Chapter Text
Naim turned off the engine and took a deep breath, preparing himself for the day ahead. He got out of the car and walked to the trunk to grab the new markers he’d gotten for his classroom, pushing it closed and walked to the school’s entrance.
Three months prior, Naim had begun his first full-time job as an art teacher at Puffer Primary School. He’d graduated from university with a masters in art education, so naturally it wasn’t hard to find a job due to his extra education. So far, Naim enjoyed his time at Puffer; the kids were fun and there was never a dull moment, especially when his class gave the students many opportunities to stretch their brains to the fullest. Admittedly though, it was a bit lonely at times. Naim hadn’t gotten to know the other teachers as well as he’d hoped too. It also didn’t help that his schedule differed from the rest of the staff due to the nature of running an art class.
As Naim walked in the front doors, he gave a quick wave to Mrs Graham, the school’s receptionist. He was convinced she’d been working there twice as long as he’d been alive.
“Hello sweetie!” Mrs Graham said.
“Hey Mrs Graham,” Naim replied.
“Now what did I tell you, just call me Marie,” she replied. Naim gave her a quick nod and made his way to the art room.
It was Friday, meaning he was teaching his third grade class at 9:00 am, giving him time to set up for the day. Naim took the new markers and spread them out amongst the tables, making sure each table had the same amount of markers so the students wouldn’t fight over them later. Once Naim finished, he set up his presentation for the day, typing up his last few facts before he heard commotion at the door. He walked over and swung it open to be greeted with many smiling faces.
“Hey guys!” Naim said as he stepped to the side to let them in. He was met with a chorus of “hello Mr Reid” from the students as they settled in their seats.
“Alright!” Naim said to the class as he pointed to the painting on the slideshow, “Can anyone tell me what you see?” Many hands shot up, but he called on Clara, a quiet, but artistic girl.
“I see lots of squares and some are white, but also a big red one, and a small blue and yellow one too,” she replied.
“Very good,” Naim encouraged. “Has anyone seen this painting before?” Around half of the class raised their hands as he nodded. “That’s good that many of you have seen this painting before, it’s a very famous painting from the abstract art movement, which will be the focus of our next unit.” The kids stirred in their seats, excited to learn about this different style of art.
Naim continued on, “This particular painting was made by an artist named Piet Mondrian. He’s credited as a pioneer of the abstract art movement-”
Suddenly a voice cut in that belonged to a student named Brandon saying, “What is it supposed to be?”
Naim smiled and replied, “Well what do you think it is?”
“I don’t know? It’s just a bunch of squares!” Brandon said, annoyed that Naim wouldn’t give him a straight answer.
“You’re very right, it is a bunch of squares, but another person could see it as something else. That’s what’s so fun about the abstract movement, you get to express yourself in unique ways.” This got the students talking amongst themselves, anticipating their next art project. “Ok let’s settle down. I know you’re all excited to start drawing, but I need to go over the directions first.” Once Naim explained the project, all the students rushed for the markers and began drawing their own mini Mondrian paintings. He wandered around the tables, answering any questions the kids had and complimenting their work.
Out of nowhere, Naim heard a knock at the door. He glanced at the clock with a confused look on his face. Mrs Martin, the third grade teacher, wasn’t supposed to be here for another twenty minutes and no student had asked to go to the hall so it was a mystery as to who was on the other side of the door.
“Keep working on your drawings,” Naim said as he walked to the door. “Hey, can I help you-” he began, but the words left his mouth before he could finish his sentence. Standing in the doorway was a man with a curly blonde mullet that slightly towered over Naim, causing him to have to tilt his head to make eye contact. Naim couldn’t help himself so he gave a quick glance over this man, noticing a strong build and a snake ring sitting on his finger.
Suddenly, Naim snapped back to reality to the screaming of third graders cheering, “Mr Whelan!” Then it all clicked, Mr Whelan was the gym teacher at Puffer. He’d heard of him from the students raving about all the fun they have in gym class. Naim just would’ve never had guessed he’d be this… hot.
“Hey! We haven’t met yet, but I’m Ryan; I teach gym here,” he said as he held his hand out with a large smile on his face. Naim grabbed it and the cold of his ring flooded his body.
“It’s good to meet you. I’m Naim and I assume you already know what I teach,” he said, nodding his head to the class behind him. Ryan laughed and quickly gestured to the jacket in his hand. Naim nodded, understanding the annoyance of students leaving their belongings behind in class.
“Alright guys, I’m just here to return Brandon’s jacket,” Ryan said and then lowered his voice, “This is the third time this month you’ve left it in the gym. I’m gonna need you to keep a better eye on it for me, ok?”
“Yes Mr Whelan,” Brandon said as he walked over, hanging his head, clearly ashamed of forgetting his jacket. Naim thought that would be the end of it, but it was only the beginning. All the students began clambering for his attention, holding up their drawings for him to see.
Naim tried to get them under control, but Ryan waved his hand at him as he crouched down to their eye level. As Naim watched him take his time with each student, praising each drawing, he felt himself become more and more drawn to Ryan and the gentleness he showed the kids.
Eventually, Naim had to shoo the students off Ryan to begin cleaning up the classroom. He was met with a few protests, but they all listened to him. “Sorry for all the chaos, they just get really excited so who am I to dampen that,” Ryan said as he turned to Naim.
“Yeah, they can be a lot sometimes, but it’s worth it in the end,” replied Naim.
“Oh, and sorry for never stopping by sooner. I know what it’s like to be the new teacher around here so if you ever need anything just come by the gym. I’m just a quick walk down the hall,” Ryan said.
“I’ll be taking advantage of that,” Naim said before he could stop himself, mentally facepalming as the words left his mouth.
“I’m holding you to that,” Ryan replied and Naim swore he saw his smile get a little bigger, but maybe it could’ve been his overactive imagination. “I gotta get going, but it was nice to finally have a proper introduction.”
“Yeah, it was nice meeting you too,” Naim said as he waved at Ryan walking out the door. He turned his attention back to his students, directing them to start cleaning up their supplies.
As Naim walked around and collected the drawings, Clara tapped his arm and when he turned towards her he could see a look of concern on her face. “Mr Reid, are you ok?”
“Yes Clara, there’s nothing wrong,” he replied.
“Are you sure? Your face is red and my mom says that can happen when someone is sick.” Upon hearing this, Naim felt his face grow even hotter than it was before and stumbled over his words, “No no, it’s just very warm in here. There’s no need to worry about me.”
Clara’s face brightened when she heard this. “Ok! I’ll see you next week Mr Reid,” and she walked off to join her friends. Naim turned and saw Mrs Martin waiting at the door to pick her class up.
“They’re all good to go,” he said, still embarrassed from his brief conversation with Clara.
“Great. We’ll see you next week,” Mrs Martin said as she turned around and led her class out of the art room.
Naim walked to his desk and sat down with a sigh. He was in for a long rest of the school year.