One year and five months ago, Ezera Gemstone, twenty-five year old teacher at Elkfire High School Academy, had been entrusted with a class of twenty first year students.
At first, those fifteen year old children were wary of him, for various and personal reasons. Ezera hadn't minded, hadn't pushed them. He was, perhaps, inexperienced with children, but he at least knew gaining the trust of one often took time. It was all too easy to be kind with them, but he also knew his teasing nature wasn't easy to adapt to, and he often thought he should make an effort himself to temper himself down sometimes. He ultimately concluded that his open attitude of his might actually be a good way to make the children open up in return, and therefore decided not to change anything. He had three years to get to know them as their homeroom teacher anyways, he would simply make use of that time to slowly acquaint himself with each of them. It was his duty, as his teacher, especially when he spent so many periods with them.
Elkfire High School Academy was a private school, one to which parents sent their children for various motives. It could be cases of isolation in normal schools, or the special environment of teaching they provided students with, or the teachings themselves, more advances depending of the category. At any rate, parents who sent their children at their academy often had good reasons to, and it reflected in those children's behavior. Their trust, after often facing incompatible teachers in junior high, was not easily given to figures of authority.
Which is why Ezera found himself very proud when he managed to obtain their acknowledgement and unanimous affection, seven months into their first year of acquaintance. It had been a gradual progress, of course, yet this progressive evolution came to a head only then. After that, Ezera and his students were a united class.
He had to say, quite a few of his coworkers expressed a sad sort of envy at his accomplishment, but what could he say? Ezera was a naturally well-liked person.
While he had grown on them, he realized they also grew on him. Ezera hadn't been a teacher for very long, but he was happy to have chosen to be one. He could admit to himself and to his students when he wasn't bragging, that he felt grateful for their trust, and was proud of them and all of their progresses.
Like this, a year had passed, and one year and five months forward, Ezera's class was used to their favorite teacher's antics, and often followed him around like a bunch of ducklings. They looked up to him, and he respected them in return, they grew on his playful banter and teasing remarks and responded in turn. Ezera was proud to say that all the children had his phone number! Hopefully their story would have a happy ending by the end of the next school year, and a happy ever-after as well once they would all be grown up and be moving on with their lives. Ezera would also move on, to the next class of troublemakers which he would endeavor to make a happy-go-lucky one once again, yet he would never forget his past students, and they would never forget him in turn, meeting at least once a year through alumni parties and reunions.
A perfect, happy ending for his dear troublemakers.
Yes, that was not what happened.
Instead, here is what happened.
Seven months into their second year of high school, a day as any other started, announcing spring soon to come once more, as happy chatter echoes in the classroom. The sun was slow and timid in his rise. The students could hear the happy humming of their homeroom teacher as he idly approached the classroom.
"Good grief!" he exclaimed with a smile as his head passed the frame of the door playfully.
"Why is it so loud today in here? Is there a birthday that I missed?"
A few laughs answered him.
"We can't be that loud... right?"
"Wait, what is this?"
"Looks like paper sheets for a surprise exam..."
Before his students could grow too suspicious, Ezera chuckled, reajusting the pile of paper he held with his two hands.
"You know I'm not that cruel. Where is Lucas? I need him to distribute those once everyone is here and seated."
"Everyone's here," Lucas, the first class representative, came up to his teacher."
"Oh, so you're just not seated."
Groans echoed in the classroom, before all of them made their ways to their own seats.
"Great," Ezera said once order was made.
"Then, I'll leave giving these out to Lucas, I left my lesson plans in the teachers' room, I'll be right back. Behave."
Ezera then left, trusting Lucas to carry one his instructions- but also the rest of the class to forget all about order before he came back.
He found his lesson plan sitting on top of his laptop, on the tea table. He took the papersheet under his arms and held his forgotten laptop in the other, before once again walking toward his classroom. He eyed the scenery through the large windows along the corridors. The sight of the sun peaking through the far forests' trees made him smile.
Just as he expected, once he got close to his classroom, he started hearing chatters once more. He could not stop his semi-exasperated, semi-amused sigh as he reached the open door.
By then, the sun had slowly risen up, and his gentle rays of light lit up the inside of the classroom.
It could be a perfect coincidence that Ezera entered the room when he did, and not later. Perhaps he wasn't supposed to see what he saw at all. It probably hadn't been planned that as soon as he saw it, he let the sheets escape him as he started running, his mouth opening to shout a warning that didn't have the time to pass his lips.
At any rate, it was easy to recognize that it wasn't a coincidence, that only once the sun lit the entire classroom with its light did a foreign array also lit up with blinding shimmers under their feets. The golden rays met Ezera's alarmed ice-blue gaze, before they all disappeared without a sound.
Even the teacher.