The Life Of Normal-Taro

An awkward silence ensued after Sadanandan introduced himself. Since, no one seemed keen to break the silence, he took it upon himself. "Hoo, it looks like I'm not welcomed here." He said as he found quite a substantial amount of hostile eyes. He sighed. "I'm fine with that though. So, why don't you start by introducing yourself to me?" He asked as he pointed to the girls side first.

Abhirami, who was the first among the girls, stood up. "Hey! I'm Abhirami! You're the hot guy in the construction site a few days ago, aren't you? How come you're our class teacher now?" She asked.

Sadanandan was about to reply, however someone scoffed. "Hmm, it's as if this school is picking up teachers from anywhere these days! Pathetic." A boy replied. No, it wasn't the one staring darts towards Sadanandan, but the one before him.

Sadanandan sighed yet again.. Then he turned his attention towards the boy. "Look here, kid. I'm standing here before you because I'm qualified enough to. If you can't believe it, you can just look through my certificates for all that matters. So, if you're just concerned about my past where I had to work like a dog and not my qualifications.... You can go suck a lemon or something!" He replied. "Well, even though I don't really deserve to be here, at least I do on paper!" He thought as he gave out that reply.

The whole class stayed silent for a hot minute. The boy composed himself and gave out a reply. "But…" He was about to elaborate his point on something, however he was quickly stopped by Sadanandan.

"Cool, since you seem to hate me and really like your old class teacher, let me tell you an interesting tidbit about him. I believe you're old enough to know about the shit he did. You know he sexually harassed a few teachers in here? How'd you know about that, when the school managed to hide it from even your parents? Anyway, about his firing. Do you even know he wasn't technically fired; he should've been, but he wasn't. He ran away; from his responsibilities; from teaching you… Look, I hate badmouthing people and I hate judging people based on what I've heard about them, however since you seem to be doing that to me, I thought why not!" Sadanandan spoke, which was once again followed by a long silence.

However, this time, he wasn't interested in breaking the ice. He felt that the kids before him had to break the ice once or twice or else he'll be the only one making an effort to converse. Soon enough, someone did raise their voice. However, it wasn't the boy who was arguing about his past, but the guy who was glaring at him before. "Meh, who even cares about that?" He asked.

"Huh?" Sadanandan was confused.

The boy before the glare guy sighed. "What he means is that we kinda knew that he was a total asshole. But, he did teach us pretty well. Maybe it was because of his character or something, but no one seemed to care about us when he was our class teacher. Like, we were under scrutiny for no reason when we were in the eleventh grade. However, once he became our class teacher, the school became a lot more peaceful, you know? So, we were kinda afraid if the past was gonna repeat by itself." He replied.

"Huh?" The glare guy was the one confused this time, however no one really noticed him.

Sadanandan thought for a while. "Okay, look. I don't really care what you do, unless it's something illegal. So, if someone's talking shit about you, do tell me and I'll stand up against them if your claims are valid. My words will have an impact since it'll be hard for them to find a guy like me who's willing to work in minimum wage even after the necessary qualifications." He gave out a thumbs up.

"Hmm, I'm Ross." The boy introduced himself, as if acknowledging Sadanandan as his class teacher.

"Hello, Ross!" Sadanandan smiled.

"Anshuman here!"

"Hi sir, I'm Laxman."

"Josephine."

"Shivani."

…

Soon enough, almost the entire class introduced themselves and the ball ended up in the glare guy's court. He took in a deep breath. "Hey, you! You guys have been taking my words in a different context." He spoke.

Sadanandan was slightly confused by what he meant. "What context did we take your words by?" He asked.

"Look, I don't particularly give a shit about the old guy." He replied.

"Oh, really?"

He scoffed. "Pipe down that expression on your face! I don't give a shit about you either, fucktard!"

"Hmm, you got quite a spiteful tongue for a young man. What's your name?" He asked.

