Chapter One
Day One-- Harra's POV
by TaisaMustang29
"No, anyway, so then Jimmy--"
Harra inwardly sighed with relief as Sarah's ranting was interrupted by the bell, alerting her to her third class. Fixing her grip on her schoolbag, she stepped inside the classroom. The chalkboard had 'History 101' written on it, underlined. She crossed to a desk in the second row, sliding into the seat somewhat awkwardly, catching her blouse on a nail as she looked around her new History class. The other students were filing into their seats as well, but she did a double-take near the corner of the room, where a man with silvery hair and glasses was watching them. She was immediately struck with how young he looked, and wondered if he dyed his hair that way, because he couldn't possibly be any older than thirty-five. He glanced at her, and their eyes caught, icy, sharp grey to soft brown. She awkwardly smiled, half-apologetically, and dropped her gaze to the floor, blushing slightly. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him smirk. He took in her appearance once more, from her tangled, greying hair to her white shirt, caught on a nail, then stood up as the kids had settled down.
Throwing another quick glance around the room, the man turned to the chalkboard and scribbled something out. He underlined it and turned to the class.
"History is one of the most important subjects you will ever learn." his eyes flickered around the gathered students. "Other subjects are important in different fields of work, but history is the only thing that everyone uses. It allows us to learn from the mistakes of the past, to remember the achievements of civilizations that have long since died out, and of course, there's the overall interest factor. History shapes worlds and individual lives. I'm Herr von Bombastus, and I'm your history teacher for the semester." he tapped the chalkboard under what he had just written, which was evidently his name. He picked up a paper and pen from his desk and looked at the class.
"I'm going to start lessons each day with roll call." He consulted the paper. "Apparently these aren't in alphabetical order..." he muttered, more to himself than anything, and shifted his glasses. "Sarah Eckman?"
"Here!" Harra's big-mouthed friend called from a few rows back. The teacher nodded and made a mark on the paper. "Jim Goldstein?"
"Present." A freckly boy in the front row nodded.
The teacher made another mark. "Harra Arial?"
Harra felt her breath catch in her throat as she tried to respond. Soon, she managed to coax out her voice.
"H...Here, sir." she said meekly. The teacher looked at her, catching her eye. For a moment it seemed as though he were going to say something, but he just nodded again and made another mark on the paper, although he mouthed her name almost imperceptibly before moving on.
Soon the roll call was finished, and Herr von Bombastus started lecturing about medieval history. When he mentioned (however briefly) the witch trials, his voice took on a subtle change in tone, from 'the teacher' to something a little softer, as though he had reached his favorite part in a story. Harra caught this change, but she had no idea what it meant. She shrugged it off and continued to take her notes, getting the sneaking feeling that the witch hunts would be on the midterm. The bell rang, signaling lunch. Harra took her time putting her books away, mostly because she didn't want Sarah to start ranting to her again. However, as she closed her notebook and tucked her pencil into the coil, she felt someone was watching her. She glanced around and saw the teacher smirking at her from his seat behind his desk. She was half embarrassed, and half disgusted. Suppressing a shudder, Harra turned to him.
"Excuse me, sir... Aren't you going to lunch?"
Herr von Bombastus nodded, addressing his paperwork.
"Indeed I am. Unfortunately, the school policy states that a teacher can't leave their classroom until after the last student," he glanced at her pointedly over his glasses. "leaves."
Harra was entirely unaware that this was a blatant lie. She had known teachers who left before the students, but she supposed he was just staying because it was his first day, and he didn't want to bend any rules just yet. She quickly turned back to her bookbag to hide a blush and started piling her books in helter-skelter, deciding to organize them later.
"I'm sorry sir." she apologized with her head bowed, swinging her bag over he shoulder. She shot him an apologetic look before scurrying out of the room. She kept a quick pace, as she saw him following her. Although, she reasoned, he's going to the cafeteria, too...
The moment Harra entered the lunch room, she was hailed by Lavender. Harra was glad that they had lunch at the same time and immediately went to stand next to her best friend in line.
"How was English, Lavender?" Harra asked as the lunch lady put some unidentifiable green glop onto her plate.
"Oh, you know. Boring as a stick." Lavender wrinkled her nose in disgust at the lunch, baring her braces. "Excuse me? What is this?" she asked the lunch lady. She leaned forward and pointed to the green hunk of matter on her plate.
