One in a Million.

Monday, November 9th, 2009

Alexander Gaskarth made his way down the hall way in a hurry; he was late for his last period of the day, on his first day. Well, that was a great first impression. And, not only was this his first real day at the school, but it was also his first real teaching job. He was determined.

He finally came up to his classroom, walking in looking flustered. He felt everyone’s eyes on him. “Sorry I’m late; I was a little caught up. Anyways, I’m your new English teacher, call me Mr. Gaskarth.” He set his bag on his desk, and rushed to the board, writing his name in his messy scrawl. Then he turned to a file cabinet, ruffling through it.

Willow smirked, she knew what he was looking for, and he was on the wrong side of the room. She got up, and walked to the other file cabinet, where the folder was laying. From there she moved to where he was standing, and tapped on his shoulder lightly.

Alex looking up from the file cabinet, strait into deep, hazel eyes. He blinked. He was staring at an obvious beauty. She had copper red hair, fair skin; she could have been a model. She smiled, lighting up the room, “I believe this is what you’re tearing apart that file cabinet for.” He then noticed the folder. He took it from her, smiling lightly; half relieved, half embarrassed. She turned and walked back to her seat, without another word. He watched her for a moment before turning to the class, hands trembling. He could do this.

“So, I’ll be teaching you for the duration of the school year. We’ll do roll call, rules, and our assignment.” He began down the list of names, waiting for the red-head to raise her hand. “Willow Smithson.”

Will rose her hand, showing he was here, “But, I’m going by Castro, now. Willow Castro.”

He rose an eyebrow at her, but brushed it off, continuing. Willow. What a strange name.

“Okay, now that’s done, rules time.” The class groaned. Alex raised his hand, to tick off the rules. “One; I’m planning on being your friend, until you piss me off, that is. Two; No cussing, unless I do first. Three; I’m not gonna tolerate fighting, abusing, name calling, and bad dick jokes. Do we understand each other?” The class agreed, and Alex seemed proud of himself, they seemed to like him enough.

“Okay, so, this is actually a lesson, but I’m going to make it into a two day thing, to learn more about you guys. You’re basically writing an essay answering the following questions:” He began to write on the board, while talking aloud.

“1) What factors have contributed to make you who you are today?
2) What stages have you experienced?
3) Where are you now?
4) What do you wish to accomplish using the things you’ve learned?
5) Why do certain experiences help you become something or someone new?”

He turned back to face the class, “This will not be a major grade of any sort, more like a daily. This is for me to see where you are, your style of writing, and just to learn about you. Take this, and do something, this is an easy way to increase your grade a little. It will get harder later on.” He smirked at the class. “Get started. You’ll have all class today and tomorrow to finish. And I’m not giving you a word minimum, because I hope you can judge.” He sat at his desk, not quite sure what to do; he had no papers to grade, no one from the other classes were done yet. So, he took out his phone, and texted his wife, Lisa.

|~|~|~|

The final bell rang, and the students piled out the door, well, a few girls lingered around Mr. Gaskarth’s classroom for a few seconds. Alex was sitting at his desk, moving in still, something he couldn’t do during class. Willow walked up to him, clearing her throat.

“Before Mr. Sunderland was… let go, I was his student hand. I don’t have much to go home to right after school, so I helped him out Mondays and Thursdays. So, if you need anything…” She trailed off nervously.

“Oh, uh, yeah, I guess. I’m still unpacking, you could help with that, if you’d like?”

“Sure,”

He handed her a box full of books. “Can you put these in that bookshelf over there?”

“Sure. Alphabetized by author?”

“No, you can just throw them in there.”

She gave him a look, he chuckled. “Guess not, then.” He sighed as she walked over to the bookshelf, putting them in order on the shelf.

After a few minutes of silence, Alex called over to Willow, “Hey, you don’t mind if I put on some music, do you?”

“Oh, it’s fine.”

“Cool.” He plugged his iPod into his laptop, and Blink-182 came on. He mouthed along to the words, and watched as Willow sorted the books. They were aligned perfectly. He laughed silently, shaking his head. She was making them that way. After each row, she’d run her hand across them, to make them the same, and they were all in perfect order.

“So,” He started, “Willow’s a cool name.”

She laughed, “I was conceived under a Willow tree; my parents are nutcases.”

“Really? That’s… unusual.”

“Eh, but they’re awesome.”

“Any siblings?”

“No, I’m an only child.”

“Oh, so that’s why you don’t go home? House all empty?”

She cleared her throat nervously, she was surprised he hadn’t seen the ring; she had seen his. “Um, I guess you could say that…”

He raised his eyebrows, but decided not to push it. “So, how’s the school? This is my first year teaching, so I’m a little nervous. I’ve heard it’s a great school.”

“It is, it is. Lots of drama here, but where isn’t there? Teachers are crabs, students are walking STD banks, but you get used to it. All in all, it’s a normal high school.”

“Good to know, I recently moved down here from Maryland. So, I’m not sure how everything works.”

“Maryland, huh? Why the move, if you don’t mind me asking.”

“Newly married. We wanted a different scene.”

“Well, congratulations, then.”

“On my marriage? Thanks.”

“How does it feel to be a married man?” She smirked, she was gonna get as much as she could from them. Plus, she kinda wanted another point of view on how Drew might be feeling.

“It’s great; knowing that my wife loves me that much, to want to be with me forever. Besides that, it doesn’t feel much different, I love her all the same, I don’t feel like I’m more tied down, but that’s because I would never think about being with anyone else, besides her. I know it sounds crazy, but you’ll understand when you get married.”

She laughed out loud at that, earning a questioning look from Alex. “I see you haven’t heard the students talking today.”

He raised his eyebrow again, “I have heard them. What do you mean?”

“I understand you perfectly, Mr. Gaskarth.” He just stared at her, not getting it. She rolled her eyes in amusement. “You’ll know soon enough.” He heard a twinge of something familiar in her voice.

“Where are you originally from?”

“Kent, England. People ask that. We moved here when I was nine, so my accent is gone for the most part, but for some things…”

“Kent? Really? I’m from Essex; moved down here when I was seven.”

“Cool, small world.”

“Yeah, so, what time do your parents want you home?” He asked.

She laughed lightly, looking at her watch. “Oh, it’s ten ‘til five, I should get going. See you tomorrow.” She waved lightly, and was out the door.

He stared after her. What did she mean? He could only guess that time would tell. There was something about her; he couldn’t put his finger on it, though.

But, he had a feeling.