The Mystical and Foolish Mr. Kirkland (FACE)

5

"Alfred! I'm glad you could make it!" Kirkland cheered. I rolled my eyes at him and took a seat. "Yeah, I'm only here because Matthew forced me," I spoke. He smiled awkwardly, and I sat in front of his desk. "Oh, well, you do need to take the test to pass," he laughed. "Yeah, and you know what? Matthew told me all about your meet-up with him the other day!"

"Meet up?"

"Yeah! Buying groceries for him too!"

"Ahhhh, when we ran into each other at the store?" He asked, laughing. I glared at him, and he stood up. He didn't have his usual coat on. Only his button-up and slacks, and tie. Always put together...

"Whatever, I don't care. Now my brother seems to worship you; what did you say to him anyway?" I asked. Matthew won't stop talking about Kirkland. Now he is pressuring me to leave him alone. "Nothing in particular..." he smiled. He placed the test in front of me, and I looked at it.

I was good at history, at least.

He took a seat at his desk and smiled at me. "What?" I asked, annoyed. "Get started," he laughed. My eyes widened, and I felt my face turn red. "Right..." I spoke.

~

As I took the test, I would look up to him to see what he was doing.

He would switch between being on his phone to his computer and writing on his paper. I could not figure him out; it had only been a month since school started, and nothing I did would crack him. "You won't get anything done if you keep staring at me," He laughed. I jumped at what he said, and he looked at me with a smile. I glared at him as I placed my cheek on the palm of my hand.

"Honestly, you are so foolish. Are you nice to anyone you meet?"

"Ahh...this again? Not everyone, I can be very tempered, but I have learned to deal with it," he answered. I pursed my lips and nodded. He really was an odd one.

"Are you done?" He asked. He pointed to the test, and I nodded. "Yeah, almost...a few more questions," I answered. "Great, let me know if you have questions," He spoke. He smiled at me and began to mess with his pen.

However, seeing the pen made my eyes widen. "You like the Twilight Zone?" I asked, shocked. He looked at me, then at the pen, smiling and nodding. "It is my favorite show," He spoke.

"WHAT? ME TOO!" I cheered. My eyes widened again, and I immediately shut up. Ugh! I am so embarrassed for acting that way. He began to laugh and held the pen up. "What? It is a good show," he smiled.

I began to stare hard at him and debated whether to ask him the questions I wanted to ask.

"Star Wars?"

"Absolutely!"

"The Beatles?"

"I am British; it is a given..."

"American Horror Story?"

"Ahh, I liked Roanoke."

"ME TOO!"

"Do you like watching youtube videos?"

"Mostly cooking ones..."

"Me too..."

I started to smile at him when suddenly I was taken out of my thoughts by my phone ringing. "Ah, sorry about that; give me a second," I spoke. I stood up quickly and saw who was calling me. "WHERE ARE YOU!?"

I jumped at the sudden yell and rolled my eyes. "I am taking a test..." I tried to explain. "GET YOUR ASS HOME NOW!" My foster parent yelled. His name was Ivan, and he was evil, to put it simply. He was married to a woman named Emma. She was nice, but Ivan got mad at her for being nice to us, and it did not end well. I know she was being abused, but she always defended him. "Okay, I will be home soon," I spoke. "YOU BETTER! AND TELL MATTHEW TO GET HOME TOO!" He yelled. I hung up the phone and groaned. Great, now I can't finish my test.

"I am sorry, but I can't finish my test...huh? What are you doing?" I asked. He picked up my test and started to grade it. "Don't worry about finishing it; you managed to get all the questions right so far, so I won't fail you; it shows that you have been paying attention, at the very least," He smiled.

I could not help but stare at him in disbelief.

He gave me that stupid smile of his, but this time, I did not hate it.

"You ought to get home; that was your foster parent, right?" He asked. I nodded at what he said and walked to grab my things. "Figured, but really, don't worry about it. All I ask in return is that you are safe going home and eating dinner," He spoke. I looked at him, shocked, and I was speechless.

My heart began to beat faster...

For once, since we met, I did not want to curse him.

The way he asked me to be safe, and eat dinner, did something to me. It had been so long since I heard someone other than my brother care about my safety. "Don't be afraid to come and see me anytime you'd like," He smiled. I nodded at what he said and put my bag over my shoulder. "Thank you," I spoke, still staring at him.

I did not know how to move anymore; I just wanted to stare at him. I had learned a few things about him while I was here, and suddenly I wanted to know more. I hated feeling this way! Like hell I was going to allow someone like him get to me. "Unless you wanted to stay?" He asked with a giggle. I began to glare at him again and stuck my tongue out. "AS IF!" I spoke.

I huffed out and turned away from him. "As if I would want to stay around someone like you! I will become a foolish idiot like you!" I spoke. "Oh? That's too bad! See you tomorrow," he cheered. I was done with him! this was the last time I warmed up to anyone again; I won't allow myself to feel this way.