"S'meatloaf surprise." the deep-unibrowed lunch server croaked with the slightest of British accents. "Move on, then."
Harra followed her friend down the line, getting more food of questionable edibility until the counter of the hell-food ended. She followed Lavender to her table, and was delighted to find her other two friends, Sophie and Lousia, both sporting plates with green wobbly meatloaf on them.
"Hi, Harra," they chimed in unison. Lavender smoothed out her purple babydoll tee and looked at the meatloaf, sizing it up.
"Hello, you two." Harra responded listlessly, poking the green bulge on her plate with a plastic spork. "...Do you think this is edible?"
Lavender bravely took a sporkful, sniffed it, and took a bite.
"Yeah, it is. Actually, I think they just put some food coloring in it..."
"Surprise." Louisa laughed, taking a bite. Harra and Sophie followed suit.
"It's actually not bad." Harra commented between bites. Sophie nodded.
"What do you have next, Louie?" Sophie asked, pushing her greenloaf away.
"History." Louisa rolled her eyes. "The boring subject to end all boring subjects. Lavender?"
"Math," Lavender grinned. She was almost astonishingly proficient at math. "Sophie?"
"English. Harra?"
"Science." Harra sighed. The bell rang, and each of them went to their seperate classes.
Harra didn't see Herr von Bombastus for the rest of the day, although she passed Louisa in the halls once. She sighed desparingly as she stood for the bus that afternoon, piled down with homework. Her grey-brown hair fell in her face and she was forced to put her school bag down to fix it. Just as she straightened up and put the bag back on her shoulders, the public bus pulled to a stop in front of her. She climbed aboard, made her way to the back, her favorite spot, and sat down. She watched the sun starting to dip towards the west and sighed. She pushed her bookbag onto the floor in front of her and pulled out her History book and a notebook. Harra pulled the mechanical pencil out from the coil and clicked it twice, causing a small amount of pencil lead to be pushed out from the bottom. Checking her assignment in her notes, Harra opened the textbook and started looking up things for her essay on medieval history.
Roughly twenty minutes later, the bus pulled to a stop two blocks away from Harra's house. Harra got off like always and started walking home, with her books weighing her down.
"Mother? Dah?" she called as she pushed open the front door. "I'm home."
"Welcome home, Harra," her father, Damon Arial, called from the next room. "Your mother is out shopping. Shut the door behind you." he added as Harra closed the door and locked it. She walked through the entrance hallway to the living room, where Damon was watching Survivorman. He picked up the remote breifly to turn the television off and pat the seat next to him.
"So how was your first day back?" Damon ruffled Harra's hair with rough, fatherly affection.
"Tiring," Harra answered honestly. "Extraordinarily tiring... But I have homework up to here," she raised her hand above her head. "and I really have to get it done."
Her father nodded understandingly.
"Go ahead, I'll make sure your mother doesn't bother you about anything. I'll call you when dinner's done."
Harra hugged him gratefully.
"Thanks, Dah." She stood up and jogged up the steps to her room. She pulled out her homework and started tackling it, piece by piece, until she dozed off.
Harra didn't eat dinner that night. When Damon came up to get her, he saw her sleeping peacefully, drooling on her finished math, and couldn't bring himself to wake her. Instead, he draped her blanket around her shoulders and turned off the light.
Chapter Two
Day Two-- Vadim's PoV
BBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRING!
SMACK!
"Nngh..."
Vadim groaned reluctantly into the pillow as his hand flopped down from the switch on his obnoxious alarm clock to dangle just above the floor. He sat like that for a minute, his eyes closed against the soft, downy pillow, then sighed and turned over.
It was the second day of school for the year. As the history teacher, Vadim had to be at the school early, at exactly six AM. The digital readout on his alarm clock said it was five-oh-two. He had to get up.
Vadim sighed again and sat up. He pulled back the covers and got out of bed quickly. He crossed his bedroom to the bathroom, where his reflection caught his eye. His eyes were bloodshot, his hair disheveled, and his white tank top and red pajama pants rumpled. He frowned as he felt the rough stubble on his chin and started about getting ready for work. After a quick shower, shave, and various mundane morning rituals of the sort, he crossed to his closet and pulled out his typical schoolteacher uniform. White button-down shirt, black slacks, silver watch. Easy to remember, easy to obtain. He decided to get some sort of fast-food on the way to school as he was running late already. He quickly slipped on his glasses, picked up his keys, and started navigating a secret passageway quickly to the front door. It took a good two minutes, which, he supposed, wasn't all that bad, since he lived in a medieval castle, complete with grounds. He moved quickly to the converted horse stables, which now held his car, a Rolls Phantom, shining black in the morning sunlight.
