Somewhere between the lines

1

Tom POV

I parked my car, already feeling my anxiety creeping up as I saw the hundreds of students running inside the school building.

When I got out of the car, I was almost knocked down by a group of boys and the excited whispering and screaming of girls filled my ears.

Just a typical Monday morning at Oakland Highschool.

But not for me. It was my first day here. As a teacher, of course, not as a student.

I took a deep breath, hung my bag over my shoulder, took the remaining documents and books in my hands and made my way towards the huge building.

As I arrived in the main hall, I held back a boy, sprinting past me and asked him where the Teachers assembly room was.

He showed me the way and 2 minutes later I stood infront of that big red door, trying to calm my exitement and anxiety and breathe normal.

Then I smiled and knocked.

A man, probably in his 40ties, opened the door.

,,Hi, can I help you, young man?"

I cleared my throath and nodded. ,,Yes, I mean, I thought I was here to help you, with you know, the students. I'm Mr. Holland the-"

,,Mr. Holland! The new teacher of course!" the man interrupted me and immediately smiled.

,,Welcome, please come in so I can introduce you." he said. ,,I'm Mr. Kenths, by the way, but you can call me Steven."

I smiled and followed him into the big room where other teachers were either talking, silently bent over documents or having breakfast.

Steven clapped his hands and immediately the talking stopped and all heads turned to him.

,,May I ask for your attention, dear colleagues? Let me introduce you our new colleague, Mr. Holland." He said and everyone smiled at me and a few even clapped.

,,Yes. Thank y'all for the welcome. As Steven said, I'm Mr. Holland, but please call me Tom, the Mr. immediately reminds me of how old I am." I joked and thankfully a few laughed.

,,I am so exited to work with y'all and hope we will get along perfectly. I can't -"

,,Has anyone seen Philip G. from AP English Senior?" A woman, who just barged through the door interrupted me.

I turned around.

She looked the same age as me, her curly brown hair in a half ponytail and three books in her arms.

As soon as she noticed she interrupted something, her eyes landed on me.

She had brown eyes, a little bit darker than her hair colour. Objectively, she was quite beautiful.

Her eyes roamed over my body for a few seconds then she turned to Steven.

,,Wasn't the model for our Drama cover page supposed to come next week?"

I couldn't hold back a chuckle, and neither could the others.

I turned to her and reached my hand out to her.

,,I'm Tom Holland, but you can call me Tom. And unfortunately I'm not the model, but the new teacher. Nice to meet you, Miss...?" I smiled at her blush.

She took my hand though and laughed.

,,Oh, I'm so sorry.I just saw your muscles and your curls and all that and I immediately assumed... anyway.. I am Miss Coleman, but of course you can call me Zendaya."