Sanders Sides (and more) One Shots

Judge the Pages, Not the Cover

It was that time of year for Logan Sanders and his class; sleigh bells ringing, frost appearing outside that made them all envy the states that had snow, and the teachers had to prepare their students for finals. However, school wasn't only going to be associated with finals for that time of the year since the student council convinced the faculty that they should have a winter get-together after finals. After some negotiating, they agreed on having the get-together as well as having willing staff and students bringing in refreshments so that too much wouldn't be taken out of the budget and they'd have the parents and teachers join in on the meetings for planning the get-together.

The meetings were held in the same classroom the regular student council meetings were held. When Logan entered the room, the first thing he noticed was the man he hadn't seen before sitting at one of the desks in the front row. The man had glasses similar to his own as well as a gray hoodie over his light blue shirt. The man also had sweet chocolate eyes, entrancing freckles and a warm smile that all caused the teacher to think he was about to pass out. Logan wasn't really in control of his body at that moment, so he was in awe when he found himself in the desk next to the man. The man looked at Logan before he could leave the desk.

"Oh, you must be Mr. Sanders. I'm Patton Andrews," the man introduced.

As Logan was shaking hands with the man, he thought of two things: the man's hand was incredibly warm and the surname sounded so familiar.

"Nice to meet you, Patton. Do you have a relative that is in one of my classes?" he finally had the nerve to ask.

"Oh, yes, Virgil Andrews. He's my foster son, but I'm planning on revealing my intentions on adopting him for Christmas," Patton retorted.

Logan immediately remembered which student Patton was talking about. Virgil Andrews was the kid in one of his English classes that he saw as an uncooperative problem child. When it was Virgil's turn to read out loud, he object. He wouldn't participate in oral presentations and argue before just turning in his typed report. He even suggested Virgil join the poetry group at their school for a constructive outlet and he loudly protested. Some of the other teachers have complained about Virgil over the two years he had been at the high school. Logan couldn't help but think of how bad he felt for Patton.

It took Patton speaking up, but the two of them actually managed to socialize while also giving occasional contributions to the meeting.

"What's your secret to keeping a smile on your face when parenting someone of Virgil's...characteristics?" Logan tried to politely ask.

Patton tilted his head as he saw Logan struggle to get the question out.

"Don't worry, I get that question a lot. It's not that hard, really. I just remind myself that I'm doing a better job at raising him than the foster home he used to live in and the negative reinforcement they possessed. He's been in my care for one and a half years and the moments that reveal that he trusts me makes me so happy," he genuinely remarked.

Logan felt confused upon hearing that. It made him wonder how much of Virgil's issues were a result of him living in the foster home and if the other faculty knew.

During that day in the English class he had with Virgil, he looked at their past and present without the "problem child" label lingering over Virgil's head. He acknowledged that Virgil wasn't really so bad of a student when it came to the nonverbal assignments or homework, so he wondered what Patton was doing that Logan wasn't. He made mental notes to from that day forward and stopped calling Virgil out on his "lack of participation". At the same time, he was also socializing with Patton during the planning meetings.

About a week before finals and the get-together, Virgil came to Logan's class after school while he was finishing up some paperwork.

"Mr. Sanders? Are you free to talk?" Virgil asked nervously.