Mr. Cavanaugh, The Inept

Brigit's Flame January All-Stars Contest, Week 1
Topic:  Erudition
Title:  Mr. Cavanugh, the Inept
Author:  Graham Smith (chuck_the_plant)
Wordcount:  1250

This piece is near and dear to my heart, because it is loosely based off of the very first novel I ever wrote (by the same name).  I have yet to sell it because it so happens that it's pretty terrible and needs rewritten.  Even so, it'll always be my baby. Enjoy! 

My palms start to sweat as the bell rings and my first class enters the room.  I'm nervous, because this isn’t just my first class of the day, or my first class of the school year… it's the first class I've ever taught, period.  And, of course, the other reason has me so nervous that I'm afraid my knees will start knocking together.

Once everyone is seated, I brace my feet in a confident stance and spread my palms welcomingly.  “Good morning, everyone.  My name is Mr. Cavanaugh, and welcome to first period.”  I consider saying, ‘Call me Mark, because Mr. Cavanaugh is my father!’, but I decide it’s too corny and cliché.  Not to mention that it’s the first day of school, and I’m trying to make an impression that will last all year.  

Things go fairly well.  I spend the entire class period explaining my classroom rules and procedures, then I tell a few stories about myself to lighten the air.  I get what I think are a few good-natured laughs, which I guess is the best I can expect from a room full of teenagers.  When the bell rings to end class, I’m glad I decided to wear a black shirt because I’m sweating badly. 

Second period, luckily, is planning period for my wing of the building.  As the halls fill with students, I step outside of my classroom and watch as kids pull items from their lockers for their next classes.  When the last locker is closed and the hall is empty, I slump against the wall and exhale a sigh of relief.

“Rough first class?” says a voice to my side, and I turn to see Lina Argus, another teacher on my floor, walking toward me.  She befriended me the day I was hired, and the two of us have become close since then.  I still haven’t gathered the courage to ask her out, but I will, soon.  At least I hope I will, because she is stunningly gorgeous. 

“Actually, no,” I reply with a smile.  “In fact, it went perfectly.”

She grins.  “Why are you so surprised?  I’ve been telling you for weeks that you’d be fine.  No one made an issue of it, did they?” 

She is, of course, referring to the number one reason why I was nervous about the first day of school, even more than it being my first day as a bonified teacher.  I am the only one of my kind in the building.  “No,” I said again.

“See?  It’s like I told you:  kids respect confidence.  If you don’t make a big deal out of it, neither will they.  You’re their teacher, and they want to see you as an authority figure, whether you’re an Inept or not.”

 “I guess they knew what to expect, since my class is called ‘Inept Studies’,” I add.  “By the way, have I mentioned how much I dislike that name?”

“It might have come up,” Lina says with a smirk.  “But I’ve told you, ‘Inept’ doesn’t mean the same thing to us as it does to you.  It just means you’re not an Adept, like us.  And if you’d like to change the name, talk to Elmer.”  She's referring to Elmer Cartwright, the Dean of McGrady’s Institute for Adept Youths.  “But I’m telling you, you’ve got nothing to worry about.  These kids are going to love you, and no one’s going to think you’re ….”

A scream resounds from around the corner of the hallway.  I turn to see a boy I don’t recognize, probably sixteen years old, bolt around the corner at full-speed , with a mischievous grin on his face.  A second later a girl rounds the corner after him.  She has red hair and she’s soaked from head to toe.  The boy darts behind me and Lina, using us as human shields, and cries, “No matter what she says, she’s lying!” 

The girl skids to a stop.  Her wet tennis shoes make her slide a few inches on the tile.  “Really, Charlie?!” she screams at him.  “On the first day of school?!  Really?!” 

It’s then that I recognize the girl.  Her name is Cassandra Kinney, and I was told to watch out for her.  She was suspended three times last year for fighting; not because she was necessarily a bad kid, but because she was constantly antagonized by other kids and was easy to push to her tipping point.  I also remember something about a screwed up home life. 

She grips her hands into fists and her hair blows around her face.  Steam starts to billow from her body.  Even though she’s standing fifteen feet away from me I can feel the heat rolling from her.  She glares daggers past me to Charlie, whom it seems is trying to hide his snickering.  Cassie huffs in breaths through clenched teeth, and then her hair bursts into flames. 

Oh.  And Cassie is a fire Adept.

“Control yourself, Cassie,” Lina said, taking a step toward the girl.  “You said this year is going to be different, remember?  No more suspensions?” 

“But Ms. Argus!” Cassie argues.  “He just drenched me as I was walking into gym!”

“And he’s going to get in trouble,” Lina says, and she turns and glares harder and Charlie.  The boy tries to step behind me, but I move against the wall to expose him.  “But you’re going to do better this year.  Last May, we made a pact.  No suspensions.” 

Cassie presses her lips into a thin line and closes her eyes, and her breathing slowly returns to normal.  The flames in her hair gradually die down, then disappear altogether.  Her clothes are completely dry, but her shirt seems to have shrunk from the steam because an inch of her midriff is showing. 

“Good girl,” Lina says.  “Now go to your dorm and change clothes.  Be back in time for third period.”  Cassie then notices that her shirt has shrunk and almost loses her temper again, but she simply shakes her head angrily.  Lina then whirls to Charlie.  “As for you, young man, I expect better from you!  This is your fourth year at McGrady’s, and you know the punishment for using your powers on another student!  And your parents are going to get a call about replacing Cassie’s clothes.”

Lina prods an indignant-looking Charlie toward the principal’s office.  He sprayed Cassie with a misty jet of water from his index finger as he passes.  The red-headed girl looks like she is about to snatch at him with her bare hands, but I take a brave step toward her and decide to do something teacher-like. “Come on, Cassie,” I say.  “You made a good choice.  Don’t offset it by making a bad one.” 

Cassie squeezes her hands until they shake and the air becomes warm again, but after a second she composes herself.   For a silent moment it’s just she and I in the hallway, and I suddenly brake into a nervous sweat again.  “I’m going to my dorm to get changed, like Ms. Argus said,” she says.  “Thanks, Mr. Cavanaugh.  I’ll see you for fourth period.”  With that, she leaves. 

Hoo boy.  That loose-cannon fire Adept is in my fourth period class.  And, along with her, two-dozen other children that, in addition to taking my class, arecurrently taking classes on how to turn invisible, change their shapes, and bend the elements to their whims.  Even my colleagues can do amazing things that I had only read about in comic books and seen in video games.      

Just another day for the only Inept at McGrady’s Institute for Adept Youths, I suppose.