That Time There Was a Possible Pedophile in my School

"Get up" My dad yelled into my room and so I did.

A normal day, as I get some more sleep on the bus to school. The ride there like a long and peaceful ride and slip in and out of sleep. The birds peacefully about something and my teacher talks about something. The day went normal. Then I met a friend in the restroom, and they said,

"That substitute creeps me out. He keeps staring at me and others."

I was alarmed. I've heard of terrible teachers who would do things to their students in the past. But I never thought one would ever be this close to me; Across the hall 'teaching'. I returned to class; The humdrum pace of the day continued as he slipped my mind. Then recess came.

"You gotta walk a lap mister!"

My teacher reminded me because I got in trouble the previous day. So I did, thinking about various things but not that awful rumor. I reached the last segment, one straight shot and I'll be free. And then I saw him just standing there under a tree. All I could make out is that he wearing a black outfit, because of the sun and me being near-sighted. Not the facial expression or the movement of his eyes, Just a then white man wearing a black outfit.

I'm at a walking speed as the rumors popped back into my brain. TMy pace quickly changed into speed-walking as the anxiety or the gaze making me increasingly uncomfortable. uncomfortable changed to unbearable causing me to give up on trying to be polite or subtle and just ran to safe ground. Slowing down once I reached the real teachers talking about their day and gossiping. So I sat on the nearby bench thinking about what just happened.

Was it nothing? Was it me assuming the worst? Or was I right, were my friends right?

Some short unknown amount of time I stopped and started hanging out with my friends. Not talking about him.

Later that same recess a rumor was spreading he got fired. Having him out of the building did make me feel safer but it also made me slightly more uneasy. If he got fired that means he probably was staring at kids winch means he was staring at me.

But the day went by turning into months then years. Him and that encounter crept into my mind as an odd event that occurred during 6th grade. Then I asked a friend if she remembers him.

"Yeah I do, I heard he tried to kidnap a kid," she said.

"Really?" I asked

"Yeah" she replied before needing to walk away to lunch and so I did too and sat alone and not with my friend because she is in another class. And I thought about what just transpired.

This was most likely the reason for him getting fired if it is true. He may have even got sent to jail. This was weird and scary to learn. I was near him. I may have just walked by him with him staring at me. The fact that I was feet away from him, in the same building as him even. Did frighted me. But maybe all the rumors were wrong. The teacher may not have even been fired and if he did it was just because he was bad at teaching. But I doubt that. I may not have been scarred for my life, but I did have a reminder that every day you may encounter danger.

Well that is what I thought after writing a story on Reddit and later for school. Writing this story obviously reminded me of this occurrence so I asked my friend and told her a much shorter and simpler version of this. And the only new info she had was that she heard he got arrested and/or fired for attempted solicitation of a minor. Which does make more sense then him kidnapping. But it could be some combination of the two, in fact I think it is. And I do stand by my earlier statement obviously.

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