Chapter 8: What Happens After Class

Students are slowly going out of the room, one by one they go, while some gave gifts to Mr. Wilson first before they would finally leave. My eyes widened when I saw just how much those gifts cost. Some were from Chanel, some were from Gucci and some just looked like it really costs a fortune. But then I realized that almost all the girls who are studying here came from rich families, so it shouldn’t really be at all that surprising.

I looked at my wristwatch to see what time it was, I frowned when I noticed that it was almost lunch time, and it looks like I’ll be left behind with this weird teacher as the other students would eat their food. I can’t believe I really exchanged this for food.

His class today was three hours long, and I almost stormed out of the room after knowing that some girls really made this class up to three hours just so they could be with Mr. Wilson even longer. It’s so sickening to think that they would do anything just to get his attention, too bad for them I’m now competing, and I’ll make sure to have his eyes on me just so he could get a taste of his own medicine.

My seatmate was long gone, and I really didn’t have this weird vibe when I saw Georgia, but after reminding myself that she was the mastermind of the plan against Nova, I would always feel my blood boil because of her.

Zoe already texted me, asking where I was or if I’ll be joining them for lunch, to which I replied that I’ll be staying with Mr. Wilson and wouldn’t be able to join them for lunch. And that’s when Zoe’s number flashed through my screen, a sign that she is calling me, so I declined her call and even turned my phone off. They don’t need to get involved in this matter, I can handle this on my own.

When I thought everybody was already gone, there I saw Amelia standing next to the door. I glanced at her and raised an eyebrow, but she just bit her lower lip, as if she was contemplating what she would do, but in the end, she just left the classroom.

I let out a sigh of relief when she’s already out of my sight. She’s not needed here anyway, and I wouldn’t really like to have her here. It would only make the situation worse if she would ever hear whatever me and Mr. Wilson will be talking about.

I could feel as if something had changed as soon as Mr. Wilson closed the door and even locked it. There was a change in his attitude and aura. It made me wonder if what I did was even the right thing, but I really don’t have a choice. I chose to do this, so I have to face whatever that might happen to me.

I gave him a smile, and he did too. He motioned for me to sit in front of his desk, and I quietly obliged. It was quiet, and this situation just gives me the shivers, especially after knowing what this well-known male teacher was actually capable of doing.

“So, what seems to be the problem, Ms. Kingstein?”

Mr. Wilson looked like any other teacher, and he also acted normal. If only I didn’t know his background, I would really admire him for the way he teaches so well that made the students here to be very good in Mathematics. But I really can’t admire him, not after knowing just how much he made Nova go through something all alone.

“I’m really not a fan of what you teach, Mr. Wilson,” I answered him, before crossing my legs and even had my chin rest on my hand on top of the desk. I could already feel how my body is cringing at what I’m doing, but this was the only thing I can do to reveal all these man’s wrongdoings.

“Well, we can always change your perspective, right? It’s really easy once you get all the formulas memorized, here I’ll show you,” he said, a friendly smile still on his lips as he goes to the white board to explain the math formulas even further.

I yawned as soon as he turned his back, and even stretched my arms a bit, because this was seriously so boring. I never liked being taught one on one, it always ended up with me focusing on something else rather than the teacher or tutor in front of me. This was also the reason why most of the tutors my parents hired for me gave up.

Mr. Wilson kept on saying things I really don’t understand, as well as writing on the board some letters and numbers I was so sure I would forget as soon as I left his classroom. I was just wasting his precious time, and I’m not even guilty about it. He doesn’t even deserve a minute or two in this world after what he did.

I shoved those thoughts away when he was finally done talking, he looked so enthusiastic as he was teaching, and the small guilt that was creeping inside my body was pushed away when I reminded myself that a student’s dream was gone too soon because of him. He doesn’t deserve whatever he has right now, so I really need to focus on my plan without feeling any pity to do it perfectly.

“Do you get it now, Ms. Kingstein?” he asked, as he was still smiling. It makes me wonder if he even stops smiling, since I really can’t do whatever he was doing. He was too friendly for a teacher who has a wicked past.

I could feel a slight panic when he went near my desk, but chose to shake the feeling off. I need to be confident no matter what, one wrong move of acting like a shy cute girl would ruin the plan I have. So, I sat straight, and looked at Mr. Wilson innocently but I was biting my lower lip provocatively. I could feel my insides shouting at me for doing this, but I tried to shut them off. ‘This was all part of the plan.’ I tried to remind myself as I acted out my plan.

“What would you do if I told you that I still don’t get it, Mr. Wilson?” I asked him innocently, before twirling some strands of my hair with the use of my fingers. I saw him gulp before messing his hair using his fingers. I find that a good sign. He seems frustrated now, at least he’s now showing more emotions rather than just giving smiles all the damn time.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll be able to get it soon. You are dismissed,” he said, almost whispering, like he was out of breath, before walking away to go back to his desk, so I got up, even making sure that my thighs were shown as I do so, and my eyes were focused on him. I need to see what his reaction is, in order to know if I’m even going somewhere.

But after seeing Mr. Wilson taking his eye glasses off frustratedly after seeing my move, that’s when I knew that I’m really getting somewhere with this plan of mine. I went over to his desk; the heels of my shoes were the only thing that were making a sound. My eyes were still focused on him, and so was he.

Once I was in front of his desk, I stopped and tapped his cheeks. Too confident to even worry about what consequence this act would give me.

His eyes closed as soon as my hand made contact with his face. I tried my best to gently pat his face and not straight up slap him. It was a struggle alright, I was glad his eyes were closed, or else he would have seen my face full of disgust as I stared at him.