Now, you ask, why did Herr von Bombastus teach at a school when he could afford a Rolls? Easy. He had nothing to do with his time, and enjoyed history. Especially the witch hunts. On top of which, he was a man of extraordinary patience, and there aren't many of those left in this world. It would certainly seem someone like him has it all. That's where you're wrong. There's one skill I can mention right now that he hadn't expanded on at all.
Driving.
Vadim's skill in driving could be compared to a giraffe's skill in looking inconspicuous; there was none.
He was speeding down the autobahn with his MPH arrow steady at 120. He pulled off at the proper exit, nearly running over a poor pedestrian, with five minutes to six. Vadim sped down the residential streets until he reached the school, four minutes later. Vowing to get something good for lunch, the slim schoolteacher exited his car and swung the door shut. He checked his watch as he entered the doors of the school. Six AM exactly.
Vadim walked quickly to his classroom, nodding a 'Guten tag" to each of the teachers he encountered. He sat down behind his desk and pulled out the day's newspaper, left on his desk at his request. He was reading it even two hours later, when his first class arrived.
He was almost disappointed that Harra wasn't there. But then, her class didn't get there until later, much later, after the lunch break. All the classes this term were learning about the middle ages, since that was his forte.
Finally! Vadim sighed as the students from the Seniors class filed out of his classroom to an obnoxious bell ringing. I'm going to the nearest Burger King...
He slipped out after the students and made his way through the packed halls. Once he got outside, he scanned the parking lot to see where he had left his car and noticed somebody was there.
"Miss Arial?" Vadim called, hardly daring to believe this twist of fate. Harra turned to see who was calling her name. "Why aren't you in the cafeteria?"
"My father's bringing me lunch today, sir." She called back.
Vadim frowned slightly. This time, it actually was against school policy. To have a student wait in the parking lot alone! Especially a freshman. However, his stomach gnawed its disapproval of his half-formed plan.
"You should wait inside. You can't be out here without a faculty member keeping an eye on you." He turned and walked to his car, leaving her to watch after him for a moment, then reluctantly go watch from inside. Vadim drove to the nearest fast food facility, which happened to be a McDonald's and ordered a quick meal, which he brought back to his classroom to eat disdainfully. He finished it quickly and neatly, with a shudder, but not getting a single crumb anywhere. He tossed the bag into the trash can next to his desk and waited for his next class.
Vadim was amused to see that Harra was the first student to arrive for her class, two periods later. He nodded to her by way of greeting, and she bowed her head back, blushing at the floor. He proceeded with the roll call, then walked around collecting homework. He intentionally took a route that had Harra as the last student.
"Homework, Miss Arial?" He held out his hand.
Harra blanched slightly. "I... I don't have it, sir."
Vadim raised an eyebrow. "And why not?"
Harra frowned at her desk. "I... I fell asleep before I finished it, sir." she explained quietly, a look of utmost shame on her face.
Vadim nodded.
"See me after class."
Fifty-five minutes later, the bell rang, signaling the end of school. All the students ran to the door as if their lives depended on getting out of school as soon as physically possible, but Harra packed her books and walked to Vadim's desk. Vadim finished clearing the chalkboard and sat down, studying her over steepled fingers. He watched her silently for a minute or so, until she broke the silence.
"I'm sorry, sir. I was unusually tired last night, it won't happen again."
Vadim remained silent for another moment before responding.
"It won't. As it's the first assignment, I'll let you off without detention, however, if it happens again, I'll have to detain you." he frowned slightly.
"Yes sir." Harra nodded, relieved that she was getting off the hook.
"Just have the homework in by tomorrow. Have a nice night." He looked back down and pushed a few papers aside to signal that their conversation was at an end. Harra left and Vadim started to stack the homework for grading in the morning. After he had finished, Vadim strode out the door, idly flicking off the light as he passed it. He left the school building and started towards his car when he saw Harra pacing back and forth a ways away. He frowned in confusion and went over to her.
"Miss Arial, what's the matter?" he asked, half-concerned, half-loftily.
Harra gulped slightly.
