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"Hi there," I said as I walked to the front of the classroom. "My name is Lydia, and I will be your teacher today." The entire class greeted me with small waves and smiles. I liked it, but I remembered one particular student from the previous semester. "Do any of you know who that is over there?" I pointed to a small boy who looked up at me with interest. One other boy, who had always been in my class yesterday, suddenly stood up. "Maybe you should come with me to my office, Mr. Peterson," I said as I turned to him.
"I don't have to go. I don't like you!" He said as he crossed his arms.
I smiled. "If I ask you to go, then you will not have to go."
"No way, I'm going. You're not my mom."
"I am, but you're still going to go with me." I turned to the class and said, "We're all going to go to my office, together. We'll have fun in there." There was a sudden mutter of discontent over my last words. I never intended for my comment to be as beneficial to me as they were, but it did just that.
"What do you think, Mr. Peterson?"
"I don't know. I don't like you, Lydia."
"Well, I like you, but you will still do what I say. Now, let's go." I smiled at a student sitting near the front of the class. She had blue eyes, long brown hair, and was wearing a blue tank top. She was also beautiful, and I held her gaze as we set off down the hallway quickly. I pulled him into a stairwell and out of view of the rest of the class.
"I'm so sorry that you have to see this, but I need to be left alone for a moment. No worries, though. You're my only student this semester. So, like I said, everything will be fine." I explained as I sat him down against the wall. I searched his eyes for some kind of reaction, but received nothing to show any signs of fear. I grinned. "You're not so bad, after all."
"I'm a good student," he said with his eyes still held on mine.
"I know you are." I studied him for more than just a second. "I have a question for you, though, before you leave for the weekend. Why do you act like you don't want to go home?"
"I don't."
I grabbed his arm and unlocked his elbow. "I'm sorry that I had to do that, but I really need to concentrate. Please?" I turned to him.
He looked away from me as he unlocked his other arm. "Okay."
"Good," I said as I stood up and walked him out of the stairwell. I watched him curiously as we walked down the hallway. He was different from anyone else I had met. He was like a different species. He acted like he wanted to be touched but never did. I held his gaze as we walked.
"Thanks," he finally said. "Do you have a question for me? You said I had a choice.
I nodded. "Why did you choose not to go home?"
He looked up quick and smiled. "My dad's one of my friends, but the other day he accidentally called someone our age at the store and got all embarrassed when my brother picked up the phone."
"Oh, I'm so sorry."
"It's okay. He called again today, but I wouldn't pick up the phone. My brother went to do it, though, and like a fool, he turned it off. I'm the oldest in the family, and I just don't know what to do."
"You're a good son," I said, not completely sure I was going about this right.
"That's why I'm going to be the next one in the family to go to college. I want to be a teacher." He smiled at me. "So, this is the part where you say you want to give me the best start ever, right? I've got that on tape!"
I froze in my steps and turned to look at him. I studied his smiling face for a second and then it hit me. He had been with at least two of my students the previous semester. I held his gaze and smiled. "I see. You are a really bright young man."
He laughed. "Yeah, yeah, that's what they taught me to say. I just always thought you were really pretty, but I didn't know if you'd think that way."
I couldn't help but laugh this time because of his thoughts, but I remained quiet. I exited the stairwell and walked away from him. "I'm going to tell you a secret. I used to be exactly like you. I used to think the same as you when I was younger."
"What kind of secret?"
I sighed. "When I was your age, I thought I was smarter than everyone else."
"Really?" He said as he leaned his head to one side. "And now?"
I turned and studied him for a minute. I walked up to him and took a deep breath. "I know someone who is a little more intelligent than I am, and I like him a lot." I watched him for any sign of surprise, but I only received a huge smile on his face. "I was with your sister last semester."
"What?" He said as he gave me a strange look.
I nodded. "I'm the worst teacher ever, though. I'm supposed to be strict, and I'm not at all. I think I scared away more of my students than I encouraged them." I turned and walked away from him.
"I want to see her. Please? I need to see her."
I turned and looked at him. "It's just for a little while. We're not involved in any way. Please, just be kind enough when you see her. I could use a friend, and she's always been there for me when I've needed it." I turned and walked away from him. "It's only for a little while." I turned back around and asked, "If I want you to come back, all you have to do is say so. I can't force you, though."
"Maybe I won't want to leave. Please don't tell her I'm here."
"You don't need to worry about that," I said as I ran to my door. I opened it but didn't look back. I wave and closed the door quickly but not quickly enough. He was much quicker than I was and followed me into my classroom. We walked over to my desk as I unlocked it.
"I'll go for a little while. Please, just let me say goodbye to my sister."
"It's alright," I said as I unlocked the desk. "Just think about it a little while. If you want to help me with something, though, I'd really appreciate it." He looked down at the desk as I grabbed my cellphone and a pair of scissors from it.
"I don't want to help you with anything. I want to talk to my sister."
"I'm sorry, but I really need your help." I turned around and held the scissors between us.
"Yeah," he said as he looked down at the blade. "What do you need my help for?"
"I need you to hurt my hand real bad so that I can have an excuse to send you home. Something will go wrong. You'll cause it, and I'll have to send you home. I promise you, you'll be back before my short break is up, or you can just stay with us. The choice is yours."
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"If I say something is going to happen that will prevent you from going home, then it will. If you agree to stay, you'll be there for those people and the people that really need your help."
"So, you're trying to protect them from me?" He said with a smile on his face.
"There are no secret warnings. You're going home. You know this." I turned to the class and said, "I need you to stay as of right now. We have a lot to do, so we're only going to have Mr. Peterson for a little while. If you need to leave, please do so now. Thank you."
A few people left the class and a few more stayed behind. I closed my eyes and prayed silently to myself. I turned to the class and said, "Alright, we should probably start this. I don't have any projects at the moment, but I know that some of you guys are really close to completing the ones that we did last time. If you were following my instructions, you're almost done."
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