Chapter Text
RING! Finally, the bell rings and class is over. 1A eagerly storms out of the classroom, almost half of them had already packed their bags while I was still talking. Last year I didn't have any of the first classes, in fact, I only had two classes from grade 3 and two classes from grade 4. But it's even more difficult to get 15-16 year old's to listen to you...I pack my own bags and wander the halls to the classroom where I will be teaching my next class. Of course it has to be 209*, a classroom on the highest floor. The stairs are crowded with both students and teachers. Every time I see teachers talking I wonder if I too have to be social and talk to my coworkers outside of work meetings. I just have no clue how. I've always been like this, when I was young and studied at a different Gymnasium the only interaction I had with others was to help them with their Latin homework.
I try to use the beautiful scenery inside the school building to try distract myself. Unlike most schools, this school building doesn't look like a prison. It has a main hall filled with statue replica's, a collection of real Greek coins, a Ancient Greek styled mural on the first floor, and countless classical details. It is one of the reasons that I love this school so much. Sometimes I even wish I could've turned back time to attend this school as a student.
When my class starts, this time the students being class 1C, everything goes as normal. We start by discussing Monday's homework, then we do a mini test**, I explain some new grammar about the cases and the students get to translating and appointing⋆ a new piece of Latin text. Another reason I like this school so much is the Latin learning method. You don't just translate random fragments of Latin text, in fact, you translate the story of the Aeneid, a classical piece of literature comparable to The Iliad and The Odyssey. After the happenings of The Iliad, you follow a Trojan captain named Aeneas and his family as they escape the burning city of Troy in the hopes of reviving the city elsewhere.
But only a select amount of students are actually interested in the text. As I attempt to discuss the homework of last week, answers being written on the board, all I hear is constant chatter. I do my best to silence them, but per usual it doesn't work. I thought that as a teacher I would finally get respect and be listened to, but no. I guess I can't win.
At the end of the lesson, I call two students to my desk. The rest storms out of the classroom, happy to be finished with school for the day. The two students, a girl named Emily and a boy named Rody, stand in front of me nervously. I hand them their mini-tests. Both have failed.
'For both of you, you know what happens when you fail a mini-test three times.' I tell them with a stern face.
'Detention..' Rody says with a sigh.
'Follow me. You will be spending this seventh period in detention instead of at home.'
I lead the two students to the classroom I was appointed by the schedule-maker⊹. In front of it, a few students of different classes are waiting.
'Mr. Mullins, we were waiting for you to let us in for detention but there's a different teacher inside saying that we got the wrong classroom!' One of them says.
Confused, I peer inside to indeed see a different teacher. Mr. Bridge. A man with blonde hair and blue eyes that always wears sweaters and collared shirts for some reason... The only reason I knew him was because he is also a Classical Languages teacher. He is sipping a cup of coffee, staring at his computer. There are only a few students inside, all look around Grade 2 or 3. I check my phone again. Yes, I am supposed to be in this exact classroom. No worries, I'm a grown adult and I can handle this.
He finally looks up when I open the door.
'Mr. Bridge, I have been told that I have to be in this classroom, which means either you or the schedule-maker is at fault.' I explain myself.
'Well, I was told the same thing.' He answers in that chronically nonchalant tone of his. A few of the students behind me whisper and 'ooo', but one look from Mr. Bridge silences them. What do I do now?