"I missed the bus." she hesitated for a moment. "Can I--"
But Vadim had already held out his cell phone.
"Call home and see if your parents can pick you up."
Harra nodded gratefully and dialed her number.
"Hello? Mother? Yes... No. Please. Thank you." She hung up the phone looking slightly frustrated and handed it back to Vadim. "Thank you, sir." she muttered quietly.
"It's all right, I made you miss the bus anyway." Vadim shrugged and tucked his phone back into his pocket as though he didn't care. He glanced around the parking lot, deserted except for the faculty's cars. "I should probably wait with you."
"No, no, sir, it's okay!" Harra protested, her brown eyes wide. "I can wait by myself."
Vadim shook his head. "No. I'll stay."
Harra sat down on the curb, blushing, and tucked her graying brown hair awkwardly behind her ear. Vadim watched her from behind, making her feel even more awkward. Then, a car drove up and honked its horn loudly.
"Harra! Come on, dinner's waiting!"
Vadim nearly choked on his breath.
"Sophie! Sophie Zimmer! Is that you?"
Harra's mother looked shocked.
"Vadim von Bombastus! Like... Oh my god. Harra. Get in, like, now. No arguments!" Sophie pushed open the passenger door and Harra obeyed, confusion written all over her face.
As soon as the door was shut, Sophie slammed on the gas and drove away quickly.
"...The fifth." Vadim scowled after her. "Vadim von Bombastus the fifth."
Vadim rolled his eyes and got into his car, disgruntled. He drove home, breaking six or seven driving laws, and promptly went to sleep, not even bothering to undress.
Chapter Three
Day Three: Harra's PoV
"Mother, what's wrong with Herr von Bombastus?!"
"He's, like, a really bad man. Don't ever talk to him."
Harra was at the end of her rope. What was it with her mother? Did the slightly sarcastic teacher rip her pet dog apart or something of the sort? What could the (relatively) nice Herr von Bombastus possibly have done to her mother to make her react like this? Was she confusing him with someone else? Harra finished her breakfast and left the table in a huff. She pulled her schoolbag up over her shoulder and smoothed out her crisp dress skirt before leaving the house without a word. Harra checked her watch. It was almost seven, the bus was due any moment. She hurried off to the bus stop, nearly tripping on the uneven sidewalk. It was Wednesday, so she had History first period. Lovely. Harra wanted nothing more to find out about Herr von Bombastus, but she was afraid that his presence would be even more awkward than normal today.
Harra had felt that there was something odd about Herr von Bombastus, of course. His eyes looked as if there were something he wasn't telling anyone. Not trustworthy. But on the same token, wouldn't the school have done a background check into him?
Mother must be overreacting, like she always does. Harra decided, boarding the bus.
There can't be anything wrong with him... There can't be.
After about twenty minutes of navigating through Germany's maze of one-way streets, the bus pulled to a stop half a block away from the school. Harra immediately picked up her schoolbag and got off. She started walking towards the school, being careful not to walk into anyone in the crowd of mulling students. Harra had always prefered to go directly to class rather than stand outside until the last possible minute, although she did on a few occasions. Her steps echoed in the near-empty halls as she walked to the history classroom. Soon, she had arrived and stopped outside the door. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself and pushed the door open.
Indeed, Herr von Bombastus was there, grading papers. He glanced up at her and nodded by way of greeting, then studiously ignored her as she sat down in her usual seat in the second row. She felt her face grow hot. What had posessed me to come to class so early? I could have stayed outside and avoided this.
For something to occupy herself with, Harra took out her history books and homework. She set them on the desk, organizing it perfectly out of sheer boredom. She glanced at Herr von Bombastus, but he was finished grading and now engrossed in the newspaper. Ten torturous minutes later, the bell rang, and Harra sighed with relief as her classmates came flooding in, ready for another day of school. Herr von Bombastus began the roll call. When he reached her name, he didn't even look up to see her. When he gathered the homework and handed out grades on the last one, he made no reference to the fact that Harra's was late. In fact, class went completely without a single hitch. Harra wasn't surprised, but found herself feeling half-disappointed. Admittedly, she felt she had been stupid to envision him explaining everything to her (though, what, she never got around to deciding), but wouldn't he even look at her?Not even once? Harra thought almost sadly as the bell rang. Everyone left to get to their next class as fast as if they were escaping a room that carried the plague, but Harra packed her books slowly. As she wasn't facing Herr von Bombastus, she felt his eyes scrutinizing her. She nearly grinned as the last of the students filed out, leaving only the two of them. Harra finished packing her books and swung the bag over her shoulder.
