How to be the teacher

I reluctantly picked up my Economics notebook and the paper with my presentation in it, let out a sigh and banged my locker shut.

"Let's go" I say to Caden who hasn't left my side for a second. We started heading for our next class when I heard my phone vibrate with a notification, pulled it out and saw it was a text from Joshua

Josh: you with Caden rn?

Me: Yeah, so?

Josh: Go easy on the dude okay!

Me: Why? What's wrong with him

Josh: Dad's death anniversary

Me: Ohh, Got it!

"Hey…" I stopped on my tracks

"Yeah?"

"What's up? You're acting all gloomy"

"Nothing…it's just…"

"You miss your Dad, yeah?"

"..."

"It's okay!" I tried to sound reassuring

"You're okay, okay!"

"Thanks" he replied with a small smile

"There we go, normally I hate that smile" I teased with a smile of my own

"Oh stop pretending like it's not your favorite view" he mockingly said with a smirk

"Oh please! I just want my A"

"If you say so" he replied with a smirk as we continued walking

We got to class and I'm not gonna lie and say I'm not nervous for the presentation, but whatever. We sat side by side with each other, Aby- of course, was doing the intro and shit, followed by Aiden, then moi and then Caden.

Few minutes of loud chattering, Mr Martins finally made an appearance. The four of us stood in front of the class staring down at our supposed classmates as they also stared up at us

"Afternoon, class?" Aby laughed at her own un-surety and I couldn't help but roll my eyes

"I'm Abigail this is Caden, Jia and Aiden. Uhm, so we are discussing on the topic Agriculture and its main components to the national economy, features and of course its importance to economic development as a whole"

"But of course you'd have known this if you actually listened in the last class" I added, earning me a smack before she continued

"Anyways, as Mr Martins said- you're free to ask questions when we're done" at that, they all nodded in understanding

I walked back to my seat which earned me a lot of stares

"What?" I snapped

"You don't expect me to keep standing there do you?" It was a rhetorical question- obviously.

"I didn't sign up for military training y'know" I sighed and gestured to Aby- (who was shaking her head in amusement) to continue.

Mr Martins then gestured for Caden and Aiden to get back to their seats, also

He gets it

"For better explanation, I'll be giving the definition of Agriculture-" I don't know of my eyes where just deceiving me or something, but she closed the stack of papers in her hand

What the hell?

"Is she just showboating or-?" I whispered to Caden.

"What are you talking about?" He looked at me unamused.

"She's using her head for fuck sake" I hissed in a whisper

"We all are! Wait…don't tell me— oh my God, of course you didn't read the chat"

"Well…not exactly, about what?"

"You better know how to stack everything in that empty head of yours"

"—And I miss gloomy Cady" I say with a fake smile

"What?"

"Gloomy Cady! It's your new nickname" my smile growing wider

"Just get back to your work" he says waving me off

"Sure, gloomy Cady" I say with a grin. The teacher gave us a warning glare as Aby blabbed away.

"Don't call me that!" He snapped back at me

"Of course, anything for you, gloomy Cady"

"—and then we have Co-operative farming; this type of farming involves a union of farmers to get together so they are able to enjoy some incentives from the government. Such incentives may include loans, input supply like fertilizers, subsidies, easy disposal of their products through organized marketing, etc. If you have any question why don't you write it down and we'll answer them all together"

I only heard 'any questions' cause that means she's done.

"I can't do this" I whispered to Caden again

"Do what?" He asked annoyed

"Hey!-" I snapped

"-don't look at me like that!" I say glaring at him. "But seriously, I can't!" He just shrugged

"Dude!" I whined and smacked his arm

"Ouch" he feigned hurt "what?"

"I'm serious!… how about I just throw up" I said nodding my head as if it was the best thing I've ever come up with. "Cause then I'd be taken to the nurse's office, right?"

"Okay, but how?"

