Chapter Text
Her eyes wandered over the concentrated faces of her students, satisfied with what she saw. They worked calmly, the only thing Commie was able to hear being the scratching of their pens on the paper, an occasional cough and… well… the noises of whatever Ancap in the room next to hers was allowing her students to do. It was hard for Commie to describe how much it annoyed her. Yes, it wasn't always perfectly quiet in her classroom either, but only when she asked her students something or when they were allowed to work in groups. They certainly weren't loud the entirety of the period, and even if, they were able to hold the volume down to a decent level.
She lowered her hand onto the notebook in front of her, writing down another note, an idea she had gotten for her book, when a particularly loud noise reached her ear. Commie noticed the rising of one of her students' hand. "Ma'am, could we maybe close the door? It is hard to concentrate with that noise."
She nodded as she got up to close the door herself. If this had been any other teacher, she would have asked them to turn it down, but it was Ancap, and if she knew anything about Ancap, it was that she despised her. The last time she had asked her to calm down her class, she had nodded with a bittersweet smile, and as soon as Commie had gotten back to her room, she seemed to have demanded that her students make more noise than usual, Commie even being able to hear some screams.
The door didn't drown out all the noise, though it certainly helped. It would also raise the temperature in the room, which was something Commie always liked to prevent. Studying in a hot room simply wasn't very pleasant up to very counterproductive.
Commie sighed as she sat back down. Ancap's dislike towards her was definitely mutual. They had other bad teachers at this school, even a fascist, but none of them managed to frustrate her as much as Ancap did. On the occasion, Ancap stayed at home. Commie wasn't sure why it happened that often, after all, one of the few things she was able to give Ancap credit for were her good work ethics, but she definitely enjoyed the quietness. Not today though. And not the past few weeks, either. Whatever it was that had kept Ancap out of school, it could – should – definitely come back.
Commie wrote down another note, noticing some of her students laying down their pens. It probably wouldn't take long for the rest of her class to finish, too, now. She told them to stay quiet, relax, maybe read some pages in a book, if they brought one. The worksheets she had given them weren't part of her complicated ones, so it wasn't big of a surprise when most of them were done in about twenty minutes. It actually made her smile to think about the progress she had made with them. They had been one of Ancap's classes before, had learned that making a lot of noise wasn't bad and that their studying abilities weren't held back by loudness, and now, about one year later, they were one of Commie's best classes. Unbelievable though, how Ancap didn't manage to keep her students quiet, didn't even want to lower the volume. Commie was able to do it, too, so why couldn't she?
***
When the bell rang, most of Commie's students had already packed their stuff. She wasn't one to keep them longer in her room than they had to. They rushed out of the room, some of them having to get their bus, other ones just trying to get to their friends as quickly as possible. As soon as all of them had left the room, Commie followed, closing the wooden door behind herself, and locking it. She immediately bumped into Ancom, who seemed caught up in qis thoughts. "Hey," she greeted qim, qis eyes widening as qi realized, how lost in thoughts qi had been.
"Hi," qi replied, a radiant smile forming on qis face. They hadn't seen each other this morning – Ancom's first few lessons got canceled, so qi was able to sleep in. They automatically started walking towards the canteen, both of them having to teach afternoon lessons. Commie got a good look into Ancap's classroom, her still standing there and stopping her students from leaving because she had to write down the homework onto the whiteboard. She wasn't even able to let her students go on time.
"Thanks for preparing my meal," Ancom said, now getting her out of her thoughts.
"No problem." Before leaving, she had prepared qis lunch, qim not being able to eat anything the school offered, due to qis vegan diet and her wanting to give qim the opportunity to stay in bed longer, so qi could enjoy qis free time. She had also gotten up way too early, so she just spent her time doing that.
They waited for a group of students to pass by, so they could walk unhindered, Commie slightly turning towards Ancom to ask qim something. "Any news about Nazi?" She knew, qi liked complaining about her. It was very understandable. If she had a fascist next door, she'd probably complain all the time, too, though she already had Ancap, whom she disliked way more and about whom she complained all the time, too, so where was the difference, really?
