Sophie Ch. 01

Monday (The Meeting)

The large black man walked into his classroom. He was imposing physically but there seemed to be a lack of energy to his person. He sat behind the desk and opened his folder. It contained the roster of students for his Statistics class. It was the first day and he felt a little tinge of excitement when he thought of the 20 new faces he would see in a few minutes. This feeling was quickly squashed by the dampening dark force emanating from him. His eyes scanned the list, the typical names, Susan, Joseph, Kenny, blah, blah, blah he heard in his head. He stopped on one name for some reason, he looked at it closely, it looked like a typo. Solvia, what kind of name was that? He chuckled as he thought of all the clueless parents cursing their poor children as soon as they were born.

The noise of the shuffling of feet and voices shook him from his thoughts. He looked up to see some students file into the room. He looked at the clock. It was 10 minutes until the class started. There were three of them, two guys and a girl. Ass-kissers, he thought, and his theory seemed to be valid when they sat in the first row of chairs and looked up at him. They were all pretty, especially the girl, but he was so tired of the teacher pets that he looked back down at his list without even acknowledging them.

He pulled the copies of his syllabus out of his folder. They were clean and perfect, just like the class so far. They would eventually be torn and dirty, just like the class would eventually be. Torn and dirty, he looked up at the ceiling as he let those words cross his mind slowly. That was a great description of how he had been feeling lately. He felt torn and dirty. He sighed deeply and opened his drawer to look for a pencil.

"Good morning, Doc." a perky voice blasted into his world.

He looked up and saw a short brunette looking at him. She made eye contact and smiled and then turned to head down one of the aisles. His head felt strange, almost lighter. he watched her walk to the back row and sit down. She was wearing old cutoff jeans and what looked like hiking boots. Her legs were very pretty but very natural. Were her eyes blue or brown? He couldn't remember, he just knew they were different. He tried to look around to see what she was doing but he could only see a flash of white shirt. He noticed the class was full and he glanced at the clock. It was time.

"Good morning, my name is Doctor Smith. This is Intro to Statistics and here is your syllabus." He said in a slow monotone voice and handed the stack to the pet girl on the first row.

She immediately jumped up and started passing some of the papers into each row. He noticed she was wearing a short, frilly skirt and her legs were long. He diverted his eyes to the back of the class and saw the top of a brunette head towards the back but nothing more. He sat on his desk and addressed the class.

"You will notice the grading scale and percentages are all on the first sheet. My class rules and policies are on the second sheet. There should be no confusion on any of this. Please see me if you have any questions. Please make sure you get the books that are listed on the third sheet and read the first chapter in the Elliot book for next session. That is all I have for today. I will see you next class." He said and continued to sit on the desk.

The students gathered their stuff and began to leave. He saw a few of them with strange looks on their faces. He had been doing this long enough. He would have no trouble covering all the material, he didn't need the first session for anything other than to hand out the information and make his little welcome speech. The little pet girl smiled at him and wiggled her cute butt as she walked away. The pet guys gave him the guy nod and followed her out. He felt sorry for them, he could read that situation from a mile away. They would never get any closer to her than they were now but they both had plans to the contrary. What a joke.

"Doc, I have a question." That voice split through his thoughts.

He turned to see her standing in front of him. She was short but not out of proportion. Her face seemed to be brighter than the others. It would not be considered traditionally beautiful but it was perfect. Her eyes, blue now he noticed, were deep and sparkly. Her skin was olive and perfection and her lips stood out even though he knew she had no lip gloss on. He looked closer and could have sworn she had no makeup on at all. His eyes wanted to scan lower but her face had him trapped.

"Yes, what is your question?" He said and continued to stare at her.

"Well, I was noticing that you really didn't engage. Is there something wrong?" She said and he noticed a sadness in her eyes.

He felt his heart skip when he saw her eyes change. He felt responsible, great, his sadness was infecting even this perfect creature.

"Nothing, I am ok. The first day is always a little awkward." He responded, hoping that would change her back.

"Really? So you are always this sad on the first day? Shouldn't the first day be exciting? Not knowing who will walk into your class? The unknown, the unpredictability." She said and her eyes sparkled again.

He heard her words but he was mesmerized by her hair as she spoke. It was shoulder length and slightly wavy. It rested on her shoulders and bounced slightly when she talked. It also seemed to shine.

"Ugh, well, I don't know." He muttered, embarrassed that he hadn't listened to her.

"Doc, concentrate, I asked you if you were always this sad. You should never be sad, especially at the beginning of an adventure." She said.

"An adventure?" He answered with a question.

"Yes, an adventure. Anything that is new has the potential to become an adventure. A new class with new students. Blank minds to fill. What could be better?" She said, her voice suddenly serious.

He laughed. Blank minds, that was accurate. Most of these kids were entirely blank. He stopped laughing as he noticed her. She was not laughing, she was looking into his eyes with an innocent questioning look. He felt like a schmuck. Here was this perfect little creature in front of him and he was mocking her. What a loser.

"Doc, you have to learn to live. Life is special. We are all blessed by each other. Every day is an adventure. You never know how many lives you are going to influence simply by going to the grocery store or walking down the hall. I think you have the potential to have a wonderful smile. I hope you don't mind but I think I might just have to spend this semester pulling it out of you." She said and her eyes sparkled their brightest.

He just stared at her and tried his best to hold it back but a small smile broke through his hard face. He saw her smile back at him and turn to walk out of the class. He panicked, he didn't want her to leave. His mind was working frantically.

"Umm, excuse me, uh." He stammered. She turned to look at him.

"Solvia, but no one can pronounce it so you can call me Sophie. That is what you wanted to know, right Doc?" She giggled.

He shook his head slowly.

"By the way, what's your favorite color?" She said.

"Green." He uttered.

She smiled a deep smile, put her finger on her lips and seemed to be in deep thought for a second.

"Cool, see you Wednesday." She said and skipped out of the room.

He sat there, stunned and empty. He felt the light leave the room with her. His sadness rolled back over him and he noticed it. He was angry, he had enjoyed the feeling whe the darkness left him, when she was here. He got off the desk and gathered his stuff. He picked it up and walked out of the room, wondering how he would be able to wait two days for Wednesday.