"Hey! I'm not a 'young man'. I'm twenty-two. By the way, it's Juan Printo." Juan replied.

Sadanandan walked towards Ross and whispered. "Okay, is he for real?" He asked.

"Ah, he's talking about his mental age. He's a bit weird in that aspect. And yes, his name is Juan Printo. He legally changed his name a year ago or so the teachers said. However, neither the teachers or Juan revealed his past name. So, that's a real mystery!" Ross whispered back.

Sadanandan got a gist of it now. "Hey, kid. What's your nationality?" He asked. "Don't say Spanish or Mexican!" He thought in his mind.

"I'm half Spanish and half Mexican." Juan replied in the most awkward Spanish accent.

Sadanandan sighed. "The translator clearly indicated that the kid's Indian. Damn, delusional about his actual identity and a fake tan on for some reason. Is he some kinda special needs student? If that's the case, maybe I should treat him with a bit of care, eh?" He thought as he smiled gently. "So, Mr. Juan. What's your problem with me?" He asked.

"Nothing much. I just want Mrs Veronica back to teach us!" He replied as he tossed his luscious hair back. Even though his actions and existence were weird, Sadanandan did admit that the hair toss looked pretty chill and the kid looked attractive even with the fake tan on. Not that he particularly cared about it, however that's how he thought. Several of Juan's classmates seemed to think the same way, even the guys.

"Mrs Veronica? Who's that?" Sadanandan asked.

"It's the teacher who teaches for the tenth grade. She came by to teach us English when the other guy ran away." Ross explained.

"So… What's so special about her?" He asked.

Ross found it difficult to answer his question. So, he brought him closer and whispered. "She's hot."

Sadanandan sighed. Juan seemingly had a crush for his teacher. He looked at Juan. "Teenage crush on your teacher, huh? Can't be helped. Everyone has a crush like you have when they're around your age. However, we gotta put that aside and focus on something else… Like your studies." He replied as he patted Juan's shoulders.

However, Juan swatted his hand off. "What are you even talking about? I was this close to seducing her! A few more days and I would've been sleeping with her!" He nonchalantly replied.

"Huh? What's wrong with this kid? He's delusional, alright!" Sadanandan thought as he heard Juan's reply. "Hmm, is that so? However, bringing her back is not something I could do. So, you gotta deal with me! Anyway, isn't she married?" He asked.

"So?" Juan asked, as if it doesn't concern him.

Since nothing seemed to matter to Juan anymore, Sadanandan gave up on that part and let his delusions run wild. "Anyhow, even though you're "twenty two", as long as you're a student learning under me, I hope you'll put all those thoughts of yours aside and focus a bit on studies as well." He suggested.

"Sheesh, fine!" Juan nodded his head.

"Great! Let's get to our class then. Open your textbooks and do tell me where you stopped." Sadanandan spoke.

#

Teaching a bunch of twelfth graders wasn't as bad as Taro previously thought. Although the poems seemed a bit hard to comprehend, the translator simplified it for him, so he had little to no difficulty in explaining them. Even the kids seemed satisfied with his explanation, so he saw it as an absolute win!

The rest of the day went pretty fine as well. He had to teach the second graders too, which was much simpler than the twelfth graders. He didn't meet the eyes of animosity but curiosity, which was kinda fun for him. Since the syllabus seemed simpler, he had his fair share of fun teaching the second graders. He did have to teach a few more classes here and there and with that, the eventful day came to an end.

"So, how was it, Mr. Sadanandan?" Rita asked Taro who had his head down the staff room desk. It seemed like he was more prone to mental than physical one.

"Ah, well… It's pretty fun, I guess? The second graders were absolute darlings! Other classes were fine too. The twelfth graders were a bit… eccentric. But, they're pretty great too, once you get to know them. So, yea. I believe I'll be able to have a bit of fun here!" Taro replied, with hope written all over his face. He was truly excited for the days to come.

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