Jack was nervous as hell. Today was his first day of teaching at a new school, although the school itself wasn’t exactly new to him. It was his old High School. He had just graduated a few months ago and now he was beginning his new job as an English and Music teacher. One of the teachers had retired and, it was up to Jack to replace him in the middle of the first semester.

Jack felt just like a student again as he walked through the doors. Jack met with the Principle before being introduced to the other teachers. This is where it really began to feel awkward for Jack. The majority of the teachers here were the exact same ones who had taught Jack when he was a student here.

“Umm, hi.” Jack started, waving nervously as most of them stared, trying to figure out if he was who they thought he was. “It‘s so nice to meet you all, or in the case of many; meet you all again. I don‘t mean to be rude but I really must go to my first class to prepare.”

Jack had a pretty busy timetable and he had the added stress of having two senior English classes as well as a senior Music class and a senior Music Theory class. Jack was confident that he could handle it though. His only problem was that he was bound to find teaching seniors awkward considering that had been him, just a little over three years ago. His first period was a simple supervision of a study class which would give Jack the perfect opportunity to look over the lesson plan that had been left for him. Jack’s escape from the staff room had almost gone perfectly before the principle called him back again.

“Jack, I‘m going to need you to come and see me during the first period, maybe around nine-twenty, if that‘s okay? I just need to speak to you about something important.”

Jack assured him that he would be there on time and began walking in the direction of his office-type space that was down in the music department. Wandering through the corridors of Dulaney High School was like second nature to Jack considering that he had spent more time in them than he had in class.

It had been no great shock to Jack to see the look of surprise on the teacher’s faces when they discovered that he was returning to the school as a teacher. The Jack Barakat that they knew was the very last person that they ever would have thought would choose a career in teaching. In a way, it just went to show just how little they had really known him. Although Jack had been a joker in his days, he had also been intelligent - it just wasn’t something that he had liked to boast about.

On his desk, Jack had found a list of everything that his classes had completed so far, what was supposed to be done and when it was supposed to be completed by. After this class, Jack had double English with his seniors and they had just finished their first novel of the year and from now until Christmas, Jack was supposed to study the novel in depth with them before starting on poetry.

By the time that Jack had planned on what exactly he would do with them, the bell was ringing letting him know that he needed to get to room twenty for study.

Jack had fond memories of this class from his own time at school and Jack knew that there wouldn’t be much actual studying done during this period. Depending on what teacher you had, this class was mainly a chance for students to chat amongst themselves and catch up on un-finished homework.

For the first few minutes, all eyes were on him and Jack squirmed under their uncomfortable stare until the other teacher who he was supervising with came and introduced himself. Jack didn’t recognise him so he must have started here shortly after Jack had left.

“Good morning. You must be John Evans‘ replacement. I‘m Henry Lloyd. I hope that you enjoy your time teaching here with us and if you need any help finding something, please don‘t hesitate to ask. I remember my first day; it took me forever to learn my way around here.”

Jack smiled warmly as he shook his hand.

“Thank you. My name is Jack Barakat. Thank you for your offer to help, I‘ll most definitely keep that in mind, although being an ex-student, I‘m sure that I‘ll be able to find my way around. I knew these corridors and more importantly, their hiding places, more than anyone else back in my day.”

Henry laughed at Jack’s comment and began to question Jack about his subjects and timetable.

Soon enough, it was time to meet with the Principle. Jack smiled in nostalgia as he walked into the office area. Nothing had changed. Sitting in the same desk that she had occupied when he was a student, was the Principle’s Secretary, Annie. She glanced up from her work when she heard the door open and her face broke out into a grin.

“My, oh, my! If it isn‘t Jack Barakat. I never thought I would see the day when you walked into the office again.” She exclaimed as a boy sitting outside the office looked up to see what was happening. “I never thought that you would be the one to replace John Evans. How have you been? Look at you all grown up. Would you like a sweet, dear?”

She held the bowl of boiled candy out to Jack.

“Mint humbugs?” Jack asked hopefully, remembering that Annie had always had a soft spot for them.

“You know it.” She smiled. “Alex, dear, would you like a sweet?”

The boy occupying the seat outside the office looked up from his lap once again. He had shaggy brown hair and Jack guessed that he wasn’t much younger than him, maybe eighteen, which would make him a senior.

