Truth

Alarm clocks were always Jack’s least favorite thing when it came to beginning the school year. He was actually still convinced that he was still a teenager; screwing up his sleeping patterns beyond belief as his summer job didn’t require for him to come in until 5 p.m. That being said, he was definitely still awake by the time the shrill sound filled his bedroom, the bold red numbers flashing 6:00 as he grudgingly rolled out of bed and traipsed towards his closet.

Coffee with Carissa had never sounded so amazing until now.

He really wasn’t sure what to expect this school year. The beginning of the year was always a drag, having to learn the names of every student in all seven of his classes. Jack was better with faces than he was with names, but naturally, so is everybody. It’s basic human nature. However, he’s never sure what to expect with his students. Always receiving a mix of classes where they’re either very talkative and take part in debates, or they’re quiet to the point that Jack could hear his ears start to ring. There was always something new. Last year he had a class where only one kid would talk. Don’t get him wrong, Jack was forever thankful that someone was talking, but it definitely gets old after awhile. Jack got into teaching psychology because he was genuinely curious as to how other individuals view certain topics and why, so it undoubtedly sucked when no one spoke up.

After double checking his appearance in the mirror, Jack swung his bag over his shoulder and left, fondly rolling his eyes seeing that Zack had, once again, crashed on the couch. Why does he even own a bed?

Walking into their local cafe, the teacher had immediately spotted Carissa sitting at their usual booth. He waltzed over, a small smile gracing his features.

“You didn’t have to buy my drink, Caris,” Jack said fondly, palms immediately finding the warm surface of the cup.

“It’s fine,” she shrugged, her short, curled red hair hitting her shoulder, “you just owe me next time.”

“Fair enough,” Jack shrugged, taking a small sip of his drink, “You looking forward to today?”

“Of course!” Carissa beamed, “I’ve got a student this year who I had freshman year who’s a senior now taking an advanced class. It’s always cool seeing how students grow and mature.”

Jack smiled, nodding along with her as she continued to talk about the lessons that she had planned out for the semester. If there was a time that Carissa wasn’t being silent, it was now. She had such an intense passion for teaching, it truly amazed Jack. He kind of wished that she was this talkative all of the time, her true colors shine through so much when she talks about what she loves. Sometimes it gets boring talking for the both of them. Jack totally understood her introversion, however. He is totally into how the brains works, after all.

“How about you?” Carissa asked after a couple moments of silence, “You looking forward to anything this year?”

Almost immediately, his thoughts strayed to Alex Gaskarth. Carissa never knew about the situation that he had with his recurring student; he wasn’t necessarily one to openly talk about current problems that he had. So he just shrugged in return, meeting her gaze once again.

“I have some old students again as well. It’s going to be nice getting to know them better.”

---

“Alright, listen up!” Jack yelled after the bell rang, successfully gaining the attention of his seventh class as he walked towards the middle of the room.

“Technically speaking, I’m Mr. Barakat. But you can call me whatever. A popular one is Mr. B, I’ve also gotten Mr. B-cat, but regardless - I really don’t care what kind of nicknames you guys come up with so long as it’s school appropriate.

“Anyways, welcome to Introduction to Psychology! You’re all here for different reasons,” Jack started, beginning to walk along the line of desks, “Maybe you need this class to graduate, maybe you failed this class last year and have to retake it, or maybe you’re genuinely interested in the subject. Point being, why you're here doesn’t really matter. I’m just asking that you actually try to pass this course. Trust me, it’ll save both of us the trouble,” Jack stopped, making subtle eye contact with Alex before continuing his beginning-of-the-year speech.

“So, a bit of a synopsis of what we’re going to be learning this semester,” Jack continued, “For those who don’t already know, Psychology is the study of mental behavior and mental processes. We will be studying what individuals do, and why they do the things that they do. Psychology is a science, so we will be learning how to analyze behavior and what kind of things cause certain behaviors. You can expect to be challenged intellectually as we work through this course together, and you’ll have a great opportunity to learn about the people around you as well as yourself. Good?”

