Chapter 14
flashback
“You know I’m not a ghost right?” Iyan’s voice was almost always startling for Mariella. She mentally cursed herself, she should have known he would be in the library.
Almost two weeks had gone by since their encounter at the café. She had been feeling pretty guilty after that incident, leaving abruptly. Her father had left for Texas that night regarding some business and had luckily left her only a note- he had not even bothered to meet her, but she was relieved. She had been still relieved that he was not back in town yet. The days got shorter in her joy.
“You scared me,” she said heaving a sigh of relief, looking at him.
His hair was damp and he was probably back from the gym, he had his water bottle in his left hand and a sports watch in his right hand blinked, indicating a tiny green light, his Adidas duffel bag also hung on his right shoulder. It is strange to notice this but someone you’re attracted to looks even more attractive when their hair is wet- Mariella agreed with that infamous opinion.
Standing there, right in front of her desk, Iyan looked handsome. His face glowed with sweat and his hair was slightly damp with sweat as well, but even though he wore a thick maroon cardigan with dark grey sweatpants, she could tell he was one of the fittest guys here in school. She wondered why everyone noticed Scott more than Iyan.
She pretended not to pay attention to him as he took a seat in front of her. It was just lunch break but Mariella had chosen to come here in peace; at least she would avoid the neglect she had been facing at the local lunch hall at the school. Making friends was one hill she was just not ready to climb yet.
“You don’t have any classes today?” she asked casually, not looking at him. She was indeed referring to the gym bag and she noticed that he was not even wearing the school badge.
“Since Edmont High follows streaming and I’m in stream A, the smartest of our batch, we’re kind of already done with the syllabus, so now we can work out in peace, no more classes for us,” he explained with a relaxed attitude.
Scott and Mariella had both been in stream C. They could be considered average if not poor in academics that is, grade wise. But she didn’t want to be in stream C. There were many reasons for that; the students were too rowdy and neglective about their studies unlike Iyan, most kept staring at her like she was an alien but no one had bullied her yet, which was strange given she was a new student and the drama that had taken place on her first day. With the foul prank Mark had played on her, she had expected their bullying to get worse- on the contrary they fell to the silence.
Most of all, there was another reason- Scott. Every time she used to be in class, he had been boring imaginary holes in her body with his eyes always on her- or so she felt- even from a remote distance. The only problem: she was not able to catch him red handed; as soon as she would turn to see if he had been staring, he’d look away almost like it had never happened. It was beginning to irritate her now.
“What is the requirement to get promoted to stream A?” she looked at Iyan with focus.
Iyan was moved by that. His face clearly lit up at the thought of her being with him in the same class was a good way to remain close to her, he liked her more than enough to want to see her everyday without pause.
“Well the procedure is simple- you get a B or A in 6 out of 8 subject in the finals…And nothing but a friendly reminder, it doesn’t start with dumping the friends that try to help you out,” he mentioned sarcastically.
Rolling her eyes and then smiling to him, Mariella swore not to do it again, “Won’t dump you without letting you know first the next time I promise.”
He broke out in a small laugh and smiled to her. “Even if you dump me, I’d still manage to follow you somehow,” he said in a playful tone and winked.
Her stomach took a turn again- it was obvious. When a guy says something like that to you, it makes you feel special- given the fact that Iyan did not even talk to any other girl- and makes you even more attracted to him.
Ignoring his words though to not give him even the slightest indication that it affected her, she continued, “So when will you be free to tutor me again?”
“Hmmmm….” He faked a thinking process, “tonight?”
Her eyes widened at the word tonight…
“The school is closed at night, isn’t it?” she uttered.
“Exactly, if you want to switch to stream A, then you’re going to have to burn the midnight oil. And see,” he glanced at his smart watch and tapped on the calendar icon, “you’ve only got…2 and a half weeks from exactly today! That is surely not a lot of time,” he warned.
“Okay…” she said reluctantly and before she could agree to a yes or a no, the bell rang.
Lunch break was over but she now had math class with Mr Moore. Apparently, Mister Moore was a replacement teacher after the Mrs Barry had gone on maternal leave last week. Mariella did not know all the teachers too well but she certainly this Moore guy would not even pay attention to her; she was horrible at math.
Anxiety surged in her heart as she took all her materials from the table and hurriedly promised Iyan to confirm about the studies-at-night plan later. She could simply text him about that later.
Nervous, she arrived at his class panting. Mr Moore was not here yet and the stream C kids were still contributing to the unending ruckus in the hallway, some had not even gotten in the class. She looked around for Scott- he had been such a constant stalker that she had just about gotten used to him but when she didn’t find him, she was a bit relieved and she took her seat right in the front bench.
The ruckus outside the class got louder by the time Mr Moore arrived. He wore a pair of waist high pants and a shirt so well ironed that it was tucked inside completely well from all angles one could imagine. He was tall but his bell bottom pants made his legs taller than his height- metaphorically of course.
With a sharp nose, his black thick rimmed glasses hid his eyes as he yelled at all students that were outside and immediately ordered them all to get inside and take their seats. The severity of his voice was enough to get all of the Stream Cs running in like rats and hiding in their corners. As soon as he had entered the class, the class fell to a deafening silence.
Mariella noticed his wheatish skin complexion and his sharp features with a rigid and unchanged face expression. Moore was a white name but he was definitely a mixed race, Indian maybe. His dressing sense was also quite eccentric.
Observing all students for a long moment in silence, Moore continued, “Had you not been in a paid school, I knew just the way to straighten up spoilt kids like you!” he spit.
“But paid schools take money to pamper you kids! So lucky for you but if I find any single one of you loitering in the hallway when it is my class, you’re having an F in my next class test and for your information, I don’t joke when I speak of marks,” he emphasized on his last words hinting utter seriousness.