"When do I not have news about Nazi, hm?" Ancom joked, though Commie knew how much Nazi actually burdened qim and the students they shared. Whoever decided to let this woman teach history had to be out of their mind. Or a fascist, too. "Some of my students told me, she openly denied the holocaust this time. Like not just hinted at it like usual but outright talked about how it didn't happen, it couldn't even have happened etcetera. Not just that, but she called several of them degenerate, later said it was a joke and that they should loosen up a bit."
Now that qi had started, there seemed to be no end. Commie shook her head. If you looked at Nazi, she really didn't seem like she would be able to say such horrifying stuff. Her energy radiated innocence, her blue eyes seemed like they were trying to tell everyone "Me? A fascist? I could never!". Commie assumed that was her goal, or at least part of it. There was probably a part of her which actually wanted to look like the perfect tradwife, in a way in which no one would expect her to be anything but a bit close minded, that did sound very fascist after all, but Commie didn't trust that to be her only intention.
Ancom was still going on about Nazi and her incompetence as a teacher. There was always a lot to talk about – with Nazi not willing to give anyone a break. Qi sighed, the rage that had filled qis voice when qi'd started having disappeared. "What about you? Did anything happen with Ancap, or did you just sit in your room being mad at her again?" Ancom chuckled as they entered the canteen. The canteen was way too small to be holding this number of students, the tables being so close to each other that you could think, this was some sort of big wedding and not a place in which students regularly ate their lunch. Not just that, but the volume these children caused was always on the edge of making Commie go crazy.
Commie noticed Ancom's waiting expression, remembering qi had asked her something. "I did not talk to her, if you meant to ask that. You know, that doesn't work. I just ended up closing the door." She shrugged. They nodded at each other, this being a sign for them to part their ways for a few minutes. Commie shook her head, while watching Ancom walk over to the teachers' table and take out qis lunch, her having to stand in line. She'd join Ancom as soon as she got her meal.
Every time she had to stay in line, she wondered why she didn't just make herself some lunch at home. It was incredibly annoying and unnecessary, something she could just skip if she planned everything correctly. And not just that: her being able to make Ancom's lunch showed, she should be able to make hers as well.
As soon as she got over with the mild inconvenience, she walked over to Ancom sighed as she sat down and took a bite. The food didn't even taste as good as it would if she had done it herself. "I can't believe, she is not able to keep her students quiet for even one minute! It really isn't that hard." The frustration Ancap made her feel never seemed to fade away.
Ancom shrugged, taking a bite of qis food qimself. "I don't keep mine perfectly quiet, either. You have to give them some freedom, y'know?" Commie couldn't stand it, when qi spoke with food in qis mouth, but she didn't say anything.
"Don't you side with her right now!" Why did this conversation always turn into a discussion? She just wanted to complain a bit!
"Fine," Ancom huffed, qis fork sinking into the slightly soggy vegetables. "There is no way in which you could improve your teaching methods, and she is doing everything wrong." Qi rolled qis eyes.
"That is not what I've been saying," Commie sighed, "When your class is loud enough for me to understand single words through a closed door, you're doing something wrong. Don't say she's doing anything correctly here. Also, I didn't say, my teaching methods aren't improvable, I'm just saying, I personally have no problems with keeping my students quiet. Without having to force them, may I add."
Ancom shook qis head. "Let's just stop talking about this. This never leads to anything productive anyways." Commie nodded in agreement, maybe a bit disappointed because she wanted to rant, but that was something she apparently just had to live with, leaning back in her chair, and taking another bite, grimacing in slight disgust. Her food had already gotten cold, which just made it taste worse.
She had eaten worse, though, so she should be able to get through with this.
***
Commie stood in front of the whiteboard, writing down stuff the sixteen-year-olds, whose eyes tiredly stared up at her handwriting, had to copy. She was fully in her element. They only had about ten minutes left, so she hurried up to get all the information onto the board. This class had always been a bit slower than her others, especially during afternoon lessons. She nodded at them, sat down, and let them copy, pulling out her red notebook to see if she could come up with any more ideas for her book at that moment. Teaching these kids economics had always been inspiring. Having to simplify everything she knew was hard, but it made sure, she actually understood everything well enough to write about it. Knowing big words was easy, being able to explain them was not.
