The Quiet Ones

Chapter 2

While Mr. Schaefer droned on, Sean doodled in his notebook. His eyes on the paper and his chin resting on his free hand, his elbow on the corner of the page to keep it still, he didn't notice that Schaefer had stopped talking and walked over to him until the notebook had been yanked out from under him. "I'm sorry, am I boring you, Mr. Murphy?"

Sean's arm slid with the notebook, and his head fell, hitting the desk. The other students' laughter filled the room, and Sean sat back up, rubbing his chin where it had connected. He looked at Mr. Schaefer, "No, of course not."

"Can you define 'inertia' for me?" Schaefer set the notebook back down on Sean's desk.

"Umm..." Sean had learned about the stuff they were talking about back in middle school, but it had been years since then. He knew what it was, but he couldn't remember the definition, exactly.

He scoffed, "Of course not. It's the tendency of an object to resist any change in motion. See me after class." With that, Mr. Schaefer turned and headed back to the front of the room. For the remainder of class, Sean at least pretended to pay attention, watching the teacher as he went on lecturing.

When the class ended, Sean purposely took as long as possible to pack up all his things, trying to prolong the inevitable as he waited for all the other students to leave the room. Fortunately, this was his last class, so after he dealt with Schaefer, he could leave for the day. Once everyone else was gone, he sighed and walked up to the front of the classroom, leaning back on one of the desks closest to the teacher's.

Mr. Schaefer looked at him, watching him for a moment, as if debating whether or not to say something. Apparently making his decision, he stood up and came around his desk before leaning back against it, mirroring Sean. "Cathy told me."

"Cathy?" Sean raised an eyebrow. He was genuinely confused. As far as he knew, none of the students went by Cathy. If there were, they wouldn't know anything about Sean.

"Your friend, Miss Miller. She used to go by Cathy. Anyway, she told me you were turned," Schaefer cleared up the confusion, "I'm one, too."

"Yeah, she told me you were."

"What else did she tell you about me?"

"That you used to be... close," he answered, still uncomfortable imagining the two together. Even if Schaefer had been younger when he was turned, even if he looked Sean's age, he didn't think he could imagine him with Cat. Then again, he had trouble imagining that his teacher as anything but what he was now.

Mr. Schaefer nodded, "A long time ago, yes." He went quiet, looking down at the floor. When he didn't continue, Sean cleared his throat, causing the older man to look back up at him. "Right, sorry. I need your help with something."

"What's that, then?"

"Yesterday, I left here a bit late, and I noticed someone lurking around the building after dark, near the student parking lot. It might just be teenagers, but I want you to come back here later and see if they're here."

"Why can't you do it?" Sean asked.

"Because I'm busy. I have things to grade and lessons to plan."

He scoffed, "It's the second day, you already have stuff to grade?"

"Just be glad your class hasn't had an assignment yet," Schaefer stood up and made his way back to his seat, "Anyway, as I said, they were probably just students messing around. If they're back tonight, I want you to scare them off."

"Scare them off?" Sean raised an eyebrow at his teacher, "How am I supposed to do that?"

"You're a clever boy, I'm sure you'll think of something. Now go," he gestured to the door.