Best Friends are like stars, you don't always see them but they're always there.
"Sorry."
"Sorry, again."
"Please, excuse me."
Finally, there I was!
After a couple of 'sorry' and 'excuse me', I finally made my way inside the classroom for the first day of school.
By the way, I'm not a high school student.
And I'm definitely not a girl - or a lady - if that's what you were wondering.
I am a proper male and also the newest teacher in Riverdale High School. Let me give a short introduction:
Actually, you know what?
Let's skip it.
Walking inside the classroom, all I felt was memories of my life as a student coming back to me. The walls were painted cream white, posters from group projects hung on them - the only decorations in the classroom. Students - who were chatting and making a chaos in the classroom - quieted down as soon as they saw me walk in. Looking at them, all I could deduce was how surprised they were when they saw me.
They didn't realize that I was their new English teacher. Well, because, Principal Clara a.k.a Principal 'Clean' did not tell the students which grade I would be teaching.
Wondering , why I called her Principal 'Clean'?
I'll get to that.
"Good morning, Mr. Matthews." The students greeted me, a genuine smile plastered on their lips.
I smiled back, "Good morning, kids. I hope you all know who I am."
"Yes sir!" They replied, enthusiastically.
Today, during the assembly, I was introduced as the newest English teacher in this school and also as a former Riverdale student. I could see the students raising their eyebrows and some of them whispering about me. It had been ten years since I last saw this school and never had I imagined in my wildest dreams that I would stand here back again.
And not as a student.
"So..do you guys wanna study? Or should we do something else?" I suggested them. Honestly, I had no intention of teaching them on the very first day of school. I mean, come on, who would be the one studying on the very first day?
Probably me.
Well, we'll get to that later.
They briefly wondered for a second and then after wondering , they suddenly came with an idea. It looked like as the bulb in their brains just lit up.
"Why not we hear your story?" one of the students suggested.
"Your life here. How was it? What was it like? How many friends did you have? Was i-" Another student rambled but I cut her off.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa...hold on." The student shut up , slightly embarrassed because of her rambling. She held her head down for a few seconds and calmed down before looking back at me.
"How long is this class?" I asked them as I positioned myself on top of the teacher's table - in short, I sat on it , making myself comfortable. I loved story telling - especially , when it came to my life story.
"One hour." One of them answered.
Mental note to self : I have to know their names.
"Hmm...enough time for me to finish this story" I paused, smirking. "Hopefully."
"What if it takes more time?" someone from the back asked.
"Then it will depend on you : do you wanna finish your class? Or, do you wanna listen?"
"Definitely listen." The girl on the first bench smiled.
They had no idea of how long this story would take. It was not my first time narrating this story. My high school life was a roller coaster ride , many ups and downs, many sad stories and many happy ones. If someone told me years ago that there would a group of people I'd come to love and would trust them with my life, I'd probably brush it off saying it's a lie.
But now, that would not be the case.
These walls, these halls, these classrooms, this school - in particular held a lot of memories and I was about to relive them again.
"Please, start. Mr. Matthews. We're eager to listen."
I smiled.
"So, it all started..."