1 Last Day

Sitting in the middle of the teacher lounge, A rather tall black-haired man in his mid 20's with sky blue eyes was sitting down next to a table. Surrounding him on the table was a vast number of assignments he was currently grading. He was slowly making progress in his grading when he heard a sound to his left.

A middle-aged woman with dark chestnut hair with a white shirt and dark blue jeans calmly opened the door. She began making her way toward the man unhurriedly. The man continued his grading as if ignoring her existence.

Her footsteps resounded throughout the empty lounge, and a few seconds later, she arrived at the head of the table. Without even pausing she said in a demanding tone "Ensen Fuentes, the principal would like to have a word with you, please follow me."

Ensen Fuentes lifted his face and looked at her confusingly, slowly muttering "What is the matter, Secretary?"

"Just follow me Ensen, you'll find out soon enough." She said. Without further interaction, she turned around and began to head towards the door. Ensen took a deep breath and got out of his chair. He tucked in the old mahogany chair and walked quickly to catch up. Afterward, he promptly opened the door and exited into the hallway.

'Wow, she sure is dramatic. Can she not even tell me what is going on? I deserve more respect from her.' Ensen muttered under his breath, but still obediently followed her to the office. She was the school secretary after all. He glanced around the hallway. The hallway was absolutely beautiful actually. Vibrant green plants were spread erratically throughout the hallway, with benches uniformly placed at uniform distances. Hanging on the wall were pictures of various awards that the private academy had won. Ensen stared at one in particular.

It was a picture of two students shoulder to shoulder holding a golden trophy over their head, in the background was the private academy, SilverLeaf Academy. Ensen swayed his head lightly with a smile and kept walking behind the secretary. Within a few minutes, Ensen stood in front of the principal's office. With hesitation in his heart, Ensen steeled himself and opened the door.

Upon entering the principal's office, Ensen noticed a beautiful brick fireplace that was on the left side of the room. A few feet in front of the fireplace was a nice light Grey fabric couch where a beautiful lady was sitting, Emilia Wells. Emilia had dyed red hair, a charming smile, and a kind and mischievous personality. Although she has not shown her mischievous side in quite a few years, they both went to school together at the very same private Academy and were good friends. She wore a light grey long blouse combined with a black shirt and an unzipped white sweater overtop.

Hearing the door open, Emilia gradually turned her head, showing a hesitant smile towards Ensen. Without saying a word, she pointed to the couch with her right hand. With hesitant steps, Ensen slowly walked towards the couch and sat down.

They sat in silence for what seemed like an hour. Emilia wore a hesitant and defeated look on her face as she began speaking "Ensen, let's talk. I know it's been hard on you since the school has turned into a girl-only school."She said and then paused.

"I know you've been doing your best since, but... the parents want you gone, I've tried to fight them on this but…they're too persistent. " Emilia said in a gentle and somewhat sad voice.

With a light sigh, Ensen paused and seemed to be in deep thought for a few minutes before responding. "I understand Emilia. I have done my best though, and you know that. The students know that, and everybody knows that. The student's math grades have improved dramatically after I came here."

"I know Ensen. I've been doing my hardest to keep you here. But the parents are being too stubborn this time, I'm sorry."Emilia stated weakly.

"I understand, how long left do I have?" Ensen questioned.

Emilia looked directly into Ensen's eyes, before averting her eyes. "You have until the end of the day. You will be paid for the next 2 weeks and have a severance package after that. My secretary will be temporarily taking over your class until a proper replacement is found."

With heavy steps, Ensen got onto his feet and slowly walked towards the door, his footsteps echoing throughout the silent office. When Ensen got to the door, he turned around one last time and said calmly "Goodbye Emilia."Ensen then walked out and firmly closed the door.

Emilia sat on the couch staring at the door for a few minutes before sighing and heading back to her desk.

