Adeline shifted in her seat uneasily at the back of the class, tapping her eraser against her spiral bound notebook as she glanced between her fingernails and the clock. *two minutes? Come on*. the chip on her left thumbnail snagged her index finger as she tapped, consuming her attention. She fought the urge to chew it mightily, not wanting to ruin her perfect manicure on the very first class of the very first day.
*three minutes?*
The classroom door opened with a metallic *chunk* as a disheveled woman pushed her way inside by the elbow. She flashed an apologetic smile as she shuffled frantically towards her desk, both arms overflowing with paper, binders, and a laptop. With a terrific crash she landed on the teacher’s desk at the front of the room, unloading her cargo and standing carefully to her full height. She brushed a handful of stray red hair from her face and smoothed her flowy black dress with a flourish, adjusting her glasses to focus on the twenty two students in front of her.
“Good morning girls! I’m terribly sorry for my tardiness, the teacher’s lounge is an absolute zoo on the first day of classes.” She shuffled through her papers, and finding a clipboard sat delicately behind her desk.