Mark, the prank guy, was the first to oppose him, “Sir I don’t think you have the authority to do that, we have rights as students.”
“Detention till 4 for you!” he shouted and finally started his math class.
Cruel and merciless, Mariella had thought but she was glad at least someone wanted to bring some change- that joy quickly turned to nervousness as soon as he pointed to her in the first row where she was sitting alone.
“You, blonde girl in the first row! Stand up and tell me the summary of all the rules we use when using logs,” he ordered.
Her heartbeat had turned faster than a train right then, she felt all the eyes on her as she managed to mutter in a low voice, “I-I don’t know sir.”
Even from the back of his glasses she could see him raise his thick black eyebrow in questioning suspicion.
“You don’t know?” he repeated in a reprimanding tone.
“I am trying to catch up with-” she was cut off right before she could even continue further.
“Detention till 4 for you too!” he commanded without looking at her and turned to the whiteboard to write.
Hopeless and embarrassed, Mariella sat back down, her cheeks glowing a red brighter than a tomato. She felt so conscious.
“She’s new, she has just moved in this city,” someone broke the silence in Moore’s class in a defending tone. It was Scott, Mariella’s face turned to the entrance door of the class as she saw him.
Apparently, he had just arrived, he stood still at the threshold of the class, his hair unkempt and clothes covered in mud. Everything about him screamed messy but his eyes were calm and his face expression too complacent, determined to argue.
Moore was now facing him in utter annoyance, “And you are late why? Mister…?”
“Scott Anderson, I was practicing on the field for the upcoming inter-college soccer game,” he said quietly without really opening his mouth at all, like he did not even want to answer the teacher.
“Right, detention for you too. Out of my class now.” He said strictly to Scott but Scott wasn’t really the type to follow.
“I have all my right to follow your class sir, you cannot just kick me out,” he argued and went to sit beside Mariella on the first bench itself, quite to her surprise too. She didn’t really approve of that but she couldn’t do much in the position she was in, either.
Moore turned to face Scott and his eyes widened in disbelief, Scott was questioning his authority and by doing so, completely insulting him in front of the whole class.
He yelled this time and emphasized on each word to make it loud and clear, “That girl and Scott Anderson,” he pointed to Mariella and Scott, “Both, out of my class, right now! Go to the detention room!”
Mariella stared at Mr Moore in horror, she had not even done anything this time.
“But sir-” Moore cut him off again by spitting out the words, “OUT RIGHT NOW!”
Scott got up from the seat egoistically, ready to leave the class and seeing Mariella who was barely even moving in shock, he pulled her by the hand and straight out of his class.
Her stomach twisted and turned in nervousness when he was doing that- all eyes including Mr Moore’s remained glued to them. Scott was clearly used to the attention but Mariella was shaky by now, feeling even more exposed. More than that, she felt infuriated towards Scott Anderson- first he got her punished because of his rebellious attitude and now, he was confirming her deviant image by dragging her out of the class.
As soon as they were out of sight and far from Mr Moore’s class, she got rid of his hand that was still tightly clutching her arm.
“How dare you touch me and how dare you drag me out of the class without my permission?” she roared at him in a complete lack of belief. They stood in the middle of the hallway, Mariella stood facing him directly. Now she was going to the center of mockery for everyone at school and all because of him.
Scott, however, did not even have a single expression on his face, a small mischievous smirk formed at the corner of his lips when he asked her, “You wanna skip detention and go have a beer instead maybe?”
She watched him in utter bewilderment, “Unbelievable!”
“Gosh you might need more than one beer! Okay, what about whiskey instead?” he added in an attempt to tease her.
“I do not even drink!” she retorted and turned away from him, making her way to the detention room. He had already gotten her into enough trouble but this time, she didn’t want to be in the limelight again, at least because of him.
She felt her catching up with some running and he walked right beside her, “Okay cool down, if you’re heading to somewhere we won’t get caught, you should know I don’t do more than kissing on the first times if you have something else in mind.”
“Huh? I’m heading to detention room! You can go wherever you want, I don’t care.” And she had meant it, he was the middle name for trouble, at least for her.
Both of them got into the detention room that was at this time, during the second last period of the school, empty. Not even one person who would keep an eye on to the punished.
Yet, Mariella went and plunked into a random middle seat of the room and took out her wooden notebook, she wanted to write again. She thought of Iyan. Had he been here in this class, she probably would have felt more comfortable in his company and maybe she would not even have faced detention.
Instead, she glanced at Scott who tried to find a good seat around her, why was she even stuck with him in the first place?
“Seriously, go! I’d inform the one in charge that you got sick or something and had to leave,” she pretended to be nice, but she was still a bit irritated at him.
“Hey, I’m officially detained right now till exactly 4,” he argued again and settled for the seat right behind her, all other seats were just dusty. “Unless you want to take advantage of this empty room or go have a beer or two as I had proposed,” he said with a wink.
She had turned around to convince him but hearing that, her brows knitted together in confusion and disgust, she preferred not to say anything and turned away; her back facing him. She was going to focus on just writing now and so she began, soon losing herself in her thoughts.
When she looked at her watch, it had almost been an hour since they were here. She glanced back at Scott and to her surprise, he had already passed out on the desk. He slept like a baby and looked so much more peaceful asleep. She tapped his head gently and smiled to herself- he was such a kid.
Right then her phone buzzed and as soon as unlocked her phone, her heart stopped- it was a text from Mr Rupert Lewis.
Get home Mariella, now.
Before he could wake up, she got up and left the detention room, she probably had more important things to attend to than detention.