[ WP ] A substitute teacher falls in love with the absent teacher from their notes .

The Lesson Plan. 
 
 He stood in front of the new school with a Marlboro Light in one hand and his old battered briefcase in the other. The school was a series of three two-story buildings, all eggshell white with a bright orange stripe running horizontally between the first and second story. The kids that shuffled into the first building were freshman, predominantly hispanic. He could feel his gut twisting as he burned the cigarette down to it's filter. 
 
 The lady in the front office registered the man and gave him a map leading to his temporary classroom. It was on the second floor and on the far end of the building, one long hallway, a right into a stairwell, and then another long hallway and finally it was on the left. It was a corner room so there were windows on two sides, and it faced the east so the room was warm from the sunlight. The way the desks were oriented, the students sitting down at their desks had windows behind them and to their right, and the chalk board straight ahead. That's where the teachers desk had been placed, just to the right of the chalk board near the window. 
 
 It was a world history class so there were lots of topographical maps of Europe and Asia. There was even a life sized manikin dressed up to look like Napoleon Bonaparte. On the teachers desk was a lesson plan very neatly placed in the middle. Beside it were a group of post-it notes with additional instructions. The first one read:'Please remember to close the shades halfway at ten o'clock. About that time the sun blares into the classroom and bothers the students.' 
 
 The man walked over to the shades and familiarized himself with the opening and closing mechanism. Then he went back and read the second post-it note:'It's useless to try and teach these teenagers for the first five minutes of class. Let them talk and mingle and after five minutes they will respond much better.' 
 
 He looked around the desk. On the corner was a picture of a border collie in the park staring up at the camera with a big dog smile. Beside that was a plaque that read,'the best and most beautiful things in the world can not be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart -Helen Keller.' All the way to the left was an old tensor desk lamp with peeling paint at the edges and beside that was a paper basket for students assignments. And below all of this the entire desktop was an intricately hand drawn map of the world underneath a thick sheet of glass. In the corner of the map it was signed:'a. lopez.' 
 
 The substitute opened the lesson plan and scanned the first page until he found the name of the teacher who taught the class. It was Ms. Lopez. She must have been the one who drew the map. Quite the artist, he thought. He spent another few minutes tracing the lines of the map with his fingers and admiring the beautiful cursive used for the lettering. The attention to detail was astounding, he thought. She put a lot of love into this piece. 
 
 Just north west of China, directly over Kazakhstan, laid the third post-it note. It read:'Follow the lesson plan and you should be fine. For any emergencies. Call my cell: 555-5555. ¡Que tengas un buen día!' The man put the number into his phone under Ms. Lopez and then stacked the post-it notes neatly to the side. 
 
 First period went better than expected. He stuck to the lesson plan which was succinct and even gave specific notes for individual students. The substitute was very impressed by Ms. Lopez' effective hints and thorough class planning. He especially liked the way she put a smiley face in place of her capital O's. Her writing retained the neat, almost bubbly style, of a teenage girls but with years of pedigree layered in on top. That was the other thing that impressed him. In this day and age the fact that she wrote this lesson plan out with a pen and did n't just type it up on the computer spoke to the substitutes romantic notions of old-fashioned penmanship. 
 
 By lunch period the substitute had three classes under his belt and he eagerly chowed down his lunch. The day was going great, he thought. And it was all because of Ms. Lopez' exceptional lesson plan. She laid the whole day out with such care and delicacy that it was like he was going on a cruise. He was even learning a thing or two himself. Like, he never knew that Roman's had heated floors, how cool is that, he thought. 
 
 The first real problem child appeared in fourth period. His name was Diego and he used his bilingual talents to hurl invisible insults at the non-spanish speaking Caucasian substitute. But not to fear, the lesson plan had a page just for Diego,'but do n't tell Diego that there is a page dedicated to him. That would be a mistake!' On this page were a few strategies to help subdue the hormone embroil teen's antics. And lo and behold they worked like a charm. Before the period was over Diego and the substitute had a healthy rapport. 
 
