3. chapter 3

chapter 3

Winnie

The principal is proud of the school. This is what I'm certain about after walking around with him for a while inside the building. He already showed me around when he hired me and introduced me to what I was supposed to do on the job before the school year started, but he wanted to do that again so that I could have a feel for the school at work.

I'm not too upset about that, even though I want to be preparing for the first story session in the afternoon with the kids instead.

We walk past an activity room where kids are playing with musical instruments. I don't even know the name of it. It looks like a guitar, but there are buttons on it. I'm not a music person. When there are a lot of different cultures on the planet, there are too many different things to remember. Sometimes, I don't even have a word in my language to describe something.

The kids are smiling and enjoying their time, which is the most important part of the job. Inside that room, there are different species of kids too, but there aren't any humans. I'd want there to be more humans, even though it doesn't really matter. Maybe it's in me that spotting beings of the same species is a lot easier.

The principal rubs his horns, finally pausing to take a breath. "Don't you like how we can be enjoying our time with the students?"

"I do. I think there's nothing better than that."

"Good, good. Now, let's get you settled in the staff room. Do you know everyone?"

I shake my head. How am I supposed to know everyone on my first day and first hours? I know the reception lady and a few teachers I ran into by the name, but most of the others are new to me.

The principal checks his watch. "Oh, we better hurry. I have a meeting to attend with the departments in a bit. Here, let's get going." He walks off with big strides. I hurry to follow. For him, he may just be walking a bit quicker than usual, but he forgets or doesn't realize that my legs are shorter than his. Being short sucks...

When we get to the staff room, I'm trying my best to hide my panting. It's not that bad, but it feels like I've been in a lot more hurry than the principal.

He leads me inside, which is brightly lit with a few potted plants around. There is a scent of strong coffee in the air, which is nice and feels like home. Most of the seats are empty when the teachers are probably having lessons with the kids. There are sounds of beings typing on a keyboard and paper flipping. Otherwise, this place will be a bit too quiet and I'd wonder whether there are any beings here.

The principal leads me down the corridors between the islands of desks and partition boards. There are heads there, which are barely visible from the partition boards. Those teachers are probably busy. No one seems to pay attention to me, which is better than otherwise.

We stop at an empty spot. The principal says, "This will be your desk. Here, meet Telke."

I peek behind that partition and my heart skips a beat. Telke is the hulky big kot'oll who I sat next to in the assembly hall. Now that seating plan seemed to be planned instead of a coincidence.

He looks over at me too. He grins, tips his baseball cap, types on the keyboard, while he sips his water. "Hello, nice to meet you. I'm Telke."

He puts down his water bottle and shakes my hand. He has large hands.

I put up a smile while half-worrying that he would squeeze my hand flat.

He gives me a light squeeze, which is better than I expected. He watches our hands, seemingly paying a bit too much attention to it. Maybe this is his way of making sure he won't crush my hand, which is a good thing.

"Hi, I'm Winnie." How can I almost forget about my introduction? He is going to think that I'm weird.

He chuckles. "Glad to meet you. Looks like we're going to be neighbors now."

The principal nods with a grin. "Yes, finally, the staff room has found another member. Now, remember, don't scare her."

I roll my eyes.

"Come on. I'm not that scary," he says. "You all are playing too much into it."

Is he scary? I suppose he kind of is in terms of his size. He is more than a head taller than me and a lot stronger and bulkier than me, packed with muscles even though he is trying to hide that under a t-shirt. He looks a bit better than when he was in a tight suit. I suppose he isn't a fan of the suit after all.

With the baseball cap, he looks like he is the sports coach here.

The principal says, "Hopefully, the two of you will get along well. I think there's room for you to plan some special activities for the kids together." He pats my shoulder and pulls the office chair for me. "Here you go. You have time to get to know each other."

He turns around to leave in a hurry, staring at his watch. He must have remembered his meeting, finally.

I let out a breath when... I turn to Telke, who is watching me with curious eyes. "Um... Hi."

He blinks, seemingly pulling his attention back to the presence. "Oh, right. Have you gotten to know all the places?"

I nod. Hopefully, he isn't planning to take me on another stroll through all the floors yet again. "I do. Thanks for asking. The principal has brought me to all the rooms."

"Good." He glances at his screen before looking back at me. "If you need anything, feel free to ask. Hopefully, I won't scare you. It really isn't like what he said. Don't trust him on that."

I force a smile. My shoes will hide my wriggling toes, but still... He is a big guy, but when both of us are sitting, he doesn't look as intimidating. Maybe I'm overthinking that. I can't let him think that I'm weird when we are both teaching in the school. "What made him say that?"

"Ha, I wonder. Let's say... last time we got new staff, I gave a welcome hug, which... Now, I remember to be careful with everyone, not just kids."

I blink and stifle a laugh. Sounds like he is the one that is too energetic. I ask, "Is that one still alive?"

He grunts, but with a smile. "Oh, you bet he is." He gestures at the empty chair to his other side. "There he sits. This is Jackel's seat. He teaches art. He is very alive. Don't worry about that."

"Maybe your kind is a bit too strong."

He winks. "I give..." he pauses for an awkward second. My heart skips a beat when I can guess. He continues, "I give useful advice for someone starting in this school. You're going to love this place."

I swear that's not what he wanted to say. Maybe he doesn't want to make it weird by saying that he gives good hugs.

Looking at those arms... Maybe he does give great hugs.

I shake my head to clear my it when a stream of heat finds its way to my cheek. I'm not going to think about that. It's going to be weird to want a hug from him, especially when we just met.

But those muscles...

I peek at him again. He is back to working on something on his computer screen, which the partition board blocks from me. His two arms are behind his head as he rests on them, while the two other arms are typing. If the keyboard is bigger, maybe he can type with all four hands. That would be impressive.

It looks like he has been training hard. I wonder how those muscles look under his clothes.

Except that's not what I should be thinking about.

I turn to stare at the wall on the other side. My seat is next to the corridor, so that leaves a side of freedom with no one next to me. On the wall, there are a few drawings from students. One of the drawings is about family. At least it looks like it is, with a few beings on the paper. The beings are dancing in a park. It is a pretty messy crayon drawing, but for a kid, it's a nice picture.

"I think Jackel put it up there." Telke points at the drawings. "It makes me happy looking at the drawings."

"I bet. So, I heard this school is pretty good at floatball."

Telke grins. "We are. We've been winning the city's championship for a few years in a row now. I'm more than happy to see kids playing hard in the field."

"You're the coach."

He winks and flexes the two upper arms. "For sure. Every week, the team practices for three days. As long as the kids are having fun, that's all it matters. It will be great if we keep winning, but that's not as important as getting better together."

I think I kind of like him by now.

But I'm not here to make friends. I just wanted to leave the city I was living in for a change of scenery.

I'm supposed to focus on my own work and just be doing that. I'm not here to get to know others more than I need to.

Telke is going to say something, but I stand and walk away, pretending to be on my way to do something important. Maybe he'll get a hint and stop talking to me.

I kind of feel bad despite it may be for the best for both of us.