Fuck It I Love You

4

Joseph

I've only been teaching at this school for two weeks, but Jane is driving me up the wall. She is inconsiderate, always late, and answers back all the time.

I'm sat at my desk looking through their work, marking it when I hear a chuckle come from the back of the room. I sigh heavily and look up, noticing Jane and Ava's books are still closed. I stand up and everyone looks at me.

"Jane, Ava, why are you not doing your work?" I ask calmly. Ava looks at me and clears her throat, opening her work book and begins copying what I wrote on the board. Jane, on the other hand, just sits there and goes on her phone. I roll my eyes and walk towards her.

"Jane, can you put your phone away please?" I ask quietly, but she chooses to ignore me. I let out a frustrated breath and step back. "Jane." I say louder, and she looks up at me.

"Sorry, I didn't see you there." She smiles at me, and I clench my jaw when she goes back on her phone, so I turn around, walking back to the front of the class.

"That's a detention, Jane." I say loudly. She looks at me with pure shock.

"I didn't even do anything; I did all the work you asked of me." Now the whole class seems interested, and they look back and forth between us.

"You were on your phone." I state sternly sitting down.

"Prick." I hear her say and I look at her once more.

"Excuse me?" I ask, my voice thick with fury. She sighs dramatically and looks at me.

"You're excused." She says with a smile and the whole class breaks out into whispers. I slam my pen down on the table and stand up.

"Out. Now." I say to her. She grabs her bag and shoves it onto her shoulders.

"My pleasure." She said as she walked past me, exiting the room and slamming the door behind her. I turn to look at the rest of the class and their eyes are wide in shock. My gaze falls onto Ava, who looks like she is about to burst.

"Ava?" I say sternly.

"Yes sir." I can see her trying to remain calm, and I grow annoyed.

"Is there something funny about what just happened?" her eyes widen, the smile disappearing slightly.

"No- I-"

"Then get on with your work." I say, raising my voice. She mutters an apology and looks down at her work, not uttering another word. I cover my face with my hands and sit back down, marking their work again.

***

The bell rung twenty minutes later, signalling the end of the lesson. I stand up and clap my hands.

"Can I just remind you all that the deadline for your permission slips and the payment for the trip to France is this Friday, so please get them to the head teacher if you haven't already." The students mutter at this and bring todays work to the front as they exit the room.

"Ava." I say as she is about to leave. She turns to look at me slowly and nods.

"Make sure Jane has handed in her permission slip and paid, please. Thank you." She nods slowly again and exits the room. I lean back on my chair and check my phone and see that I have a text from my younger brother.

"Shit." I mumble and stand up, grabbing my suit jacket. I quickly go down the stairs, still on my phone, when I bump into someone.

"Oh, shit sor- oh its you." Jane says and rolls her eyes.

"Apology accepted." I say and shove past her, running towards the medical room.

"I didn't apologise!" I hear her shout in exasperation and I roll my eyes, turning to face her.

"Aren't you supposed to be in detention?"

"Aren't you supposed to be teaching?" she snaps back. I stare at her for a moment. Touche.

"I need go see my brother." I state, shaking my head. She rolls her eyes and begins to walk away.

"Go to detention." I shout at her, but she gives me the finger and carries on walking to her next lesson. I clench my jaw in anger, but decide to ignore her, considering I have better things to do than run after a stubborn teenage girl. I turn around and walk towards the medical room, where I find Lucas sitting.

"The hell happened?" I ask him angrily, but he shakes his head. I turn around to find someone who will tell me what has happened.

"Oh, hey, are you the new trainee?" the elderly woman asks, and I nod my head giving her a smile.

"Could you-"

"You look awfully young." She says interrupting me and I grind my teeth together.

"Thanks. Could you tell me what happened with Lucas?" I ask quickly, not wanting to be interrupted again.

"Oh, Lucas." She purses her lips for a moment. "He fell down the stairs." She says and goes back to doing what ever she was doing before I came in. I stay still for a moment. Why the hell didn't he tell me? I smile and thank her then go back to Lucas.

"You fell down the stairs." I say sternly, but a smile is threatening to escape on my lips. he looks down at his lap, his cheeks burning red.

"I was embarrassed." He mumbles and I roll my eyes, ruffling his hair. He smiles lightly and puts the ice pack back on his head.

"I have to get back upstairs but try not to injure yourself further." I say quietly. He nods and I smile at him again, exiting the room and walking upstairs to my classroom.