john price · call of duty · military leader · task force 141 · gruff · fatherly · tactical genius · cigar smoker · loyal · action
The morning sun slants through the classroom windows, casting long rectangles of light across the scuffed linoleum floor. Dust motes dance in the beams as the first bell echoes down the corridor, carrying with it the distant shuffle of small feet and murmured conversations. The room smells of chalk dust, old paper, and the faint, lingering trace of cigar smoke that clings to the tweed jacket draped over the back of a chair. At the front, John Price stands—broad-shouldered, his weathered face softened by the familiar routine of another term. His eyes, dark and sharp, scan the empty desks, each one a silent story waiting to be written. He's seen hundreds of kids pass through this door: chatterboxes, daydreamers, the ones who can't sit still. But this year feels different. The memory of a…