Doctor Dash

Chapter 13

Kwan glanced at the clock as Denise read from their book. She stumbled over many of the words, her face turning redder with each fumble and looking like she wished the ground would just open up and swallow her to spare her anymore humiliation. Kwan felt sorry for the poor girl, but none of his students were very good at reading out loud yet. They all stumbled over words they weren't familiar with seeing written out, even if it was a word they heard spoken many times.

"Thank you, Denise," Kwan said, cutting her off as he smiled. Denise sat down, relief washing over her face. "Excellent reading today."

"Yeah, great stuttering," Jeremy said, and Vincent snickered beside him as they slapped hands under their desks. Denise's face turned bright red, nearly matching the brilliant red of her hair, as she sank down in her seat.

"I think she read very well," Lex voiced his opinion in quite a loud voice. He kept his blue eyes staring straight ahead while Jeremy shot a scowl at him.

"What is she, your girlfriend?" Jeremy grinned like he just threw out the greatest insult in the book.

Kwan sighed as he stood from his desk. Why was something like girlfriends being brought up by second graders? That pondering left him feeling exhausted, and maybe a bit old. "Jeremy," he said in a icy tone that made the boy snap his head to front of the room, "I've asked you to refrain from saying rude things like that. If you have nothing nice to say, then don't say anything. If I hear you saying something that makes another student feel bad, we will be having a talk with your parents." He caught the dread in Jeremy's eyes, that bead of sweat trailing down his paling cheek as he gulped, and he wondered how long the threat would remain fresh in his mind before the boy reverted to old habits. "It was a very lovely reading, Denise."

The final bell rang at that moment, bringing a cheer from the children as they quickly packed away their things before they left the room. After the stampede out the door, only Xander and Lex remained in the classroom. Xander immediately joined Lex at his desk and pulled out his favorite teddy bear to show the other boy. Kwan chuckled to himself when he saw the teddy bear that Dash made, even sewing it a little jumpsuit that looked like Phantom's costume. He guessed Xander inherited his father's obsession with the ghost hero.

"Ah, you're still here!"

When he heard the voice, Kwan turned toward the doorway of the classroom. His aqua green eyes widened as a smile spread onto his face. "Paulina!" He walked over and hugged the woman. "I didn't realize you were back in town."

"I just got in yesterday." Paulina squeezed her arms around him before pulling out of the embrace. "I was so exhausted though. I went to hang out at Dash's place and practically passed out for hours." She glanced around the room, quickly spotting Xander. "Oh! Is that Lex? They told me Xander made a new friend."

"I think Xander's having a bit of a hero worshiping phase with him," Kwan mumbled to her. "Lex swooped in and punched Jeremy and Vincent when they were picking on Xander, and since then, he's been attached to Lex's side as much as possible. But it's nice to see him having a friend."

"So different from their fathers." Paulina laughed, shaking her head. Her hair was done up in a messy bun with several stray locks hanging loosely from it. The weather was fairly nice out, and she wore a pink tank top under a sheer white jacket. Her mouth pursed in thought at she tilted her head. "I didn't expect him to be blond."

"Well, if I remember right, Mr. Manson was blond, wasn't he?" Kwan placed a hand to his chin, his brow furrowing in deep thought as he tried to recall if that was right. He never really paid attention to what Sam's parents looked like.