"You'll be an assistant for one of our teachers for the time being, we need to build you up to managing a whole class by yourself."

"An assistant?"

"Yes, but you may have to help out a little more than would be expected. This teacher is also new, after all."

( y/n ) sighed as she walked through the empty hallways, every now and then nodding at the other teachers that walked past whether they'd been here a few months or almost longer than she'd been alive. Being a teacher hadn't always been her dream job but she had slowly moved towards it through her years of school and eventually it just seemed like the best possible career path available. Sure it hadn't been easy getting here, and retaking a few exams had been a serious pain in the ass, but here she was. An actual job as a teacher; an assistant teacher for now, but a teacher none the less.

"Classroom 2B . . . ?" ( y/n ) checked what she wrote on her palm before cautiously opening the irritatingly creaky door and stepping into the eerily quiet room before looking around. There were four large tables all with small chairs around them and it was instantly obvious that they too were old, almost as if they had grown out of date but were just kept out of lack of either school funds or care for the students. Hopefully it wouldn't continue for much longer if she could help it.

"Hello?" She flinched as she heard the voice and turned around quickly, eyes widened in slight fear. The short-ish man stepped back slightly in surprise as well, pausing for a moment and holding up his hands with a shy chuckle. He had light brown hair and watched her with calm brown eyes, smiling almost innocently at the new woman. ( y/n ) smiled back nervously, instantly forgetting her defensive posture and now morphing back into her timid self.

"Hi, um, I'm ( y/n ). Sorry for freaking out." She apologised quietly, causing the man to shake his head calmly with a relaxed shrug. It was obvious he wasn't a student not only by his stubble but by the fact he was wearing a typical suit without the jacket, instead just with suspenders and one or two buttons undone on his shirt.

"No problem, I should have knocked first. I'm Aaron, I teach in the classroom across the hall. You're the new teacher, right?" He asked curiously as he introduced himself politely. Definitely British, that was for sure. Would asking if he was an English teacher be rude or just a really bad pun?

"Assistant to whoever the other new teacher is, but yeah I'm a newbie'." ( y/n ) smiled back shyly at the surprisingly adorable teacher whom smiled brightly at the idea of new people joining. Of course he knew people were joining anyway, but he was at least glad to be able to meet them face to face. He may have some friends around the school, but having someone different around here would definitely be fun too.

"Nice to meet you! I have to go set up equipment on the tables for first lesson, but I'll see you around sometime." And with a quick wave Aaron left, leaving ( y/n ) to smile and say a quick goodbye before he was completely out of the door. Her first impression on people surprisingly hadn't gone as badly as expected, with this 'Aaron' guy being the only other one to formally introduce himself besides the principle and his assistant. Sitting down on an empty table at the back, she looked around the classroom and let it sink in. She'd be working here for at least another year at least so she may as well get used to it now whilst she had a chance. Looking forward to the oncoming day, ( y/n ) flicked through the books boredly as she waited for the teacher to arrive . . .

"Where the Hell are they?!" She hissed as she paced the classroom worriedly, watching the clock as if her life depended on it and trying not to panic. Lessons were starting in ten minutes and this new teacher still wasn't here. How could anyone be so late on their first day? It seemed like a pure crime against humanity, especially considering they were meant to be the main teacher here. What if they left ( y/n ) on her own all day? What if she had to try and teach the class but they didn't listen? The thought left her absolutely mortified, hoping that the teacher turned up sometime soon.

Nine minutes . . . The students would be sent to class immediately after assembly, what the Hell was wrong with this teacher? Maybe she was thinking about this all wrong, maybe the teacher was in the assembly or something completely normal. Oh God, what if they had died?
Okay maybe she was being a bit drastic but she had no idea what else to do.

"Oh thank God, they're not here yet." ( y/n ) immediately looked up as she heard someone speak, her gaze fixing on a rather worried looking man standing in the doorframe. He was about as tall as Aaron but nowhere near similar in appearance; his hair was black and quite fluffy, although he ran his hand through it to put it back into place. He wore rectangular glasses over worried yet warm dark brown eyes and had a proper suit on, with the jacket buttoned up surprisingly perfectly. He had stubble although not enough for a beard and a bag slung over his shoulder, presumably with schoolwork in it. It was obvious he'd been running by how he was out of breath and had to physically lean against the doorframe for support, making her pity him for a mere second before she went back into her panicked frenzy; she would have felt bad a little longer but they were meant to be there over an hour ago.

"We have like seven minutes to set up the lesson, where have you been?!" She questioned hurriedly as she took the sheets he passed to her, placing them on the tables whilst he worked as fast as he could to get the computer logged in and his presentation up, obviously just as panicked about getting everything sorted on time but not pleased with her almost angry tone.

"My car broke down and my brother had to drive me here, sorry I took so long but holy Hell I didn't mean for this to happen." He snapped almost sassily back, standing up on a table for a moment to turn the projector on before jumping off calmly and sliding over to the computer again. ( y/n ) blinked in surprise at his response but didn't complain as she put down the last sheets that she assumed was a questionnaire for the new students.

"I'm ( y/n ), by the way. Sorry for being a dick." She apologised a little more calmly as she stepped closer and looked at the monitor. It took a moment for her to look at the presentation for her to realise it was actually pretty good, considering how disorganised she assumed him to be. The man turned to see her peeking over his shoulder at the well-presented work and for the first time smiled at ( y/n ), obviously glad she wasn't just a snooty cow he'd have to deal with for the next few or many years.

"It's okay. And I'm Mark." He introduced himself in less of a panic, causing her to smile back at him when the bell rang and the sound of students could be heard throughout the halls as they walked sleepily to their first lessons. ( y/n ) nodded to Mark before heading to the back of the classroom and sitting on what she now claimed as 'her table' again, watching as the small new students shuffled in slowly end eventually all sat down. They whispered and yawned, although most went silent as Mark got up and stood in front of the class with a warm and welcoming smile.

"Hello everybody, my name is Mr Fischbach and I'll be your teacher this year."