"Excuse me, Herr von Bombastus?"
It's amazing how I planned this all lesson, and my voice is shaking now.
"Yes?" he answered without looking up.
Harra inwardly cursed herself for actually carrying this plan out, but it was too late to turn
back.
"How do you know my mother?" she said this quickly, as though saying it burnt her tongue.
Herr von Bombastus stopped grading and met her eyes, half bemused, half annoyed.
"I don't think my past social life is any concern of yours, Miss Arial." he said coolly. "Now go, you'll be late for your next class."
"Yes, sir, I'm sorry, sir." Harra said just as fast. "I really am. I'm going now. Have a nice day."
Blushing madly with embarrassment, she scurried out of the room to her next class.
-------
Lunch was the same as ever that day. Harra was seated with her friends, having their normal kind of conversations, but she couldn't help but feel watched. She figured she was imagining it, or, at least, she did until Louisa prodded her forearm.
"Hey, Harra..." She said, holding back giggles. "That guy has been staring at you since lunch started." Louisa nodded inconspicuously to a table a few rows behind them.
"Don't look now!" she added impatiently as Harra made to look. "He'll see. Just look when the bell rings."
The girls went back to their mundane conversations, Harra ignoring the feeling of being watched until the bell rang. She quickly and surreptitiously cast a glance behind her. One boy, presumably the one who was watching her, saw her and winked. Harra hardly had time to register his appearance, from his green eyes to his red-tipped black hair to his green sweatshirt before he was pushed up by one of the people in his posse, a boy who looked just a little older with spiky blond hair and a cell phone earpiece fitted snugly on his ear. The black-and-red haired boy shoved the blond one and was shoved back. Laughing, they started off at their leisure to their next class.
Harra turned back to her friends and raised an eyebrow.
"Who is he?" Harra asked almost suspiciously. Nobody answered for a moment, then Sophie stepped forward.
"He's Jake Marshall. A senior. But, he skips school a lot. The other person is Ed Olaffson, the two of them are inseperable."
"Come on, you guys, we'll be late!" Lavender interjected. Harra nodded and Sophie bit her lip, and each went off to their next class.
--------
"I'm home..." Harra called, dreading one of the voices that was bound to answer her.
"Close the door, Harra!" her mother's shrill voice came loudly. Damon's "Welcome home!" was drowned out by Sophie Arial's order. Harra closed the door immediately and started upstairs, but when she reached the foot of the stairs, she found her mother blocking the way.
"You didn't see that von Bombastus man again today, like, did you?" Her tone was accusatory.
"Mother, that von Bombastus man is the history teacher. I need to get upstairs." Harra said coldly.
"Why?" Challenged Sophie.
"I have homework." Harra responded, her voice a forced calm. Sophie's eyes narrowed, but she reluctantly stepped aside.
"I'll call you when dinner's ready." her father called resignedly from the other side of the room. Harra nodded and went upstairs to work on her homework.
Dinner that night was an affair of suppress animosity, at least for two of the members there. Damon ate calmly except to throw an appeasing glance at his wife, and a warning glance at his daughter. Harra and Sophie more or less glared at each other the entire meal, and Harra excused herself early to take a bath, do her homework, and go to bed. All the while, she stayed out of Sophie's path for the entire rest of the night.
Chapter Four
Day Four: Vadim's PoV
Sophie Zimmer's daughter. Her daughter! Damn this job, why would I have had to run into HER daughter?
Vadim paced back and forth in his room, half-dressed. It was four thirty in the morning. He couldn't sleep for the second night in a row. It was obvious now why that Harra girl had been bugging him so much.
Most people wouldn't remember their acquaintences from school, especially not at the ripe old age of fifty-two. Not Vadim. His memory wasn't any sharper than the average person's, but Sophie and her friend Mary stuck out in his mind more vividly than what had happened the previous day. Why? I'll tell you. Mary was his first and last girlfriend. After she was brutally murdered, they say, Vadim went into a state of shock that made him morose, somber and completely serious at all times. His father's best friend had 'encouraged' him to get a job teaching at a high school for thirty-something years.
