The Phantom School

It was my first day as a teacher in my new school, and I was a bit late to the opening. It wasn"t entirely my fault, but in the end it didn"t matter; it would leave a bad first impression on most people no matter the reason. I would be a new, young teacher who was late to school on the very first day. The fact I had forgotten my umbrella made me feel even worse, my clothes were wet and my hair was messy.

My new school was located far away from most of the city, literally in the woods. I was thinking of using that as an excuse; the distance of the school and the lack of public transportation. Thinking of it, why would someone even build a school here?

I finally saw the school building when I walked down a stone path. "Chersonese High". The school itself wasn"t popular, but the mere size of the building would impress anyone at first sight.

Without enjoying the view for long, I ran into the school building from the main enterance, and immediately started searching for the WC. I wanted to tidy up my clothes and hair before I saw anyone. I got in front of a mirror and gave myself a better overall look.

Just when I got back into the hallway, someone saw me. He was a slightly fat man, he looked like he was in his thirties. He was wearing a green sweater on his shirt.

"Oh, who it is am I seeing? Might you be... the new teacher people were talking about?" he asked in a cheerful voice. "Welcome!" he said as he patted me on the back.

"Ah, thanks!" I said. I wasn"t expecting to be greeted just outside the WC. "Did the lessons start already?" I asked, worryingly.

"Oh, yes. It is a shame no one is here to greet you yet." he said. "But a few teachers don"t have lessons in the first hour, so they are sitting in the teachers" room. You might feel comfortable there."

He held my arm and started walking. I felt a bit relieved as I remembered I had no lessons planned on the first hour either. I was late to the opening, but not to my first lesson.

"Here, this way." he said and pointed into the hallway. "The building is rather big and complex, so it is easy to get lost here in the first few days. If you ever get lost, you can just ask someone nearby to help."

"Thanks, you are really helpful." I replied as I followed him.

He opened the door of the teachers" room.

"Look at what I found on my way here." he raised his voice, so everyone in the teachers" room could hear him. Everyone looked up to me, and I couldn"t help feeling slightly embarrased in front of all the new people I met.

"Welcome, please make yourself comfortable." a woman said, looking at me over her gla.s.ses. She was holding a thick book in her hands.

"Being late from the first day is a pretty big fail." a man in white shirt said. "But we can let it go unnoticed if you pay for the lunch." He winked at me.

I could not reply, I was only looking around the room, trying to memorise everything.

"Oh, I see why you are feeling so... alien. Let us properly introduce ourselves." said the man in green sweater. "I am Okan, a maths teacher just like you, except better." he said.

"Don"t listen to him." interrupted the younger man in white shirt. "By the way, I am Ege. The other math teacher."

"Right now, I am the only one in this room who is not a math teacher." the woman with the book said. "I am Sinem, and please guess what I might be teaching."

"Uhm... History?" I said.

"Literature." she replied, and kept reading her book.

It was a pretty nice thing that the teachers of this school seemed to have good friendships, and they were being very comfortable.

"Please sit down." Okan said, and continued after I sat down. "I heard that you have actually graduated from this very school, is that right?"

"Oh, uhm... Yes, it is not wrong; although a lot must have changed in time. I don"t seem to remember this place very well." I replied.

"I"ve been here for quite some time now, I don"t think it changed a lot. Maybe it is just me, I don"t know." Okan said.

"It"s been quite some time, though." I said. "It is normal."

"Don"t say that." Sinem said. "You are still a young fellow, you still have a lot of change to see."

"I guess..." I said.

"Well, anyway, by any chance, do you remember Kenan?" Okan asked.

"It does ring a bell, but not quite." I said.

"He is a pretty old chemistry teacher who has been serving in this school for... decades." Ege said. "We though that you could actually be one of his students."

I stared into a wall, and started thinking.

"Yes, we did talk a lot about you." Okan interrupted. "After all, we know that you"ve graduated from this school, and we were waiting to see your reaction about being appointed here. The old teachers are all gone, but the old man Kenan somehow managed to stay here. We though you two might want to see each other."

"Actually, he is very eager to see you." Ege said. "But he is in a lesson right now, so you can see him in a break."

"I definitely will." I said. I couldn"t remember the man, but the name did ring a bell, so I was curious. Maybe I could remember him if I saw him. I could barely wait for the end of the first lesson.

- - -

The bell rang, and the sounds of cheering students have filled the hallways. A few teachers have entered the teachers" room one by one, and they all greeted and congratulated me. Apparently, the rumor was widespread, and a lot of them knew that I had graduated from Chersonese High.

I got up from my chair and looked for Onur. Eventually, I found him looking at the annual curriculum table he taped on the wall.

"Hey." I said. "Do you know where this chemistry teacher is?" I asked him.

"Oh." he said, and thought for a while. "He usually spends his time in the chemistry lab, doing pretty much nothing. I think he doesn"t like the crowd around here. If you want to see him now, I can show you the way."

"Please." I said, and we headed for the chemistry lab. We got downstairs as students on the hallways looked at their new maths teacher, me, for the first time.

We stopped in front of the chemistry lab. Okan knocked the door.

"Kenan, are you there? I"m coming in, with a surprise." he said and opened the door.