“The review sheets are due next class.” Mr Lee called out as the students of his History Through Cinema class walked out of his room. For a Monday, today had been relatively painless, and shockingly Mr Lee wasn’t irritated he had to stay late. He had been nervous for this meeting all day, but the nice kind of nervousness, it’d become that way as the day went on at least.

Once his room was empty again, Mr Lee neatened the stack of papers on his desk before putting them in his bag. He walked over to the window he’d opened during lunch and pulled it shut. Early afternoon looked so pretty, and from this angle, Mr Lee could see the small patches of flowers growing around trees in the back. He looked down at the group of kids sitting on a picnic blanket together, a young boy reeled back in laughter as his friend grabbed his hand tight and fell forward laughing just as hard. 

Mr Lee looked up to the sky, and then to the corner of the school’s parking lot visible from his window. A slow-moving line of cars snaked around the one corner he could see. ‘Skyler will be here soon, won’t he…’ Mr Lee said walking away from his window and grabbing his bag and coffee mug. Turning the lights out in his room as he left, Mr Lee walked down the halls. He waved as he passed students who were late to leave class, or off to find a teacher and he smiled at colleagues he passed by. 

Taking hold of the railing tightly, Mr Lee descended the staircase, stopping off at the second floor. His meeting with Mr Hayer and Skyler was in the former’s office on the first floor, but a mug of coffee on the way wouldn’t hurt anyone. Opening the door, Mr Lee smiled as he poured another mug full of bad coffee.

“Hey,” A voice came from the table beside him. Mr Lee didn’t register it at first, or rather, hadn’t expected it to be someone talking to him. Looking at the door, however, no one had entered. He finished pouring his coffee before turning to see who spoke.

“Oh, hello.” Mr Lee said with a small gasp and a short laugh. “Sorry I didn’t think someone was talking to me, how are you Skyler?”

“I’m alright. How are you doing Mr Lee, busy monday?” The young man asked, in the proper lighting of this faculty lounge and with eyes running on a little more sleep this time, Mr Lee got a far better look at Skyler. When the younger man stood, Mr Lee saw Skyler was pretty tall, a few inches taller than himself. He saw that inky black hair, and it hadn’t been a trick of his sleeplessness then, rather Skyler’s truly did seem to bear a blue sheen. He saw the boy wearing khakis this time, they were relatively wrinkled and had their smatterings of clay but didn’t look too bad, and he had another loose sweater, green not blue today.

“I’m alright, nothing to complain about today. What are you doing up here? We’re meeting Mr. Hayer downstairs in his office are we not– or did he reserve a conference room?”

“No no, we are meeting in his office. I just thought I’d catch you on your way down from your classroom if I waited here, then we could walk together.” Skyler said walking over from the table towards Mr Lee. 

“Oh, you didn’t have to do that,” Mr Lee said shaking his head, he took a sip of his coffee. It burnt his tongue like he’d expected, but that was just part of his coffee experience these days.

“Well I wanted to, shall we walk down? Mr Hayer is probably waiting.” Skyler said checking his phone for the time before setting it back into his pocket. Mr Lee didn’t quite see what his home screen had been, but it looked like a sketch of some sort.

“Ahh, you’re right about that.” Mr Lee said walking with Skyler towards the door, the other opening it for him as Mr Lee gave a courteous nod. “Why’d you wait here, you know where my room is afterall.”

“Oh…” Skyler turned away from Mr Lee at that question, “I just didn’t want to startle you like last time.”

Mr Lee couldn’t help but laugh, not really at Skyler, but then again sort of at Skyler. “You dont have to worry about that, you shocked me anyways today didn’t you? You can come up if you want next time…” Mr Lee took a sip of his coffee but seemingly had an epiphany as the bitter liquid touched his lips. “Mmh! You’ll have your own classroom to be in soon anyways though, wont you?”

Skyler still didn’t look back to Mr Lee, but he faced forward now, not the wall. “Well, sure. But I’ll still make time to go up to your room, It’s nostalgic.”

“Fair enough,” Mr Lee answered, pausing in front of the staircase to readjust his bag onto his shoulder before grabbing the railing as they descended. “What were you up to today?” Mr Lee asked while they walked, Skyler seemingly watching his hand as he went down the railing. “Oh– yeah I just loose my balance pretty easily. Strange when I’m not yet thirty isn’t it? Ahaha,” Mr Lee nervously laughed while he spoke.

