Oh to be Mr Berry

why are you here?

Autumn, autumn... with the sound of seasonal Schlager music, the summer danced away. The autumn sneaked into the city soundlessly over the lawns and roads, walked through parks, a courtesan in rustly silk, and her breath embarrasses those slim birch branches.

It seemed like you were saying goodbye to your classmates just yesterday, as the sun was screaming for everyone to go outside and enjoy the well-deserved summer vacation. But it wasn't yesterday, no, three long months separated you from that moment, and nine even longer months are separating you from the next summer. And that would all be really gut-wrenching if it weren't for Mrs Berry. She was tall with hair in the colour of red wine and you didn't like her since day one, but she grew on you over time, with her ironic sense of humour and clever and quick comebacks to bullshit your classmates put her through.

Another important thing to keep in mind was that from this year on, she wouldn't be the only Berry in the school, as her daughter transferred from another school. You were hoping you wouldn't ever have to talk to her, as that could potentially be awkward, due to the crush you have on her mom. The good thing was that she wasn't in any of your classes but was a senior, so you will be seeing her around.

Mrs Berry was a math teacher and math maybe wasn't your strong suit but she for sure motivated you to do your best for her. Since she didn't want students to take pictures of the exams, she wouldn't give them back after grading them, but any student that wanted to see their mistakes had to meet with her in her classroom. Was it just a weird fix-idea in your mind, or a real thing, you couldn't tell, but you could swear that that classroom just felt different. Maybe because of the balcony that provided a surplus of sunlight and fresh air or maybe it was just her presence, whatever it is, it called for you, and after every exam, you'd find yourself wanting to know more. More about the exam, or more about Mrs Berry, no one could tell.

Your fist mid-air, waiting to swing and for your knuckles to hit the wooden door that departed you from the teacher.

- Come on, I've done this a million times now, she is probably expecting me to come in there at any given moment to check my exam. But what if I annoy her? What if she's hoping that I don't come? There is no way for me to know anyway, I can't read minds or predict futures. But if I, and no one else, can predict it, is it real? Is the future something that is already predefined and if so, how do my actions change it if it already exists? But on the other hand, if it doesn't exist, how can that be, how can something that doesn't exist happen? - the hurricane of thoughts spun in your mind, making you question everything.

Keys. The sound of keys crashing into one another woke you up from yet another philosophical episode. The decision was final, you will stop being a shy coward and knock on that door.

- Come in! - she shouted from the inside. You want this woman.

- Hi, Mrs, I came because of the exam.

- Of course, I didn't expect anything less from you - she smiled.

"Less"? So she considers this to be exceptional?

You sat at the same desk as her as she dug out my paper from one of the binders and handed it to you.

- Do you need any explanations? - she asked, leaning closer to see what exactly you got wrong. You wanted her to talk so you agreed to let her guide you through.

- So here you just multiplied 4 and 6 incorrectly, a mistake anyone could make because of stress, but it did lead you to an incorrect solution. Here, on the other hand, you made a cardinal mistake, my God! You can't divide everything just like that when it's an inequality! The x could be negative, which changes the "less than" to "more than"!

- Right... I totally forgot about that rule. Oopsies.

- Yeah, I had to give you zero points on that one. And that's it, everything else is very good. I'm proud of you, I really am, this was one of the better-solved exams - she flashed a smile at you. So what now? Are you just supposed to leave? You wanted to lay your eyes on her for just a little more time.