“No, thank you, Annie.” He replied quietly.

Annie smiled at Alex as Jack took a sweet from the bowl and popped it into his mouth.

“So, Jack, how does it feel to be able to go into the Principle‘s office for the first time without being in trouble?”

Jack was about to reply when the door of the office was flung open and Martin Daly stuck his head out.

“Annie, could you…? Ah, Jack! There you are. Alex, I’ll be with you in a few minutes; I just need to talk to Mr. Barakat first.”

Jack followed him into the office, taking a seat in front of the desk.

“Jack, I called you in here for a reason. It is regarding one of your students, Alex Gaskarth. He is the boy that is waiting outside.”

Jack’s mind raced ahead in alarm. He thought that he had been called in here to be warned about a student’s behaviour. Surely, a boy who looked so quiet and calm wouldn’t be a trouble maker. Martin noticed the look of alarm on his face and quickly began to elaborate.

“Don‘t worry, Jack. Alex is a good student, but I need to inform you of his situation since you will not only have him for English, but also both music classes. Alex‘s dad is in the process of receiving treatment for cancer and last month, he lost his mother. Alex has missed a great deal of school and today is his first day back since his mother‘s death. Since you are the only teacher who has him for so many subjects, I‘m asking you to keep an eye on him. Make sure that he‘s okay. He will probably find it easier to talk to you because of the small age difference. He is more or less the sole carer of his father and I need to know that I can trust you to help. I know that you went through something similar not so long ago.”

If there ever was a disadvantage to teaching in your old school this was it. The teachers knew all about your past. When Jack was seventeen, he had lost his dad to cancer but thankfully, unlike Alex, he still had his mom.

“Yeah, of course you can trust me. I’ll do whatever it takes to help him.”

“Thank you, Jack. I really appreciate this.” Martin replied, standing and walking towards the door. “Stay where you are and I‘ll go get him now.”

Martin left the office for a moment and returned with Alex following behind him.

“Jack, this is Alex Gaskarth. Alex, this is Mr. Barakat, he is going to be your new English and Music teacher. I’ve asked him to give you a hand catching up with what you’ve missed and to just be there for you if you have any problems.”

Alex waved shyly at Jack and Jack smiled kindly at him while Martin kept on talking.

“Now, I’m sure you realise that you have missed a great deal but I’m sure that Mr. Barakat will be more than happy to stay after school and help you catch up.”

Jack’s eyes widened in surprise at this statement and he nearly choked on his mint humbug. Firstly, a big no-no was when a person has missed so much school for a reason that is beyond their control, the last thing that they needed to be reminded of was just how much school that they had actually missed. It made them feel as though it was their fault. Secondly, Jack knew that he couldn’t stay after school. It was something that he couldn’t change.

“Excuse me.” Jack blushed trying to regain his composure. “Yeah, I‘m sure that Alex and I will be able to work something out.”

Judging by the look Alex was giving Jack, he knew that something was up. Martin, however, remained oblivious to it all and just kept on talking.

“Perfect! Since you both have class together, I‘ll let you leave now. The bell is about to ring soon.”

With that, he dismissed the pair and they left the office but not before Jack promised Annie that he would come and find her for a catch up soon. By the time Alex and Jack reached the classroom, the bell still hadn’t rung.

“Umm, Mr. Barakat.” Alex started. “I appreciate that you are here to help me but I got the impression that you didn‘t want to tutor me and that is totally fine. I mean, I‘m sure all of this is hard enough on your first day without having to look after some kid too. I can just find someone else to help me.”

Jack’s eyes widened in shock. He had not meant to make Alex feel that way.

“Oh no, I didn‘t mean to make you think that. Of course, I‘ll tutor you if you need me to. We‘ll just have to arrange a suitable time that suits us both. I was mainly shocked at the fact that Mr. Daly mentioned how much work you had missed, it wasn‘t your fault that you had to miss so much school and it was the last thing that you needed to hear today. So, if you want me to teach you, I will. You mightn‘t want me to though. I could be a really bad teacher. There‘s a reason why Annie knows me so well.”

Alex smiled at Jack’s feeble attempt at a joke.

“I guess that we‘ll just have to find out, huh? Thanks for the offer; I really appreciate it. I have missed so much, haven‘t I?”

With that the bell rang out and the rest of the students began filing into the class and Alex took his seat.