Chapter Text
There were a few attractive teachers at Fredericksville High. Mrs. Penney, Mr. Rosborough, and Mr. Milne were just about it, so word spread quickly when Mr. Ackles was hired. His rugged jaw and green eyes became infamous among the parent committee mothers. Let’s not even begin to speak of how the student body reacted. Yes, Jensen Ackles caused quite a stir which was the last thing he wanted. He would have preferred to have gone completely unnoticed; an in-and-out job.
“Honestly Sammy, I don’t think I can do this,” ‘Mr. Ackles’ sighed, taking a swig from his glass.
“Dean, c’mon,” Sam scowled.
“I’m serious, Sammy, they’re practically throwing themselves at me. I can’t handle this.”
“They’re kids, Dean,” hissed Sam.
Dean shook his head. “Not the kids, numskull,” he paused, “Them too, though. The mom’s are who I’m talking about.”
Sam laughed breathlessly. “You’ve got some issues.”
“Shut-up,” Dean stared into his drink, “So, how’s the research coming?”
“Honestly I’m still not entirely sure what we’re dealing with.”
“Did you try that online encyclo-whatchamacallit? Wiki-something?”
“Wikipedia? Dean, that’s really not a reliable source,” Sam sighed, “I’ve got Bobby looking into it, though. He’ll give us a call if he finds anything.”
The low buzz of the humble bar filled the room for a moment, resounding off the bottles lining the walls.
“This is real fucked up, Sam,” he ran his fingers through his hair, “Five kids in less than six months, all different ways. Y’know, none of the kids talk about it. I’ve heard the teachers a bit but they seem to avoid the topic as much as possible.”
“Nobody wants to talk about kids dying, Dean. I think we’ve just gotten used to it.”
“Well isn’t that a shitty deal,” Dean laughed into his drink before chugging the last few gulps.
“Mr. Ackles, it’s a Monday.”
Dean did not respond.
Sam cleared his throat. “Jensen, I think the- uh, young lady is talking to you.”
“What? Oh,” Dean swiveled in his seat, “Amy?”
“It’s Mia,” she laughed.
“Mia, hi there,” Dean smiled wryly, “Mia… what are you doing in a bar.”
“My mom works here,” she pointed behind the counter, “She’s not single.”
“I wasn’t-” Dean cleared his throat.
“Mr. Ackles, I’ve been here for twenty minutes waiting while you sat there drinking. Don’t worry, I don’t judge. My stepmom’s a teacher and my dad’s an alcoholic. So you’re situation is quite familiar to me.”
“Don’t you have school in the morning?” Sammy piped in, smirking.
“Pft, it’s only two am. I’ll just take some naps during classes,” she caught herself and laughed uncomfortably, “Except yours, Mr. Ackles. Who could sleep during your art class? Well, Maddy, but certainly not me. I’m gonna go wait in the car.”
Mia slipped off her stool and directly onto the floor.
“Didn’t mean to do that. I’m fine,” she rasped between fits of laughter.
“Well, she’s… exuberant,” Sam commented.
“Ain’t that the truth. She’s one of those theatre kids. Real loud kid.”
“Awe, you’re starting to sound like a real teacher.”
Dean wagged his finger without batting an eye, “Don’t you even start.”
An hour later, the boys were gone, the bar was quiet, and all was still. The last car pulled out of the parking lot.
“Who was that you were talking to at the bar?”
“Mr. Ackles. He’s the new art teacher, the one that’s covering for Mr. Ruby. He’s only been there for about a week but he’s already made quite an impression,” Mia responded.
“Ooo~! Do you like him?” her mom gave her a quick smirk.
“Mom, please.”
“What, too old?”
“Hell no. He’s just a bit of a doofus. He asked us to paint self-portrait yesterday but the only parameters for the project that he gave us were to ‘draw our face, but, y’know, if we didn’t like our faces we could change it up a bit and he’d give us extra marks’.”
“A mother notices things, sweetie. You’ve been dressing pretty nicely the past week or so.”
“Oh, and that means I’m into a guy?”
“Don’t take that tone.”
“Sorry.”
And the night was quiet once more.