Bad Teacher

Chapter 1

The alarm rings at seven in the morning, sharp. The sun infiltrates the intimacy of my room through the thin fabric of the curtains shaking me off my sleep. Slowly, I open my eyes, my eyelids flutter a few times before I can really see, the mess that is now my new room comes into view. I throw one foot off the bed and get up, a little too quickly and immediately regret it, slamming the palm of my hand against my forehead, holding my head as it starts to pound heavily. I feel drowsy but I can't seem to remember why.

Everything is a mush of fuzziness in my head.

I fall back on the bed and close my eyes for a moment. Just a little moment, I promise myself as I relish the appeasing feeling the comfort of my pillow brings.

Only, when I open my eyes again, it is a little before eight and suddenly, the sight of my new clothes sprawled over the couch across the room hits me, harder than the headache.

Today is the first day of school. My first day of teaching.

Reality snaps me out of it faster than any strong coffee ever could, but still, I manage to brew myself some before I exit the door of my apartment.

-Oh, I know this look, Bradley says with a snicker as I climb into his rental car. Did you have a good time last night?

He asks but I don't reply. Instead, I pull the headboard mirror and it almost falls into my hands.

-We seriously need a car. I mutter as I fumble with my tie. Maybe I shouldn't wear a tie, maybe I look like I'm trying too hard.

-Do you think maybe this is a new beginning for you? Grow up and leave the old habits in the past? Bradley asks, ignoring my comment because we both know that neither of us can afford a new car. We are lucky that we have access to a vehicle since he works at a car renting agency.

-I'm not complaining. I'm utterly satisfied with the way things are.

-Yeah, I'm sure you are, he replies with a roll of his eyes. Something he always does when he doesn't find the subject worth arguing. Maybe because we've been down this road countless times for the past five years, to no avail.

By the time we get to the University, my headache has subsided. Bradley drops me off in the parking lot and I rush to my department. Someone from the staff had given me a tour of campus a few weeks ago, a small Asian woman with auburn hair cropped to her jawline, I think her name was Holly, and she asked me to come find her on my first day if I needed anything. I walk into the building and search for the office she had shown me but I can't seem to remember where it was so I start walking, searching for any person from the staff that I can ask for directions when I bump into something and I quickly jump back from the burning sensation that has just hit my skin. I look down at my chest and I see a huge round wet spot on my tie.

-Oh my God, I'm so sorry, a male voice says and I glance up to see a pair of brown wide eyes popping out of a crimson red face, staring horrifically at my jacket.

I curse and shove my free hand into my pockets, one at a time, looking for a tissue when one comes into my view.

-Thank you, I say as I start to dab it all over my tie to absorb the most of the spilled liquid.

-You're welcome, a soft voice says, a little too high pitched to be the guy's voice. I look up and my frown instantly softens when my gaze falls on the most striking emerald eyes I have ever met. She looks so young that she still has the exuberance of youth but she holds a posture of someone a decade older, radiating confidence. She is not like any other girls I have met before. She radiates an intelligent kind of beauty.

-I'm sorry but we should really get going, the girl says tugging at the guy's arm.

-Again, I'm sorry for your tie, here, let me pay for the dry cleaner, the boy says fumbling with his bag to fish out some money, probably.

-No, it's fine, I say but my eyes are still on the girl. She offers me an apologetic smile and I wonder if it's meant for the mess her friend has just made or for leaving so quickly. Or maybe it is not an apologetic smile at all, maybe it is just a smile.