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James pulled his black Queen shirt on, turning around to look at Matthew, who was pulling on his Oscar Wilde T-Shirt. It read, in sans serif font, “I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying”. It was Matthew’s favorite shirt, green cotton with a soft fleece lining. Which meant, of course, that James stole it from him at least once a quarter until Matthew took it back.
“Jamie, we’re going to be late and we haven’t even eaten breakfast yet!” Matthew said.
“Relax” James eased. “We’ll just stop at the Tavern on the way to the school. And we’ll only be late by the standard of ‘We can’t make out in my classroom for 20 minutes’ We will be in time for the staff meeting, love”
James fiddled with the gold band on his finger. 5 years, and Matthew was still incredible.
Matthew slung his arm around James’ shoulder, his ring lightly clinking against James’ pearl earring. “Let’s get to work, dear”
-
They pulled into the parking lot 15 minutes before the first students would arrive. “I’m going to corner you after your and my last class and kiss you for so long that your lips begin to bruise” Matthew declared, gazing into James’ eyes.
“I know you will, Cariad” James replied, pressing his lips chastely to Matthew’s, before leaving the car to get to his class.
-
Here’s the thing about The Garroway Academy: The coolest teachers were also the high school ones. And, every year, the largest debate from the students, even more so than what the best lunch was, determined the year’s favorite English teacher. Every year, without fail, since the pair had started working at the school, it was a huge debacle of Mr. Herondale vs Mr. Fairchild.
The arguments were always compelling. James Herondale let his students watch the film adaptation while reading a novel, and was always relaxed, and accepted late work without a fuss. You could do no work all semester, turn it all in the last day before grades were due, and he’d take it without a fuss. Matthew Fairchild, however, was different. In a way that caused the largest student arguments ever. Fairchild always had the kids perform the book, and he brought his dog in (Oscar Wilde the Second), and let them eat food in class. Both of them were simply adored by the population.
[“So, Fairchild” Mr. Herondale said. “What are you doing on this fine day?”
“I’m going to teach them about Oscar Wilde, since its his birthday. What about you?” Mr. Fairchild said
“What a coincidence! We’re starting our Picture of Dorian Gray unit today” Mr. Herondale replied.
“You- You can’t do that!” Mr. Fairchild exclaimed “Oscar Wilde is MY favorite author! My dog is named after him. You can have Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë, but not my dear Oscar”
“You cannot claim an entire author, Matthew” ]
The video ended with the two going to their classroom. Katie lowered her phone. “I rest my case. Mr Herondale and Mr Fairchild have chemistry and are dating”
Christopher snorted “I cannot believe you think they are dating when they are clearly married.”
“Or they could just be good friends.” McKenna pointed out.
Katie stared at McKenna “So that time we walked into Mr. Herondale’s office during lunch and saw Mr. Fairchild with a bruise on his neck that you said wasn’t there in 1st period, that was purely platonic?”
McKenna raised her hands in faux innocence “I was just playing Devil’s Advocate”
"This is the stupidest thing ever" Daniel said "Just let them live their life"
A girl with long brown hair butted in. "They've been married for 5 years. It was a spring wedding. Wedding colors were green, white and gold. Mr. Fairchild had green carnations woven into his hair. The reception lasted until Midnight."
McKenna gaped at her. "What proof do you have? And who are you?"
The girl stuck out her hand. "My name's Andrea Carstairs-Herondale. James and Matthew are my uncles. I've got the wedding photos if you wanna see them"
Katie's eyes lit up "Of COURSE! I've been trying to convince people all year that they should date and now you're saying they're together?"
Andrea was pulling out her phone to show everyone the pictures when the bell rang, and everyone separated to go to their separate classes.