"You were supposed to tell me how, I've never vomited in my life before"

"Wow" he said unfazed

"Wait, for real?" He asked after noting how serious I was. I nodded my head vigorously before snapping my head back to the front of the class to see Aiden already standing there, I turned to see Aby back to her seat

"That went great! I'm so proud of you" I cooed

"Why thank you" she said flipping her hair

"Okay so do you know how a perfectly healthy person can throw up for no reason, also- they've never thrown up before, so do you?" I rambled

"Oh my God!" She snapped, earning her a few curious stares from some students

"You're not trying to bail on this, are you?" She whispered

"Well…not exactly, you don't know—"

"—That you had no idea we talked about NOT presenting with any materials at hand in the group chat that you supposedly read and you're just finding out now so you want to bail because you can't know everything before your turn so now you want a reason to be rushed to the nurse's office so you get to be skipped" she said in one go

"Okay so you do know!" I muttered and my shoulders slumped down voluntarily.

I REPEAT: Man do I hate school!!!

"Armen!" Mr Martins called out

"Hmm?"

"You're up"

I stood up and walked up to the front of the class. "No introduction needed I suppose" I said blankly. I looked down to be met with curious eyes staring up at me, I rolled my eyes before sighing and started coughing a little too aggressively and much too forced, eyes just blinking while no one said anything.

"Ehm, sorry for that…I've got a little…" I pointed a finger at my throat. Again, nothing

"So I'll be discussing on the Roles of Government in Agricultural development" I said and blinked down at them, AGAIN, nothing

"Of course as we all know, unless you're a total idiot…it's main component, it serves as a generation of income, through ex port of agricultural produce like—" I peeked at the paper I brought along, snapping my head up to be met with the teacher's questionable look, Caden face palming, some had their eyebrows raised in question, some holding in a laugh, Aby gesturing for me to continue since I'm taking my sweet ass time to look at everyone, I turned to the left side of the class to be met with Ethan's half amused, half grinning and half holding in a laugh look

What the heavens is he doing here

My eyes bulged out of their sockets. If you were to ask me what my name was right now, and what my purpose in life was, my answer would have been: I'm 'Ethan's Murderer' and my purpose is to ''Murder Ethan'.

I heard a very loud, a very fake clearing of throat, snapped my head to see Caden giving me the 'what are you waiting for look'

I don't think I've said this enough to come true, I HATE SCHOOL. Maybe it'll work in bold

"Oh sorry, my—" I pointed at my throat again

"Is acting up again, gotta give it a break time to time" I said with a nervous chuckle

"Am I also allowed to ask them questions?" I turned to mr Martins, he just nodded his head,rolling his eyes. I guess he's tired of all my drama.

This is why he's my favorite teacher

"What are you doing here, Ethan!" I turned back to Ethan who was grinning really, really widely.

"Got transferred" he said with a shrug

"And you couldn't have done that any other day but today?" I asked flying my arms at his direction

"And miss the chance to watch you embarrass yourself first hand?" he said smirking "not a chance". I forcefully inhaled and then exhaled before running my eyes over the sheet.

"So back to what I was saying. Sale of crops and their products, also animals and their products, provides income for farmers.

And then there is it's usefulness as a source of foreign exchange—" I looked down at the paper once again

"—we all know that through the export of agricultural produce, a nation is able to earn foreign exchange"

"And then there is employment for the working population; agriculture and other agro-based industries provide employment opportunities for 35-50% of the population, I think"

"We also have the provision of market for industrial goods; agriculture prov-"

"Why are you making it brief? You are supposed to have a full discussion, be the teacher" mr Martins cut me off. I stared at him blankly before turning my gaze back to Aby who wasn't even looking at me

Can't I just drop unconscious right now?

"I'm not allowed to say much due to my…throat condition. I'm sick"

He rolled his eyes before saying "Just go on" he waved me off

And it was at this moment, I wanted the earth to swallow me whole

<><><>

The last bell was heard and my happiness cannot be worded

Is that a word?

Grabbed two books from my locker before heading out.