Maria tried to deny the accusation she was about to get. "What can anyone possibly do to someone who's totally new, teacher? I don't even know her…"
"But the way I know you, you're totally capable of pulling anything mean out of nothing, Maria." The teacher seethed in anger. "So don't try to shrug off your shoulders from something you're responsible for."
The teacher took a pause to calm her anger down a bit. "Look, Maria, you're the sister of such a fine student, she's someone who gets a good score, and has been managing student council since she was in middle school. Even her behavior towards people is good. She's totally a model student. You could learn a thing or two from her right? That wouldn't be good if you behave like a rotten kid, and tarnish her name like that…"
Maria sneered at the teacher's words. "Fine? Model student? Hah, she sure made a fool out of everyone very well. That pretentious bitch…"
"MARIA, LANGUAGE!" She again smashed the duster on the table, making a loud noise, or probably dissipating her anger through it. But whatever the reason was, the entire class, along with Maria, fell into pin-drop silence.
"After class, at my office, Maria Sinclair! We'll talk about the rest there. I can't let my class be spoiled because of you anymore. Sit down."
The teacher took a long breath in to calm down herself. Then she looked back at Airi and said, "It's okay now hum? Thank you for telling me. Whenever something is wrong, let the teachers know, okay?"
Airi gave her back a broad smile. "Yes!"
The teacher's mood seemed to have lifted a bit to see such a precious-looking smile on a student. She brought back her question to ask again, "So, I am the only one who doesn't know the name of the owner of this angelic smile. That's a bit unfair…"
"It's Arne, Ma'am. Airi Arne." She hurriedly replied, while excitement flowed out from her voice. "Airi… ah, it means beloved white jasmine, right? Such a lovely and unique name you got there!"
Airi's face lit up by the mention of the meaning of her name. She has always felt too happy whenever someone knew her name and its meaning.
And the face she made right now was so beautiful and dazzling, like a brightly lit warm candle, that all the boys, even some girls were awestruck, and attracted to that smile, like moths are attracted to light.
"Thanks to all of you for such a lovely introduction, I hope you have a great time with us. You may return to your seat now." The teacher took chalk in her hand and turned to the blackboard to write something. "As I said, I am your P.E. teacher, and on top of that I would be in charge of 1-C's homeroom." She wrote down two words, which appeared to be her name. "My name is Clara Celestine, you can call me Clara or Miss Clara, whatever and however you like, but one thing I would highly expect from you is diligence in your duties and studies." Then she wiped down her name from the blackboard as she continued to speak, "So I hope you'd learn to be responsible as you study here, and turn out to be a beautiful and thoughtful citizen, representing your country."
After that, she flipped open the papers and files she brought with her. "I'm going to call out your names, please pay attention and respond accordingly."
And the time kept passing, as the sunlight kept coming through the windows, and shone brightly on those students in the classroom, keeping them warm on that cold winter morning.
The rest of the homeroom went without a hitch. All that time, their homeroom teacher kept talking about high school life, and Airi kept listening attentively as she was getting more and more mesmerized. All of a sudden, the bell rang, and the homeroom ended.
"Okay everyone, have a nice day ahead. And any problem, I am in the office throughout the entire school hour, so feel free to drop by."
"Thank you, Ma'am." The whole classroom stood up to show respect as she left the classroom.
As soon as their homeroom teacher went out of the classroom, Airi ran towards her. "Ma'am!"
Clara looked back at the call and found Airi calling her. "Yes dear, what is it?"
"Thanks for defending me back there Ma'am," after thinking for a while in her head, Airi said it out loud.
Being thanked for anything makes anyone happy, so of course, her teacher also was happy to be thanked. She patted Airi's head affectionately. "It should be my duty dear. So don't be too thankful. Have a nice day, okay?"
"Yes!" Airi enthusiastically responded to her homeroom teacher, whom she came to like quite a lot on her very first day.
And Clara Celestine went back to her office, having a nice feeling in her heart, because of a student she found cute.
The rest of the day passed quite uneventfully. Strangely, Maria didn't approach her to make another mess. And Airi was so dazed by the beauty of the school that her mental note of befriending people totally slipped through her mind.
------
"I'm home, Maa." Airi came back home after a long hectic day. She strolled around the entire school premises so many times that she lost count of it. So as a result, "I'm tired Maa. And hungry!"
"Welcome home daughter! Had a long day?" Sara was preparing lunch in the kitchen, and by the sound of the door clicking, she noticed her daughter coming home. She hurriedly washed her hands and brought the fruit juice she kept squeezed out beforehand.
"Don't even ask that Maa. It's a mess." She slumped on the sofa tired as she reported to her mother.
Sara handed her the glass of juice and took a seat beside Airi. "Mess? Care to fill me in, lady?"
Airi sat up in her place, took the glass from her mother's hand, and took a sip of the juice.
"Umm, delicious." Her tiredness totally disappeared in an instant. "Surely, tasty food always works."
Her mother chuckled at the sudden lift-up of her mood. "Well, I made sure my daughter enjoys every food, whether she likes or dislikes it in general."
Airi was confused by the mention of her dislikes. Then all of a sudden as the entire trick clicked to her brain, she started nagging her mother, "Maa! Why did you put oranges in there! That's not fair, I am so not going to play with you!"
By the childish behavior of her daughter, she laughed so hard that it was hard to control. "Just drink it up, didn't you say it's delicious?"
Airi pouted as she accepted her defeat and drank up the juice. "I promise I won't fall for your tricks the next time."
Sara took the glass from Airi, and patted her head, "Okay okay, we will see that." she put the glass on the table beside the sofa and turned back to her. "So then, let's start the gossip."
Airi gave out a long sigh before she started. "Maa, the school's so beautiful you know? The area is so big, even the buildings are tall. It has this huge playground too you know!" She stretched her hand sideways as further as she could to show the enormity of her school. "I heard the school holds annual sports competitions too. Football, volleyball, name it, we have courts for it there."
Airi's eyes were all sparkly when she talked about how amazing her new school was and how beautiful her dream school was. And that sparkle couldn't escape the eyes of a mother.
But soon, the sparkle died down, replaced with gloominess. "But the prettier the school is, the meaner the students are there." She got totally upset and sad recalling her classmates this morning.
She suddenly grabbed her mother's hand as she continued, "There are a lot of students who are… weird. Normally, wouldn't you expect someone from that kind of school to be bright, smart, and also friendly and kind?" Airi's gaze darted somewhere far, having all those events replayed in her mind, "They are nothing like that. They are… a bit… scary… and strange."
Airi described the incident with Maria to her mother, not missing out on any points. Even she told her about the teacher too, the way she handled everything. While she was describing everything, Sara carefully and attentively listened to her.
She lightly squeezed Airi's hand that was holding her and gave her a concerning look. "Are you scared, dear?" Sara's voice was so low and soft as if she was scared to upset her daughter more.
Airi looked back at her and met her eyes. She held her mother's hand with both of hers and gave a reassuring pat to her. "There is no way I'm scared. You know how strong your daughter is, don't you?"
"Yeah, I do." Sara smiled back being reassured a bit.