Ensen listlessly walked back to the teacher's lounge. A few of his students greeted him while he was walking in the hallway, but he barely heard them. After returning to the teacher's lounge, he glanced at the scattered mess of assignments to grade and calmly put them inside a bag for the next teacher to handle. Letting out a heavy sigh, Ensen laid down on the couch staring at the ceiling for what seemed like ages.

*Ding Ding Ding*

Without warning, three loud bell-like sounds resounded across the school.

Ensen gradually opened his eyes. With a sigh, Ensen muttered: "I need to get to class."

He gently got up to his feet and headed towards the class.

"Hey Mr. Fuents, how are you today?" A girl with blond hair, big glasses, and formal clothing asked kindly.

Looking behind him, he saw Ada, his niece. She had small, little freckles scattered on her face. She had been told by Ensen many times previously to talk to him like a teacher when at school. She lived with her mother and father nearby, but Ensen had never really been too close to them the past few years, barely even talking to them.

"Oh, hello Ada. I'm... good, have you done your homework for today?"Ensen asked with a forced smile and fake confidence.

Without a hint of suspicion, Ada smiled widely and said proudly," Of course, I did teacher, I worked super hard on it too. I bet you'll be impressed when you mark it."

"I'm sure I will Ada, now come on we need to get to class," Ensen said once more, trying to avoid further talking.

Ensen quickly arrived at the door to the classroom with Ada by his side. He paused for a moment, staring at the door trying to savor the moment.

"Umm, everything alright Ensen?" Ada said out of both curiosity and concern.

"Yeah, I'm okay Ada. And remember, call me Mr. Fuents at school." Ensen said solemnly, before gently opening the door and slowly walking into his classroom for the last time.

Examining the classroom, he was surprised to notice nearly every chair was full. Ensen slowly walked up with his heart full of anxiety to the front of the classroom and began his final lesson at the school.

After an hour and a half, the lesson had come to an end. The students were beginning to pack up their bags and stretch their legs when Ensen spoke.

"Excuse me if I could please have everybody's attention, I have an announcement I have to make." Ensen waited for his students to be looking at him. With a deep breath, he continued. "Thank you for coming. This will be my last class as your teacher. The principal's secretary will be taking over for me until a replacement is found."

He paused and examined the classroom, upon seeing everybody frozen he began saying his final words. "It's been lots of fun being your teacher for the past few months, thank you for doing your best in my class... that's all, you're dismissed."

Without waiting for a reaction, Ensen left the class. Looking at the pictures on the wall for one last time, he began heading for his car in the staff parking lot.

"Wait!" A sudden shout came from behind him. Turning his head, Ensen saw Ada standing there looking at him confusingly. Ada stared at him and said just a single word, "why?".

Ensen looked at Ada calmly, trying to think of what to say before deciding to just be honest with her. "I was fired, I'm the only male here in a now private girl academy. It's surprising I made it this far honestly, I thought I would have been gone sooner."

Ada kept staring at Ensen, not taking her eyes off him for even a moment. After staring for a few seconds, she asked in a sad tone "Then what are you going to do next?"

Ensen paused, he never really thought of what he was going to do now honestly. He looked at her and stated "I'm not too sure, to be honest, but I should be going, Ada. Do your best in school for me, okay?"

"Okay Ensen, I promise I'll do my best, goodbye," Ada said, not bothering to hide her sad face.

Without another look, Ensen turned his back and walked to his old rundown car, turned it on, and made his way home. He drove for around a half an hour to a decent-sized business park and went to his decent-looking apartment building. Taking the elevator, he slowly made his way to the door of his apartment.

'Wait, when did I get here? Well, whatever.' He thought to himself as he entered his decent apartment. Ensen threw his bag on his black couch and directly went to his bedroom. He seemingly collapsed onto the bed. With an audible sigh, he was about to doze off when a bright blue screen miraculously appeared before his dull eyes.

[Welcome to the Supreme Academy System]