Johnathan was a janitor at the local high school and had been for fifteen years. He loved his job, not because he particularly loved cleaning bathrooms and collecting trash, but because of the sheer excitement that everyday brought. Always in the background, Johnathan overheard numerous conversations everyday.
He knew everyone’s drama. It was as if he were living in a reality TV show. He, for instance, was the only person who knew that the history teacher was having an affair with the principal. Cleaning the administrators’ office late at night, after everyone else had gone home, he saw a telling letter from the history teacher. The principal also had a photograph of the history teacher in his drawer. “He ought to be more careful,” thought Johnathan.
The janitor also knew that all of the girls in eighth grade had a crush on Luis, a handsome and smart jock. He overheard girls everyday talking in the bathroom about Luis’ outfit or his hair. Johnathan would smile to himself, knowing that Luis was secretly dating Samantha, a rather nerdy eighth grader who usually sat alone at lunch. They often met up in the school field after school and Johnathan would see them together when he would place the garbage in the dumpster.
All these years, Johnathan walked the halls of the school smiling at students and teachers who would have short conversations with him. Little did anyone know how much janitors, if they keep their ears open, can hear.
- How does Jonathan learn everyone's secrets?