“Thanks for the private tutor, Mr. Wilson.” I winked at him after saying that, and left immediately. As soon as I was out of the classroom, I immediately took my handkerchief to at least clean my hand that was used to tap Mr. Wilson’s cheek.

I poked my cheek using my tongue as I was busy trying to clean my hand when I heard someone fake coughing in front of me, so I looked up and even glared at the person who did so but my gaze immediately softened when I saw who the person who’s in front of me was.

“Amelia,” I muttered, as I hid my handkerchief inside the pocket of my skirt.

Amelia was looking at me, as if she was reading me. And the way her eyes look at me, it makes me want to hide because of how sharp they were. It was like her stares were piercing right through my soul, and one wrong move then she’ll be able to know everything that I’m doing.

“I was waiting for you,” she told me, before starting to walk away, making me walk faster just to catch up to her. She’s really tall and has long legs so a step from her, requires two steps from me.

“What? Why?” I asked, finding it quite astonishing, because since when was Amelia the patient type? She really waited for my mini tutor with Mr. Wilson to end without even complaining? That’s some weird shit right there.

“Is it bad to wait for you?” she asked, as she was still walking. Some students greet us as we walk past them towards the cafeteria. Amelia couldn’t even greet them properly, and would only nod and smile since we’re really trying to hurry up since lunch time would be over soon, and I am already starving.

“No, it’s just that, you really don’t have to. Besides, what if my one-on one tutor with Mr. Wilson didn’t end so early? You could’ve skipped lunch,” I tried to reason out. And boy was I so glad when we were finally inside the cafeteria. I glanced at the center table, and there I saw the other officers who looked relieved when they saw Amelia coming inside the cafeteria.

“Oh dear, you have a lot to learn. What happens after class isn’t all about that. Now, I’m just trying to be a good roommate and president, it doesn’t matter if I skipped lunch, what matters most is you.”

Amelia looked so calm even after her rant. She was even giving me a smile as she talked. But I couldn’t get why she cares. Because if she keeps on intruding, then I don’t know if my plan will go according to my plan. If she would continue trying to keep an eye on me, I would have no choice but to ask my new-found friends for help to stop Amelia from doing whatever this is that she’s doing.

“I know that I have a lot to learn, but I don’t really need you to worry about me, president. I’m fine, but thank you for your concern.” I wasn’t looking at her as I spoke. Everything I said, it was all lies. I actually enjoyed being able to have her attention on me, her attention was what actually mattered, but I shouldn’t have her intervene with what I’m doing.

But having her this close and her attention on me made me feel this emotion that couldn’t be described just as happiness. It was something more than that, I could even feel my heart beating faster than usual because of it.

All of it was put to a halt, when one of the officers came to us and even tried to drag Amelia immediately. I fought the urge to scream at the girl, because can’t she see we were still talking? Why is she being disrespectful?

“What is it that you want?” Amelia asked her officer, but the officer just glared at me before looking back at Amelia.

“Let’s go to our table, stop hanging out with someone who’s not in our circle,” the officer reminded me, making me scoff.

I could feel my blood boiling, and I really fought the urge to just go and punch this girl. Ever since I entered this school, all I received was disrespect. Why can’t they just respect every other student here? So what if some aren’t as powerful, rich or pretty like them? Why do they have to look down at other girls?

“We’re still talking, please don’t interrupt,” I told her, trying to be polite as much as possible, but the girl only gave me a smile, it wasn’t a friendly smile, but one that looked like a grimace would be better than it. It was forced. I wanted to tell her to stop with the fake smile, since a frown would’ve been easier to do, but I didn’t since I might offend her furthermore.

“So you speak English, I thought I would need to have to give you a translator, since you looked like someone who doesn’t speak English very well.” The officer who was still busy clinging on to Amelia tried to joke, but it wasn’t a joke. I didn’t find it funny, even Amelia didn’t laugh, only she did. The girl even lets go of Amelia for a while just to use her fingers to make her eyes turn into slits by pulling them. A racist move a lot of my fellow Asians experienced ever since we were introduced to this ugly world.

I gave her a smirk before pulling her arm so she would just stop clinging to Amelia. I would’ve let her go, only if she didn’t make such a bad joke that offended me. There are other jokes out there that are funny, so why does she have to use this type of jokes that would offend people?

“Was that funny?” I asked, as I made sure to whisper those words to her ear.

“Apologize to her,” Amelia ordered her, and now almost all the remaining students inside the cafeteria had their attention on us. But I silenced Amelia, I heard some girls gasped because of what I did, but it really didn’t matter. I’m irritated at this girl, and I’ll make sure to find out everything about her and use all her wrong doings to put her to her rightful place.

“You’ll cry because of what you did to me sooner, good luck.”

After whispering that to her, I immediately gave her a sweet smile before letting her arm go and finally went out of the cafeteria. Not minding if I wasn’t able to eat my lunch since I was already so irritated to do so. I just texted Eun and the others in hopes of having my attention be on something else.

But what shocked me was when someone called for my name. A smile left my lips, it was the voice I always wanted to hear, but not right now. I’m so tired of their bullshits. It’s only my second day here, but there’s already a lot to take in.

And besides, I really can’t be close to her. She’s one of them, she’s most likely to have something wicked underneath that perfect façade she has. So, despite the heavy feeling in my chest as I was walking away from the cafeteria, I made sure to sneak my earpods in my ears and play a rock song in full volume just so I could block Amelia’s voice that was calling for me, telling me to have lunch with her.