When the bell rang, some students hadn't finished copying yet. Commie shook her head, sighed, and allowed them to take a photo of her text. They could simply ask their classmates to send them their copy, but she knew, she'd hear lots of 'I forgot about it, Ma'am' and 'They didn't text me back, Ma'am' the next time she had them. She loved teaching, but sometimes students could be really frustrating.
After having waited until the kids had left the room, she packed her stuff, got up and was about to leave, when the annoying noise that indicated the beginning of an announcement reached her ears. She stopped as she heard her name. And not just hers, but Ancap's, too. She sighed. Being told that you have to go to the principal's office with a person you can't stand instead of going home isn't the best thing that could happen to you after an exhausting day. Especially if the principal is such an incompetent woman as the one at Commie's school.
She sighed, grabbed her old leather bag, which she had placed on her desk before, and headed to the principal's office. With big, quick steps, she walked down the stairs, a few students who had been hanging out there, jumping aside with shocked faces. They apologized immediately, quickly talking over each other.
"It's fine." She looked at them for a few more seconds, before turning around and continuing to walk towards the office. Usually she would have told them to leave the building and go somewhere else, maybe hang out at the park and not on the stairs inside the school, but she wasn't planning on getting into trouble for coming too late to whatever the principal wanted to tell her.
She hurried down the hallway, several students and some teachers having to dodge her. She did feel sorry for that, but she had to.
When she arrived, she was greeted by the principal's secretary. A young, nervous seeming woman. Pale with black, straight hair and very skinny. Commie hadn't seen her before, maybe she was new, maybe Commie just didn't meet her before, avoiding the principal and everything surrounding her as much as she could.
"I'm sorry but uh… Ms. Horseshoe is having quite an important call right now. I… uhm… I'll have to ask you to wait here. She is going to let you in soon." Commie had to listen close, the secretary's voice being very quiet. She nodded and smiled, hoping to show her that there was no need to be nervous. She had been in a hurry for no reason, but it was unnecessary to be mad at the secretary for that.
"That's fine," she replied politely, sitting down on one of the surprisingly comfortable chairs and pulling out her copy of 'Das Kapital', which she had flicked through often enough for its pages to have turned a yellowish color. It was more of a comfort book, one which you don't really read systematically anymore and just open it at random chapters. She felt the secretary's hesitant look on her fingertips, remembering that not everyone was a big fan of Marxist literature. Before she was able to say something, the door to the office shut and the secretary was gone.
Commie tried concentrating on the chapter she had opened at that moment, but her thoughts kept drifting away. With a sigh, she closed the book, keeping it on her lap, though. Sometimes she wasn't able to concentrate on written texts, and that was fine. No need to be irritated.
"I hope, you're not teaching any of your students any of the stupid shit from that book." Long fingers with purple painted fingernails grabbed the book, the person they belonged to, sitting down right next to her. Ancap had taken her time, apparently even bought a coffee, which she held with her free hand, but now she was here, sitting right next to Commie and skipping through the pages of her book. Confident, independent, and beautiful. Commie hesitated. Beautiful?
There was no problem with thinking, she looked good. She was definitely conventionally attractive with her light brown, slightly curled, shoulder-length hair, weird but astonishing yellowish eyes, a face that was pretty close to the colonialist beauty standards and her girlbossy, expensive looking outfit. Commie wondered where she could have gotten the money from to pay for her clothing. They certainly weren't paid enough for her to be able to afford as many designer clothes as she owned.
Internally, Commie shook her head. She really shouldn't care about that.
"I'm pretty sure, you haven't even read the 'stupid shit' you're talking about," Commie finally responded, her hand reaching for her book and taking it back.
"I've read parts of it. Enough for me to know what dangerous ideas it's spreading. But maybe if my copy had such adorable notes as yours, I would have been able to get through it. I'm sure whatever Engels' sugar baby had to say inspired you to some very productive and interesting thoughts." Ancap's smile was bittersweet, her voice as sharp as a razor blade.
Commie rolled her eyes and put her book back into her bag. She didn't come here to be bullied by her colleague. A smile crawled onto her face. While – or maybe because – she absolutely couldn't stand Ancap, this situation was actually kind of amusing.
