Chapter 1: "Fresh Outa College"

This was what the past years had been leading up to. Tino Vainamoinen was finally living his dream of being a teacher. He'd wanted this since seventh grade. There had been a few bumps in the road, times when he thought he wanted to do something else, but it always came back to this. He worked hard for his degree and now here he was, hired fresh out of college.

He knew he'd been lucky in finding a job, too. He couldn't mess this up. He nervously fidgeted with an apple shaped paperweight on his desk. He didn't expect to be teaching fifth grade, that was for sure. He actually wanted to teach younger children. Not that he was complaining. Any teaching job was good. Also, this was still elementary. He looked up at the clock. It was still thirty minutes till school started.

He tapped his fingers on the top of the wooden desk impatiently, then finally turned to the little refridgerator he kept under his desk and opened it, pulling out a pint of ice-cream. He figured he'd have to eat it early anyways because it was icecream and he was keeping it in a fridge. He took out a plastic spoon, popped the lid off, and shoveled a few spoonfuls into his mouth. It was licorice flavored, which was just about his favorite.

I mean, all icecream was good, but this was different. It wasn't necessarily the taste, either. He had always had it growing up and it really comforted him when he ate it. He turned to his computer and clicked at the keys, turning some music on. Yeah, this was pretty nice.

"Ah, hello? Tino Vainamoinen?"

Tino looked up at the door. There was an older man with brown hair standing in the doorway. He had a green tie and a big smile. Besides that, he had a weird accent. "My name is Mr. Vargas around here, but my friends call me Roma." He came in and extended a hand, which Tino gladly took. "Tino Va- oh, sorry! You clearly already know that," he said with a small laugh. This man looked really nice. He must have been in his fifties, though.

"Yes, I saw we had someone new! I wanted to introduce myself, be polite. I teach gym class," he said, letting go of his hand. "My two babies go here, though, too. Grandbabies." He took out a photo. "I hate to be such a mama, I really do, but look how precious?" Tino happily took the photo and smiled down at it. "Aw! They're very cute. Twins?"

Roma laughed at that. "Ah, no. That one there is actually two years older, he's just more on the small side. Which is fine. No rush to have them grow up, you know?" Tino nodded and gave the picture back. He loved children so much. Nothing put a smile on his face like them. They were the past, the present, and the future, and if that wasn't true, nothing was.

"It's really nice meeting someone who's, well, nice!" He said cheerfully. He hadn't really met anyone besides the principal, who wasn't mean or nice. Just stern, old, and a bit grumpy during meetings. He was glad not all of the faculty had to be like that.

Roma nodded and started back for the door. "No, I promise we aren't all Mr. Winters," he said, referring to the principal. Tino tried not to laugh at the crack at his boss. I mean, he could roll around any minute. "So nice meeting you, Roma," he said, waving as the man smiled and left for the gym.

He was so much more relaxed knowing he wasn't alone here. He put the ice-cream away while watching the door eagerly again. Finally, a student came in and looked around. "You're name is on the desk where you'll be sitting!" The boy turned, nodded, and sat down in his seat awkwardly. He forgot how awkward older children could be. Luckily, more children started coming in after that. Some of their mothers came and took pictures of them, much to their dismay.

They kept piling in, and he had to write the instructions for finding a seat on the board because for some reason they weren't understand that they were supposed to sit where their name was. I mean, they should have gotten it, but maybe this bunch was a little rotten. Not all students were the same, anyway.

It was almost time for school to start. He waited for the bell to ring and looked out at the class. It was a surprisingly full class. All boys, too, because he taught on the boys side of the building. Right before the bell rang, a student came in and he helped him to his seat so he could start class faster. He stared out at all of them again. His heart actually raced in a really good way. He was a little scared, but also a lot excited.

He spent the morning making them play games to get to know each other. Some children groaned dramatically and he just smiled because honestly, this was as easy as it got. They were just angsty. What a time to be alive, he thought. He finally had them take out their pencils so they could go over the syllabus. He knew they hated that part so he tried to make it as painless as possible.

He explained classroom procedures, safety procedures, where things were in the classroom, etc, until finally it was their lunchtime. He walked them all down in a straight line and ushered them into the cafeteria. He didn't have to stay with them. There were other teachers for that. He looked around the cafeteria and spotted the two ladies who he was sure was supposed to be watching them. His eyes scanned the room, stopping on the janitor who was standing near the wall on the other side of the room.

He kind of squinted his eyes to look at him better, which made no sense whatsoever because he was pretty sure it made it worse. Either way, he didn't look like a janitor. I mean, he looked tall. Not that janitors had a specific look or anything! But this guy... well, maybe he wasn't tall? Maybe he just looked tall from here? He had glasses, too. And was just really quite frightening.

He didn't mean to stare. He knew it was awkward. But he wasn't looking up anyways, and if nobody was around to hear the tree fall, did it really fall? He continued to stare. Weren't the children scared or something? He watched as a smaller student, most likely a second grader, walked up to him and actually hugged his leg.

