Hello, hello! It’s been quite a week. My son had a jazz band concert at which he played a solo during “Bad Attitude.” He didn’t tell us ahead of time so he could surprise us. Last night, my daughter played at the Christmas piano recital. She did a lovely version of “What Child Is This?” Now we just have a few days left until vacation officially begins.
I’ve put my NaNoWriMo novel on hold until after the holidays. At that point, I should be rested and ready to begin fresh on editing. I’ve made several important decisions about the work, and I’m feeling a bit more like I can get this done. Meanwhile, I’ve been working on a couple of short pieces. I already shared snippets of the one with Alex and Phin, and on Friday, you can read my Christmas story here on my blog.
Today, I’m sharing a bit of my unfinished short story. It doesn’t have a title yet. I obviously have a thing for teachers (there’s been at least one in almost everything I’ve written lately), and this is no exception. I have a “hot nerd” high school chemistry teacher who’s no stranger to students with (unrequited, of course) crushes. He has his sights set on someone less…adolescent. I’ll start with the opening scene.
WIPmath: 17th = 17 sentences.
Ethan stood at the front of the classroom, waiting for his students to settle down. As soon as the bell rang, he cleared his throat, and they all looked at him, their mouths closing almost as one. He bit back a smile. This was why he loved teaching the honors section—twenty students all eager to prove themselves.
“There will be no foolish wand waving in this class,” he told them.
That earned a ripple of quiet laughter around the room. It was the third time that day he’d used the line but the first time it amused nearly ever student. Ah, but chemistry was fun. Ethan picked up a stack of papers and began passing them out, simultaneously giving a run-down of his expectations. That was another thing he liked about these kids. They could handle multi-tasking, for the most part.
While he gave his opening lecture, he observed his students, discovering yet another perk to the advanced class. They were all paying attention to what he was saying rather than staring at him. Ethan wasn’t ignorant. He knew what he looked like, and he knew he was appealing. Despite the fact that he owned and flaunted his messy-on-purpose dark hair, his small, round glasses and his wiry but muscular build, he tried not to be too vain about it. The unfortunate drawback was having a number of teenage fangirls. If only they knew.
If you’ve been reading my blog long enough, you know exactly what would disappoint the adoring masses (er, aside from the obvious fact that I don’t write about predatory teachers going after their underage students, of course!).
Like what you see? Hop over to the link-up and read excerpts from some really cool people. Feel free to add your own by posting a bit of your work-in-progress, doing Fancy Math to link it to the date somehow, and sharing the link. As always, thanks to K. L. Schwengel for dreaming a little dream and giving us this space. Happy writing!
Oh, I like the “hot-nerd” angle–but then again, that’s kinda my thing. Really vivid excerpt–felt like I was there, and it took me back to my high school days, when all of us honors nerds would dig into our classes. Love the Snape reference. 🙂
He is slightly based on someone I know IRL. And yes, I definitely relate to enjoying many of my classes!
Those poor girls have no idea that they aren’t exactly equipped to appeal to Ethan. =)
I want to see him out of the classroom, though….owning that hair, those glasses, and that build in his natural environment. I’m not so fond of classrooms….even if he does seem to be a dedicated teacher.
I hope you enjoy your vacation time, and all the music between now and then. What a wonderful surprise your son sprang on you!
Ha! No, the girls definitely don’t know. There might be a few hopeful boys, though Ethan’s a good guy and not at all interested in teenagers.
He’ll get some time in his natural environment while trying to hold his crush on his coworker at bay. He’s a very sweet guy, but he’s been hurt before and isn’t in a hurry to do it over again.
It was indeed a very good surprise! Because of being in the play and having performed at school before, my son has kind of a “fan club.” He had a bunch of the older kids cheer for him after his solo. Very sweet!
In another life, I’ve thought it’d be neat to be a chemistry teacher. I was a lab TA in college, which I loved.
I was never very good at chemistry, but I did enjoy the classes. In my college course, we made aspirin in one of the labs. I really do wish I understood it all better.
Yassss. I already love this because of the Harry Potter reference. I only wish I could’ve had a high school teacher like him. 🙂
My high school chemistry teacher wasn’t a hot nerd, but he was really cool and very nice. He was one of my favorite teachers. It was always obvious how much he liked teaching us. Now if only Harry Potter had been a thing back then so he could’ve referenced it in class! 🙂
Hahaha, I can tell I’m going to love this story just from the snippets I’ve seen already!
Oh, just wait. LOL! You haven’t met Ethan’s BFF or his twin sister yet. 😉
Heh. Chemistry is fun. Especially when there’s fire involved. 😛
Hahaha! So true.
Heh, liked the description of the hot teacher who has absolutely no interest in the nubile chicks with a crush on him. 🙂
Enjoy the holidays!
It does become important later in the story that he’s not interested in the students. It’s both good and bad that they’re unaware of his feelings. 🙂
I can’t say I ever had a hot teacher. Probably for the best. I had problems concentrating as it was. 😉 I love the way you describe him leaning into his looks — “he owned and flaunted his messy-on-purpose dark hair”. Such a great way to give a look at him both physically and mentally.
Hahaha! I had a college professor like this. Except he was really vain about the fact that his students spent half the class staring at him.
I’m not so fond of the stories where the MC has to look in a mirror in order for the reader to get a description. There are more fun ways to do it!