pursue the truth

The only thing to do on his off period was grade papers. After staring at a single test for about five minutes, trying to read the handwriting, he finally decided to put it off. He could read messy handwriting, give bad grades, and make a hardcore speech about students needing to study after school. Allen loved being the teacher everyone loved to hate. Too bad he'd been in a good mood lately... he was afraid the animals would think he was going soft!

Pushing himself out of his chair, Allen left the classroom, locking the door behind him. He made his way over to the library, deciding to do research. He was a history teacher, and though he had textbooks to explain things, he still wanted professional opinions. Nothing was better than really going through everything that had happened; had he not been asleep for the past hundred years, he could have easily been called a walking history book.

He walked through the doors, taking a look around before walking toward the desk. It looked like there was a new library assistant there, and after seeing his hair color, he had to fight to roll his eyes. Kids today were still drying their hair crazy colors. First there was Enelya, with the blue hair, and now there was a boy with either dark brown or orange hair — he couldn't tell the difference — with white at the end. Now, though, he didn't really care about Enelya's hair, since he had come to love her; in fact, he'd probably kill if he could just get another glance at that blue hair.

Allen cleared his throat, leaning against the desk with a raised eyebrow as he looked at the boy. "I need books on the 1960s," he said. "For my history class." That was a lie. He was using it for personal knowledge. But, hey, what the kid didn't know wouldn't kill him.

"Any specific event sir?"

Being in the good mood he was in, Allen merely shrugged his shoulders, not going to say something snarky. He wasn't feeling mean enough to do that, and plus... he didn't want to get fired, even if was the most qualified person to ever be a history teacher. "Mm..." He didn't really care, to be honest; anything would be fine. "I don't care. Vietnam War I guess?"

There were other important events, of course. The Civil Rights Movement, feminism, new technology... but he liked discussing wars, their causes, and their outcomes in his classes. He enjoyed sparking debates on them and asking what the children would have done in the position of world leaders at the time. Maybe they weren't leaders back then, or even now; but they all would be one day and Allen figured it was his job to prepare them to make the right decisions.

Though it was probably going to seem rude to ask this, he thought he might as well anyway. He was known for his rude, perhaps blunt, ways around this place. "Are you one of my students?" And that whole question showed just how attentive Mister Haldis really was.

"Yes sir; yes I am"

Repetitive to the point of nearly annoying him, but respectful none the less. Allen wasn't going to complain about the latter, since it was something so rarely seen in these times. He nodded as soon as he began to recognize the kid, though it was slightly harder because he never talked in his class. "Schnyder," he finally stated, knowing who he was now. "The silent guy." Maybe it was a slightly rude nickname to give him, but at least it was the truth. "How come you never talk in my class?"

The kid went off to get a book. Sighing, Allen looked down at the floor, not finding much reason to really look around the room. All that was there was books, and he didn't really feel like looking at them all. He had bad experiences with libraries, after all. Some of the books didn't tell the truth... 'historical fiction'. Pfft. Who would twist facts like that? It was wrong.

"...you may like to take a peek real quick before you check it out sir?"

He seemed almost too polite. It was like nails on a chalkboard, grinding in his ears. Allen raised an eyebrow at first, fighting the urge to roll his eyes instead, before forcing a smile on to his face so as not to seem too heartless. "Just check it out, kid," he said. "If it isn't what I need, I'll just find something else."

It was probably going to take another hundred years just to figure everything out. It would have been so much easier to just keep on living through the 1900s and go through it all, but that meant he would have been off to two more wars. After the Civil War, and seeing the gravestones... he had had enough. Plus, if he hadn't done that, he had a feeling he wouldn't be at this island right now and have children.

"Too bad there aren't many helpful books," he said, trying to create small talk. "Living through events and seeing things with ones own eyes are far more trustworthy than books."

"If you'd like it without formalities; the class is nothing but a bunch of hormonal kids trying to nose into one anothers life and talk about their insignificant others while trying to do the bare minimum of research and effort on their work so they can pass with a B or C and live in some fantasy realm that they're a super important person..."

Oh, that was good! Allen hadn't heard such resentment in such a long time. This was refreshing. It was almost like betrayal; he was a student, turning against his other peers and speaking so lowly of them. Of course, his harsh words were the truth. Allen wasn't ignorant of what was really on the minds of his students; if he was, he could never be considered a proper teacher. Besides, he had been a teenager once, a very, very long time ago as well. The man had looked down, pinching the bridge of his nose and laughing.

"That was great..." he said, finally calming himself down. "It's the truth, at least. Kids these days have huge egos. Never would have been put up with in my time." Whenever that had been. He didn't tell his students about his past or his powers, unless they were graduating or would never be able to tell anyone else. It just simply wasn't any one else's business. "Too bad I can't slap the kids or something when they don't pay attention."

He frowned, actually being somewhat sincere. It used to be completely acceptable to hit children with rulers, and do even worse things to those who didn't perform tasks correctly. But, no, now in 2008, kids were too whiny and too weak to take even a smack on the back of their hand. Allen rolled his eyes — he'd make sure Alderic and Adelle grew up to be a bit better than that.

"enjoy; sir"

At least some of the kids in this school were competent. He nodded his thanks, tucking the book under his arm and listening as Schnyder went on to respond what he had said afterward. He was a pretty mature kid, that was for sure. "Couldn't agree more with you," he said. "Listening to others and learning that way seems to have died. Now, people just choose not to learn at all and wonder why the world is messed up." They only had themselves to give credit to for the cruelty and wonder of the world. It was such a shame.

"And unfortunately most texts are partisan and dramatized"

"Precisely," Allen said. "Because reading just plain facts is 'boring' — if it isn't made over-dramatic and filled with lies or told only in part truth, no one wants to read it." He sighed, shaking his head. "Just goes to show how intelligent we all are, eh?" Talking to Schnyder was certainly interesting. He was glad he hadn't just walked out of there.