This guy kind of looked like an ex-con, okay? And this baby just hugged his leg? He knew it was bad, but he just had this image of him lifting this kid in one hand and chucking him across the room. He looked like he could if he wanted to. But he just stopped mopping, looked down at the child, patted his head apathetically, and went back to mopping.

Tino blinked a few times, then slowly walked back to his classroom to eat his own lunch. He sat down at his desk and pulled out his food. He ate slowly, looking around the classroom. It was empty. I mean, obviously. He wasn't a fan of eating lunch alone but he didn't know what else to do. He was just shy enough to not want to go find Roma and eat with him. Plus, he probably ate with the other faculty. He just wasn't sure about it, is all.

So he sat in silence, slowly munching and playing with his computer. He was actually still looking for furniture for his apartment. He hoped to move into a house as soon as possible because his neighbors were so noisy. He didn't really have friends either. He'd have to make some of those, too.

He just hadn't been in Copenhagen for long enough to make any. It wasn't that he was antisocial or anything, he'd love to make friends and meet new people, he just didn't know how. He also wanted to meet men. He had sort of checked out the lgbt scene, but not much came out of it. I mean, there were a few men, but he wasn't a fan of just hooking up. It always made him feel guilty. He was gay, he'd known that since high school, but he'd had a one night stand just once and it made him feel so shitty he vowed never to do it again if he could help it.

Despite being gay, he considered himself religious. I mean, he figured he was a Christian. He believed in God and Jesus and he was teaching in a Christian school. He didn't go to church, but he didn't have one to go to. He didn't speak Danish, either, so it was futile. He'd always gotten shit about it, too. People would ask how he could be gay and religious and he just... never knew how to answer. He just had faith is all.

But the point is, because of that, he didn't find it acceptable to have so many partners. Not that he'd ever shame someone who did have a lot of partners, it just wasn't for him. It always seemed to make people mad when he said that aloud. He knew it sounded preachy, and he hated sounding that way and coming off like he thought he was better or something, because he'd never thought that.

Why was he even thinking about this now? It was such a bad time to think about stuff like that. He finished his food and threw the trash away as one of the students came into the classroom and sat down in his seat. He looked a little upset, but he also looked like he didn't want to talk about it. Tino didn't care, he was going to ask. "Is something wrong?"

The boy just shook his head. Who was that, anyways? He looked down at his seating chart. Lukas Bondevik. Oh yes, the one who'd come in late. He looked at him again. He was a pretty child. Not in a weird way, he didn't want that to sound weird. But he really was so pretty. Very feminine. Super aesthetically pleasing. He figured it could be a bad thing, though. Boys would probably make fun of him. Maybe even some girls. He felt for him. He knew the feeling of looking too feminine all too well.

He looked away when the other students came back in. They were obnoxiously loud, especially a group of three that trailed in last. He waited till they sat, then checked his seating chart. Gilbert Bielschmidt. Ned Jansen. Mathias Kohler. He really hoped it wasn't a problem that he'd sat Gilbert and Mathias together. He didn't want to have to switch the seating chart around already. But maybe they could control themselves?

There was a fart noise from the back, and he knew this wasn't going to go well. The college student still in him wanted to smile, honestly. But now he was in the big times, and he had to say, "Let's not do that." The class snickered collectively and he shot a few of the children sharp looks, at which point they stopped their snickering and looked at their papers. That's what I thought.

He finished the day successfully and with a smile. He'd gotten through his first day as a teacher and it wasn't bad at all. He took a deep breath, packed his things, and went home.

It sounded bad, but when he got home, he was a little disappointed. The apartment was tiny and he didn't even have a couch yet, he just had a television set on the floor with a few DVD's and a player. Just a random assortment of small furniture pieces and decorations he'd gotten as gifts. It was just so bare. He didn't have a table yet, either. He had a bed, but no frame for it, so it had been on the floor in the bedroom. It looked ugly and he hated it. He was certain he was going furniture shopping with his first paycheck.

He needed to go food shopping, too. He had food, just nothing really good for him. He'd been eating take out pretty much every night, and tonight wasn't different. He got vegetables, though. He didn't think he could take anymore carbs. He didn't like to exercise very much, either. He went on one run a week and liked to take walks, but besides that, he was a little lazy, which probably wasn't good for what he was putting into his body.

I'm going to have to eat better, he thought as he pulled the ice-cream out of the freezer.

Glares on glasses were a necessity. Having your eyes hidden was perfect for many situations. In high school, before he'd dropped out, Berwald would sleep in class by tilting his head back, getting just the right angle for the fluorescents to cause his glasses to completely glare up, blocking his shut eyes. In retrospect, he should have stayed awake and paid attention.

But the point remains that it was useful to have that glare. Like today. It was useful today when he caught that man staring at him. He wasn't surprised. It wasn't the first time. He glanced over at him, but he couldn't tell he was looking back. He looked curious and afraid. The look was familiar. He received it often, just never so intensely. Normally they turned away, but not this time.

He wondered if they taught manners in whatever college he had attended.

REVIEWS