The Phantom School - 49 An Old Friend

Okan opened the door without waiting for an answer and got inside. I followed him closely.

The old man inside the chemistry lab was looking at the shelves at the back of the lab. He turned around as he noticed us entering. He was an old man with white hair. He was wearing a dark blue coat. He noticed me and we looked at each other for a while.

“Mr… Kenan?” I said.

“Yes, I am him.” he replied and approached me with slow steps. He tilted his head a bit and looked right into my eyes. I couldn’t help feeling a bit uncomfortable. “You are a pretty young man. Are you the one who’s said to have graduated from this school?”

“Yes.” I replied.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t remember the man. It seemed like he couldn’t remember me either. Maybe he wasn’t my teacher after all.

“Do I know you?” he asked, and continued without letting me reply. “I bet I do, but I can’t say anything right now. Do YOU know me?”

“I… I don’t. I can’t seem to remember.” I said.

“It is expected, of course. Time flies, eh? When you are a teacher, you get to know a lot of people in years. Students, parents, teachers… But you never get to see most of them again once they disappear.” he said. “We have some time before the next lesson. Why don’t you sit down?”

We all sat down on chairs. He breathed in audibly and looked at a fixed point on the ground.

“Chersonese High is where I spent most of my life, as a teacher. I think I wouldn’t be wrong if I said that I’ve spent more of my time here compared to my decades old apartment. So, naturally, this school means a lot to me. I know everything about this place, inside and out, as a teacher. Why don’t you tell me about your times here, as a student? What does this place mean to you? What does this building… tell you?” Mr. Kenan said.

“Well, it’s…” I wanted to start talking, but I couldn’t continue. The problem was that I couldn’t remember anything about this school. In fact, I only knew I have studied here because the information on my official papers. I had no memory of this place.

Actually, I’ve noticed this lack of memory quite a while ago. It was unsettling and depressing. I could remember the memorable bits from my early childhood, but my high school years… I could not remember anything. My school, my friends, my teachers… They were all missing. Yet, I didn’t know what I could do, so I simply tried to ignore it. I wasn’t even sure how I had become a teacher with such a bad memory.

“I can’t remember much, unfortunately.” I said after thinking for a while.

“How much can you remember?” he asked in wonder. It was like he was pressuring me to get some crucial information.

“I can’t seem to remember anything at all, to be honest.” I said.

“Huh?” said Onur, and looked at me curiously. It was clear from his expressions that he wanted to say something, but he held himself back.

Mr. Kenan looked up. He inspected me and Onur for a while. With the curious eyes of those two on me, I was distrubed. Mr. Kenan noticed my discomfort.

“Well, another time then.” he said and got up from his chair. “We don’t have enough time for all the stories anyway. We will need to get going to the classes soon.”

Onur and I got up and started heading out of the chemistry lab. The atmosphere between us was pretty awkward. Mr. Kenan was going towards the shelves in the lab again, but he suddenly changed his mind and started coming with us.

“Don’t forget to introduce yourself as the best teacher of the universe, okay? Let your students be comfortable around you.” Mr. Kenan told me.

“I definitely will.” I said.

Suddenly he held my right arm and slightly pulled me closer to himself.

“Please come see me here after the final lesson, alright?” he whispered. Without much thinking, I nodded silently. Onur had not noticed anything, and we kept going.

The bell rang just when we arrived in the teacher’s room.

“It is time, then. By the way, I peeked into your program too, your class is on top floor in case you are wondering.” Onur said. “Don’t get lost on your way there.”

“Okay, thank you.” I said. I grabbed my suitcase and went upstairs. I didn’t have a hard time finding the classroom.

When I came in front of the classroom’s door, I stopped there and tidied up my clothes in excitement. A whole classroom of new students… It was a great feeling. I simply stood there for a few seconds to comfort myself.

Just when I was busy ‘getting myself prepared’, I noticed a girl standing just next to me near the door. I had no idea for how long she had been waiting there. She looked at me and smiled warmly. Having been caught in my nervous moment, I was embarrased.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” she said and looked away. “Please take your time.”

She opened the door to get in. All the students noticed me standing in front of the door and got to their desks. I immediately tried to get rid of my thoughts and the embarrased look on my face, and stepped inside.

It was the beginning of my first lesson of the year, and it went great.

– – –

After the end of the final lesson, I got out of the classroom and headed to the teachers’ room. I was going to get my stuff and leave the school, but then, I remembered what Mr. Kenan told me. We were going to meet after the final lesson.

I left my suitcase in the teachers’ room and got out. Onur saw and approached me.

“I think you forgot your suitcase.” he said. “That, combined with being late on the first day… You are truly an airhead, my friend.”

“It is okay, I was going to-” I was about to tell that I was going to meet Mr. Kenan, but I stopped and thought about it. If Mr. Kenan told me that in secrecy, I should’ve kept it a secret even though he had not clearly asked me to do so.

“I was going to go get that, thanks.” I altered my sentence. “Goodbye, see you tomorrow.” I said and got away in a hurry.

I went downstairs, to the chemistry lab. I knocked the door slowly and opened it. Just when I was entering the lab, someone touched my shoulder.

“Hey, this is not the exit.” Onur said. I’ve never thought he would follow me there.

“I… just wanted to see Mr. Kenan.” I finally replied.

“You can come see him tomorrow. That’s it for today, we should leave now.” he said.

“Can’t I just see hi-” Onur didn’t even let me speak. He grabbed my arm and held it tightly, trying to pull me away from the lab’s door. I resisted. He was pulling me so strongly that if I hadn’t met him before, I would think that he was trying to start a fight.

“We NEED to leave, now!”