Status: I'm getting back into it guys ♥ / Re-writing this so the beginning is more realistic
Learning the Ropes
04
The next morning, Monday, my alarm clock rang at 7am. But I failed to hear it. For the next hour. I snapped my eyes open as I finally heard my alarm, rolled over and squinted at the time: 8am. My eyes widened as I saw what the time was. I cursed, reached out to shut the clock off and managed to fall out of bed. Yes, I fell out of bed. I groaned as I hit the floor and groaned again as a sudden, sharp headache banged against the inside of my head. Stupid hangover, I thought. I took a few minutes to finally get up off the floor and when I did, I almost fell over again. I ran around my apartment (as much as I could hungover), getting ready. By waking up an hour late, I had a lot less time than usual to get ready. In fact, fifteen minutes later, I was ready (fifteen minutes later than usual) and I left, taking my breakfast with me and stopped off at a Starbucks nearby for my morning coffee.
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Luckily, I still managed to get to school on time. Only with ten minutes to spare though. As I drove through the staff carpark searching for a park, I also searched every face for some sort of recognition. Nobody’s face triggered. When I finally found a carpark (much further away than usual, thanks a lot alcohol consumption last night), I got out of my car, grabbed all my belongings and walked briskly over to my classroom. The entire way, I searched all the faces that passed me. And again, none of them were him. By the time I arrived at my classroom, I was thoroughly disappointed. Maybe, I thought, he doesn’t even go here or maybe it was my imagination that I recognised him. I sighed softly, unlocked the door for my students that were already there and followed them in.
“Good morning, class!” I managed to say cheerfully.
Most of the class muttered something incoherent back. Some didn’t even reply. I forced myself to grin, despite my aching head.
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By lunch, my head had mostly cleared from a small man jackhammering on the inside of my brain to just...my usual thoughts. Normally, during my lunch hour, I would sit in my classroom like the hermit that I am and draw. However, today I couldn’t concentrate because firstly, my hangover still lingered slightly but not enough to hurt and secondly, I really needed to find the man today I met on Saturday - by literally bumping into him. Anyway, I locked up my class, left most of my belongings in the class (I only took my phone so I knew the time) and wandered around all the places I could possibly find him.
I started in the simplest places: the library, the cafeteria, and the random outdoor areas. He wasn’t in any of those places. But I didn’t give up. Those are the places students and teachers were allowed to go; maybe he’s in a staff-only area. With that, I wandered off to the staff room. He wasn’t in there, either. But, I thought, this is where he’s likely to be. I went over to the shitty coffee machine, poured myself a cup of hot java and took a seat as far away from other teachers as I could. Every time the door opened or closed, I looked up like a desperate fool. And occasionally, I looked over at the clock - even though I had my phone on me.
A stab of disappointment shot through me when all but five minutes of the lunch hour had passed and he still hadn’t shown up. I stood up from my chair, rinsed my coffee cup out, placed it gently in the dishwasher and headed out of the staffroom before I walked slowly to my classroom. I can’t believe it, I thought, I was so sure that he taught here. But obviously, he doesn’t. Another stab of disappointment shot through me. I shouldn’t be overthinking the small five-second conversation I had with the good-looking guy two fucking days ago. For the first half of the afternoon, luckily, I had no class. So I stayed holed up in the room, with my face against my desk, sulking.
__
Luckily, I still managed to get to school on time. Only with ten minutes to spare though. As I drove through the staff carpark searching for a park, I also searched every face for some sort of recognition. Nobody’s face triggered. When I finally found a carpark (much further away than usual, thanks a lot alcohol consumption last night), I got out of my car, grabbed all my belongings and walked briskly over to my classroom. The entire way, I searched all the faces that passed me. And again, none of them were him. By the time I arrived at my classroom, I was thoroughly disappointed. Maybe, I thought, he doesn’t even go here or maybe it was my imagination that I recognised him. I sighed softly, unlocked the door for my students that were already there and followed them in.
“Good morning, class!” I managed to say cheerfully.
Most of the class muttered something incoherent back. Some didn’t even reply. I forced myself to grin, despite my aching head.
__
By lunch, my head had mostly cleared from a small man jackhammering on the inside of my brain to just...my usual thoughts. Normally, during my lunch hour, I would sit in my classroom like the hermit that I am and draw. However, today I couldn’t concentrate because firstly, my hangover still lingered slightly but not enough to hurt and secondly, I really needed to find the man today I met on Saturday - by literally bumping into him. Anyway, I locked up my class, left most of my belongings in the class (I only took my phone so I knew the time) and wandered around all the places I could possibly find him.
I started in the simplest places: the library, the cafeteria, and the random outdoor areas. He wasn’t in any of those places. But I didn’t give up. Those are the places students and teachers were allowed to go; maybe he’s in a staff-only area. With that, I wandered off to the staff room. He wasn’t in there, either. But, I thought, this is where he’s likely to be. I went over to the shitty coffee machine, poured myself a cup of hot java and took a seat as far away from other teachers as I could. Every time the door opened or closed, I looked up like a desperate fool. And occasionally, I looked over at the clock - even though I had my phone on me.
A stab of disappointment shot through me when all but five minutes of the lunch hour had passed and he still hadn’t shown up. I stood up from my chair, rinsed my coffee cup out, placed it gently in the dishwasher and headed out of the staffroom before I walked slowly to my classroom. I can’t believe it, I thought, I was so sure that he taught here. But obviously, he doesn’t. Another stab of disappointment shot through me. I shouldn’t be overthinking the small five-second conversation I had with the good-looking guy two fucking days ago. For the first half of the afternoon, luckily, I had no class. So I stayed holed up in the room, with my face against my desk, sulking.
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