Chapter Text
It was the first day of the autumn term, but the weather was still warm. Still, there was a sort of anticipation in the air, leaving the still green leaves shaking on the branches. The sun was soon to be high in the sky and although the sky was painted in small strokes of clouds the weather was perfect enough such that it could have been a day without worries.
However, because it was the first school day it could not be enjoyed as such. Surrounded by the schoolyard - a flat area covered almost solely in gravel except for the two large flowerbeds filled with grass in front of the school’s main entrance – stood a tall imposing building of muted red brick. Its details were all painted stark black, and its architecture was inspired by neo-Renascence. The school was made up of three buildings, one of them being the large front that also existed in two other places in the city. Aside from four floors it held a basement where the school could hide away their least favorite students from the rest of the student body to see. This was the school where the new students would have to learn their way around.
Now, the school’s auditorium’s benches were filled with new students glancing around nervously. The auditorium was quite grand, a circular room with the scene in the middle. It was made up of two floors; the second balcony being held up by large white pillars made with great eye for detail. Onto the stage walked the school’s assistant principal, whose eyes scanned over the students.
Soon, all students had been divided into their respective classes and were led into whatever classroom was to be theirs. The classroom they arrived in was filled with rows of tables and large with a tall ceiling to match. Along one wall there were huge windows, surely the size of a door. Outside the windows was the view of the schoolyard and their new sports hall. The classroom was located on the second floor, and it had the clear purpose of being a classroom for natural sciences. This was shown by the shelves in the back of the classroom that were filled with different equipment. One could spot a microscope, Newton’s cradle and a heap of things so old that they probably didn’t work anymore. Another wall of the classroom was lined with counters and beside them an emergency shower cabinet. Yes, it was clear that this was a classroom meant for natural sciences.
At last, their teachers introduced themselves. Rickard stood behind the teacher’s desk as he explained to the new students how their new school worked. He was to be their physics teacher he told them. The students sat silently and observed their new teacher. He was a man of about 50 years with a tall build. He had a bit of stubble on his chin, but his head lacked hair. What little was left had a grayish color. He clad himself in plaid shirt and jeans and around his neck hung a tie.
The students found that he seemed to be a nice teacher – not regarding grades, mind you, but he was understanding and really quite good at his job. What the students also found is that he seemingly had a strong connection with his co-worker, their new math teacher Daniel.
Throughout the day, and the following week as well, the students observed Rickard and Daniel spending an abnormal amount of time together. This wasn’t anything outside of the realms of possibility, they both were after all teachers in the two subjects that went hand in hand. As such they must spend some time together, grading papers amongst other things.
But this didn’t stop some of the students jokingly suggesting that their teachers might be in some sort of secret relationship. The thought felt absurd, but it would make for some great conversations in the cafeteria.
“Have you noticed that Daniel always seem to find a way to mention Rickard in all of our lessons, god it’s like he is obsessed with him or something”, one of them commented during a lunch.
“Wouldn’t it be so funny if they were secretly married or something, like they are trying to hide it from us and think they are doing a really excellent job at it but then we have literally figured it out in basically no time”, said another student.
Even though it wouldn’t be frequently discussed it was going to be a recurring topic amongst a lot of the groups that would come to form in the class. But on the first day they still had very little idea of which people would belong to theirs. It was both exciting and extremely scary. Since every one of them wanted to make sure that their high school days were as happy as possible it made everyone try to be the best versions of themselves, and even if this in the beginning washed out their personalities a bit it gave everyone an understanding that they were going to work together to make the next three years as great as they could.
The winding halls of the school were tall and decorated in the way important buildings from 1891 were. One could spot a wide array of mounted animals, amongst these turtles, eagles, armadillos to name a few. Other displays were of old equipment for physics lessons long past and the students’ own artworks in the form of paintings, clothes and pictures. This is of course just to name a few. The floor was tiled in a muted red and grey and despite the building being old it was well lit with huge lamps hanging from the ceiling of the four floors. In these halls, one could find Rickard and Daniel on their way to different classrooms but splitting of at the last possible moment they could. The students quietly observed as they walked by laughing and smiling. Certainly, they had a relationship beyond what was normal, beyond whatever relations they had with other teachers.
As school ended the students slowly moved out the exist the building through one of its many large doors. The sun shone down onto the schoolyard and the last summer warmth was slowly seeping away and disappearing to make way for the grey and rainy autumn. Near some rails outside the doors were the two teachers. Rickard and Daniel were clad in dark sportswear and as the students walked home they began their run around the block, something the students soon would find out was a regular occurrence.