 During fifth period the substitute used a bit of reverse phycology to glean information about Ms. Lopez. He did n't make it painfully obvious, but from what he could tell, she was about five foot six, had long straight black hair, big brown eyes and most often wore a wrap dress with a light cardigan over top. It was n't unusual for Ms. Lopez to be very animated and make her way all around the classroom, trying her best to engage as many of the students as possible. She would often do'funny' sometimes'hysterical' voices to impersonate historical figures. She had a big, bright smile and an infectious laugh and as far as he could tell, all of the students absolutely adored her. 
 
 After fifth period, in the time before the last class of the day, the substitute sat in one of the front desk looking up at the chalk board. He was impressed by how much information he had managed to write down throughout the day. The things that he had taught and even learned. But it was n't just historical facts that he had learned that day. He learned, just by association of hand written notes, what it meant to be a teacher. If reminded him of why he wanted to be a teacher in the first place. To make a difference and change kids lives. To inspire the youth of the country to go on and do great things. These were the things that Ms. Lopez was doing and doing outstandingly. 
 
 The substitute took out his phone and found Ms. Lopez in his contacts. He stared at the number for a moment and then put the phone back in his pocket. `` She said only in case of an emergency,'' he whispered. `` Well. Is this an emergency of my heart?'' He patted his phone through his pocket and stood up out of the desk. He looked over at Napoleon and asked, `` I should at least call her and congratulate her for doing such a great job, right Mr. Bonaparte?'' He pulled the phone from his pocket again. `` I'll tell her that she's inspired me to be a better teacher. That her lesson plan has lessoned my resistance to truly great teaching!'' 
 
 Just then a soccer ball slammed into the window, startling the substitute. He dropped his phone and as he picked it up he thought, what are you thinking. You sound like a total loser. She'll think you're insane. You are insane. Talking to yourself in a classroom. Get real man. 
 
 After the last student left the classroom from the last period of the day, the substitute sat a while longer in the teachers chair. He spent more time appreciating the hand drown map and reading through the lesson plan. He was smiling in a sad kind of way and cackling at little idiosyncratic wordings and phrasings that he had begun to pick up on. As the room began to darken, and the fluorescent stadium lights outside of the window switched on, he sluggishly picked himself up, checked his briefcase for his pack of cigarettes and left the the room. 
 
 The long hallways seemed endless this time around. They seemed to stretch out forever. The substitute did n't want to walk down them. He'd found something in that classroom that he'd lost or had newly discovered. He did n't want to throw it away. But what was he going to do, he thought. Call her up and act like a crazy person. He was practically speaking his thoughts when a woman walked past him in a wrap dress and cardigan. She had long black hair and big brown eyes. She smiled at him and he smiled back. 
 
 The substitute stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned around. `` Ms. Lopez?'' 
 
 The woman stopped and turned around. She had a beaming smile and took a single step closer to him. `` Yes. Hi. That's me. Who are you?'' 
 
 He began to smile. His heart swelled. He took a step closer to her and then another and then extended his hand. `` I'm the substitute. I... I love...'' 
 
 She shook his hand and looked at him curiously. The hand shake was extended beyond the realm of sufficiency. 
 
 ``..loved your lesson plan.'' 
 
 She pulled back her hand and laughed. `` That's great! I hope you where comfortable. My students can be tough on subs sometimes.'' 
 
 `` It was no problem. Really. Your lesson plan put me in just the right head space.'' 
 
 `` That's great! Look. It was nice to meet you! I have to grab something from my office real quick. My husband is waiting for me in the car.'' 
 
 The substitute swallowed and stepped back. `` Okay. I wo n't stop you.'' 
 
 `` Have a wonderful day. Thanks for filling in for me!'' And with that she turned and walked away, disappearing around the corner and into the stairwell. The substitute turned back around and continued down the hallway. 
 
 Outside of the school he opened his briefcase at a bench and grabbed his cigarettes. There was an SUV parked at the curb with a handsome man behind the wheel. The substitute lit his cigarette and then threw his lighter into the briefcase, right on top of Ms. Lopez' lesson plan. 
 
 The End 
 