“No I wasn’t looking at–” Skyler started as he turned his face away from Mr Lee again, mumbling a few words before Mr Lee could understand him once more. “Anyways, I was around the studio for most of today. I spent time working on pieces for a project, then I taught an adult wheel throwing class around noon before getting a late lunch and finally coming here. Nothing too busy.”

“That sounds like a nice Monday. What’s the project you’re working on? Is there a theme?” Mr Lee asked, Skyler finally turning to face him once more when he replied.

“It’s for some fancy hotel, they want a set of vases fitting the theme of ‘The Elements’ to put in one of their primo villas.” Skyler spoke with an odd mix of joy and disdain, he seemed so happy to talk about his work with Mr Lee yet so disheartened that their topic was a project like this.

“Do you do commission work often?” Mr Lee asked; he didn’t know how the art world worked at all. Well, Skyler’s experience with that world was pretty unique anyway. A rapid rise into the good graces of many rich collectors had given him a far different career than most artists.

“Pretty often yes…” Skyler seemed disappointed to say. “But whenever I also make alot of pieces just for my own enjoyment and I usually give those to friends as gifts or donate them to a museum. It’s fun to know my work is spread far and wide, even if I don’t get paid for it.”

Mr Lee almost asked if Skyler was getting paid enough from commissions, if he should really be so generous but then– then he remembered the donation Skyler gave to the school. “Well it’s nice you have time for personal projects, and I’m sure those museums are glad to get such a famous artist’s work for free.”

“Yeah, they usually are. I never did understand this fame though,” Skyler’s voice slowed as he spoke now, it wasn’t quite a serious tone, but this topic was clearly less fun for him.

“Even if you don’t understand it, I’m sure the kids will adore you for it.” Mr Lee said as they continued walking the halls to Mr Hayer's office.

“Just the kids?” Skyler said, his voice sounded as if there was more to his thought after those words, but he didn’t speak anything else.

“Well, the staff will probably have a little more shame when it comes to asking you for free pieces.” Mr Lee answered, incorrectly assuming what Skyler’s meaning had been.

“Maybe I’ll give some gifts, to the people around here.” Skyler smiled at Mr Lee.

“Speaking of people around here,” Mr Lee commented, opening the door to Mr Hayer’s office, not noticing that Skyler’s eyes traced him, traced his hand, once more.

“Mr Lee. Ahh, Skyler! Come on in you two, sit sit,” Mr Hayer greeted them warmly as he looked up from the folio he held. He took his glasses off and set them on his desk. “I hope Monday treated you both well, yes, hm?”

“Nothing too busy, how about yourself?” Mr Lee asked as he took a seat in one of the two chairs in front of Mr Hayer’s desk. He moved to reach across said desk and grab a coaster for his mug but– Skyler had already slid one directly to him, his smile still directed at Mr Lee.

“Paper work shmaper work, it’s all the same.” Mr Hayer tutted as he lightly slapped his hand across the folio on his desk. “What about you, Skyler?”

“Oh, nothing too exciting before this,” Skyler answered as his eyes finally left Mr Lee. He smiled briefly at Mr Hayer before his eyes began to wander around the man’s office.

“Well then, shall we get started?” He asked, putting his glasses back on and grabbing a different folio from the side of his desk. “You’ve both read this I assume?” Mr Hayer asked, taking out his printed-out ‘Ceramics’ course plan.

“Yes, and I have notes too,” Mr Lee answered, pulling out the notepad he’d written on from his bag. He had filled two pages of the yellowed legal pad paper with his comments, and considering his neat handwriting? It was quite a lot of words.

Mr Hayer chuckled for a bit peering over his desk at the pad Mr Lee held, “Well isn’t this a familiar Mr Lee we’ve been missing.” His words held as much meaning as the sky did stars to Mr Lee and himself, but Skyler was left without an explanation. “It was Skyler and I who wrote the course pack so we’ve already haggled about it. How about we start with your notes–” Mr Hayer was interrupted however by a loud buzzing as his phone jittered across his desk. 

“Do you need to get that?” Mr Lee asked. He watched as Mr Hayer’s eyes widened as soon as he saw who was calling.

