It was the first day of the new semester at a new school. I taught 12th grade science at the high school, it was a private school filled with wealthy families; some of them were quite prominent. I had just transferred from a public school across town, a world away from this new school. Seeing kids in uniform was a pleasant change. I hoped their upgraded appearance came with an upgraded work ethic and respect for authority.
In the past I had to shout at kids, kick them out of class and have hard nosed face to face shouting matches where I'd tell them how they would fail my class and fuck their lives up. I hated doing it but sometimes it set them straight, most of the time however they would mess with my car for revenge. I've had my tyres let down, exhaust plugged a few times and a side mirror broken off. This is why I had a low tolerance for kids that messed around in class and didn't care because I knew I'd have to shout at them later.
The labs here were fairly similar to the ones at the last school but some of the gear was a bit more high end. I had everything planned out for the day based off the lesson plan I'd been given. I had just enough time to make a cup of coffee in the teacher's lounge before second period started.
As I left the lounge the bell rang. Upon returning to the lab I found a small group of students waiting by the door. They were a mix of 5 boys and girls. The boys wore dark slacks, pale blue shirts and a dark blue tie, all with short hair and polished shoes. The girls wore a plaid skirt and stockings in same colour as the boys slacks and the same blue shirts with a small tie. All the girls had their hair tied back or plaited, I was impressed with the uniform.
"Good morning" I said sipping my coffee. They turned to me and smiled
"Good morning, Sir" one of the boys said. I smiled; my expectations about the respect were currently intact. I unlocked the lab and led the students inside. They took seats at one of the front benches, I pulled out a class list from the folder and scanned it quickly.
"So what are your names?" I asked
"This is Sarah, James, Bryan, Tristan and I'm Jessica" Said the girl at the end of the row, pointing as she listed the names. Soon another half dozen students came in and sat down then a few more. As each small group sat I asked them their names and marked them off the roll. It was quarter past now and time to start the lesson. I shut the door and walked to the white board
"Okay, good morning everyone my name is Mr. Dell. I'll tell you now so you all know, if you miss the door next time it'll be locked and you will miss the lesson. I'm letting it slide today however" I announced as I wrote "Mr. Dell" across the board. I could tell most of these kids had never had this rule applied to them, they shuffled nervously in their seats. I started with the lesson doing a quick overview of Darwinian evolution and species classification. I had just started explaining Darwin's Galapagos Finches when I heard the door creep open. Turning I saw three girls heading for the vacant seats in the rear of the lab. Immediately I saw the difference between these girls and the others in the class. They had their hair down or very loose, lots of makeup on, their shirts were tighter and their skirts had been rolled at the top to bring the hemline up above their knees. They looked like they were 20 year olds dressing as schoolgirls for a Halloween party.
"Stop, what are your names?"
I called after them and picked up the class list. They turned to me
"I'm Britney Moores" One of them said "That's Chrissy Downes and Becca Smith" I marked them off the list
"You're a little late aren't you girls?" I said
"Yeah, we like, got lost coming over here" Britney said sitting down
"Well so that you know for next time the door is locked at quarter past and stays locked til the end of the lesson"
"But what if we get lost again?" Chrissy piped up. The other two giggled which cemented my suspicion they were lying.
"Maybe you should pick up a map then huh" The class giggled quietly and even from the other end of the room I saw the girl's faces flush with embarrassment. I continued on with the lesson. About 5 minutes later I heard a mobile phone go off. I snapped around looking for someone fiddling with a phone instead of paying attention.
"No phones in my class" I boomed "They should be off or better yet, in your locker. I can and will confiscate them. This is your one and only warning"
As soon as I said Lemarkian evolution I heard the phone go off again. This time I was quick enough to see Britney texting under the lab bench.
"Ms. Moores. Put your phone on my desk right now" I demanded.
"No way. It's my phone you can't take it off me" She protested
"Ms. Moores you can surrender the phone or get out of my class and receive a fail"