❝Hold fast to dreams,
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird,
That cannot fly.❞

- Langston Hughes

[ H U N T E R   W I L L I A M S ]

I wished I could say that my Friday morning started out just fine, but then I'd be blatantly lying. It was as if the world had turned against me today, as soon as I stepped through the front door my day was ruined. It was raining cats and dogs, there was mud everywhere and I was bound to slip and break my neck.

Needless to say, I did.

I might have not broken my neck, but I sure as hell ruined my favourite hoodie and that major inconvenience was the reason I was late to English again.

I wasn't really setting the best image for myself, being late two days in a row and getting intensely stared down by Mr. Carter with that scolding glare, that he had seemed to have mastered. I just hoped that he hadn't read my essay from the day before yet, it was a total catastrophe.

I couldn't crack Aurora Leigh despite the countless times I had read it, I don't know whether I was stupid or just a special snowflake - but needless to say, I ended up blabbering and spewing complete nonsense about a woman's struggles to achieve independence. To my relief, I saw the papers sitting comfortably on his desk, sitting in the same spot where they had been when I turned them in. Perhaps he hadn't read them yet, I could only hope.

I must have spaced out during the class because the bell suddenly rang and everybody jumped up from their seats, eager to get on with their days. I tried to follow my peers, but I was soon stopped by Mr. Carter. "Running off so soon?" His voice was a mixture of irritated and sly.

I stopped dead in my tracks and turned towards him, offering him the best smile I could muster up, however, I ended up looking like I had a minor facial malfunction instead. The teacher crossed his arms and sighed. "I am very disappointed in you, Hunter."

Gulp.

"You've been late two days in a row now and your essay was absolutely horrendous. Normally, I would this stuff slide, but I don't want to see you acting like this, especially after our little chat on Tuesday." Mr. Carter rubbed his forehead, it was almost uncomfortable to stay in the room with him. "Did you at least consider getting a tutor to help you with English?"

"I-uh... Yeah." I managed to choke out, I don't know what came over me, but my throat felt constricted rendering me unable to form coherent sentences.

"So, you didn't." He accused. Crap, he saw right through me.

"Listen, sir. I haven't had the best week and I can only hope the next one is better, I'm really sorry about the essay, but I had a major difficulty understanding the book." I answered honestly.

"How many classes do you have today?" Mr. Carter asked.

"Uh, just five, I believe." I answered although I wasn't entirely sure if that was true.

"Right, come see me during the sixth period, we'll discuss your essay and how often we'll be meeting." How often we'll be meeting? I was sure in for a treat, wasn't I? "Hunter, normally I would suggest you get someone from your class to help you out understand the subject better, however, so far you seem to be the only student struggling in the class, therefore I'm going to take the matters in my own hands." 

"Is it really necessary? I mean, I have soccer practice after classes pretty often and I already have a packed schedule as it is." I explained, truthfully, despite the practice, I just didn't want to spend extra hours on a subject that I wasn't really going to progress in my life.

"It is in your best interest. Judging by your essay, your chances of passing my class are looking grim, you'll do some extra individual work and in turns, I'll be able to raise your grades so you can even think about playing soccer. As for the timing, we'll work something out - now go, before you're late to another class, young man." He shooed me away and I followed his orders like a soldier.

For the two following classes, my mind was in total shambles. Thankfully chemistry and psychology passed swiftly and without any complications and before I knew it, it was time for lunch.

Finally, I could distract myself with the company of my friends.

As soon as I entered the cafeteria, I immediately rushed over to the table our group had practically claimed - it was a table in the very corner of the cafeteria, right by a huge window, which illuminated the table with natural light. Evelyn, Miles, and Mason Everett - yet another cool, nerdy guy from our friend group - were already sitting there.

"Hey everyone!" I smiled and took a seat near the table, Evelyn and Miles broke away from their ongoing conversation to greet me and I got a shy wave from Mason, who seemed to be buried in even more schoolwork.

