Adopted by my teacher

Chapter 28 An Unexpected Guest

SOPHIE

The girls and I were just leaving out from lunch, heading towards our next class when I realized that for English we were having a substitute teacher.

Last week...

"Before you leave, I have an important announcement!" All around me, my classmates paused in their packing up to stare up at Mom.

"Next week, I won't be here, as I have to go upstate to attend a conference."

"So, no class?" someone called out.

Mom winced. Or at least, I think she did. I know I did after hearing Britney's question in her rather whiny voice.

"Actually, you will have class. I met with your substitute and he seemed more than happy to teach you for one day."

Now, coming to my classroom door, I only hoped he knew what he was getting into. Otherwise, he'd be in for a very trying fifty minutes.

Stepping into the classroom, we met the eyes of our substitute teacher and offered him a shy smile. He appeared to be six-feet-tall and was elegantly dressed. The girls and I were almost always the first to arrive, which I figured to be a pretty good first impression.

"Hello there," he greeted us in a cultured voice. "And who might you all be?"

"I'm Charlotte," she spoke first.

"Chelsea," she smiled.

"My name is Sophie."

The man reached out to shake each one of our hands. "Glad to know you. I'm Mr. Nielsen and I'll be filling in for Ms. Morgan."

By the time we took our seats and set out our homework and notebook on our desk, many of our chatting classmates had trickled in.

"Good afternoon, students." Everyone stopped talking, turning their attention to Mr. Nielsen. He polished his glasses a few times on his sleeve before placing it back onto his face. "As you know, your teacher could not be here today and asked me to substitute for this fine class."

Oh, boy.

"Let us attend to the first order of business, shall we?" Mr. Nielsen picked up a small notebook from the desk. "When I call your name, please respond accordingly." He paused to read the first name, then smiled in our direction.

"Well, I know that you three are in attendance. John Blair?"

"Here!"

Well, it wasn't hard to mess up roll call, although I saw Mr. Nielsen frowned slightly in Britney's direction. Then again, she had mumbled the word "here" while attempting to fix her lip gloss.

"Right then. I have read the syllabus of this class and reviewed the notes your teacher left for me. As of now, you are covering the grammatical side of the English language, is that correct?"

We all nodded.

"Yes, she wishes for me to cover the seven basic parts of speech today. Could someone name them for me please?"

A few hands raised up, including my own.

"Miss Carson? I saw your hand first."

"Nouns, pronouns verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions are the seven basic parts of speech."

"Well done, Miss Carson. And, may I add, very eloquently stated."

"Now, I'm sure that, being high school students, you are all familiar with this sort of basic grammar, but I'm sure no one would object to us brushing up on it. After all, you all learned the parts of speech when you were much younger, I'm sure."