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Post by Victor Stockholm on Aug 25, 2013 0:11:47 GMT -5
Tori hung up his phone and put his head into the wall. Not once had he ever gotten a phone call home from a teacher saying that one of his children had been skipping class. Not once. Sure he'd gotten failure notices (plenty on behalf of Zack..) and many tardy announcements, but never a call for flat out skipping a class. And honestly, he hadn't expected it from Kyle. Kyle was the least of his worries.. he'd thought. That boy was nothing but a sad puppy. There was no way he would cause trouble. Not that skipping class was causing trouble... but, well, it just didn't seem like his Kyle. But regardless of what it seemed, it was true: Kyle had been skipping his gym class for the past two weeks. Tori was upset, but mostly because, like said before, this wasn't like Kyle. He wasn't nearly as upset about the fact that he was skipping class. That barely bothered him. It just... it wasn't Kyle. And that bothered him. Something was clearly up. "Kyle?" Tori called upstairs. Thankfully, Tori had been staying the weekend with Kyle and Rory. Zack was to be moving in with them, so Tori was here to help get things together. He hadn't been expecting this phone call, but apparently it seemed it was good that he'd been up from Ohio. There was a rumbling upstairs and in seconds, a bobbing Kyle appeared in the kitchen. "Yeeeeees?" he cooed deeply, hiding a smile. He was in a good mood. It was hard for Tori to bring this up... Kyle wasn't often in good moods like this. "Your-" school called. He couldn't do it. He couldn't say it, not when Kyle was so happy. He felt week for not being able to talk to his son like a true father, but with someone as fragile as Kyle... it didn't feel right and he couldn't bring himself to say something to crush this mood. "I uh.. Is everything alright? Y'know, at school and.. things?" "..Yea? Yea, why? Who was on the phone?' "I was just wondering. No big deal. I just wanna make sure everything's fine. Your patch lasts the day?" "Usually." "Good... good." Tori nodded, looked down, and pressed his phone into his pocket. Kyle shrugged, smiled at his father, and skipped back up the stairs to his bedroom. Tori immediately put his face in his hands, kicking himself for not being a 'firm father'. Regardless, what's done was done and Mr. Dexton had wanted to meet with him this evening. So, standing, Tori rolled up his sleeves, grabbed his car keys, and moved towards the front door. "I'll be back soon, boys! Gonna head out and.. look 'round town a bit. Zack should be here within the hour!" he shouted, opening the front door. Kyle yelled down something of an 'okay' and Rory yelled 'thanks Papa Stock!'. And like that, Tori was in his car, headed towards Somerset. Upon arrival, Tori got himself a visitor's pass and was directed to the gym where Mr. Dexton was to be found. The lady at the desk said that's where he'd probably be, and if that wasn't the case, to come back and she'd page him. Nodding and smiling, Tori thanked the woman and made his way towards the gym. He'd been here once before for a sporting event of Zack's, so he knew right well where the gym was and came across it in no time. After entering, Tori stood for a moment, pivoting on his heel to spot anyone that might look like a teacher. And there, on a set of pulled out bleachers, sat a man that seemed to be in his early twenties. He certainly wasn't a student, so he must be someone off of the administration. "Excuse me, you wouldn't happen to be Mr. Dexton, would you?" Tori asked, approaching the young man and standing before him, looping his thumbs in his pockets and smiling.
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Post by Kyle Dexton on Aug 25, 2013 1:06:47 GMT -5
{ Wearing: 3.bp.blogspot.com/_QmdIZf1GO54/SwjVoaR_PgI/AAAAAAAACYY/dCyIxe9cP9c/s400/1_596368491l.jpg } Faculty meetings were never fun. Kyle had spent the last hour and a half in a cramped staff room that smelt like stale coffee and depression. Half the teachers at the School had this look about them that showed they'd basically given up. Kyle hoped never to look like that, he liked his job, hell, he loved his job. Though what he didn't love about his job had just come wandering through the gym door. Kyle had been sat on the bleachers mulling over the things that had been discussed in the meeting. A few teachers were leaving and they were looking for new staff. Kyle had been scrolling through contacts on his phone, not so long ago he'd dated a girl that wanted to be an English teacher he thought he could give her a call ... If only he could remember her name. When Mr Stockholm had finally spotted him, because Kyle had made no effort to stand and reveal himself, Kyle raised a hand in greeting. 'Mr Stockholm?', he stood and smiled, a smile which he hoped said; Sorry I dragged you here to talk to you about something you don't want to talk about. he walked down the bleachers and over to Mr Stockholm, his hand outstretched and decided that his smile hadn't been enough, 'Sorry I had to drag you out here, I would have been happy just talking over the phone, but it's School policy, and blah, blah, blah', Kyle still hadn't gotten to grips with the formality side of being a teacher.
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Post by Victor Stockholm on Aug 25, 2013 1:48:26 GMT -5
Tori shook his head at Kyle and frowned before saying, "no no, don't even worry about it. I wasn't doing anything anyway!" Walking beside the man, Tori looked around the gym and eyed the basketball courts. It was curious that his son had been skipping such a class; he loved basketball! Well, Zack did.. and Kyle had played with him a couple times back home in Ohio. He'd seemed to have loved it then. "So about Kyle, Mr. Dexton," Tori started, drawing his gaze back from the open floor towards this other Kyle's face. "Not a single class? In two weeks?"
