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If you genuinely love reading old texts and discussing them then Professor Kars was not the right class for you. This was information that Caesar wished he had before signing up for this accursed class.
“Each year there are over three million cases of sunburn, it is clear mankind has yet to evolve to defeat the sun.”
In an attempt to get back to the text and to bring back Caesar’s sanity, Smokey raised his hand.
“Yes.”
“Since we are on the topic of evolution, do you think Frankenstein’s monster is the next step?”
“Good question.”
Smokey and Caesar prayed that their professor would allow them to discuss instead of ranting.
“The answer is no. His proportions are off and he’s not muscular enough.”
Joseph raised his hand knowing the next interaction would piss off his friend.
“Yes, Joseph.”
“Do you believe Frankenstein’s monster fascination with fire relates to the sun?”
“Excellent question,” said Professor Kars, who went on to explain the connection.
Jesus fucking Christ, Caesar hated this class. Why was their professor obsessed with the sun and why wasn’t he in a STEM field? It made no sense. Why couldn’t they talk about how Frankenstein’s monster learning how to use fire showed him to be similar to Victor? Why couldn’t they actually talk about the text? And more importantly, how the fuck was Joseph doing better than him.
Smokey could sense that Caesar was about to explode. He wisely scooted away. They were in the first row so there were enough empty chairs to move to.
“You have a paper due Friday, our next book is Jekyll and Hyde.”
“The full title is Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, get it right asshole,” Caesar muttered.
***
Like usual Joseph was late to class. Not dramatically late, just a few minutes. Surprisingly Kars wasn’t in the room. Usually, the Professor was the first person in the room.
“Is our professor absent?” asked Joseph.
“Yes, he got us a substitute teacher,” said Smokey.
“You would know this if you read the email,” said Caesar.
“Why can’t he just give us the day off and how does he keep finding substitutes.”
Just then a pink-haired man walked into the room. “I’m Professor Diavolo.”
Joseph stood up, “I’m here because Professor Kars asked me to teach his class.”
“I’m here because Professor Kars asked me to teach his class,” Diavolo stopped and stared at Joseph. How did he predict what he was going to say? “Fortunately, I have read the book and can say it’s a personal favorite.”
“Why is that?” asked Joseph.
“I suppose having an alternate physical identity to take responsibility for your actions, freeing you to do anything your heart desires has always appealed to me as a child.”
Caesar stared at him, that wasn’t a terrible interpretation of the text.
“Class, I want you to shout themes of the text, I will write them on the board, then get into small groups and discuss.”
Professor Diavolo’s style of teaching was to let students talk and ignore him as much as possible. For the first time, it felt like they were taking a literature class. After class was over Caesar walked up to the professor. He wanted to see if it was possible to take a class with him next semester.
“Excuse me, Professor Diavolo what type of classes do you teach?”
“That’s a good question.”
They stared at each other.
“Are you going to answer?”
“No.”