"Good morning, class," Nathaniel greeted as he walked into his classroom with his messenger bag in one hand and a cup of steaming hot coffee in the other.
"Good morning, Mr. Kurtzberg."
He smiled as he reached into his bag. "Now, before we get started on today's lesson. Camilo?" A brunette boy with a tan complexion nervously look up, knowing what was about to happen. The redheaded teacher pulls a pink, yellow, and blue pencil case out of his bag. "You left your pencil case again, bud." He tosses the case over to the fifteen-year-old, which he catches. "I don't know how you get your work done if you don't have your pencils with you," he chuckled.
Camilo gave a sheepish smile. "I have extras at home, sir."
"That explains it," he chuckled. "Alright, everyone, pass your sketchbooks up to the front row. I cannot wait to see what you've all drawn for your action pose assignments. We'll be using what you've learned later on."
Without waiting for an answer after she raised her hand, Yvette eagerly asked, "We're finally making comics? Say yes!"
Nathaniel chuckled. "I don't want to say much... But yes." Most of the classroom erupted into cheers. Macey and Syd, two die-hard comic book geeks even high-fived. "Settle down, everyone, come on."
While their teacher was preoccupied settling down his students, Michael Kitale quickly riffled through their backpack to look for their class sketchbook, which they know they put in there this morning. "Come on... There we-" Just as Michael feels their fingers brush up against the surface, their glasses fall of their face and into their backpack. "Damn it," they cursed, now blindly looking for their glasses.
"You okay, Micha?" A kind voice asked, audible enough for Michael to hear among their excitable classmates. It was Varian, their best friend, and someday, hopefully, more in the future. The two have been inseparable since they started lycee
"Yeah," they muttered. "Just dropped my glasses in my backpack. Help me look?" They subconsciously cheered. Now their hands would touch!
Varian nodded and began searching. "Sure. Hey, you need me to pass your sketchbook up?" He asked before pulling a black sketchbook with a white quill and pencil painted on the cover out of Michael's backpack.
Not even looking up from their bag, Michael nodded. "Yes, please. Thanks." After Varian passes up their sketchbook, he goes to help them look through their backpack for their glasses. It's a few seconds of their hands awkwardly brushing up against each other, Varian accidentally grabbing Michael's hand, and Michael doing everything in their power to hide the red tint on their light brown skin, but they finally find their glasses.
Varian chuckled. "You've really gotta clean that thing out, Micha. It's like the Bermuda Triangle in there."
"I know, I know," Michael blushed, looking off to the side. "But I need a bunch of shit for different classes, y'know?"
"Hey, your sketchbook isn't shit," he said sternly with hints of sincerity in his voice. "It's got some of the greatest sketches I've ever seen in there, alright?" When Michael didn't answer, he poked at their sides, getting a quiet giggle out of his friend, making him laugh. "Alright?"
Michael swatted his hand away a couple of times. "Alright, just knock it off," they laughed. "Why is that always your go-to?"
"I can't help if you have a cute laugh." He turned his attention back to the front, not even noticing the red tint to Michael's complexion and the lovesick look they had on their face.
"Finally," the redheaded teacher huffed when he finally got his students to settle down and began gathering the sketchbooks piled on the desks in the front row. "I swear, you guys remind me of my classmates back in lycee."
