It was quiet in the staffroom as it's been almost an hour since the last school bell rang for the day. Brett put the last bundle of his seniors' maths quiz papers back into its folder, pleased that they have now all been marked. He decided to take a break and headed towards the staff kitchen.
With his practised hands, Brett quietly prepared two mugs of coffee and took them to the desk in the corner of the teachers' lounge.
As Brett approached his favourite colleague, he overheard the very last snippet of the phone conversation that was took place;
"....well, perhaps you could take him skiing. ....hello ? Hello?"
Brett tilt his head in question, wondering if it was a bad phone connection.
Eddy looked up at Brett.
"...She hung up on me!"
Brett smirked.
"Oh no, Eddy, mate, what have you done now ?"
Eddy retorted in indignation.
"What?! Why do you always say it as if I've done something bad ?"
Brett laughed out loud. He passed Eddy one of the coffee mugs.
"Awww, I'm just messin' with ya. C'mon, debrief with me, mate. Tell me what happened."
After they enjoyed a couple of sips of their coffees, Brett restarted the conversation.
"...Asian?"
Eddy groaned.
"Yeah."
"Oh, lemme guess some more, ...high achieving student ?"
"Yep, topped my class."
Brett whistled.
"But didn't top the year? Is that the problem?"
Eddy widened his eyes.
"How'dya know !?"
Brett grinned.
"Cos it's often like that."
Then Brett froze. He sat there expressionless, wearing his signature dead-pan. His face then turned to stunned, followed by eureka. Finally, it settled back to one of Eddy's secret favourites, the sly grin. Eddy watched on, fascinated with Brett's facial transfigurations. He wondered how someone could look so comical and beautiful at the same time.
".. Man, Brett, it looks like you've worked it all out by yourself without me telling you anymore?"
"I bet I have. Bubble tea for the correct answer?"
"You're on."
That was Brett's cue to shriek with his best yet horrible attempt of falsetto and on point Chinese accent.
"Oh mister Chen!! My son do okay in test, he got 97 per cent, first in your class but not in whole year lah!"
Eddy burst out laughing.
"Oh my god I'm so glad no one is here to hear this apart from me."
"Hey, I've actually got relatives that speak like that, I'm just mimicking their accent."
"Oh my god I gotta stop drinking my coffee or else I might spray it all over you."
"Ew, gross Eddy."
"You're spot on so far. Even the test mark, you're brilliant! So what's next ?"
"Then she says; oh mister Chen!! You tell me please how my son get the 3 more per cent."
Eddy recoiled in horror as he leaned back and pushed his chair back.
"Man, I'm floored, it's like you've been eavesdropping the whole conversation. Are you sure you haven't tapped into the school phone?"
"Nah, I've just been around for too long."
"What the.. you've only been teaching a year longer than me!"
Brett stuck his tongue out.
"Yeah, well that actually means I've got twice as much experience than you, you little fresh grad !"
Eddy raised an eyebrow.
"...Mr Yang, that is such juvenile behaviour, I would have to call your parents about that."
Brett didn't miss a beat and quipped back.
"Awe, sir don't bother, my mum doesn't speak any English anyway."
Eddy didn't stop either.
"...That's okay Brett, my name isn't Chen for nothing. I am sure I will enjoy a lovely conversation with your mother in my mother's tongue, Mandarin."
Brett was trying so hard not to laugh so that he can finish what sounded like a comedian skit.
"Aiyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
They both howled with laughter.
"Oh man, Eddy, don't tell me you actually used that line with a student?"
"Word by word mate !! And the kid actually did say aiya!!!"
Brett removed his glasses and rubbed the tears from his eyes.
"Oh my god, where were we ?"
Eddy was still laughing.
"I can't remember, I laughed too much, I forgot."
"This is so dumb."
"Yeah, so ridiculous."
"Oh! Speaking of ridiculous, I now remember. I must've then walked in on your conversation after that, right ?"
"What ?"
"So this mum was asking you how to get the extra 3 per cent so you suggested her to cut him some slack and take him skiing during the winter holidays, didn't you."
"Oh my god, yes !!"
"O my god Eddy, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
"..I know. Can you imagine our mums being told such a thing from one of our teachers when we were young? Man, her wrath would've been like...."
Eddy shuddered.
"Oh my god Brett, I just realised I must have really pissed off this parent!!!!!"
Brett snorted.
"Well, congratulations Eddy, another big step towards becoming a real teacher."
Eddy groaned again and covered his face with his hands.
"Haha, Eddy, my man, you say stuff like that cos you care about the well-being of your students, you are so brave and I love you for it, man."
Eddy looked up from his hands, his face as red as a beetroot.
"Oh, will ya stop that crap or I'm gonna stop talking to you!"
Brett grinned.
"Too bad, you now owe me a bubble tea., let's go!"