Drama By Name

The halls were quiet as Alex limped down the corridor. The days were getting colder, so people were enjoying the last warm days of September outside. If you listened hard enough, you could hear the sound of the school orchestra practicing in the main hall, the same as every Thursday lunchtime.
He reached the end of the corridor and paused for a second before gently knocking on the door to room 15. He heard a small musical ‘Come in!’ and entered. The room was silent apart from the sound of an electric desk fan, aimed straight at Mr Barakat's face. “Hi Alex, you okay?”

Alex looked up at his teacher who sat behind his desk, marking papers. Mr Barakat looked gorgeous. His dark hair looked cleaner than usual, the feathery strands of blonde fluttering in the artificial breeze. He was wearing a burgundy shirt with the top buttons undone and the silver tie loosened, revealing a sliver more of flawless pale skin. Alex really tried not to stare, really he did, but was only brought out of his daydreaming by a cough.

“You okay, Alex?”

“Er, yeah, I’m fine.”

“How’s your leg?”

“Still a bit sore, I took yesterday off school to rest up.”

“Oh, I hope it’s not too bad... Why did you come to see me?”

Oh god, Alex thought, no backing out now. Why was he so nervous about this? “Well, I was er, just wondering... why, the other day, you introduced yourself as my friend to my mom, and not as my teacher?”

Mr Barakat sat back in his seat and swallowed hard, looking visibly paler than usual. This was not good in Alex's books. Something was wrong. “Ah. Right.” Mr Barakat leant forwards again, running a hand through his hair before resting his hands on the desk. “Well Alex, I only did that because I’m not entirely sure that I’m allowed to give lifts to students.”

“What, is it against school policy or something?” Alex asked, slightly worried by Mr Barakat's tone.

The teacher scowled down at his hands before answering. “Erm... More like law.” He looked up, an uneasy expression painted across his face, as though he was expecting to be shouted at, or hit, or for Alex to freak out.

Alex did none of these things. He simply looked at Mr Barakat and said a small “Oh.”

“Please, don’t be mad, okay? I’m fully CRB checked, I’m not dangerous. Yeah, sure, I am on medication, but I wouldn’t-“

“Medication? What for?”

“Oh... Ah, depression. Nothing serious, I just get a bit... down, sometimes. Anyway, I’m not dangerous, and I would never hurt you Alex.” They looked at each other for a moment before Mr Barakat added “Or anyone else.”

Alex limped over to the desk in front of Mr Barakat's and sat down on the edge, facing his teacher and watching intently. “You know, I didn’t mind. I still don’t mind. I was just wondering why. I mean... My mom would have understood if you’d explained.” Alex said, watching the mildly distressed man, relax slightly with his words.

“I’m sorry... I just, I’m not used to dealing with teenagers, you know? Working as a T.A. in kindergarten kinda alienates you from everyone else. I mean, if they trip and hurt themselves, you put a bandaid on the scratch and tell their parents. With you, I acted the way I used to when my friends hurt themselves on nights out.”

“Used to? Don’t you see your friends anymore?”

Mr Barakat laughed bitterly. “I don’t have any friends! I used to hang with a guy called Jaime. He was a bit wild, and when I decided to go into teaching and child care... We drifted apart. He went into music production and event organising. Same as all my other friends. ‘Married to the music, for better or for worse’ my mate Josh said. The only friend I really have is my brother, but he has his own life.”

The fake smile faded from the man’s face, and he scowled down at his folded arms on the table. Alex didn’t know what to say. Jay's friends has abandoned him when he became Mr Barakat, and Alex felt terrible for him. He couldn’t imagine Zack, Rian and Tay leaving him because of a job.

“Is that why you were so eager go play guitar with me after school?”

“I guess so... It reminded me of the times me and my friends would mess about in Jaime's garage. We had a band once you know. Me and Jaime sang and played guitar, my brother played bass, it was nice... But I decided to grow up earlier than them, so they left me.” Mr Barakat was hunched over in his chair, eyes glistening slightly with tears.

It broke Alex's heart to see anyone like this. Someone so happy and willing to help and make people laugh, but so alone, abandoned, and hurt by people he called his friends.
Alex stood up and limped over to Mr Barakat and rested a hand on his shoulder. The teacher turned his head to look at Alex, and in that silence, you could have sworn you heard Alex's heart shatter. Mr Barakat's huge brown eye’s shimmered with tears, his thin pink lips pressed together in an effort to stop his lip from trembling. He blinked and a single tear rolled down his pale cheek. He blinked against and looked away, wiping his eyes quickly and sighing a broken laugh. “I’m... I’m sorry Alex. I’m being stupid. Just... Go enjoy your lunch break, yeah?”

Alex gently squeezed his teachers shoulder, making the man look back up at him. He looked so young, so innocent. How could anyone leave Mr Barakat, Jay, just because he wanted to teach?

“You know, we are kind of friends.”

“Don’t be silly Alex, I’m your teacher...”

“Yeah, but we’ve hung out after school, and you’re only, what, 22?”

“I’m actually 24.”

“Oh, you look younger...” Alex blushed. Why would he say that to his teacher? Oh god, he was so stupid!

“Really? Well, you look older than 17...”

Alex blushed again, he could feel his face burning. He looked back at Mr Barakat shyly, only to find his teacher also blushing, his cheek bones shaded fushia. Before he knew what he was doing, Alex had bent down and softly placed his lips onto Mr Barakat's. A moment later, his senses returned and he moved away as fast as he could.

“Oh my god, I am so sorry! I’m just... I’ll leave...” Alex turned to walk away, only to be held on the spot by a gentle hand on his wrist.
He looked back down at Mr Barakat, who stood and, not letting go of Alex's wrist, lifted his other hand to Alex's face and tilted his chin upwards, their lips meeting is a slow, soft caress. Niether moved their lips for a moment, until Mr Barakat pulled back slightly and pressed into the kiss again.
Alex's mind was racing, his thoughts and emotions doing circuits of his brain at a thousand miles a minute, but his body reacted in just the right way. Or so he thought. Just as Alex's hand reached up to rest on Mr Barakat's arm, the sudden, slight contact made Mr Barakat jump backwards, his lips being the last thing to move away from Alex.

They stood there for a few seconds, just looking at each other, neither moving nor making a sound. As suddenly as he’d pulled away, Mr Barakat almost stumbled backwards into his chair and resumed his original position, marking papers as though nothing had happened in the past 5 minutes. “I’m sorry Alex. I, uh, think you should leave.”

Dumbstruck, still trying to process what had just happened, Alex stood there and lamely said a simple, “Okay.” And walked quickly towards the door, ignoring the protest from his sore leg. Just as he reached the door though, Mr Barakat spoke up. “Wait.”

Alex spun around to face the man, who sat smiling from behind the desk, the electric fan making his hair dancing like little ribbons in the breeze. “Yes?”

“See you tomorrow, Lex.” Alex smiled. Only his mom ever called him ‘Lex’, and the way the words sounded on Mr Barakat's tongue made his stomach jump.

“See you, Jay.”

Notes