Checkin' In (Angie)

[Zebadiah Hayes]

(This is set on a Saturday)

Saturday mornings were usually either pretty quiet around Hammel. Most of the students were either out enjoying their weekend or sleeping in late. Zeb always enjoyed the quiet, since he usually had a hard time in the mornings anyway.

Right now though, he was feeling pretty good. It helped that he'd already downed one pot of coffee and taken a hot shower. His hair was still a bit damp when he walked out of his apartment. He checked by the office to see if there were any issues that he should be aware of before swinging by the vending machine for a bag of Cheetos. He saw one of the students sitting by the TV and decided to stop by to say hello.

"Good Morning Miss Chambers," he said, smiling. "How are you this morning?"

[Angela Chambers]

Angie wasn’t like most other kids her age. She didn’t seem to need as much sleep as the others. Though, she figured that was because others tended to do more in their day as opposed to reading, drawing, and doing homework. She also really didn’t like to just lie around in bed in a half asleep half awake state. When she was up, she was up. She’d get up, brush her teeth, get dressed, and would be ready for the day.

Today was no exception. Six hours, up a bit after dawn, regular routine, and ready for the day.

But like I said, she didn’t do much. So, off she went, sketchbook in hand.

She wasn’t sure just how long she’d been there. It was safe to assume awhile though. At first, she flipped through channels on the television, settling on a cartoon she knew of only vaguely. Though, why a sponge living in a pineapple was so popular was beyond her. But a little bit of background noise was nice while she drew.

When she heard a voice, she snapped her head up from her sketchbook. And immediately her cheeks flushed and butterflies took over her stomach. “O-oh… Hi Mr. Hayes.” Her eyes dropped back to her sketchbook and she realized he was in full view of the fact that she’d drawn the majority of the cast. Laying her arms over the picture, she smiled nervously at him.

“Uh, I slept well, yeah.” She answered; unaware she’d misheard him. “I hope you did too?” She wanted desperately to bite her nails, something she found to be oddly comforting, but couldn’t without revealing her drawing, so instead settled for ringing her fingers together.

[Zebadiah Hayes]

Zeb had developed the habit of addressing a majority of Hammel’s students by Mr. or Miss. Of course there were exceptions to that rule, kids he was closer to or had asked him to use their first name. Still, he always introduced himself as just “Zeb”. He would always feel like “Mr. Hayes” was his father, not him.

He had taken a step closer to see her sketch, but when she moved to hide it he suddenly became very interested in his bag of Cheetos. Although he was sure whatever Angie had drawn was excellent. Once or twice he had seen her sketches and Zeb felt she was very talented for her age. That probably had a great deal to do with the amount of practice she had. Zeb couldn’t recall a time when he’d seen Angie not in arms reach of her sketchbook.

In Zeb’s mind, sleeping well and doing well went hand in hand. So he had no idea Angie had misheard him. “Glad to hear that, and thank you,” he answered. He hadn’t slept well, but that was something he’d never admit to or discuss with anyone, let alone a student. “Mind if I join you?” he asked, gesturing to the seat next to hers. “Cheeto?” he added, holding out the bag.