by Writing Shark
Recon
Sarah Laval is one of the first to sit in her seat, as she does with every class. Upright and attentive, a reflection of the ideas the teachers at Hayworth expect from their little angels. While the other girls talk and laugh, Sarah tugs at her uniform, making sure it fits perfectly. Her books in front of her are neatly aligned and arranged for best efficiency. At the beginning of each class, the girl squints over at her friends sitting next to her. Riley, as usual, is almost late and hurriedly prepares for class. Where Sarah has already perfected her hairstyle after getting up, Riley Kirkland unceremoniously wipes through her light blonde hair and seems immediately pleased with the result. She’s not messy by any means, and like Sarah (and all the other students at Hayworth), has nothing but top grades. But unlike her, Sarah’s friend has perfected showing up at exactly the right moment. Today, though, she surprises her friends by sitting in her seat a few minutes earlier than usual.
“What are you doing here already?” asks Sarah with genuine surprise in her voice but also some mockery. The two friends maintain a close bond and spice it up with shared teasing from time to time.
“Haven’t you heard? We’re getting a new teacher today!” says Riley conspiratorially. “I wonder if it’s the guy we saw today.” Her eyes light up excitedly, Sarah’s glance briefly at the ceiling. Riley has always been direct and open-minded, two traits they don’t like to see at Hayworth.
“Of course it’s the man,” Sarah growls, giving her friend a snarky grin. “Who else would it be?” Riley claps her hands frantically.
“I’m so excited!” she giggles, and it even seems that some of the other students share her enthusiasm. “I wonder what he’s like.”
“I’m sure he’s extra strict when he wants to be admitted here.” That voice belongs to Isabella Barton, the third friend in the circle. She looks shyly over at the other two students. Isabella has never really gotten her long hair under control but has earned the privilege of only having to use a hair clip to keep it from looking too messy by doing all kinds of extra chores. Unlike Riley, however, she doesn’t dare to be so bold in public. Together, the three have managed to be accepted into the harsh world of class society at Hayworth and have been inseparable since their first days here. Isabella is the hard worker of the group who ensures good grades and encourages the other girls in the group to work hard to meet the rigorous requirements. Riley provides the relaxation and distraction so that the girls can get through everyday life and Sarah is the glue that holds the other girls together. None of them would ever admit it, but she is the one who leads the group, even if it often seems as if Riley is in charge.
Sarah Laval is also quite content with that. She doesn’t need the pressure of being seen as a leader, and Riley likes to make sure she can keep a low profile. Sarah is not a person who likes to be in the public eye, but she has, as everyone knows, the talents for it. Right now, though, she’s more concerned with the new teacher who’s due to walk through the door into the auditorium at any moment. History is not really her favorite subject but she needs the grades for her B average. But also for another reason. This reason is sitting two rows in front of her on the right side and turns to her with a friendly grin. Amelia Willson has a welcoming appearance and her perfect looks can easily compete with Sarah’s. They actually like each other, at least Sarah thinks they do, but the world they both live in doesn’t support friendly relationships. Even with Riley and Isabella, Sarah competes for extra points and grades, and Amelia stands outside this group. It’s only natural that Sarah competes with the best student in the class. With an average of 1.7, she stands just above Sarah, and the two students engage in a head-to-head race for first place in every class, to the great delight of the teaching staff. For Sarah – and certainly Amelia – it’s very trying but Miss Hayworth and the other teachers find that competition builds character.
“Don’t worry.” Isabella puts a hand on Sarah’s shoulder and looks at her kindly. Her fingers always move a little more than usual when she touches her friend. “She won’t take this class away from you.” It has always pinched Sarah a little that even the kind and accommodating Isabella would submit to the pressures of school like this. More than that, though, she’s tweaked by the fear that she might be wrong.
“Exactly,” Riley agrees. “And if not, just unbutton your blouse a little more.” She winks at the girls.
“Riley!” exclaims Isabella indignantly. “The dress code forbids that,” she says, blushing.
“Come on Issi,” Riley grumbles, grinning dirtily. “And take a closer look at Amelia.” The three girls look to the top of the class and sure enough, she’s wearing her hair a little differently today. Where she usually wears a tightly tied braid, her hair falls loosely over her shoulders today. Sarah looks down at herself. She is not really proud of her body, but the Hayworth philosophy says that women should not define themselves by their bodies but by their achievements. But still…
“What are you doing?” hisses Isabella, but Sarah doesn’t answer as she raises her hands.
