We Have Each Other

Part 4: Troublemaker

Thursday, September 2, 113 days left
7:57 A.M.

Despite his mother's worries, Josh was able to make it to school before the tardy bell rang, but barely. He quickly parked his car in the only free parking spot, which just happened to be on the far end of the parking lot. He grabbed his keys and backpack before quickly maneuvering his way past hundreds of cars. He jogged into the school, through the nearly empty hallways, and into the room of his first class. He stepped into the room just as the tardy bell rang.

"Sit down, guys. Class has started," the teacher said, trying to calm down the rowdy students. The class started separating and moving to their seats. Josh did the same. He plopped into a seat in the middle of the classroom, just like he always did. He didn't like sitting in the back by all the football players, also known as his main tormentors, but he also didn't want to sit in the front of the class by the teachers and risk being called on. There was no reason to draw attention to himself.

While still recovering from his jog and waiting for the teacher to say something important, Josh took his headphones out of his backpack and plugged them into his phone. He put one of the earpieces into his ear and let the other hang loose. Throughout his years in school, he noticed that other students tend to think he goes deaf when he puts headphones on. Josh had effectively used this to his advantage to hear all of Skyline High School's juiciest gossip. Sure, he was quiet in class, but that just meant he always had the opportunity to listen.

"Ok, guys," the teacher said, not even bothering to get up from his desk. "Today we are going to start a new project. I've put the details on the board. Ask if-"

The teacher was cut off by the sudden sound of the classroom door flying open. The entire class snapped their attention in the direction of the noise. A brown-haired boy with blue jeans and a black sweatshirt was standing in the doorway looking a little flustered.

"That door opened a bit easier than I thought it would," he said jokingly, his face tinted pink.

"Care to join the class," the teacher said while motioning to the desks, clearly annoyed with the interruption.

"I would love to join the class, thank you," the boy said, unbothered by the teacher's attitude as he walked into the classroom. The teacher scowled, and the students, especially the girls, laughed at the boy's words. The boy walked past Josh and sat in the empty desk right behind him. The class was quiet for a moment before the boy spoke. "So what-"

"In this class," the teacher interrupted, "we raise our hands before we speak."

The class looked from the teacher to the boy to see how he would react. He smirked before he changed his facial expression to a polite smile and raised his hand.

"Yes," the teacher sighed as he tilted his head and rubbed his pointer finger against his temple.

"Could you please inform me of the task that I am supposed to be completing at this moment, sir?" he asked in an overly formal tone.

The girls looked at each other while giggling quietly, and the boys sent glances and smirks to their friends around the room. No one talked back to Mr. Dunel, no one. At least not if they wanted to leave the room alive.

Mr. Dunel was an older man, probably in his late sixties. He was nearly bald, but the hair that he did have was a grayish white. He mostly kept to himself and never really associated with the other teachers. He arrived early in the morning to grade assignments, ate lunch in his classroom, and left as soon as his workday was done. He was one of those teachers that students thought should have retired a long time ago.

Out of all his years of working there, there were three things Mr. Dunel was known for at Skyline High School: his thin, black readers; his dress shirt and black pants combo that he wore everyday; and his lack of tolerance for students who talk back to him.