Saving Professor (Part 1)

Petra woke up shortly before the sun rose.
She sat up, stretched, and put on her glasses. She stumbled down the ladder of her bunk bed and sleepily made her way to her sink.
She tilted her head and looked into the mirror. Her honey brown hair was a messy frame around her face, making her slightly resemble a lion.
She picked up her brush and combed the tangles out. By the time she was done, her hair was restored to it’s regular straight and layered style.
She picked up her brush and turned the sink on slowly, so she wouldn’t wake her roommate, Katelyn, up.
She turned around to face the clock and began brushing. Singing a song in her head, she scrubbed her teeth for two minutes.
While she was spitting out into the sink, Katelyn groaned and sat up on her bed.
In between rinses, Petra asked, “You up early?”
“Not as early as you.” Katelyn slumped back onto her bed.
“You do know that it’s an early start today, right?”
“Uh… no…”
“Get up.”
“I don’t have to. Early start days only begin at seven thirty.”
“And I have to get to Physics club.” Wiping her face on a towel, Petra said, “Goodbye” and walked out the door.
The hall was silent. The only sound was her footsteps on the mahogany carpet. Petra pushed the heavy doors open and walked outside.
The sun was rising behind trees; it was a clear day, and birds were flying overhead.
Petra took a deep breath. She was ready for another day at the boarding school.


“Wake up, Collier!”
Collier rose to the sound of his roommate, Anthony.
“You’re going to be late to class. Come on, get up.” Anthony tossed Collier’s clothes on the bed. It was the usual dress; khaki shorts, white polo, and a navy blue vest.
“Anthony, do I really need a vest today? It’s really hot outside.”
“The classrooms are cold, though. Best you should wear one.”
Collier began to protest, but knew it was no use. He pulled on the vest, anyway. In front of the sink, he washed his face with water. He stuck a stick of gum in his mouth and started out the room after Anthony.
In the hall, Anthony questioned Collier about the gum.
“We aren’t allowed to chew gum during class, right?”
“Yeah. I’m going to spit it out before we start, though.”
“Wouldn’t that be a waste, then?”
“What would be a waste?”
“To chew a piece of gum for five minutes, then spit it out.”
“Fine, then I won’t spit it out.”
The two boys pushed open the front doors and walked to the nearest building, where their first classes were.
The halls inside were already busy. People greeted each other and others piled textbooks from their lockers into their backpacks. Everyone was wearing a uniform. It was a boarding school, anyway. But Collier had grown used to it, so it didn’t specifically bother him. In fact, he wondered how odd it would feel not to go to school in uniform.
Anthony went into his homeroom, and Collier turned down another hall to get to his.
Entering the classroom, he saw that he was the last one there. Scanning the rows for an empty seat, he spotted one at the back, behind his twin sister, Petra.
Collier slid into the chair. Petra turned around.
“You’re late,” she remarked. “Again.”
“I know, I know,” Collier mumbled, taking out his Algebra II book. As Petra watched, he opened the book to the page marked with a single piece of notebook paper—empty.
Collier slumped back in his chair.
“You didn’t do your homework.” Petra stated the obvious.
“I forgot,” Collier mumbled. He tilted his head back and studied the ceiling tiles. They were somewhat mesmerizing. The swirly patterns were like a never-ending labyrinth, which Collier tried to follow. It was both hypnotizing and frustrating, because his eyes couldn’t follow the intricate designs.
“Collier Simons? Are you listening?”
Collier jerked his head up. Class had apparently already begun. His teacher, Professor Stein, was asking him for the answer of a complicated problem scrawled on the board. Petra slightly turned around and snickered.
“Mr. Simons, you weren’t listening, were you?” Professor turned his head from the confused boy. “Class, what did I ask?”
The class, including Petra, rattled off the answer. Collier bit his lip and tried to concentrate. The lesson was new, and fairly difficult. But it wasn’t too hard for Collier.
He and Petra were at the tenth grade level at a boarding school in Michigan. They were very advanced for kids the age of eleven.
Their parents had discovered their talent when they both learned to read at the age of seven months. At that time, most other babies their age were still gnawing on doggie chew toys. And so that was how it went—Petra and Collier growing up faster than the other kids. They never had any friends, and weren’t especially close, either.
But they were twins, and they had a bond that most siblings didn’t have.
Collier scribbled down notes from the board ferociously.
“Let’s see… How much more time do we have left in class?” Professor looked down at his watch. His eyes widened, and he grabbed his suitcase. “I’m so sorry, class, I need to leave. The assignment is up on the board.” Professor walked out the door. “I will see you in class tomorrow.” He stuck his head back in. “Hopefully.” He added a grin that was a mix of “you shouldn’t worry, you all will do fine without me’ and ‘I really wonder if I’ll ever get back here again.’
Petra sighed and turned to Collier.
“He always does that,” she complained.
“I know,” Collier replied. “Just ignore it.”
“Ignore it? How do I ‘just ignore it’ when the teacher from my favorite subject doesn’t even finish the lesson?”
“He did too finish the lesson! He gave us the assignment, remember?” Collier pointed his pencil to the board.
“Yeah,” Petra said, rolling her eyes. “That was yesterday’s assignment. He never changed it. By the way, you should probably do that sometime soon.”
“Yeah, it might be good if I did do that.” Collier turned to the right page.
Petra turned back in her chair and pulled a book out of her backpack. Collier finished his homework; Petra finished her book.
There was still five minutes left of class. Half the kids had already fallen asleep; one was snoring.
“Gross,” Petra remarked, turning back around to face Collier. “What do you think is up with Professor Kreisler?”
Collier shrugged.
“I don’t know. I don’t care, either.”
“You do too, Collier. He’s your favorite teacher, too.”
“Well, yeah,” Collier agreed, “but it’s still not my favorite subject.”
“Then what is your favorite subject?”
Collier thought.
“I don’t know,” he replied. “Maybe Algebra II really is my favorite.”
Petra smiled. “I know you better than you know yourself,” she joked.
Collier flicked her forehead with the tip of his pencil eraser. Petra pulled back and frowned.
“Hey!” she cried in mock pain.
Now it was Collier’s turn to grin.
“Sorry,” he apologized sheepishly.
“It’s okay. Didn’t really hurt that much.” Petra returned to her regular self.
Just then the bell rang. Collier and Petra looked at their sleeping classmates.
“Think we should wake them up?” Petra suggested. She knew Collier’s answer.
“Nope,” Collier responded with a mischievous smile.
“Yeah, let’s not,” Petra agreed.
Then the two joined the crown of classmates squeezing out the door. Once they got past, the turned in different directions—Collier to the left, Petra to the right—breaking apart for the rest of the day.