Chapter 6: Insolence and Obedience

Aurora’s P.O.V

I kept staring at my paper, doubt creeping into my mind as I kept turning the pages and going over the sums that had been crossed off as wrong without a second thought.

Fortunately, I had some spare tape in my bag, and I had used it to put my paper back together so that I could check what mistakes I had made, but the results staring back at me were shocking.

As I waited for Mr. Hemming to be done answering queries from other students on their way out, I found some problems that I had answered correctly, but were marked wrong. Was this a mistake? Or had this been intentional?

I pressed my lips together, trying to figure out what to do next when I heard the door close—the last of the students had left. Now Mr. Hemming and I were alone in this classroom. At this point, he had already finished clearing his table, and leaned against it, his eyes narrowing in on me as he nodded.

“Come over here, Miss Valentine,” he beckoned.

Slowly, I stood, pushing my chair under the desk as I walked to the front. I kept my head low, fingers gripping my paper tightly.

“Do you have anything to say for yourself?” he asked. Even though I was staring at my feet, I could feel the intensity of his gaze drilling holes through my skull. It was unnerving to say the least, especially since I was the only one left in the classroom.

I cleared my throat, summoning the courage to point out the mistakes. “Uh, sir…” I began, finally meeting his eyes. I took a deep breath as I spread out my crumpled test paper on his desk, before I pointed out to the sums in question. “I’m sure this was just a mistake, but several of my answers were actually correct; they were just marked wrong.”

I already knew that a lot of professionals hated being corrected on their work, but I didn’t expect the severity of his reaction when his face turned red in anger and his gaze narrowed on me as if I had just committed an unthinkable crime.

“You dare to tell me I’m wrong?” he demanded. “The answer is what I say it is. If I say it’s incorrect, then it’s incorrect. You are just a scholarship student; you have no right to lecture me on what’s wrong and right on a subject that I specialize in teaching! Who are you to tell me I made a mistake?!”

“Umm…Sir…I didn’t…” I stammered, my heart thrashing against my ribcage in fear as I watched him explode from anger.

And before I knew what was happening, he snatched my paper off the table, ripped it up, and threw it in the trash bin.

“You know, I thought of letting your insolence pass earlier, if you had just apologized when I gave you a chance to speak, because I had always thought you were an obedient student, but now… you’re beyond help.” As he spoke, he rounded the table and slowly began to move closer and closer. For every step he took forward, I took one backward, my mind telling me to run as far as I could. “Keep this up, and I swear on my life that you will soon be failing every class.”

To say that I feared him at this moment would be an understatement. I felt my blood turn cold, my breathing hitch. I was a mouse in his trap, and he towered over me like a giant. The only time I had ever felt this small was when my own father drunkenly stood before me, a glass bottle in his hand, ready to strike.

He took another threatening step forward. I backed away…only for my back to hit the desk behind me, and my heart thundered inside my chest, making me acutely aware of the danger I was in.

“You know, I can cancel your scholarship if you don't do as I say,” he said, his voice dripping with malice. He put a finger under my chin, and I froze, not knowing what to do. For a second, my mind went blank, my entire body frozen in fear.

What was he doing to me? Why was this happening? What did he want from me?

My palms were slick with perspiration, and there was a ringing in my ears that kept getting louder and louder, until it turned almost deafening. I wanted to push him away, but my arms wouldn’t move. I wanted to run, but my feet seemed stuck in place.

But even if I could push him away, what would happen next? He’d get even angrier, and he might become violent—just like my father when he didn’t get the money he demanded from me. I was no match for the strength of a man three times older and larger than me. Even if I could run, where would I go?

The school would never believe me, the poor old scholarship student, over one of their esteemed teachers. The authorities may even decide to take away my scholarship…

I was completely and utterly helpless.

A cunning smile formed at the corner of his lips, sending a shiver of terror down my spine. I kept playing different scenarios in my head on how this just might be the end of me, but then, suddenly, the door burst open.

The sound echoing through the empty classroom made me jump, my heart thundering in my chest so hard, I was afraid it would burst out of my chest. Sensing the intrusion, Mr. Hemming too jumped back and away from me.

Relief flooded my body immediately knowing that, at least, I was no longer alone. Then my vision cleared, and I saw that it was Caleb who had entered the classroom unannounced, followed by Caroline.

Mr. Hemming, flabbergasted by their sudden entrance, backed away further, and I could finally breathe. “Yes?” he prompted, to save face, as though he hadn’t been cornering me against the desk. “How can I help you?”

Caroline blinked. “Um… uh… I forgot something,” she said with a half-hearted shrug. “Would you mind if I check my desk, Mr. Hemming?”

“Of course not, Miss Atkinson, go ahead.” The immediate change of tone from the harsh way he had just spoken to me, and the politeness with which he now spoke to Caroline, had me stunned.

Caleb stood by the door as I watched as Caroline went over to the desk she had previously occupied, and rummaged the drawer until she pulled out a pencil that was less than a quarter away from being shaved to oblivion.

I almost cried when she turned her back to us, heading for the door. I didn’t want her to leave; I didn’t want to be left alone with Mr. Hemming again!

Then she stopped in her tracks, and turned to us again. “You know, Mr. Hemming, it’s late, and everyone has already gone home. School’s almost empty. Hasn’t it been a long day? You should also rest well at home.”

“Ah…y-yes, yes, I should.” Mr. Hemming stammered as he smiled at Caroline, before he turned to me. “Leave, Miss Valentine, before I change my mind. You’re dismissed.”

I didn’t need to be told twice. I gathered my bag quickly and rushed out the door, past Caroline and Caleb, without looking back. I was so frightened and horrified by what just happened that on the first few steps, my legs almost gave away from under me.

Luckily, I was able to steady myself and did not stop running until I was out of the school gates, feeling like I had just escaped something terrible.

If Caroline and Caleb hadn't shown up today…I had no idea what would’ve happened…