Adam and Jack made their way to the classroom and sat down in the front row. Jack was fine with English, he was okay with science, and he was terrible with math, but he loved history; it was his favorite subject in school and his true passion. The class sat in silence for a few moments as they waited for the teacher to arrive. Jack looked over to Adam and said, “Is the teacher usually this late?” Adam shrugged, “Well, usually have Mrs. Adamson, but she fell and broke her hip earlier this year, and we've been having substitutes all year.” It was then that the door opened up and in walked a middle-aged man in sunglasses, a blue dress shirt with the top button undone, and black trousers. He spoke in a classic California accent, “Hello, class. He came in, took off his sunglasses, and laid them down on the teacher’s desk. He then got a black, whiteboard marker and started writing on the board. “I am Dr. Kesler. I will be your substitute for the rest of the school year. Mrs. Adamson will not be returning; she sends her regrets.”
He then sighed “I am Dr. Ira Kesler professor, normally I am a professor of history at USC but for the next few months I will be your history teacher” Jack raised an eyebrow he wondered was hat a tenured professor at a place like USC was doing teaching at a high school, even a nice private one, it couldn't pay better than USC. He sighed and started taking roll until he got to Jack's name, “Ulysses Jackson McCoy.” Jack raised his hand, and Dr. Kesler raised an eyebrow. “Huh, Ulysses, not a very common name,” Jack replied, “My father’s name, I go by Jack, my middle name.” The Doctor nodded, “I see.... Ulysses as Ulysses S. Grant? and Jackson as in Thomas Jackson?” Jack nodded, “Yeah.” Dr. Kesler nodded, “Yeah, I thought so, hmmm.” He then passed him by and kept taking the role. The rest of the class went by pretty smoothly. This was the honors class, so most of the intro was skipped, and they got straight into the history of the War of 1812.
Jack leaned back in his chair and just absorbed the lecture while Adam started taking notes vigorously. After a few minutes, Adam looked over at Jack with puzzlement and whispered, “Hey, why aren't you taking notes?” Jack smirked, “I just remember everything I hear.” Adam looked impressed, “Wish I could do that.” Jack smiled, “I wish I could do math as you do.” Adam replied, “I’d like to teach you sometime.” Jack was stunned but said, “Yeah, sure... I’d like to hang out with you sometime. “What about tonight?” Jack looked taken aback. “What about the sabbath?” Adam shrugged, “As long as I don't eat anything, I should be fine.” Jack smiled, “Sure, my driver can take us both to my house and take you home.” Adam nodded, “Yeah, sure, I’ll just phone my mom after school, but I think she should be fine.” Jack smiled, “It's a date.. I mean hang out,” Adam replied, “yeah, it sure is.” Jack blushed and sighed under his breath. Maybe this could work out; he didn't have to make it awkward or anything, just two friends enjoying each other's company. He then went back to leaning in his chair and thinking about tonight and having a friend over.
In the back of the room, one person was listening to the two talking, and he was steaming his thick, refined British accent as he quietly talked to the two students on either side of him. “That new money nobody thinks he can get in on my action, I must set him straight.” One of the two large kids beside him said, “Oh, so how do you wanna do this, boss?” The young man ran his finger through his platinum blonde hair. “Approach him and strongly encourage him to come with you. I don't want him to be hurt.” The young man in the back of the room sighed, “I just have to be patient and remove all my rivals in my way.”