After making some small talk with my friends, I looked around the cafeteria in hopes of finding Bailey, I hadn't seen or heard from her all day today and I was getting worried. "Hey, have any of you seen Bailey today? She wasn't in psychology and I'm getting a little worried."

"No, she wasn't in biology either, perhaps she skipped today?" Evelyn suggested.

I decided to text her and make sure she was alright.

Hey, Bails. Are you alright, where are you? Sent, 10:39 AM.

I waited for a few minutes, clutching my phone in my hand, however, the response was non-existent. During that time, Jay Mitchell and Joseph Parrish showed up and greeted everyone. Both of them were on the soccer team and well endorsed with the group, you could say they were your typical jocks.

Shortly another girl from our group River Jade turned up, she was a beautiful cheerleader with black hair and ice cold eyes. Literally, everyone in the school thinks she's terrifying, when in reality - she's probably the softest and most adorable individual in our group.

The radio silence from Bailey was not something I enjoyed, she would always respond in a matter of seconds, however, it wasn't the case this time. I was well aware that I sounded like a total clingy and desperate girlfriend, but I cared for Bailey deeply and I was worried.

I was too focused in my train of thought, that I completely blocked out the cheerful chatter between my friends, until someone, I hadn't seen before today bumped my shoulder. It was my best friend Eli. "Hey, what's going on with you?"

"It's nothing, I just had a really bad day and now Bailey is nowhere to be seen." I could've sworn I saw Eli tense up for a second when I mentioned my girlfriend's name, but I brushed it off, probably just hallucinating at this point.

"She's probably alright, but hey I just wanted to remind you that we have practice after the fifth period, don't miss it." He warned.

"Oh, about that. Tell coach that I'll be late, I have to see my English teacher again, he's really disappointed with my performance in his class so far and now wants me to study extra." I rolled my eyes and Evelyn perked up, whereas Eli simply nodded.

"Oh my god, I would kill to be you right now. Who wouldn't want to be alone with that hot piece of man." She let out a dreamy sigh and suddenly, my facial expression resembled a prune. How could she even say that about a teacher? 

"Evelyn you dirty hoe, calm down." Jay snickered, however, he got the short end of the stick because Eve pounced on him, trying to cause a catfight.

As soon as that little fiasco was over, Miles turned to me. "Right, so, I managed to get some information about your English teacher." 

"I'm listening." I said, not even noticing the fact that I sounded so eager.

"Alright, so, Blake Carter is a twenty-six-year-old, he majored English literature and pedagogy in Oxford University, so you know he's the real deal. He's fresh out of uni and fresh out of a marriage. " I raised my eyebrow at that part, was kind of hard to believe that someone so young had already gone through a divorce. "He used to live in London before coming here and taking over Mrs. Roseveld's position." Miles finished, already out of breath after that quick monologue of his.

To this day, I still had no clue where Miles gathered all the information from, but having someone this intuitive really helped out sometimes.

"Oh! More on Mrs. Roseveld, apparently she was diagnosed with typhoid cancer a couple of years ago and she had to leave her job because it was getting so bad. I overheard it in the teacher's room." He added.

I tilted my head. "That's horrible... But, what exactly were you doing in the teacher's room?"

Miles seemed taken aback and got a little flustered. "Uh, nothing! I-I mean, I was just gathering information."

"Are you not telling us something?" I smirked.

He sighed in defeat. "Alright, I was drinking coffee with the biology teacher, she knows all about the drama going on in the school, it's actually quite fun to listen to." Miles finished by letting out an adorable little chuckle.

River perked up. "Mrs. Rye?" 

"Yeah!" Miles responded.

"Oh my god, I love her, she's like my favourite teacher in the school and I don't even have any classes with her!" She exclaimed enthusiastically and thus yet another conversation was born.

I was kind of off today, still awaiting a response from my girlfriend, who just seemed to be drifting further and further apart from me nowadays. I wasn't very talkative or very motivated to utter a word either, I guess today was just one of those days, right?

Oh, and let's not forget that I have to go see Mr. Carter later...