Chapter 37: School Tensions (6)
Suddenly hearing the ringing sound signaling the start of the lunch break, Christian was reminded that all the effort he had put in over more than five days was really just for these couple of minutes.
As students from other classes started coming out and the noise increased with their chatter, many of them looked at the math teacher, who had calmed down now a little but was still glaring at Christian.
With the apparent commotion continuing, the Dean, or more accurately, the department head of Student Services, arrived and went toward the math teacher, asking him to come with him.
"Your presence is required in the Principal\'s office."
And the math teacher, still giving Christian a menacing glare, was met with his innocent smile. This only made him even more infuriated, but he tried to rein in his anger and begrudgingly accepted, then went with the dean, who immediately followed by saying.
"Thank you for your cooperation."
While the little episode involving the math teacher had ended, its aftermath had not. Many students were now looking at their phones and discussing what had happened.
The bafflement at what had happened was apparent, and given the math teacher\'s angry behavior and his reaction, the students couldn\'t believe it was fake.
Christian now was rubbing the area under his chest where the only punch other than on his arms, had landed, he looked at the mess he had made, the turbulent atmosphere, and the group of students whose pictures had been revealed and were now surrounded by many others. He couldn\'t help but feel a sense of triumph at what was happening.
But he wasn\'t allowed to indulge himself for long, as the female teacher came toward him with concern in her voice and asked:
"Are you alright, Student Christian?"
"Do you need to go to the Nurses\' Office to make sure you\'re not injured?"
Christian, looking at the female teacher who genuinely seemed to care about and teach her students, felt a twinge of regret. If she were more beautiful and perhaps ten years younger, he might have considered giving her a chance.
Shaking those thoughts from his mind, he still replied.
"No, I\'m alright. Thank you."
Actually, now thinking about it, Christian wasn\'t sure what he should feel as he remembered there was no young female teacher at his school.
Is his luck just bad after all?
While Christian continued to lament his luck, the old female teacher maintained her role as the caring teacher by saying:
"If you feel there\'s any problem, don\'t hesitate to tell any teacher so you can get help immediately."
After Christian nodded and was about to go see what he should eat, since everything was done for the school from his side and he now just had to wait for the results.
He suddenly saw a teacher coming through the crowd of students, bringing the student who had been revealed to be cheating with him.
Without waiting much, he moved on to the next one.
It seemed it would really be a busy day for the school today.
…
While Christian was feeling a tiny bit of guilt inside for the teaching staff, the lunch break had ended, and the students were now in their classes, still talking about what had happened and everything they had read about on their phones.
And the teacher who was supposed to be there still hadn\'t arrived, fueling the students\' curiosity even more.
While now alone, Christian had actually talked with some of his classmates during the lunch break, as they asked about what had happened with him exactly.
They were curious, after all, and Christian met their curiosity by using his newly acquired dramatic acting skills. He shared everything he could about the math teacher, while, of course, exaggerating some details.
After nearly fifteen minutes, the teacher arrived. After saying a few words to quiet the students and get them to be silent, he addressed the main issue to try and calm them down completely.
"Regarding what happened today, the school will investigate and review everything before issuing a public notice."
"Therefore, it would be better if you all deleted the file that was sent to your phones."
"It would also be best if you didn\'t waste too much time, talking about what had happened."
"After all, it\'s your final year in high school, and the final exams are just around the corner."
"So, you don\'t have that much time for all these distractions."
As the teacher continued to emphasize that gossiping about what had happened was unproductive and that they should focus more on their studies, he also reminded them that they were now preparing to enter the society or university and were no longer children.
It became clear that public speaking was not this teacher\'s strong suit, as Christian didn\'t find him particularly convincing, or maybe it\'s different for the other students?
Despite everything happening, the school continued as usual. While the chatter was above normal, the 12th-grade students, with final exams approaching, didn\'t let the events affect them too much, or so it seemed? Christian was not sure.
As the school day was nearing its end, Christian was suddenly summoned to the principal\'s office during his class.
As he nodded and followed the teacher to the principal\'s office, Christian wondered what would happen next. Would they accuse him again, or would they just ask him normal questions because his name had also been mentioned?
Or maybe they would apologize?
While having all kinds of thoughts, Christian arrived at the principal\'s office.
After entering and greeting the teachers present as there were really a lot, what caught Christian\'s attention was the exam sheet the principal was holding, it was his last math exam.
Christian felt that the situation was really familiar.
But after he was asked a couple of questions about what had happened with the math teacher exactly, and Christian answered them without being flustered.
The principal didn\'t mention the exam paper in his hands and just dismissed him in the end.