Escape

- Chapter 4 -

Please look at the picture to the right.

You've either absentmindedly gazed, gasped, widen your eyes, re-checked if this is reality, straightened yourself, hitched your breathing or melted.

Yes, it's that serious.

* * *

After a llong trip up the stairs while taking a bunch of time to make way through crowded halls and I finally enter the 310-numbered classroom. The first thing I catch on about this class is the loud noise. The second thing I notice is that the only empty seats left is the few that are near the window, so I make my way on the first top-left seat.

I happily retrieve my old notebook and pencil from my bag and place it on my smooth table in prearrangement, then I wait patiently for the missing teacher to start the class. A giddy feeling dances inside me in hopes of learning something new today. I'm more than excited to be in school, while other students, based on most expressions I catch around the class, only come to school to see their friends.

Suddenly, the classroom door swings open. It bounces off the rubber stopper and almost hits the entering person in the face before he quickly thrusts his hands forward to shield himself. This small scene causes the class to fall into abrupt laughter, including me who chuckles. 

A chubby, short, bulky guy with a button nose and a shamrock-colored tie huffs annoyingly and stands awkwardly before his desk, located in the front of the class beside the white board. He perches over his round glasses to look at every single student’s faces before clearing his throat.

He starts off very robotically, looking as if he's dreaded to be here. “I am very happy to be your English teacher for the year. My name is Mr. Sheen and…” He sighs and opens his briefcase to pull out a stack of paper. He grunts in thought, and then sighs in defeat when he can’t find the right words. “All in all, complete this worksheet by the end of the day. That’s basically it.”

A huge groan erupts from the class with a complaint of ‘but this is the first day of school!’ Mr. Sheen quickly shoots his bald head around in a way some people find funny.

“No talking!” he scolds. “Know that I do not tolerate negative attitude!”

“Because you were positive when you entered the class, Mister Oi-rish,” someone from the back snickers sarcastically in the funny accent. The class quietly laughs as the teacher continues handing out papers, completely oblivious to the comment.

A few minutes later, the classroom door creaks open. This causes everyone to stop what they're doing while looking over to the door. Someone's apparently late.

The entrance is now completely in view and enters the lost child, breathing in and out. Girls looked more than pleased to the standing lean figure, eyes raveling from his tight striped gray-navy blue hoodie, to his dark jeans that hug him loosely with the undone boots I had seen from this morning. Boys also check out the guy, jeeringly coughing to hold in the laugh from the new student’s lost look. The guy’s darkened eyes dart towards the group of immature guys and almost immediately, they sober into silence. 

His confused face then briefly roams around the classroom before glancing at his schedule in hand. “God, please tell me I’m in the right classroom this time,” he mutters loudly.

“Sorry, God can't tell you that, but I can tell you that you’re late.” The teacher announces the obvious, peeping over his glasses to scrutinize the young student. “By seven minutes on the dot.”

The guy's eyes slightly widen and he stares awkwardly back at the teacher. “Err… I didn’t think it’ll be much of a problem considering the fact this today’s the first –"