The ceiling fans spun swiftly, providing ventilation for the students who sat beneath them. While others were busy jotting down their teacher's notes, James and Dennis, sitting on their usual back seat, whispered to each other, looking for chances to mock their teacher, as that was all they could do to get over their boredom during their last lesson for the day.
"James, is that how to spell that word?" Dennis asked after they both realized their teacher had spelled conservative as "coservative". They both chuckled quietly as their teacher corrected the mistake.
"C-o-s-e-r-v-a-t-i-v-e," James mouthed, causing Dennis to burst out laughing. The teacher turned around to face the laughing Dennis and then spoke in a calm but cold voice.
"What's going on over there?" She asked with irritation visible on her face.
"Just had a cough," said Dennis, who was now making some noise in his throat to imitate him coughing.
"Better. Let me have a look at your notes, Dennis and James," she said as she walked towards them, stretching her hands forward to receive their notebooks.
"Minus one mark for both of you!" She barked at them after accessing their notes. "Let's see where you'd both end up this term with this attitude of yours." With that, she strode over to her desk and started updating her records. The fun James and Dennis had both been having was immediately extinguished, leaving them looking glum.
Their history teacher, Mrs. Thomas, was a very strict teacher whom all students, she thought, including Dennis and James, respected and feared. She didn't tolerate any form of nuisance from her students. She was always ready to give out punishments that were fair but firm. Dennis and James, who were both students who loved joking around during classes, were always on the receiving end of her punishments. This term, they had received some amount of punishments and had lost some marks, causing them to be worried as it might affect their studies. But still, they continued with their playful acts.
When the bell rang for the end of lessons for the day, Mrs. Thomas announced to the class,
"There are some aspects of this topic I'd still like to talk about, so we'll be having an online class this evening around eight PM. I hope you're all okay with it."
"Yes!" The class roared in unison, anxious to go home.
"Bro, I'd come over to your place for the online class," Dennis said to James as they trudged towards their parents' cars, still looking gloomy from their earlier encounter.
Around 7:45 pm, Dennis arrived at James's house, his house being nearby. The online class commenced as scheduled. As the students and Mrs. Thomas settled in front of their devices, their faces materialized on each other's screens, marking the beginning of the virtual session.
Ten minutes into the class, Dennis and James were suddenly possessed by mischief. James quickly muted his speaker as they both started talking about Mrs. Thomas again.
"That woman is so annoying," said Dennis, covering his face with his hands.
"She's more annoying to me, bro," James added. They kept on talking about her until James' toddler brother wandered into the room. They didn't even notice as he started tapping on the screen of the tablet until it fell from its stand case. Lost in conversation, James absently shooed his brother away and restored the tablet to its stand without noticing anything amiss.
"It's not like she knows how to teach history properly," said James without even noticing everyone had stopped talking on the screen to look at them.
"Thanks, bro, I thought I was the only one who noticed. If I had the chance to teach, I think I'd be way better than her," Dennis said, and they both burst into laughter.
"Also, she's always scowling. Wonder what she will look like when old."
"A grumpy grandma monster," they erupted into uncontrollable laughter, with James tumbling off the bed and Dennis clutching his stomach.
"That woman is such a funny character," James said, with his eyes brimming with tears of laughter.
"Ahem," Mrs. Thomas cleared her throat. "I hope you guys are done discussing me." James and Dennis were startled like deers caught in a headlight. The sudden sound of her voice caught them off guard, and they realized no one in the online class had been talking for a while now. They both scanned the screen for the mute button and saw they were no longer muted. It was then it occurred to them what James' brother had done.
"Oh no, bro!" James shouted, hastily exiting the virtual session.
"This is bad!" Dennis exclaimed, his hands on his head, sweating profusely as he collapsed onto the floor. James lay on his back on the bed, staring blankly into the ceiling, wondering how they would escape this mess they had landed themselves in. They both remained motionless, saying nothing to each other, thinking about what was waiting for them tomorrow.
They were doomed!
All images were generated by meta Ai