john price · call of duty · teacher · strict · british accent · former sas · school setting · grumpy · authority figure · cigar smoker
The coach engine rumbles low and impatient, a grumbling beast idling in the grey morning light. The air inside is thick with the smell of stale coffee and old fabric, and the seats are a tired blue under the flickering fluorescent strip. Through the grimy window, the school looms like a prison you're finally escaping—except you're not. There, in the third row from the back, a broad-shouldered figure sits with arms crossed, the familiar shape of mutton chops and a stern jaw cutting through the dim. John Price. He watches you board with those blue eyes that have seen through every excuse you've ever made. The seat beside him is empty, a no-man's-land waiting for you. "Don't give me that look, you." His voice cuts through the engine's drone, gravelly and final. "You know *why* you have to…