Mrs. Kline eagerly sat in her dull, dark classroom waiting for the first day of high school to begin. She examined herself in her compact mirror fixing her light pink lipstick and checking her pale complexion. She then combed her curly, golden hair and took out a piece of gum. She could hear the loud bustling of kids getting into their too small lockers and comparing summer tans. As soon as the loud and annoying bell rang they all scattered in. She would be teaching a photography class. It wasn’t very popular at the public school where she taught. In fact only 3 students had signed up for the class.
Already one was there, a young girl who looked to be about 15. She fixed her glasses and tightened her pigtails. She then pulled down her pink polo and tightened the belt on her jean capris. She took a sip from her pink flowered water bottle then slipped it back into her matching lunch box. Then the girl took out her notebook and paper as if she was about to write the final essay already. Her pen had a huge pink feather on top which Mrs. Kline couldn’t help but grin at.
As the final bell rang a boy walked into the classroom. He looked about the age of Mrs. Kline’s nephew who was 17. He sagged his black jeans that matched the color of his hair. He sniffed his band t-shirt and scrunched his nose in agony at the smell. She shuttered at the thought of what he smelled like. He was listening to his blue ipod as he strolled to a seat in the back. He slouched into the desk and closed his eyes. He then took out a bottle of cologne and sprayed almost half the bottle! It was strong cologne, the kind that smelled like your grandpas. Mrs. Kline coughed and sneezed as the young girl laughed. He didn’t even seem to notice how much he put on. The young girl tapped him on the shoulder and asked him to turn his music down. He just looked at her as he pulled out a pop tart and turned his music up louder. He shook his long, black hair and closed his eyes again.
Mrs. Kline stood up from her desk and smoothed her flower sundress. She walked up to the chalkboard and looked at all the empty seats. She wrote her name on the board and turned around to see if they had noticed. The young girl scribbled it down and the boy didn’t seem to move at all. As she scanned the classroom she realized how small it actually was. It seemed so dark and cold. There were some pictures on the wall that resembled flowers from a rainforest and dogs in a park, but that was about it. One bookshelf with some scattered papers and a couple of books that looked to be 100 years old. The sides and pages were torn and stained. It wasn’t exactly her type of classroom to teach in, but it would have to do. She was so used to teaching in her bright sunshine yellow kindergarten classroom. It was large with plenty of new and colorful books, dress up clothes, and encouraging posters everywhere. Every time she walked into the room she would just smile. Even the kids were great. They would all run to her with excitement on their faces while some held back and would hide in the corner looking scared. How she ended up at this job was a mystery to her. She strictly remembered being told it would be a raise. They tried to bribe her to do it since she had a master’s degree from in photography. They were desperate for a teacher.
Thinking back made her smile until she snapped back to a sound of a knock on the door, it was the other student. A large boy walked in as he took off his jacket showing his football jersey. He handed her a slip of paper as he looked around the room. It took him awhile to choose a seat which ended up being a newer looking desk in the middle of the room. Mrs. Kline read the slip of paper which was a doctor’s note. It said for her to let Bryan eat during class. She sighed and threw the paper away. At least she knew one name she thought. She walked to her desk to take attendance. She looked over at Bryan as he was pulling out a huge hamburger and box of fries. The smell made her gag but it was the doctor’s order.
After taking attendance on her old, rundown computer she stood up and walked to the front. She said wrote hello on the board and directions for the class. She wrote asking for everyone to take out a piece of paper and write about themselves and tell why they were taking the class. She had to walk over and take the young boys ipod and point to the board for him to understand. Five minutes later she collected them and gave them the rest of the period to think on what they would like to do in the class. Mrs. Kline sat down at her desk and began to read the papers. The first one was obviously the young girl’s since it was in pink pen and neat cursive. Her name was Abigail and had just moved here from Alabama. She was taking the class because photography was her thing. She talked all about how she had so much experience with taking pictures from working on the yearbook at her old college prep school.
The next paper was obviously the ipod kid whose name was James. He wrote in black pen in a scribbled type of manner. He wrote about how he loved photography and wanted to be a professional photographer working for National Geographic or Time magazine. He said taking pictures captured moments that words couldn’t explain which had impressed her. She had high hopes for him.
Finally she read Bryan’s paper. It had exactly 3 sentences in it. He had messy handwriting and had written in blue pen which was smudged slightly. It also had grease stains from the food he was eating. He said his name was Bryan that he was captain of the varsity football team and took this class because it would be an easy A. Mrs. Kline set the paper down, took off her granny glasses and rubbed her eyes. This would be a long trimester she thought.
The next day, class seemed to be at its longest. Bryan had brought even more food and James was looking at it with his mouth watering. Bryan had 3 cheeseburgers that looked to be from McDonalds and two large fries. He also had a drink but she couldn’t even begin to fathom what was in it. It was a clear water bottle that had this white looking goo inside of it. It was chunky and as he was pouring it into a smaller cup, yellow things fell into it. She didn’t dare to ask. Mrs. Kline watched him pour in packet of dietary supplement and shake it up. The rest of us turned away as he took a sip. James stood up and walked over to Bryan and said “Give me some of your food, you pig.” Bryan stood up and puffed his chest out and said “No.” James’s face exploded as he started screaming at Bryan about how it wasn’t fair he got to eat in front of all of us when he hadn’t eaten all day. James looked at her for help as she stepped in. She pointed towards the door as she handed him a pass to the nurse’s office. James smiled and Bryan grabbed his stuff furiously and rushed out. She turned to James and pointed to a restaurant down the road. She grabbed my keys and they understood. They looked at each other and smiled as they walked out to her car.