The Substitute Teacher Who Wasn't

Baxter noticed the substitute the moment she walked in. She looked young, maybe not much older than a college student. She stood at the front of the room, looking slightly too amused by the chaos of a Friday afternoon class.

Baxter memperhatikan guru pengganti itu begitu ia melangkah masuk. Ia tampak muda, mungkin tak jauh lebih tua dari mahasiswa. Ia berdiri di depan kelas, tampak sedikit terlalu terhibur melihat kekacauan kelas Jumat sore.

"New sub," he whispered to Iris. "She looks like she graduated, like, yesterday."

"Guru pengganti baru," bisiknya kepada Iris. "Kelihatannya baru lulus kemarin."

"Be nice," Iris whispered back. "Remember what happened with the last one."

"Jangan nakal," Iris balas berbisik. "Ingat apa yang terjadi dengan yang sebelumnya."

The last substitute had lasted exactly one class period before walking out, so the bar, admittedly, was not high. Baxter decided this one seemed like an easy target for the group's usual first-day routine. It usually involved fake names, a rearranged seating chart, and someone insisting the class had already finished the assigned reading.

Guru pengganti sebelumnya bertahan tepat satu jam pelajaran sebelum keluar kelas, jadi harus diakui standarnya tidak tinggi. Baxter memutuskan yang satu ini tampak seperti sasaran empuk untuk rutinitas hari pertama kelompok mereka. Biasanya itu melibatkan nama palsu, denah tempat duduk yang ditukar, dan seseorang yang bersikeras bahwa kelas sudah selesai membaca bacaan yang ditugaskan.

"I'm Kevin," Baxter announced when she called his name, gesturing at the quiet boy beside him. "He's actually Baxter. We get confused a lot."

"Aku Kevin," Baxter mengumumkan ketika namanya dipanggil, sambil menunjuk anak laki-laki pendiam di sebelahnya. "Dia sebenarnya Baxter. Kami sering tertukar."

The substitute studied her roster, then studied both boys for a long moment. "Interesting," she said. "Because the yearbook photo next to Baxter's name looks a great deal like you, not him."

Guru pengganti itu mempelajari daftar absennya, lalu menatap kedua anak laki-laki itu lama sekali. "Menarik," katanya. "Karena foto buku tahunan di samping nama Baxter sangat mirip denganmu, bukan dia."

Baxter's stomach dropped slightly, though he recovered quickly. "Coincidence," he said. "Common face."

Perut Baxter sedikit mencelos, meski ia cepat pulih. "Kebetulan," katanya. "Wajah pasaran."

She let it go, which should have been his first warning sign. Throughout the period, she asked sharper questions than any substitute usually bothered with. She also corrected an error on the whiteboard that their actual teacher had apparently made months ago and never noticed.

Guru itu membiarkannya, dan seharusnya itu menjadi tanda peringatan pertama baginya. Sepanjang pelajaran, ia mengajukan pertanyaan yang lebih tajam daripada yang biasa dipikirkan guru pengganti mana pun. Ia juga membetulkan kesalahan di papan tulis yang rupanya dibuat guru mereka berbulan-bulan lalu dan tak pernah disadari.

By the end of class, Iris had started to suspect something. "Subs don't usually know that much about our unit," she muttered. "Or care."

Menjelang akhir pelajaran, Iris mulai curiga. "Guru pengganti biasanya tidak tahu sebanyak itu tentang unit kita," gumamnya. "Atau peduli."

The following Monday, their teacher introduced the school's new vice principal at an assembly. She walked onto the stage in the exact same blazer from Friday. Baxter sank low in his seat as three hundred students turned, almost in unison, to look directly at him.

Senin berikutnya, guru mereka memperkenalkan wakil kepala sekolah baru di acara apel. Ia berjalan ke atas panggung dengan blazer yang persis sama seperti hari Jumat. Baxter merosot rendah di kursinya ketika tiga ratus murid menoleh, nyaris serempak, memandang langsung ke arahnya.

"You," the vice principal said into the microphone, smiling in a way that felt entirely too friendly, "must be Kevin. We should talk after this."

"Kamu," kata wakil kepala sekolah ke mikrofon, sambil tersenyum dengan cara yang terasa terlalu ramah, "pasti Kevin. Kita perlu bicara setelah ini."