Before his first class had even started, Joseph knew that the day was going to suck. How did he know? Well, his older brother, Clark, started his first day of teaching that morning, (and as if some higher being was trying to punish them both) and just so happened to be Joseph's history teacher. Not only that, but their sister Augustine was in the class as well.
How great was that? (Answer: not so great)
His first class dragged by slowly. Four times did he get told to stop staring off into space or to stop interrupting and to focus on the lesson, but the simple instructions didn't get to him. After he asked another 'unreasonable question' and was told to remain silent, Joseph fixed his attention on the wall clock. One minute, four, ten... fifteen. He glanced back at the board, but whatever was written on it now had no meaning to him. Impatiently, Joseph let out a sigh and began tapping his fingers on his desk.
When the bell rang, Joseph was the first one who snatched his bag from the ground and shot up to his feet. He would have been the first to leave, too, but as he headed for the doorway to teacher call him over to speak with her.
"Joseph," She started. "I know it's only your third day, but you really need to start paying attention. I appreciate you asking questions, but it's obvious you're not trying to follow along. Trust me when I tell you that it'easy to fall behind in this grade. I want to see you be able to keep up. . . blah blah blah. Words." The rest of her sentence trailed off into a blur as Joseph stopped listening. When her lips stopped moving, though, the boy gave a nod and a quick smile.
"Right, uh." Joseph said. "I'll try to." Whether or not he would, the teacher would find out tomorrow. (Hint: he wouldn't)
As he walked out of class, Joseph wished that he had made an effort to talk to someone during his first few days at the new school. As of the current moment, he didn't recognize anyone's face unless they lived in the same house as him, and being the guy who was buddies with his siblings wasn't the reputation Joseph wanted. Then again, being the guy with no buddies at all wasn't exactly ideal, either.
He adjusted his bag and headed off to his next class.
History. If there was one thing that Joseph hated more than math, it was learning about civil wars and ancient Greeks. Hardly anyone needed to know that kind of stuff, but everyone had to be taught it for some stupid reason. It was cool to hear about the buildings of civilization and the slaughters of thousands, but when you're brother is the guy telling you about it, it's easy to lose interest. If Joseph had done terrible in the class before, he was certain he'd soon be doing even worse.
A near-empty room. He thought as he walked through the doorway. There was Clark (or, Mr. Green, as it said on the board), whom Joseph tried to avoid eye-contact with, and a few other students scattered around. Picking a seat in the far back corner, he stuffed his bag under his desk and pulled out his phone. There was hardly anyone to text, but he had a few cheap games to play that would hopefully pass the time...
... and they did. When Clark started talking, Joseph glanced around to see the class full.
". . .can see, is Mr. Green. This is World History..." Clark was saying. For someone who was supposed to have pretty damn good hearing, Joseph completely missed the first half of his brother's sentence. Still, he didn't miss how professional he sounded. Holy crap, it was like the guy at the front of the room was an actual teacher rather than just Clark Green, his brother.
'You look young as shit.' Joseph texted him, hoping that Clark's phone was on silent. 'Like an overgrown baby or something. Weird.'