𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐦 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 | ꜱʜᴏʀᴛ ʜᴏʀʀᴏʀ ꜱᴛᴏʀʏ

- 𝟐 -

That day was so extraordinarily usual as Jack Atkinson had his first teaching day. The halls were filled with students' laughter and chattering while Jack sat in the assembly hall. He was accompanied by his new co-workers, some of them even taught him when he was a student here. It was safe to say that concern could be read from their faces and the things they were saying to him.

"So, you will replace Isaac, am I correct?" the old music teacher asked.

"I think that's fairly obvious," Jack responded with a polite smile. He was always fond of his Music teacher. Mind you, she was already old enough to retire when he was a student here...

"I hope it was truly of great necessity for you to accept this job because if I were you, I would never do that voluntarily," the other teacher said and sipped on her coffee while hiding a judgemental sneer.

Now, those comments truly sparked interest in Jack's mind, but his intentions to ask what it was about were interrupted by the sound of the bell. Then, Jack decided to hold the first class and simply ask away later. It's not like it mattered that much, now was it?

Jack picked up his belongings and made his way to his classroom. A few moments before he opened the door, he could hear the usual noise of the students. He got in, causing the class to silence down a bit. He placed his suitcase on his desk and hung his jacket on the chair.

"My name is Jack Atkinson, and I will be your English professor for at least this term," he said, his tone formal and only a bit friendly. Not too much, of course. "Your names do not interest me, so we will immediately start the revising of the matter."

His approach to teaching had weirded out some of the students (the vast majority of them, to be completely honest), but there was this one student who simply couldn't be disturbed. While Jack was reviewing the past tenses with the rest of the class, there was this one boy who entertained himself by simply staring into the blackboard. Jack didn't notice it all until he turned around. Even though Jack maintained constant eye contact, the boy's eyes were fixated on the same spot.

"Excuse me, young man, what are you doing?" Jack asked, confusion dripping from his voice.

"I'm... waiting," the boy said, his voice slow and monotonous. The gaze, which was until recently fixated on the blackboard, was now on the classroom door.

"If you are waiting for the task to write itself, trust me, it's not going to happen," Jack responded, collecting the remains of his patience.

At that, the boy smirked slightly.

"No, no, something interesting is going to happen, and I don't want to miss it," he responded, causing Jack to roll his eyes with a sigh and continue minding his own business.

Those new generations are becoming stupider and stupider, or his own patience with human stupidity has significantly decreased. However, Jack had his mind entertained by repeating the same few sentences which incredibly soothed him.

It's only the first class on the first day.

It's going to get better.

You will survive this.

Jack kept talking to himself as his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of three loud knocks on the desk. He raised his head to see why on Earth is his, by far definitely favourite student interrupting the peace in the classroom by repeatedly hitting the desk with his knuckles. As he did that, he kept his eyes on the door. Jack remained unbothered, convinced that he would stop with his shenanigans if he got ignored.

However, his lethargic opinion changed as the same, but louder knocking sound could be heard from the other side of the door.

"Jesus Christ, come in," Jack asked, still feeling the tension that the intimidating sound made him feel.

As the door opened, they revealed a tall, skinny female with long brown hair. She wore a grey suit combined with a black blouse and a red silk scarf. Glasses resided on the bridge of her long, crooked nose.

"Hello, I am assigned to bring you these papers," she said, her voice creaky and deep. As she handed the papers to Jack, her lips were curled into a mysterious smirk.

"Thank you," Jack said politely before she left the classroom.

When she left, the mysterious boy in the last row was finally at peace. He began doing his assignment in silence, which also brought peace and satisfaction to Jack's mind.