"Do you have any lectures later?"
"Yeah, one more lecture and I'm free. Do you want to go somewhere?"
"It'd be nice if we had a beer together tonight."
"Yeah, all right."
Glancing at his watch again, Everett stood up, buttoned his jacket, fixed his hair, looked at everyone and then just headed for the exit. But he couldn't leave the place easily because he was caught by someone's strong hand, which squeezed his elbow to the point of pain.
"Scarlet, did you want something? Do you have a question about something?" he asked, looking into those black eyes that peeked out from behind thick and long artificial eyelashes.
"Professor, I've read that book you recommended," she said, showing him a thick book with a drawing of stars and galaxies on the cover.
"Really? Did you like it?"
"Yes. I liked it very much. Can you recommend any other books to me?"
"Sure. But let me recommend you a book later. Right now, I need to go somewhere."
"Where?"
"To the washhouse."
"Can I come with you?"
"What? Why?"
"I need to go there, too. I have to pick up my sister's wedding dress from there."
"You have a lecture coming up."
"No. I don't have a lecture today."
"Scarlett, I really have to go. I've got some other things to do."
"I won't disturb you," Scarlet said, grabbing his elbow and smiling as if she was in love with him.
Not knowing what to say, Everett broke into a sweat and tried to think of some lie. But luckily, some guy with long hair came to his rescue.
"Come on. What are you doing?" he asked, pulling her in his direction.
"Professor!" Scarlet exclaimed, but Everett was already far away from her, literally running towards his car.
The time was just right for fate to manifest itself. And so, he got into his car, which meant that on the other side of the city, Jasper was already finishing up his teacher's meeting and was looking forward to the moment when he could leave this unpleasant and damp room.
"So, what have we decided? We are teachers and none of us should offend the children, even if they hit us, call us names and make fun of the way we are dressed. We are teachers, which means we should be clowns for them. But by no means should we offend them. Besides, maths class was always the hardest. Even I could barely cope with the subject. But of course, I think we should all expect a consequence. Especially me. After all, I will be responsible for all the teachers and their actions. What Jonathan did was wrong. He shouldn't have hit the child on the head, even if it was just a light touch with a wooden ruler to the head. Is that clear to everyone?"
When Jasper, in the hope that his short speech would conclude the meeting, said this, all the teachers only started talking and getting even more indignant. Everyone tried to prove the fact that they were often bullied by children, and one teacher who teaches biology, a very young woman who had almost recently graduated from university, started crying hysterically.
"Miss, what is wrong with you? What's wrong?" Jasper asked, glancing at his watch, as if he felt he had to hurry not, nothing would work out.
A woman with very bright make-up and in a rather short but decent dress stood up from her chair and pointed at her leg with a trembling hand.
"Do you see this? It's a bruise. Does everyone see it? My leg was pinched by a teenager. Can you believe it? He tried to ask me out in class and then he just pinched my leg. How do you explain that? Isn't there a law that protects teachers? I mean, they're not children anymore. They say things I've never said before."
"I think we just must accept it. I mean, they're all teenagers and they're going through a tough time. You can see that, right? They're trying to fit in so they're not outcasts," said an older man with snow-white hair.
"I think you have to talk to their parents. They are the ones who need to be educated. They are the ones who teach their children this kind of behaviour. Children see how their parents behave at home and then do the same."
"I'll talk to the parents about it. Don't worry about it. I think I've said all I have to say. And I hope you don't have any more questions for me. And if there are, you can ask them later."
"Are you going somewhere?"
"Yes," Jasper said, though he had no idea where he was going. But most importantly, he just wanted to go for a walk, just to get some fresh air, have a quiet coffee and rest for a while. "Thank you all for your attention," he added before leaving.
"What's in store for me? Am I going to be fired?" the mathematics teacher asked. A tall and thin man wearing a very large dark green jacket and old faded jeans.
"I don't think it will come to that. Let's hope that the parents of that child won't file a complaint against you and all that."
"You can always get along with the parents. Don't worry."
While everyone tried to reassure the unhappy teacher, who was about to cry, Jasper stealthily left the room.
Walking quickly down the long corridor, along the school lockers, as if trying to skip class, he did not turn around or even breathe. But getting through unnoticed proved more difficult. Noticing Nicholas at the very end of the corridor, who must have been looking for him, he quickly turned the corner and decided to hide in the bathroom.
Hiding in one of the toilet cubicles, he looked at his watch again.
"Nicholas, what are you doing here?"
He heard someone's voice and then Nicholas's voice.
"Nicholas, what?"
Next, there was silence and then something fell to the floor. He realised someone had dropped some books.
A fight?
He was ready to open the door and stop what was happening between the two boys, but when he heard that it wasn't a fight at all, he closed his mouth and opened the door slightly.
Noticing Nicholas passionately kissing some guy, he barely contained the sound of his surprise.
Now, there was only one question on his mind and that was whether he should stop them and punish them. But on the one hand, he was not the kind of man who would be against this kind of love. After all, he had always thought not as an old-fashioned man, but as a modern man who understood everything and everyone, without any judgment.
Deciding that it was up to them and that he should stop them if he saw hints of something more than just kissing, he closed the door and listened to all the strange noises.
"I love you, Anthony. Please don't pretend like you don't know me. Don't run away from me."
"I'm not trying to run away from you. I'm just scared. Aren't you scared?"
"Why should I be scared? That I love you?"
"You say that like you say it to a girl."
"Why can't I say it to a guy?"
"I'm not ready to accept your love yet."
"Then why are you answering my kiss?"
"I'm not!"
Running out of the bathroom, a guy named Anthony left Nicholas alone. Punching the wall with his fist, Nicholas screamed, then gathered up all the books and left the bathroom too.
After waiting for a while, Jasper also left the toilet cubicle and, happy that no one was around, he finally made his way quickly to the car park.