Chapter 4

"I only know a few of them," I said and secretly sighed. 

The feeling of intense stares from my classmates burned a hole on the back of my head. My lips pursed into a thin line and my stomach was churning. I was not used to this feeling of being the center of attention, and I just wanted to go and sit on my chair at the back area, away from their scrutinizing eyes. The problem was the teacher's attention on me and I did not want to appear disrespectful in front of him. 

"That's okay." He played with his pen on his fingers and smiled amiably. "Then, you'll perform the activity first." 

"W-What?" When I realized what I uttered, I cleared my throat. "I mean... uh." 

"You mean what?" he asked, clearly teasing me.

I gave up and shook my head.  Just what did he want in me? I sighed again. "Then... what should I do, Sir?" 

"Kindly introduce yourself in the form of singing. Make the lyrics your name, age, and what you love the most." 

My cheeks burned red in embarrassment. He wanted me to sing? In front of my classmates? Seriously? 

"Is there another ---" 

He raised his hand and smirked. "No other means. Only singing." 

"But I am not uh... good with singing." 

"Just try it." 

I knew that whatever I reasoned out to him, he will always win because he was the teacher in class. I did what he wanted me to do. So I sang my name. "Sydnee Lurica loves being alone for sixteen years of her life." I cleared my throat. "That's all, Sir." 

He stared at me longer than usual. And I find that disturbing, so I looked down on the floor. That was when he clapped for three times. "Unique voice and creative, Sydnee." 

The moment my name rolled out in his tongue, my breath hitched. The way he pronounced my name was something special and... intriguing. 

"T-Thank you, Sir." 

I immediately walked back to my chair, but he stopped me. "Please write your name on the board." 

I turned and walked back to the front. I got a chalk and hurriedly wrote my name on the chalkboard. Not only that, but I even misspelled my name because of nervousness. "Oh, I-I'm sorry," I said softly and reached for the eraser. And that thing was near the teacher, so I had to move closer to him. 

"Write calmly, Sydnee. No one's after you," he whispered and chuckled a bit. 

My forehead creased again. No one told me that he was a comedian, or some sort of. I just slightly nod my head as an acknowledgement and erased my name on the board. I wrote it again, neatly as possible. "Finished, sir." I put the eraser back on its place and walked back to my chair at the back. 

"Let's give some applause to Miss Sydnee for participating in class." 

I stopped in my tracks when I heard the clapping of my classmates. 

My heart skipped a beat as I listened to them, clapping their hands for me. This was the first time that they did that for me. And that was because of Teacher Anthony. 

I turned around to look at him, but he was busy reading the class record now. I sighed and sat quietly on my chair. My seatmate even gave me a weird look and a small creeping smile. 

THE SUN was shining brightly in the clear blue sky. The clouds were flying to and fro in every direction, and all I did was to stare in awe. Surely, the morning was beautiful. I was leaning on a tree while looking up to the skies above, when a shadow blocked my vision. I adjusted my vision and blinked twice. 

My vision was greeted with the smiling face of Teacher Anthony, and he was looking down at me. I gulped and stood still. He was tall, maybe around six foot. He had a massive body compared to my small height of five and a slim body. His muscles were bulging in his tight white T-shirt. And he was the moreno type. His skin matched his huge, masculine body. I did not notice it when we first met yesterday because he was wearing a big jacket, unlike today. 

"S-Sir," I greeted him. "Uh, what are you doing here?" He just smiled. I scratched my nape and looked away. "I'm sorry if I'm too rude yesterday. I didn't know that you're my teacher." 

"It's not something worth mentioning, Sydnee." 

I looked back at him because of what he said. "I'm sorry?" I cleared my throat. "I mean, I'm sorry, but I didn't get your point, Sir." 

He breathed deeply. "I am here to ask you about the poison inside your lunchbox." 

"Oh... I didn't bring my lunchbox today." 

He slightly nodded and smiled again. "Just what I thought you'll do." He looked upwards. "What did you do in the last months?" 

I stared intently at him. Why would he ask about my whereabouts? I frowned and huffed a bit. Even my own mother won't ask about my whereabouts, so why would he? I cleared my throat and looked away. "Sir --" 

"Please call me, Anthony." 

My forehead creased even more at his remarks and turned my gaze back at him. I dared not to lose my sight unto him again. "You are my teacher, so I should address you properly, Sir." 

He looked down again and our eyes met. There was a playful smile on his lips and his eyes were searching my face. His expression made my stomach churned. Nobody did stare at me like that. And it made me uneasy. I did not want to think of something bad about him, but with that expression, I thought that he was making fun of me. It was not funny nor amusing at all. 

"I am not that old, Sydnee. I just graduated from college," he said.