When I See You Again (gxg)

Terrified

I'm afraid of letting you
get close enough
to notice the cracks
in my flawed heart.

Scared you'll see the things
I hate about myself -
terrified at the thought
of you walking away.

So I try and keep you
at a safe distance.
They say that love is blind,
but I just can't take the chance.

- John Mark Green
~~~

Hell just entered our class.

The woman walked into the room like she was expecting perfect order.

She was dressed in a coral button down, denim colored pencil skirt, black blazer and blood red toe heels.

My classmates scrambled to their seats and watched in silence as the small lady strutted towards the platform.

Once she reached her destination, she turned and faced us.

"Goodmorning class. I'm Ms.Evangeline Holland.And starting today I will be your new Calculus Mentor."

The room went silent. A few glances were shared between peers. We were not informed of her arrival.

Nonetheless, nothing could possibly prepare us for the raging hurricane this woman seemed to be.

"First off, I will be setting some ground rules.Break one of these and you'll find yourself wishing you hadn't." She paced. The distinct sound of her heels clattered against the tiled floor.

"I do not tolerate laziness. That means no slacking, no chitchatting..."

As if her intimidating voice wasn't enough to warn us.Her sharp blue eyes, framed by crimson rimmed glasses cuts through the room like a hawk.

"Why is she moving like there's a stick up her butt?" Mason moved closer and asked us in a whisper.It was devastatingly on point that we couldn't help but laugh.

We tried to stiffle our laughter but it was too late.

We have been caught.

She scrutinized us with her gaze.

Each passing second felt like staring in the eyes of a viper.

For a fleeting moment, I thought that she's going to lash at us.

But she didn't. Instead she continued with her rules.

"Please bear in mind that I do not care whoever you are or wherever you came from. This is my subject and these are my rules. "

"The door is wide open for those who wishes to leave. "

No one dared to move as we tried to revert our gazes elsewhere.

"Disrespect, disobedience, use of cellphones as well as abusive, unparliamentary languange is a punishable offence .Cheating in any form will also lead to serious disciplinary action." She went down and walked in the aisle while talking which made my classmates incredibly uneasy.

Inflicting fear, establishing borders...
Yes, it's an effective way of gaining respect.

But it's respect out of fear.

It's not ideal in any way.

"I do not fancy late submissions in my subject either. Deadlines are deadlines. When I set a date, there will be no extensions. Late papers will end up in the trash and late students will not be entertained."