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Post by Kpatch on Feb 15, 2012 6:37:03 GMT -5
Chapter 1
SALEM UNIVERSITY
Jack rushed from the teacher’s lounge to get to his first class. He was running late today. After a month on faculty, Jack started falling into a nice routine. He enjoyed chatting with his intellectual colleagues and he found he loved teaching. He and fellow professor Austin Reed were becoming good friends. Jack had to pass Austin’s classroom on his way to his own room, and he’d often bring Austin a cup of coffee from Starbucks before class. They would talk about world events, national events and the happenings around Salem. Jack was even learning a little bit about sports, as the topic would invariably arise whenever Austin was around.
As he approached Austin’s classroom holding a Grande Latte, he heard laughter coming from the room. He looked through the window in the door and saw Austin talking to a female student. Then he saw something shocking. He saw the student kiss Austin, which was completely inappropriate. His first thought was that Austin had better be careful because he could get fired for doing that. His second thought was “Oh my god, that’s Abigail!’’
Jack resisted his first inclination, which was to storm into the room and punch Austin’s lights out. That tactic didn’t go over well when he did it to Chad. He was having a mental disagreement with himself over what to do. His relationship with Abby remained tenuous. Mostly they got along well these days, but, like her mother, Abby could run hot and cold with him and he didn’t want to run the risk of getting frozen out again. So he reluctantly continued on to his own classroom.
To be continued weekdays ...
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Post by MrsM on Feb 15, 2012 7:51:23 GMT -5
Oooh great start. I love the way you have started this!!!!! Great job kpatch!!
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Post by jaysdelina on Feb 15, 2012 8:00:16 GMT -5
I love how Jack resists his natural instinct to punch Austin,although I probably would have gone ahead and done it,lol.Great start jkjpatch!
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Post by DancingDays on Feb 15, 2012 9:23:03 GMT -5
Hmmmmm, this could get really interesting!!! I'd love to see Jack punch Austin's lights out, but it's probably best he restrained himself. Jack IS growing up. EXCELLENT beginning!!!!  |
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Post by djm on Feb 15, 2012 9:29:34 GMT -5
Loved the start. I was shocked to see it was Abby. I would have killed Austin if I was Jack. Looking forward to more. Thanks Kpatch.
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Post by fluffysmom on Feb 15, 2012 10:05:58 GMT -5
Great beginning Kpatch. I'm eager to see how Jack deals with this revelation.
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Post by sportsgirl on Feb 15, 2012 10:21:44 GMT -5
So proud of Jack that he thought first before he acted!
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Post by slyn11 on Feb 15, 2012 11:23:37 GMT -5
Way to go Abigail! Lol
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Post by Kpatch on Feb 16, 2012 6:22:22 GMT -5
SALEM UNIVERSITY
Jack was flustered as he was setting up his classroom for the day. Students began to file in, including one Abigail Deveraux. He didn’t lift his head when she walked by. He needed to focus. Focus on something else. He needed to erase the image of Abby and Austin kissing, an image that was now seared into his brain.
Jack: Good morning future journalists. Over the past four weeks, we’ve covered the basic Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How elements of journalism. Today we’re going to talk about the impact of history on journalism. Who can tell me what you’re not supposed to give when reporting a story? ... Louis.
Louis: Your opinion.
Jack: Correctamundo. And why not? ... Christine.
Christine: Because the story isn’t about you. I mean the general you.
Jack: That’s right! It’s about the facts. And if there aren’t a lot of facts to go on, what do you use as your guide? ... Abigail.
Abigail: Sorry, what did you say?
Jack: I said that if you can’t figure out what to write, you write about what you know. And what do you know?
Abigail: Um.
Louis: You know what happened in the past.
Jack: Exactly! You let history help tell your story. History will guide you from the past to the present. History will help keep you from making the same mistakes again and again. Like kissing a married man. It never ends well.
The class looked up at Jack with surprise. Abigail froze in her chair. And Jack realized that he said something very different from what he meant to say. He thought fast and tried to work that statement into his lesson.
Jack: Um um um. Who can give me an example from history of a relationship with a married man that didn’t end well?
Louis: Monica Lewinsky and President Clinton.
Jack: Good!
Christine: Amy Fisher and Joey Buttafuoco.
Jack: Excellent.
George: Arnold Schwarzenegger and his maid.
Jack: Okay! Now, let’s talk about other ways history helps guide us as journalists.
Forty-five minutes later, when the class ended, Abigail walked quickly passed Jack’s desk, hoping he wouldn’t say anything to her.
Jack: Abby, wait!
To be continued ...
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Post by jaysdelina on Feb 16, 2012 7:32:40 GMT -5
I love the way you incorporated current events into this chapter.I also love how you have Jack so preoccupied with what he saw that he just blurts it out without thinking about it right there while he's trying to teach.It's very much in character for Jack to do that.
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Post by MrsM on Feb 16, 2012 8:34:31 GMT -5
I'm dying over here!!!!  |
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Post by DancingDays on Feb 16, 2012 9:11:45 GMT -5
The "correctamundo" is what got me. That's totally something Jack would say. I hear Matt's voice throughout the whole story. Keep it up, kpatch!  |
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Post by fluffysmom on Feb 16, 2012 12:08:01 GMT -5
Abby must have been shocked when Jack blurted that out. Luckily he was able to cover with the class. Looking forward to the conversation between Jack and Abby. Great chapter Kpatch.
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Post by mae00 on Feb 16, 2012 12:13:15 GMT -5
OMG!! Just caught up and have to say that I am thoroughly enjoying this story already!!! great job jkjpatch!!
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Post by rockfordfosgate on Feb 16, 2012 16:39:22 GMT -5
Please let Jack punch Austin at least once before the story is over. And Jack covering his verbal slip was spot on for quick talking Jack.
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