"At least I am teaching my students actual economics. What are you doing, mh? Making them read Ayn Rand? I could definitely imagine that."
"Partially, yeah," Ancap took a sip from her coffee, "So they don't have to read stiff analyses all the time and die because of boredom. Pretty sure, your students would appreciate a bit of diversity, too." The smirk that appeared on her face disgusted Commie. She wanted to reply but got interrupted by the secretary opening the door.
"I hope, I'm not disrupting you, but Ms. Horseshoe wants you to come in now."
"It's fine. We were done talking anyways." Ancap winked at Commie, the latter sneering at that, grabbing her bag, and entering the office without giving Ancap another look. She had to get over with this as quickly as possible, or she'd lose her mind.
She didn't think it was possible for her mood to drop further, but that exact thing happened when she eyed the principal sitting in her chair in a very unprofessional way, her, too, having a cup of coffee. With a nod, she asked them to take a seat, the chairs here being way less comfortable than the ones they had waited on. Commie had been at this place exactly twice, and none of these times anything had changed. The walls were still painted in the same depressingly gray color, the plants were still dying, and the principal's clothing barely differentiated from the one she had worn the last time Commie had seen her.
"I have to ask both of you for a favor." Commie swallowed. This probably wouldn't end well. "I noticed a big difference in the way both of you teach economics. That wouldn't be that big of a deal, it's still economics after all, if it weren't for a lot of parents complaining about it." The principal stopped for a second to take a sip from her coffee before continuing. "They say, whenever their children change their economics teacher to one of you two, they are being taught things sometimes not even they have heard of before. Things they were never prepared for by other teachers, even worse of a difference if they switch between you two. The way you teach seems to be quite the opposite of the other, and I can't accept that. Not just that, but from what I've seen, the things you teach your students leans into very radical directions, and neither I nor the parents like that."
Commie breathed out slowly. She had never assumed, the way she taught could be that much of a problem. Some parents didn't like it, of course, but that was always the case, right? There were always parents who weren't happy with one's teaching methods. A short glance to her side told her that Ancap wasn't very happy over the principal's words either. She had raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms, her gaze seeming rather challenging.
"What do you want us to do then?" She asked, her voice not as sharp as when she was talking only to Commie, though still everything but soft.
"Nothing too special. I want you two to find common ground and figure out a way to teach your subjects without deviating too much from the curriculum. Also, I'd prefer it if you found a book that fits both your needs. We are tired of having to order three different ones at the end of every year. It was okay at the beginning, but you'll have to find something. I'm sure it won't be too hard. It's just economics, you'll be able to find compromises."
Commie tried to force a smile, having to keep down every imaginable insult that was trying to slip out of her mouth. 'Just economics' This woman had no idea about economics! None!
"I'm sorry, but I work better alone. Compromises aren't really my thing." Commie noticed the annoyance in Ancap's voice, her obviously having tried to sound as polite as she could and at least in her eyes having failed. She didn't know how much truth there was to that, but she was glad her colleague was trying to get them – or at least herself and in that process Commie, too – out of that situation.
"Well, that's too bad. You'll have to work together. But I promise, it won't take you too long. It's such a small compromise, how hard can it be?"
Extremely hard, Commie wanted to answer but kept it back. They'll manage to somehow work it out. No need to cause any trouble. "I'm sure it will go very quick." Commie gave Ancap a warning look, not sure if it would work, but at least trying to make her agree with it. She had already lost her hope of being able to change the principal's mind. So had Ancap, apparently. "Okay," she sighed, seeming anything but happy about it. Commie was convinced, she didn't appear pleased about it either.
"Fantastic. You can choose whatever room you need after school, if you want. The janitor closes the gates pretty late, around 7pm, so you should have more than enough time to find common ground." The principal smiled pleased and sent them out of the room with a broad gesture.
Commie and Ancap left, annoyance drawn on both their faces. "Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays directly after school. Is that alright?" Commie had to plan something, didn't she? She didn't want the principal to be mad. Ancom had managed to do that once, both having learned a big lesson trough that.
Ancap nodded and sighed. "I'm fine with that."
"Great." Their ways parted, both luckily having to go in very different directions. There were surely some interesting weeks waiting for Commie.