great teacher, you know that, right?" He has his elbows on the table with his hands folded together, shoulders lifted a bit, in a pretty relaxed mannerism. He looks at me with a soft grin.

There it is again. That warm yet shivery feeling. It sort of feels like coffee being stirred in my heart.

I return the grin. "Thanks. You're an even greater friend."

"Doubt it," he says, smiling, and looking away. "Despite how much I'd love to continue indulging in these pleasantries, I should probably head back to the office."

"So, who wins the war of good words?"

"You."

How meta.