Jack clasped his hands together, only receiving mumbles from his students as he subtly rolled his eyes.

“C’mon, guys. I know it’s the first day of school, but I promise you this class isn’t a boring one,” Jack reassured as he started handing out a class syllabus, “I mean, I consider myself a pretty laid back guy, so-”

“Laid back gets old after two years,” Alex mumbled, definitely earning Jack’s attention as he folded his arms over his chest.

“Mr. Gaskarth, it’s nice to see you again,” Jack sighed, handing him the syllabus that he undoubtedly already had, “I presume that I won’t have to say that again next year, yeah?”

“We’ll see,” he sighed, already beginning to absentmindedly doodle on the paper Jack had just handed him.

“Alright, anyways,” Jack hummed, walking towards the front of the room, “I don’t assign homework very often, maybe once or twice a week. I know that a lot of you, as seniors, are taking college level classes and I know how stressful that can be. I don’t really want to add on to that, but I do ask that you do the assignments considering that there will be very few.

“One last thing before I let you guys go,” he continued, leaning against the front of his desk, “We will be talking about subjects that may be touchy to some. Subjects such as anxiety and panic disorders, depression, how these things affect individuals and the people around them. If, for any reason, you’re unable to part take in these lessons or debates, don’t hesitate to tell me, okay? I’ll be telling you what unit we’ll be learning next ahead of time, so it’s not like you’ll be finding out the day of that we’re learning something you’re not comfortable talking about. We’ll figure something different out for you to do.”

Jack subtly nodded towards a girl who slowly raised her hand, listening as she softly cleared her throat, “What’re we going to be studying first?”

“What’s your name?” Jack asked curiously.

“It’s uh, it’s Cassadee.”

“Well Cassadee,” Jack started, “our first unit is honestly probably the most boring one. We’ll just be going over the basics, like the different psychological approaches, who had what theories behind how the brain works, the history of it, etcetera.”

“And how do tests work?” she asked, leaning forward on her desk.

“Well I’m glad that someone’s asking questions,” Jack laughed, folding his arms over his slim torso, “We’ll just be taking tests at the end of each unit, which there are eight units. Additionally, there are the end of the semester exams, so there’s going to be about ten tests this year.”

She solemnly nodded, leaning back in her chair.

“Any other questions?” Jack asked, only receiving silence in return.

“Well if no further questions, then class is dismissed,” Jack shrugged, glancing at the clock to see that they only had a minute or two before the school day ended, “you guys can leave early, let’s just keep it on the down low, alright? Our secret.”

Jack watched as the students happily packed up, side conversations filling the previously quiet room as they all filed out. Turning back around, Jack saw that Alex was still at his desk, continuing his doodle on the syllabus as Jack cleared his throat.

“You’re not heading out?” Jack asked calmly.

When Alex continued to stare down at his paper, Jack furrowed his eyebrows. Squatting down, the teacher ducked his head until finally catching eye contact with Alex.

“What?” he asked quickly, ripping previously hidden headphones from his ears as he looked around the room, “Where is everyone? The bell didn’t even ring yet.”

“I dismissed class,” Jack started slowly, “Are we really going to have an issue with the headphones?”

“Nah,” Alex shrugged, folding up the paper and shoving it into his backpack, “Get’s boring hearing your lecture for a third time.”

“Well, who’s fault is that?” Jack asked in what was supposed to be a joking tone, but it only resulted in Alex whipping his head towards the teacher, a glare in his eyes as he swung his bag over his shoulder.

“I’m not getting into this conversation,” Alex bit back, making his way towards the door as the bell finally rang. He paused, however, turning back around towards Jack, “By the way, I won’t be taking part in the lesson about anxiety this year.”

“Why’s that?” Jack asked, genuinely curious, “You’ve learned about it twice already-”

“Another reason why you shouldn’t mind, right?” Alex replied snarkily, “No further questions.”

Before Jack could reply, Alex sharply turned, leaving the elder alone with questions swimming through his head.

Notes

Hahah wow I suck I'm so sorry