The right to bear arms
By Sengir84
Vincent Bailey locks his door and gets in his car. The bear is going to his work again. He recently got a job as math teacher at a local secondary school. He is a math teacher and a mentor to a 2nd grade class.
As he arrives at work he sees his fellow teachers putting their cars and bicycles away as well. Gerard Boder, the PE teacher, greets Vincent and they ask each other about their plans.
“Well Gerard, a few tests today, so it’s sure to be quiet. Though it will mean more work later.”
“Yeah, well that’s what you get as math teacher. Sometimes I’m glad I give PE”
“But you can actually pull that off. With my condition I doubt I could do that. And I like the logic in math anyway”
The two talk a bit more about their differences in class when Gerard brings up Grace Empera. The foreign sheep girl is the class president of the class Vincent is mentoring.
“You know, Grace seems quite forgetful lately. She often leaves stuff behind after PE and she sometimes seems out of it. Do you know what’s going on with her?”
“Grace? No. I haven’t heard anyone else say something. I’ll keep an eye out. I have the class twice today, once for math and once as counseling, so I’ll ask Grace to stick around for that second hour. See what she feels.”
As the first bell rings, signaling school would start in 5 minutes, the two men go to their respective classrooms to prepare. First up, a lesson with the 4th graders.
“All right class, time’s up.”
As the class lays down their pencils and passes the test sheets to the front, Vincent hears something in the hallway. He takes a quick peek outside and sees Grace rushing to the bathroom.
The other two lessons are not very interesting. Vincent does his job and the children listen and work.
When it’s time for a short break, Vincent is assigned the duty to watch the auditorium.
He gets approached by some older children, graduates he gave lessons to last year, and they talk about their final year at the school and video games. Most of the children in the school know about Vincent’s hobbies and quirks and his open personality makes him loved by the students.
When the break is over it is time for his second grade class. Vincent pays close attention to Grace during class, but it doesn’t seem like anything’s wrong with her, though she talks a bit more with her female friends than she normally does and she seems a bit flustered sometimes.
At the end of class Vincent calls out the four names he wants to come back for the counseling hour. The other children will be free to go home.
Grace seems a bit surprised her name is called and as the class leaves for the next class, Grace stays behind.
“Teacher, why do I have to stay?”
“Your PE teacher, mister Boder, is concerned about you. I just want a small talk between the two of us to make sure everything is alright. You can come in first, so it probably won’t be long.”
Grace nods her head and retreats out of the classroom.
During the next hour, Vincent has no class, so he takes the time to check a few of the made tests and do some administrative work. Seeing all the mails come by with problem children in other classes, he considers himself blessed that his class seems to be doing great so far.
At the end of day, Grace and her three classmates enter the classroom. Vincent explains he would like to talk to each of them privately and asks the other three classmates to stay outside while he talks to Grace first.
“Alright Grace, mister Boder is worried because you seem a bit out of it sometimes and you keep losing stuff. Is there something you want to tell me?”
Grace blushes a little, shyly looks downward and says: ”Not really…”
“Well, I’ve been looking at you as well earlier today and I caught some things. Like how your friends would tease you with kissing motions and some of them couldn’t stop prodding you. You’re not the first one I see like this and I have a pretty good idea what’s going on.
You’re in love with someone, right?”
Grace wells up, tears forming in her eyes. “ I don’t know what to do! I have all these feelings for this guy, but he doesn’t know. And on one hand I want him to know, but on the other I don’t. What if things go wrong?”
Vincent opens his arms and invites the girl in for a hug. “There, there, dry your tears.
About this guy, do I know him?” Grace nods “Do you want to tell me who it is?” Grace shakes her head negatively. “Do you know how to contact him outside of school?” Grace nods again.
“Alright Grace, I think it would be best to take this outside of school. The pressure of being class president seems to be clashing with the feelings about this guy. So perhaps you need a change of scenery before approaching him?” Vincent gently releases Grace from the hug, and Grace sits down again. Her eyes are still a bit red, but she calms down.
“Now Grace, I want you to remember that these talks are strictly confidential. The only ones that will know about what we talked about are you and me. That said, are you sure you do not want to tell me about this guy?” Grace still declines but seems a bit more determined to make her moves. “Alright Grace, I won’t pressure you further in this. But remember this saying: It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. I wish you luck and I support you. You deserve it.”
Grace seemed to have cheered up a bit and promised she would take his advice. She is glad to have his support. One more hug is given before the girl leaves the room and the next student is invited in.
As the talks are over, Vincent considers Grace’s story once more. She was always very dependable so it wouldn’t surprise him if guys fell in love with her, but he never thought she would be the one to be so love-struck.
It is still in the middle of a lesson, so there are not many colleagues around. He grabs his coat and prepares to go home when he spots an envelope taped to Gerard Boder’s mailbox. The envelope has no writing on it however and Vincent knows better than to open other people’s mail, so he disregards it and makes his way home.
Home alone, he hopes Grace finds what she is looking for as he starts checking tests and starts up his computer.
