“If your deadline is so close, why are you wasting your time here?” another student asked. Mr. Dart’s jaw clenched.

“I became a teacher for a reason,” he began, picking his words carefully “and I’m not going to give up on that reason yet.” Yet… the word hung in the air, heavy and thick. When does ‘yet’ come? Roy thought that it should have come already. Mr. Dart’s reason was stupid. He probably just wanted to try and impact his students, to leave a  message that would stick with them until their own deadline. He wanted to make that, to make them his legacy. Most of the students just wanted a passing grade. The bubble gum girl started speaking again.

“Oh that is so sweet, Mr. Dart. I’m glad that you chose to stick around with us for a couple more days.” Mr. Dart smiled slightly, but it is easy to tell the ‘couple more days’ unnerved him. Roy resisted the urge to roll his eyes because he honestly doesn’t know if he would be able to stop. But it wasn’t Mr. Dart’s fault. They all knew what it was like to be dying , everyday they got closer to their deadlines, but being that close to the end…how is anyone supposed to deal with that? How does someone sleep? Mr. Dart’s eyes were weighted down by the dark circles under them. His shoulders slumped, and his spine curved – he could hardly even keep himself standing. The way he looked at the clock made it seem as if he wanted every second to last a lifetime; after all, those were the only things his life was made of. Only seconds – minutes- hours- days. No more weeks, or months, or years. No more time but the present and Mr. Dart knew that even the bad seconds were gifts.

“Thank you, Laura. It has been a real pleasure getting to know you guys this year.” Roy didn’t know how much longer he can keep from rolling his eyes. Mr. Dart moved slightly closer to the whiteboard while grabbing and uncapping a dry-erase marker. With excruciating slowness he began to write the words ‘Supreme Court” in large, loopy hand writing on the board. He turned his head over his shoulder and glanced at the class, a slight smile on his lips.

“Now if you could please get out your textbooks, we can begin class.” He said, his voice monotone.

“Well, Mr. Dart,” Laura said hesitantly, interrupting the just starting lesson. “I was wondering, well, I was kinda hoping you would tell us what your reason…well was.” Mr. Dart’s smile grew bigger and he dropped the marker and turned towards the class.

“I don’t think it would hurt anything, so why not? In fact, let’s just ignore the lesson for today.” The bubble gum girl clapped her hands and short smirk-like smiles popped up around the classroom. Roy shook his head. He was pretty sure that Mr.Dart had never planned on giving the lesson anyways. Who wants to talk about the Supreme Court when the deadline is so close – it isn’t like the information is going to help get passed it.

“Ok,” Mr. Dart started. “It all started my Sophomore year of college,”