The week was a very long one for Jaden, He could only free his mind and not think of Layla when he was in class, he derived so much joy from teaching his students, there was always a sense of satisfaction when he assisted them in understanding and successfully solving their maths problems.
He was a maths teacher in one of the most prestigious schools in the city and was well known and loved by both students and teachers,(or so he thought) he was very humble and respectful most of the time, he taught well and made sure everyone understood his lessons, and to top it all, he was the most handsome teacher in the whole school, most of the girls began to love maths after just seeing him, he made everything lively and interesting.
He was also there to listen to the students problems whenever they faced challenges in any area of their lives, most of the girls in the school had a huge crush on Jaden, they often made silly excuses just so they could talk to him, but he always spoke to them in a friendly and warm tone, no matter how hard they tried to make him fall for them.
"Jane did you see how he smiled at me?, oh my word! today is my happiest day, let's go out" Miriam, one of the students squealed excitedly to her friend.
" Miriam I think you are over reacting, he carries that friendly smile on has face even when he is teaching, I advice you not to start having ideas" Jane replied.
She liked the maths teacher too but she was aware of the fact that the feelings were merely infatuations and will soon pass but her friend was nothing less than obsessed, she even came up with a silly excuse just now so the teacher could notice her.
"duhh don't be a joy killer, come on now, it's my treat" Miriam rolled her eyes and dragged her friend, she couldn't let Jane discourage her.
The girls quickly left as Miriam excitedly led the way.
Meanwhile Jaden had received a notice that all the teachers where supposed to meet in the staff room for a meeting so he decided to go there too, he packed his things absentmindedly from the teacher's nook and left for the staff room.
Jaden was done with his classes for the day but couldn't look forward to going home because his mom wouldn't stop bugging him about the girl he had spoken to over the phone, she kept insisting that she wanted to meet her. He tried explaining to her that they were just friends and it was complicated but his mom wouldn't hear of it, so Jaden started avoiding his mom as much as possible, but how could he succeed when they both lived in the same house? He kept thinking of ways to solve this problem but he had already run out of ideas, Jaden didn't have many friends and didn't go to the club so his options on avoiding his mother were very limited.
He soon arrived the staff room without even noticing, he had come few minutes earlier, expecting to grap a cup of tea before the meeting began, however as he reached the door handle and was about to open the door and enter, he suddenly halted,
he had just heard someone call his name and as he listened further, his heart sank, some of his colleagues were talking about him and the things they were saying were rather mean
"...I'm telling you, he's not as great as everyone thinks," said Mrs. Johnson, her voice dripping with disdain. "I've seen his grades, and they're not that impressive."
"Yeah, and have you seen the way he dresses?" chimed in Mr. Edward, a geography teacher. "He looks like he just rolled out of bed and put on the first thing he found on the floor."
The group erupted into laughter, and Jaden's face burned with embarrassment. He felt like he'd been punched in the gut.
"I know, right?" said Ms. Rodriguez , a Spanish teacher. "And his teaching methods are so outdated. I've seen him using the same old lesson plans for years.
" Let's not even talk about how he carries himself around the school because of that pretty face of his, he thinks he's the most good looking, wait till he gets to our age group" Mr John added, he had always been bitter about Jaden because he thought he looked too husband and even stole the attention of Ms. Amy, one of the younger teachers on whom he had his eyes for.
This was just unbelievably!
Jaden's eyes widened as he listened to the criticism. He had always thought he was a good teacher, and his students seemed to enjoy his classes. But now, he was beginning to doubt himself. He always felt proud of his fashion sense and mostly received compliments from the students, what were these old people talking about? What did they know about fashion?
And about the teaching plan "they've got to be kidding me" Jaden thought, he searched through the Internet everyday and spent hours working on how to improve and make his students understand better, what in God's name were they even saying? And as for his grades, it was indeed laughable, his memory was still good and he remembered that he had graduated with a first class, he had always been one of the top students in his class,
And then a realization suddenly came to him, all the things these teachers were saying weren't true, they only wanted him to appear bad but he couldn't understand why
The conversation continued, with each teacher taking turns to disparage Jaden's teaching abilities, his appearance, and even his personality. Jaden felt like he was being torn apart, piece by piece.
He stood there, frozen, unsure of what to do. Part of him wanted to storm into the room and confront his colleagues, but another part of him just wanted to turn around and walk away. He didn't feel like drinking tea anymore, his mood was sour and he just wanted to go and lie on his bed or even just talk to Layla, as he thought of her, he smiled bitterly "if that was even possible, she would be the perfect therapy for me now" Jaden sighed.
But this meeting was important, he couldn't just go home, so Jaden pulled himself together and stepped into the room. Immediately he entered, everyone stopped talking, the teachers who had been gossiping immediately turned pale, they were bewildered at his wrong timing, how did he just enter when they were saying nasty things about him, Mr John observed him guiltily trying to see if he looked like someone who had just heard what they had been saying but Jaden's face didn't give anything away, he could only hope that he didn't hear them.
Meanwhile Jaden just passed them absent mindedly as if they weren't even there.
"How rude can he get now, he doesn't even greet his elders anymore" Mrs Johnson whispered before shouting loudly "Hello there Jaden, I don't suppose you could get me a cup of coffee or could you?"
"Good afternoon Mrs Johnson, that wouldn't be a problem" Jaden suddenly snapped out and responded through gritted teeth trying not to sound like someone who had just been hurt "Jaden dear, you look so exhausted, come have a sit and I'll get the old lady a cup of coffee" Ms. Amy who had been sitting quietly at one corner said. Jaden just nodded at her thankfully and took a sit.
" Mrs Johnson I suppose you won't be needing any sugar in your coffee, I'll get it for you now" she turned to Mrs Johnson and said while giving her a knowing look and quickly left to get the coffee.
Mrs Johnson felt insulted by this young woman just now but she couldn't refute.
"Who is this brat calling old, I'm not that old, and she knows fully well that I always put 3 cubes of sugar in my coffee, I know she's doing this on purpose" she fumed internally.
Jaden was grateful to Amy, he was indeed exhausted, after what he just heard now and the stressful day he had, he was in no mood to run errands for these ungrateful colleagues of his.
Amy soon came back with the coffee and after giving it to an unsatisfied Mrs Johnson, she quickly went and sat close to Jaden.
" Anything bordering you?" She asked with a voice full of concern " you don't seem like yourself today.
"Thank you for asking Ms. Amy but you don't have to worry about me, I'm just a bit tired, I've had a stressful day " Jaden replied
"Alright, if you say so, but you know I'm here right? You can always talk to me if you need anyone" Ms Amy said,
she just hoped Jaden hadn't heard all the horrible things their colleagues had been saying about him.
As Jaden was about to reply the principal entered the staff room and everyone's focus turned to her