I tried in school, I promise you I did. I did well in almost every subject, I just couldn’t do math. I always struggled in the subject, but senior year is particularly hard because of Mr. Henderson.
He was a little over six feet tall and had a deep voice. It was clear he worked out, his workout bag was usually in the corner of the classroom.
His one downfall is his odor. Like I said, he is very attractive, but sometimes he simply smelled bad. I had him later in the day, and sometimes he would workout on his lunch break. He either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care, because he obviously doesn’t shower before going back to teaching. One time he accidentally opened his gym bag and I was able to smell his shoes on the other side of the room. I hated bad smells, especially feet.
“Jake, meet me after class, alright?”
I knew what this meant, I failed another test. I stayed in my seat after the final bell and listened to all my classmates head home for the day. I go up to his desk and sit in the chair next to it. Once the room cleared, Mr Henderson stood up and closed the door. I started to grow nervous when I heard him lock the door and pull down the blinds.
“Jake, you failed another test. A 40 percent, seriously? We spent so much time going after this, what the heck happened?”
I have my head down in shame, I am passionate about school and disappointing a teacher is upsetting.
“I’m sorry, sir. I tried really hard, I promise I did”.
He cuts me off, not accepting my promise to the truth.
“Honestly, I don’t really believe you. I see the way you dose off in class, whats the deal?”
“I really don’t know, I’m sorry”.
The truth is, I am looking at him more than paying attention in class. I just can’t help myself sometimes.
“Well, I am sick of wasting my time. It’s clear that you aren’t getting it and don’t seem to give a crap”
I am shocked at this raise in aggression, he doesn’t ever get like this. He has always been so nice and helpful, I don’t understand what is going on.
“No sir! I promise I do care, I really do!”
“Well Jake, you’re about to fail my class and not be eligible to graduate”
I start to full on panic at this response, I knew it was bad but I did know it was that bad.
“Please Me Henderson! I’ll do anything for extra credit, please!”
I am full on begging at this point, I cannot fail and repeat senior year.
“Well lucky for you I came up with the perfect extra credit assignment”. For the first time, his tone changes from aggression, but now its more devious. My eyes widen once he dropped his sweaty gym bag on his desk in front of me.
“Ever since you asked me to move you away from Nick and closer to the window, it started noticed other weird shit you did. You constantly use hand sanitizer and are always chewing gum.”
Its true, I was a germaphobe, I didn’t think it was that noticeable. Clearly it was, and it pissed Mr. Henderson off.
“Obviously you got a weird thing with being a little gross. Aren’t you a man? Why are you so concerned about little germs, when you can do simple math!”
Tear start quickly streaming down my face as Mr. Henderson degrades me. I thought he liked me, but he just sees me as a weak, feeble excuse for a man.
“So, here’s what you’re going to do. You are going to learn what a real man smells and taste like and earn extra credit. I got a bag full of sweaty gym gear behind me, stuff that hasn’t been washed all week. 1 minute earned a half point extra credit. You need all the points you can to get to a passing grade, and just a 100 on this exam isn’t going to be nearly enough”
“Please sir, don’t make me do this! There has to be another way!”
I am full on sobbing at this point, I really don’t want to deal with his stench.
He then gets closer and smacks me in the face. He is now fully pissed off, I start to realize I have no other choice.
“No, there isn’t. Its obviously you’re a lost cause in math, I’m not wasting any more time trying to teach you. I’m already willing to stay two hours after school on a Friday to help you, be fucking grateful.”
Accepting I have no other way, I slowly pick up his shoes and start to inhale. I can only manage a few seconds before I throw myself in a coughing fit, close to throwing up. Mr. Henderson starts to laugh at my reaction to his disgusting shoe.
“Better get back to it! Like I said, there isn’t a lot of time left his semester.”
I bring the shoe back up to my face, accepting my face.
“Oh! I also got some other stuff to smell and lick if you get bored of my workout gear”
“Also, smelling and licking my feet for at least 30 minutes a day is mandatory if you want any of this to count.”