It just didn't seem right.
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Post by Kyle Dexton on Aug 25, 2013 1:55:13 GMT -5
'Oh please, call me Kyle, not even my kids call me Mr Dexton', Kyle smiled as they aimlessly started wandering to the far side of the gym. Where would they go from there? Probably back the other way. Kyle didn't like to be still for long periods of time, and he'd be missing his evening jog, what with the meeting and now this.
'Actually Kyle did come in for a couple of classes during the past two weeks, but he didn't stay long, said he didn't feel well and his friend Rory took him to the nurse both times', Kyle continued, 'Is Kyle having any issues at home, with friends, girl friends that you know about?', he hated having to ask that.
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Post by Victor Stockholm on Aug 25, 2013 2:00:29 GMT -5
"Oh that's so strange," Tori commented, noting the fact that both his son's name and this new man's name were Kyle. That would certainly be confusing in the future. "And since we're on the topic, you can call me Tori. Little less formal than Mr. Stockholm," he added, putting air quotes over 'mr. stockholm'.
When Kyle mentioned Rory coming to take Kyle to the nurse, Tori felt his heart drop. So there was something happening. "Not that I know of," he answered dryly, his eyes dropping to his shoes as he stopped walking. "He's a fragile boy," he added, looking up slowly, giving a sort of pity smile. "Its not like him to just.. not go to class. Does he wear his patch? He sometimes takes it off because he says its itchy.. maybe that's what it is.. have you noticed? Just a big white patch on his uh.. his left shoulder?" Multiple hand motions partnered with his words as he lost track of what he was actually saying.
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Post by Kyle Dexton on Aug 25, 2013 2:07:57 GMT -5
'Okay, Tori it is', Kyle replied with a nod, thinking about a girl he used to date called Tori. Hey! Maybe that was the name of the English teacher girl, or was it Terri? Kyle mulled this over for a second before turning back to Tori who had stopped walking a couple of steps ago, Kyle turned on his heel to face him.
'I can't say I've noticed any patch, what is it for? Like a nicotine patch?', Kyle asked, a little confused. What so this kid skipped class and ... Went and smoked? Was that all it was? No, there was something in Tori's eyes that said it was more. The guy looked so sad Kyle really hoped he wouldn't start crying, because School rules basically said he wasn't allowed to touch kids parents, not even a comforting arm around the shoulder deal, so he'd have to stand there like a robot.
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Post by Victor Stockholm on Aug 25, 2013 2:11:55 GMT -5
Tori snorted when Kyle asked if it was a nicotine patch. "Ah, no no," he said, waving a hand in the air and looking back up again. He was honestly a bit surprised Kyle wasn't aware of his son's condition. "He's got tourette's?" he said in a sort of 'didn't you know?' tone. "It regulates him. Keeps him uh.. y'know like.. Okay this sounds bad to say, me being his dad and stuff, but it keeps him on track like a normal person." Tori offered a smile, this kid seemed pretty worried all the sudden. He was eyeing him in an awfully strange matter. He looked concerned, but for Tori, not for the boy at hand.
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Post by Kyle Dexton on Aug 25, 2013 2:20:20 GMT -5
'Oh yeah?', Kyle replied, he honestly hadn't known, 'Well I only started teaching gym three weeks ago, before that I didn't have Kyle in my class, so', he sighed and looked around the gym feeling a little awkward and silently cursing Mr Patricks, the guy who had taught P.E before him. Why hadn't he mentioned this?
'I'm sorry I didn't know, but, I still can't let Kyle off with skipping class, regardless', he didn't want to sound heartless, but it was the truth, 'If he misses any more classes I'll probably have to fail him, and I really don't want to do that, from what I've seen of him he seems like a great kid'.
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Post by Victor Stockholm on Aug 25, 2013 18:51:33 GMT -5
"Oh no I completely understand," Tori said when Kyle mentioned not being able to give him any 'special treatment', for lack of a better term. "No, I don't expect you to just let him get away with that. That's unacceptable, I understand, don't even worry. I'll definitely have to have a talk with him... Its just not like him."
They chatted a bit more before Tori put his hands on his hips and sighed. Kyle (Stockholm) had been the topic of interest, but when things settled down, Tori crossed his arms over his chest and smiled at the man. "So you're pretty new then, huh? Like it here? Kyle might be a dull kid, but he's never complained about school. Is it dull for you?" Smalltalk was good. So were friends. So why not make a friend?
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Post by Kyle Dexton on Aug 26, 2013 1:37:12 GMT -5
'Yeah it's alright, you know', Kyle shrugged his shoulders not wanting to complain. Teaching the same stuff day in day out got kind of boring, but that was his job, and he was lucky to have one. 'I don't really mind work being dull, but I wish the weather would lighten up', he laughed glancing up at the small windows that lined the top of the gym. It was hard to see out but it looked like it was raining. 'I'm from Arizona, so it's kind of a big leap', he added vaguely gesturing at his tanned arms as if it spine for him, 'I actually moved up here to be closer to my niece, De... Uh, Adele. I think Kyle'a best friend is dating her actually', he chuckled, 'Small world'.
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