Robert Plourde sat at his desk at the front of the small classroom, ticking off names of the students on the role as they filed in. It was a hot afternoon, and Plourde knew that no one would be able to focus. The air conditioner was bust. Perfect, what a great way to start the afternoon. Bloody cheap school He thought to himself, ticking off names. The students were noisy, still chatting about thier summer holidays, slowly settling down into there seats. One smelt of cigarettes. The classroom was tiny, overcrowded and stinking hot. Plourde assumed half the students had taken up 20th Century Politics thinking it would be a bludge.
Fuck, Hamish Flood, Rowan Allen and John-Paul Tarrant all in my class thought Plourde as he marked off the different names. These troublemakers just furthered his point.
He deliberately cleared his throat as loud as he could, and stood up to shut the door. Just as he was closing it a student rushed in. He'd never seen her before, wich was odd, as he was the longest serving staff member at Gully Middle School.
"And who might you be?" He querried
"Ash Mason. Im new here, so im just trying to find my way around" She replied, exhausted.
"Very well, nice to meet you. Please take a seat." He pointed her to the small desks.
By now the students had settled down. Plourde walked over to his desk, grabbed out a handful of papers and started walking around the class, handing a sheet to each student.
"Now, I understand its the period before lunch, and the airconditioner is bust. But that doesn't mean we will be taking this class any less serious, does it Mr Tarrant?" He boomed, handing John-Paul his sheet.
"No way, sir. Not today, not the first class of the subject." John-Paul sarcastically replied.
"Good" Plourde turned and headed to the front of the class. John-Paul gave him the finger behind his back. The class laughed.
"Now then." frowned Plourde "Sheet one is the books you will need for this class. Revolutions in 20th Century history and Leaders of the modern era. If you do not have these books yet, I urge you to get them today, as we will be starting lessons, wich leads us to the other side of the sheet..."
The students turned there sheet over. Some groaned.
"This is the semesters lesson plan. As you can see, we will be starting work as soon as possible. Infact, as you can see, I hope to have covered the first chapters of the texts within a fortnight" The students grumbled even louder.
Plourde went over, sat at his desk and looked at the clock. There was still another half an hour until lunchtime.
"Since it's so hot and almost lunchtime, I've decided that we shall open our texts and quietly read the first chapter, how's that sound?" The students mumbled in agreeance, yet none really cared.
"And just what is that your eating, Mr Allen?" Plourde had busted Rowan eating.
"Muesli bar, sir" Rowan talked, his mouth full of chewed up muesli.
"Well" Plourde walked over, grabbed the rest of the mueslis bar from Rowan and walked over and threw it in the bin "Now the bin shall eat it."
The class laughed, as Rowan let out a loud moan. Plourde sat back in his seat. Just cos his captain, doesn't mean he can eat in my class he thought to himself. He opened his notes and pretended to be reading them intensely. Yet it was too hot and his mind was elsewhere. This was the year he would challenge Garner for the Principality.
The students muttered to themselves. Plourde knew that no one was really studying, except for the christian students, sitting in the front seats. He didn't really give a shit. Secretly in his head he was trying to figure out his plan to have Garner stripped of Principality. He had decided that Garner focused too much on discipline and not enough on proper funding, such as a pay rise for teachers and better maintained school buildings and equipment. Plourde hated Garner, with a passion. He though of him as too egotistical.
"Hey there baby." John-Paul threw a piece of scrunched up chewy wrapper at Ash, who was sitting in front of him.
"Wanna share your book with me?" He winked at her.
"Fuck off wigga, some of us are trying to learn. You know, so we don't end up pumping gas for a living" She winked back at him, sarcastically.
John-Paul looked annoyed. He hadn't really had anyone reply to him like that before. Usually his intimidating style made students to scared to say no to him. Hamish watched the two quietly arguing. He never liked John-Paul. The two had constantly fought over the years, often about petty things. Yet this year Hamish had decided to try and avoid John-Paul and his "homies".
"You're just a dirty 'Rat ho, arent you?" Hissed John-Paul between his teeth. He started poking at her with his ruler. Ash moved her chair in even further.
"Hey fuck you JP, leave her alone." Hamish hadn't realised how loud his voice was until he'd said it.
Everyone in the class turned at him. Plourde looked up from his notes. Hamish slumped in his chair, pulling his book up to his face, pretending to read.
"Problem, Flood?" Asked Plourde.
"Oh no sir. It's just the teretes playing up, you know how it is." Smirked Hamish, peeking his head out from behind his book.
The class burst laughing. Plourde just went back to his notes. This is gonna be one bloody long year He thought.
"You know, Hamwad, one of these days i'm gonna snap that fuckin' smart ass mouth of yours... Right... In ... Two." Whispered John-Paul, leaning back on his chair against Hamish's desk.
"Good fuckin' luck" Hamish pushed his chair, making him fall back in place.
Ah, fuck, already im in shit thought Hamish.
The bell rang, killing his thoughts.