“Yes um– I’ll have to go now actually, uh, you two can continue this discussion without me. I trust your judgment Mr Lee.” Mr Hayer hastily replied as he quickly gathered his things, before picking up the phone and rushing out the door. “Yes honey, I got caught up with work, I’m leaving now– No! I didn’t forget dinner, I’ll be home to pick you up in ten minuets…”

Skyler and Mr Lee’s eyes caught each other as Mr Hayer rushed off, and they couldn’t help but smile at the circumstance. “So, what were the notes you have?” Skyler asked after a moment.

“Oh, not too much. It was mainly about the projects for the class. I like how the semester is split with more directed projects and then open-ended time, but I think it’d be nicer if there was a clearer throughline with the projects. Like a clear sense of progress and skill building,” Mr Lee was pointing to different parts of his notes as he spoke. Skyler glanced where the man pointed, but they weren’t his focus.

“Actually, I’m sorry to interrupt. But if Mr Hayer already left, could we go get something to eat while we discuss this? I haven’t had anything since lunch and skipped breakfast too.” His voice was sweet, and Mr Lee truly believed Skyler was hungry. Do the little details like that matter though?

“Oh, well…” Mr Lee paused for a moment. He hadn’t eaten much today either, but it was barely half past three. “We can get something to eat, sure.”

Skyler’s face lit up as Mr Lee began carefully sliding his notepad back into his bag. “Is there anything you’re craving now?”

“I’m fine with anything as long as there is coffee,” Mr Lee answered with a smile, grabbing the mug he’d just made and downing it.

Skyler’s smile turned a sour shade as he watched Mr Lee gulp down the mug. “Is it healthy to have so much coffee in a day?”

“Ah, haha.” Mr Lee nervously laughed as he made to stand. “Look at this, the old student teaching me now. I’ll be fine though, I’ve been doing this for ages and it’s been fine. Why don’t you pick somewhere for us to eat, and I’ll go put my mug away.” He didn’t wait for an answer as he left the office with a smile. Mr Lee quickly headed back to the faculty lounge, and after rinsing his mug in the sink stopped before he grabbed the door to go back downstairs. Turning back, he went to the faculty restroom and looked at himself in the mirror. 

His eye bags might have been better, but they were still damn impressive, and his hair was a mess too. Turning the sink on, Mr Lee splashed the cold water under his eyes and spread it over his face. He grabbed a paper towel and wiped his face dry again, before wetting his hands slightly and running them through his hair. After all of that, when he turned the sink off again and looked back at himself in the mirror– he looked a little better at least.

Leaving the faculty lounge, Mr Lee headed down the stairs and saw Skyler standing there by the door. “Did you pick somewhere?”

“Yeah, it’s not too far away.” Skyler answered, opening the door as Mr Lee got closer. “I forgot to mention earlier, but my car has been having issues since Saturday. You wouldn’t mind giving me a ride, would you?”

“Oh, sure. How did you get here today?” Mr Lee asked as he fished in his bag for his keys while they walked towards the faculty lot.

“Chloe dropped me off.”

“Well that’s sweet of her. You know Skyler, it’s good to hold onto people like that in your life, don’t prioritize anyone over someone who truly is kind to you.” Mr Lee spoke. Was he just a teacher, or was he thinking of his own shameful mistakes from the past?

“I know,” Skyler answered softly. “How has the cut on your hand been healing?”

“Cut– what cut?” Mr Lee paused his walking, looking down the rows of cars until he spotted his own. “Oh, oh, it’s been healing well. A bandaid and ointment work wonders don’t they.” Mr Lee said, covering his hands with each other while they walked, tucking his thumb in to hide it.

“That’s good then,” Skyler said, dropping the subject even if he wasn’t satisfied with that answer. “I chose a french bakery for us to go to, is that alright? They’ll have nice coffees, pasteries, sandwiches and such.”

“S-sure, sure sounds good.” Mr Lee said, flashing a smile even though he didn’t turn to look at Skyler. His fingers called out now, but he didn’t pick at them. When they reached his car, Mr Lee opened the trunk and put his bag inside. Unlike the rest of his life, Mr Lee’s car was pretty clean. That’s only because he didn’t do much besides come to work and grocery shop in it. His car was a forest-green Ford Expedition, which was quite a large vehicle. It’d been his parent's car before they gave it to him, but Mr Lee didn’t mind its age. Slamming the trunk shut, Mr Lee walked around and got into the driver's seat, while Skyler walked to the passenger side.