And the first year I give in, who should I run into but SOPHIE ARIAL'S daughter? Vadim thought bitterly. Somehow, I'm going to make Schuler regret this.
With a sigh, Vadim glanced at the clock. Five. He had to get dressed.
He took a shower, shaved, brushed his teeth and combed his hair. He changed into a slight variant of his uniform, this time his slacks had white pinstripes, but he wasn't paying attention. He hardly noticed what he had for breakfast, nor what path he took to go to the kitchen. He was in a fog, which made his driving all the worse. In the end, however, he made it to the school.
The morning was Vadim's favorite view of the school. All was quiet, no students playing soccer on the lawn, disrupting the peace. None of the arrogant students acting better than everyone else, with their 'friends', who were really just interested in their money. On top of which, he wouldn't have to deal with Harra for hours yet.
Harra.
Had he just thought of her by first name? Why was he being so familiar? Just because she was the daugher of Mary's best friend didn't mean anything to him. It was Miss Arial. Always Miss Arial. Never Harra.
Shaking his head, Vadim made his way to his classroom, where piles of papers that needed grading awaited him. He spotted the newspaper on his desk and desperately wanted to read it instead of looking over the botched homework of a generation of idiots, but unfortunately, that was his job. He pulled the papers for his first class to the top and started grading.
Jake Marshall... C.
Svetlanda Karl... B+
Edward Olaffson... B-
Vadim continued to grade papers for that class. Once he was finished, he began the class after that. And the class after that. And the class after that. When he reached the class that ended right before the lunch break, he sat back and sighed. He still had half an hour before his first class, so he flicked open the newspaper and began reading.
Exactly twenty-nine minutes later, Vadim closed the newspaper at the sound of the bell ringing. Students started to come into the class, laughing, talking loudly, causing the metal legs of the chairs scrape against the floor with that horrible noise metal chairs make. Vadim put all the papers for this class onto the middle of his desk, and began roll call. Olaffson and Marshall weren't there. What a surprise. Vadim thought sarcastically as he marked them absent. Once he was certain that everyone else was there, he passed out the homework, leaving Jake's and Ed's in his desk.
Vadim began his lecture after the "Oh, look what I got! What'd you get?" of students finding out and sharing their grades died down. Today the first class was learning about the wars between England and Scotland throughout the middle ages. Vadim found it difficult to speak, considering his lack of sleep, but he managed all right.
However, he was still extraordinarily pleased when the lunch bell rang. When he was in school, he never thought teachers would be as relieved as the students for lunch break. It was a curious thing.
He stayed in his office for most of the lunch break, grading papers, although at some point he went out and got some food from the kitchen, having a short, pointless conversation with the science teacher. Two minutes to his next class, he heard a scuffing sound in the halls and a muffled yelp. Rubbing his forehead to ward off an impending headache, he opened the door to see the back of a shirt whip around the door outside. He shook his head and went back inside his classroom, deciding to let one of the other teachers handle it. His first class would be there soon. He taught for an hour, then he started drumming the table almost nervously, dreading the inevitable moment in which Harra would come through the door. She did, only daring to glance up at him when she thought he wouldn't see her. He watched her from his peripheral line of vision. She was obviously terrified of him... Vadim was glad that she didn't know that he felt the same. She had her homework this time, at least. He went through class as quickly as possible, which is technically impossible, as it was fifty minutes no matter how fast he went.
Once the students had left for lunch, Vadim fell into a semi-comatose state in his chair. He slept until the five-minute bell, which jolted him awake. The groggy man hurried to the restroom to make himself presentable, to look as though he hadn't just been napping. Teachers weren't supposed to nap. He got back to his class just on time, all the kids already chattering in their seats as he walked in.
"And did you hear? That Rolls is his!"
"He's nuts, leaving it in the lot where anyone can ******** it up."
"Yeah, I--"
His presence clearly wasn't immediately recognized. He cleared his throat, and looked through his lesson planner's notes before beginning the lesson.
Two and a half grinding hours later, the nuisance children were released from school. Vadim started to grade homework, but he dozed off several times and wrote the wrong correction notes in marker. Eventually he decided that it would be better for everyone if he put it off until the next day, and left early.
Vadim got home and went straight to his room to lay down, but found he couldn't get the sleep he desperately needed. He cursed into his soft pillow, wishing he could just pass out... The few hours of sleep he got weren't very good, and by the time he had to wake up the next morning, he was dead tired.