Then the entire class flinches as the door to the room is pushed open. The girls’ chatter dies in less than a second and Sarah pulls her hands down and sticks her back out as her new teacher strides across the room. It’s as if a shockwave ripples along the girls’ rows and Isabella gasps in surprise, but neither windows clink nor the floor shakes as the professor sinks into his chair. Sarah doesn’t notice Miss Combton’s petite figure at first, and it’s only when she puts the man’s bag and books on the table that Sarah recognizes her favorite teacher in the intimidated woman.
“Good morning,” the professor says without looking up and takes a book from Felicia’s hand. As it has learned, the class gives the greeting in unison. However, it doesn’t sound like what Sarah is used to and the professor also looks appraisingly at the nervous students. “You can do better than that,” he says to himself, then turning to the class “Good morning class two-four.”
“Good morning Professor!” the girls shout as if from the same mouth, this time loud and clear enough for the man who first arranges his things, again ignoring the girls. Meanwhile Felicia stands rooted to the spot next to the table of the man she is supposed to learn from, her hands clasped in her lap and looking down at the floor. “You can sit down too Felicia,” says the professor. He doesn’t give her a glance either as he looks through the documents the student-teacher has handed him.
“Thank you, Professor,” Felicia says clearly, yet Sarah can see her discomfort. Or is it something else? After a while, the man looks up and straight into Sarah’s eyes. That hits the girl. As if in a trance, Sarah looks back at him, and a shiver runs down her spine at the sight of his fixed ice-cold gaze. Then he averts his gaze and it is over as quickly as it began. Still, as the man stands up, the room grows even quieter. Like Sarah bevore, the professor examines each of the girls briefly but not as long as he did with her. While the student is still feverishly wondering what this means, he silences her thoughts with the thunder of his clear words.
“My name is Professor John Clark. I will be teaching history and politics!” he says, drawing the girls in the room under his spell. With her mouth slightly open, Sarah listens to the only man she’s seen since parting with her parents over a year ago. “You will quickly discover that I am more different from your previous faculty than just my chromosomes. I’ve spent my career visiting the countries people don’t want to know about, fighting the people you first loathe and now pity, and doing what you’d be forbidden to do in any other country.” The professor looks around… and again keeps his gaze on Sarah. For a brief second she can’t breathe as she imagines under his gaze the professor and all he has done. Then she realizes that she doesn’t know what he has done, has no idea of the world he is talking about. She blushes slightly under his gaze. As he turns away, she glances briefly over at Amelia, but the girl has her shoulders tensed and seems to be following every movement of the man in front of her with every fiber of her body.
“My God…” murmurs Riley beside her but Sarah pays no attention to her friend, nor does she see the awestruck look the defiant girl beside her has put on. Isabella is simply speechless.
“The world is a very, very brutal place and in her wisdom, Miss Hayworth has decided that I will teach you some of the cruelty and injustice that you will face in real life.” The temperature in the room drops a few perceived degrees as the professor continues. “Grades mean nothing to me ladies. In real life, you won’t get a bad grade if you make a mistake. You’re going to get eaten. Either by your peers, your bosses, or just the society you don’t live up to. No grade, no perfect performance will outlast the mistakes you make. Not in the world and culture we live in.”
Sarah watches the professor closely, as does every other girl in the class. And just like everyone else, she can’t believe what she’s hearing. All her life she has been trained to perform and suddenly this man, this awe-inspiring man, comes along and tears her whole worldview apart. Sarah has always been trained to believe adults, but what Professor Clark says makes sense in a sad way.
“We’ve created such a surplus for ourselves, such a security, and culturally we’ve achieved such a freedom that we don’t need the values and norms of the past anymore. Or so we believe.” At these words, the professor smiles a cold, calculating smile, and Sarah grows very small. What he is saying means that everything she has worked for will be worthless. If he’s right about that then… her rivalry with Amelia for the best grades in the professor’s classes doesn’t matter… nor do all the other efforts of her life. Sarah Laval is not the only student staring at the professor from wide, disbelieving, and in some cases, fear-filled eyes, hanging on his lips, greedily soaking up his every word.
