Cherry - part 29

Amelia

Always/never

Yesterday was the last day and today is the first day. Yesterday was the last day she had Arthur's attention during class. Today is the first day where all the boys will be staring at the new teacher. Yesterday was the last day with Janette, the substitute teacher. Today is the first day with Miss Cryx. And she was excited, yes, and then she was worried. It was a failure for her to lose her best friend to the teacher. She would invade the thoughts of all the boys and trying to be a teacher for them would be impossible.

She approached the school a tad early, but maybe then she would be able to catch Miss Cryx alone. She wanted to welcome her. She also wanted to let her know how much of an honor it was for her to be in the class she was teaching.

Miss Cryx was even more beautiful than she remembered. Her black hair hang loose except two tiny braids on each side of her head, tied in the back. She wore a skinny, black skirt, with a slightly pink shirt and a sea blue scarf. She was humming a tone Amelia never had heard before, and she was sure Miss Cryx hadn't seen her. The tone was so beautiful; she didn't want to interrupt her. Then again, it was slightly creepy to stand in the door and barely be breathing to be quiet.

Miss Cryx turned around and stopped her humming as if it was a horrible thing that she had been humming it in the first place.

“Good morning. Are you in my class?” She said, and Amelia noticed how she tried to keep her cool in front of her. She was staring at her. Amelia thought about that day were she saw Miss Cryx right outside their classroom. She was shocked to see her. She remember thinking 'is it today she's coming?' and shot a glance at Arthur, who obviously didn't want to stare at Miss Cryx either.

'”It's her, Arthur. That's Miss Cryx.” she had whispered to him.

“Really?” He said. She nodded and turned away. Arthur followed her. So why's she surprised to see me? She stared at me. She must remember me. She thought, but decided to follow her act. She wanted to be cool with the new teacher.

“Yes, I am in this class.” Amelia found her chair and sat down.

“Miss Cryx, we are honored have you as a teacher. We have only heard good things about you.”

“I'm glad to hear that. Please, call me Zia.”

“Okay, Zia.”

They were quiet for a time and Amelia found her things and put them on the table.

“How was Paris?” She asked, and Zia looked at the time before answering. It was almost time to start class. Maybe there was so much to tell, so she wouldn't have nearly enough time. Then again, Zia didn't know Amelia, so why would she tell her a long story?

“It was good, in many ways. Highly overrated, though. 'The City of Love' might not be the right term. It was raining most of the time and noisy people filled the street every day, all day.”

“I see.” She answered silently. A horde of people, her classmates, came in. They were mumbling and looking at Miss Cryx from time to time. The bell rang, and the rest of the people hurried inside. Miss Cryx stood in front of the board, looking at the students without looking like a superior individual, coming to teach morons. No, there was something about her eyes, something... benevolently...

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. As you all know, I am your new English teacher, and as you probably also know already, my name is Zia Cryx. You may call me Zia. I am very excited to be here with you. How much did you go through with Janette?” A few people put up their hands. Amelia figured she didn't need to. Zia looked directly at her for a second, before she pointed at someone behind her.

“Yes, you? What's your name?” She asked.

“Sabrina. And we began reading poems of the First World War, and she also told us about how most men secretly were gay.” People laughed. It was so typical of her to mention that. The sub told them many things, and the stories about general homosexuality was just a briefly mentioned subject, only because Sabrina asked what they did to ease the pressure when there was no women.

“I bet you would have liked to be there.” A guy shouted at her.

“In the middle of a bunch of horny men? Hell yeah!” And the class laughed again. Amelia looked at Zia, who also laughed.

“Yes, that's right, Sabrina. Most men were gay. It was a very demanding job, both physically and mentally. They needed some bodily contact and tenderness, like anybody else.”

Amelia wrote the notes in her book and shot a glance at Arthur. He was also taking notes. Then he looked at her and smiled. She wrote in the back of her book:

How do you like the new teacher?

I guess she's fine. How about you?

Yeah, she's cool.

She didn't look at him when she closed the book again. She didn't want to talk about her.

Zia wrote something on the board.

“Go in groups and discuss question four and five in your textbook.”

Amelia and Arthur look at each other simultaneously, and then she looks behind her and makes eye contact with Sabrina. She's her best friend. Though Sabrina has friends out and about, and Amelia never met many of them. Sabrina often spoke of people and told her stories about them, and Amelia was glad she had never met them. They seemed so different from herself, and she thought about how Sabrina must act very differently around her.

Sabrina nods at her. They walk out together, and Sabrina says “It's nice she has some humor.”

Both Amelia and Arthur nods in agreement.

Amelia looks at Sabrina while they walk towards a table.

She's wearing pink and black striped half-gloves.