“I know this is troubling for some of you, and for those of you who haven’t figured it out yet, at least there’s still hope for improvement. Miss Combton, who are the best students in the class?” But the young student teacher doesn’t respond. “Miss Combton?” The professor turns to the teacher who is sitting on a thin wooden chair without a table in front of her next to the professor’s seat. She looks lonely and forlorn, with her hands clenched in her lap, staring at the man out of empty eyes. “Felicia!” the professor yells, and the whole class freezes. Isabella squeals in fright and other students join in. Felicia literally leaps to her feet and almost falls on her nose when she loses her balance on her high-heeled shoes.
“Excuse me, John,” she calls, looking pleadingly at the man in the room.
“Miss Combton…” the man murmurs, but still loud enough for everyone in the large room to hear. His voice is icy cold and threatening but his gaze seems somehow calm, as if everything is going exactly as he planned. Sarah’s fear turns into burning curiosity and she doesn’t lose a pitying thought for her dearest teacher who now begins to melt under the professor’s gaze. “You will address me by my title or last name like any other woman here. Is that clear?”
“Yes Professor…” Her voice is just a whisper, a weak attempt to stand against the storm that is hitting her. But like every girl in this room, Felicia Combton does well to go with the wind. And the wind has changed. Sarah understands the young woman all too well and takes pity on her. As Felicia hurries to the professor’s desk and pulls out a particular page from the class book, Sarah resolves never to make the mistake Felicia made in front of the whole class. She will obey the professor’s every word unquestioningly. She is only strengthened in her resolve as she sees the professor’s power wash over poor Miss Combton.
“Let it go,” he says with a sneer. The woman remains rooted to the spot as the man leans past her and removes the note from the folder himself. “Out, Miss Combton. Cool yourself off. You’re no use to me as shaky as you are now.” The whole room freezes in shock.
“But Professor…I am your…help…” Felicia is broken and everyone sees it. But no one really understands. Even Sarah can’t comprehend what’s going on in the room. She’s too inexperienced. Doesn’t know the world. And that drives her even more into the arms of Professor Clark.
“You’re no help at all.” Felicia’s jaw drops.
“But… But…”
“Out,” whispers the former soldier but he might as well have thrown a grenade into the room. “Think about how you can really help me, then come back at the end of class.” With that, the matter is settled and the professor is already turning to the class even as Miss Combton lurks out of the room. Sarah doesn’t dare look at her favorite teacher for even a second and just focuses on the man in front of her. Everything is upside down and every girl in the room wishes for only one thing. And the professor gives it to them. “Where I come from, good grades don’t count. Only loyalty and accepting your own weaknesses. Grades block our view of who we really are away from the classroom. You all have values that are important to me.” The professor glances at his papers. “Miss Wilson?”
“Here!” exclaims Amelia quickly and shrilly, jerking her hand up. The professor nods at her. Sarah knows exactly what’s coming now.
“Miss Laval?” She mimics her rival and meds. “You two have the highest grades in this class, consistently in all subjects.”
“Thank you, professor,” Sarah says.
“I don’t care, though.” He grins mischievously. “Of course I will grade all of you on your behavior and performance. After all, we live in Western culture. That’s how we function. However, I will treat this class of mine differently than you are used to. If there is a problem, come to me. If you just want to talk, come to me. If you have questions about your requirements here…you get the idea. Only when we trust and support each other can we exist as a group, and ultimately as a society. Understand?”
“Yes Professor Clark!” the girls shout in unison and this time it doesn’t take two tries. Everyone is loud and clear and many already have their hearts in it. Especially the girls who have had the lower grades so far. Sarah doesn’t quite know how to deal with the new situation yet.
“And one more thing before we start,” says the professor. “Our society is based on rules. But I am here to show you all a different world, different rules that you will abide by. You have my full support in this endeavor and you will see that my methods will be far better for you than the previous ones. But there is no authority above me for that.”
“What about Miss Hayworth?” asks Amelia after the professor nods at her.
“There is no authority above me. Miss Hayworth has tasked me with showing you my world, and I intend to do so. If I catch either of you going over my head, the school year is over for you. And believe me, I’ll catch them all.” With that, the new professor finishes his introduction without answering any more questions, and Sarah watches in awe as he begins his lesson. “So. Where are we in the books?”
Writing Shark 