A few days later.
A fine sunny morning in Gotham City.
Winter is almost at its end, and spring is about to peek its head into nature.
So, the weather was really comfortable, and the flowers that were about to bloom were making people happy in anticipation.
Such a fine morning, where people commenced their day with a fresh and light mind, the students of Class 1-C were in total hustle and bustle.
"Oy, did you do the work?"
"God, Miss Clara sure makes people work hard."
"Be it gym or field or classroom, no excuse from tasks."
"Right? What topic did you choose by the way?"
"Uwah, who is that? I never heard about this author!"
Students were busy preparing for their assignment submission and presentation which was just about to start. Some people were relaxed to be able to finish this in time, this in a totally calm manner right now, like Airi. And some were still in a dilemma about whether whatever they prepared would be good or not, like Dew.
"Airi, you sure I should submit it on 'Dracula'?" Dew was doubting his selection of literature.
"Have you got any better option, or scratch that, an option at all?" Airi scoffed at him. "The only thing you read is this one, and moreover, a horror story is also a type of literature, so just do it."
Dew was still doubtful, but he decided not to brood over it. "Okay, let's go, whatever is in the fate, just let that happen!"
"Yes, of course, at least this assignment won't haunt you like Lucy in your dreams, haha…" Hazel mocked in a low voice, followed by Emma's giggle.
Dew started making weird faces to Hazel and Emma to annoy them back for mocking him, but that turned out of no use.
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Soon, the bell rang, and just after then, Clara entered the classroom.
"Well, well, I am seeing a huge rush within you lovely people. Care to explain what's going on?"
One of the girls in the class stood up to answer Ms. Clara, "Miss Clara, today is our assignment submission you gave us, on any literature work."
Ms. Clara had a joyful look on her as she exclaimed, "Yes! I forgot about it! Today it is, right? So today's going to be a fun class." Ms. Clara gave those assignments to let people know about more books, and being a bookaholic, she was anticipating this one eagerly. "So then, let's start after I am done with roll-call."
When the roll-call ended, she called upon the students one by one up on stage to present their copy of the assignment. Though everyone was in a rush just a while ago, some were exhausted just a while ago, people present in the room were enjoying the class. The beautiful world of literature kept unveiling, and knowing the wonderful creators of those colorful worlds seemed like a magician to the students. Students were getting lost deeper in those worlds, making a determination to themselves; 'No matter what, I have to read these books.'
When Dew came up to the dais, his legs were abnormally shaking. And that didn't go unnoticed by Clara. "Dew, what's wrong? You ok?"
"Nothing… just, I feel a bit nervous for it…" even his voice was cracking up.
Emma couldn't resist her urge to pull his legs a bit more, so she stood up and said loudly, so that no one missed her words, "Dew, are you still scared of Dracula? Is that it?"
Hearing Emma's words, all eyes present in the classroom turned towards Dew, even Clara's too. Ms. Clara asked him, "Dew, what about Dracula now?"
Dew was inwardly cursing Emma to his heart's content as he replied, "Ma'am, it's just… I worked on Dracula, Bram Stoker's Dracula."
"And you are that scared of it?"
"No… it's just… I am no good with creepy stuff…"
The entire classroom busted in laughter seeing Dew nervously reply with a shivering voice. Even Clara couldn't stop laughing seeing how scared like a baby cat Dew was.
"Oh, god, why did you choose something you don't like as your first attempt? I remember you have never read a single piece of literature before."
Dew was embarrassed as he pouted, "Ma'am, Airi suggested…"
Airi replied back at the mention of her name, "Who knew a guy would be that scared of some fantasy character?"
The entire classroom again reverberated into loud laughter. And when that toned down a bit, Dew presented his copy. Despite him being scared that much, he did a nice job of summarizing it, and those who didn't read that yet, sure felt interested in it.
Clara praised him for his work and told him to take his seat.
Soon Airi's turn came, and as promised, Airi prepared two copies, and Ms. Clara enjoyed her presentation very well. Students were surprised to hear Airi presenting a romance novel, moreover, of a new novelist. But seeing how much their Miss Clara was enjoying it, they also gave focus to her copy. And soon, they found their interest in it too.
After Airi finished sharing her copy, Clara congratulated her for doing an excellent job on her assignment. "Well done, Airi. Your copy made me feel like running to my home right away and opening 'The Notebook'. Beautiful! As I said before, you can look past the story to bring out the main theme in it. Even with the Sherlock Holmes series, great job on it. I hope the class would feel motivated enough to try different things, not pick up something of a horror story out of nowhere just to get done with their assignment. Not that I am opposed to it though."
Everyone once again laughed recalling how much of a trembling little puppy Dew was while presenting his copy on Dracula.
When everyone was done with their presentations, Clara called Maria to come up to the stage.
"Maria Sinclair, share your copy with everyone."
But to everyone's surprise, Maria didn't stand up or show any attempt to go to the dais. She was just giving a surprised, and bit annoyed look towards her.
"Wait, what did you just say?" Maria asked back as if she wasn't able to process her homeroom teacher's words.
Clara seemed to not mind that, as she repeated herself again in the same calm manner. "I said, show us your assignment. You did it, right?"
A light snort escaped from Maria's lips, and soon she returned her teacher a mocking smile, "Are you asking me? Am I supposed to? Since when do I need to do any of those shitty assignments you guys give out, huh?"
The entire class fell into silence, while some started gossiping to each other. As the entire class was enveloped in awkward tranquility, those mumbling gossips near Airi and her friends were coming clear to their ears.
"Miss Clara should know, right? That Maria doesn't do any of those?"
"Of course, she should, she has known us since middle school."
"Right? Moreover, teachers have always given her the class assessment marks just like that…"
Someone seemed to ask back the reason, because the next thing they heard was a slight titter. "Are you dumb? Oh, yeah, you are new here, right? Listen then, Maria's father is the richest man in Gotham City, and he is the major shareholder here. So, there is no way teachers would dare to make things hard for her."
"Yeah, and can't you see how she is? Do you think anyone would want to mess with her?"
"Come to think of it, she is the polar opposite of her sister, after all, senior Rena is diligent to her studies and duties."
Dew snorted hearing praises about Rena. "Heh, my mouth is itching to tell them how good and pure of a senior their Rena is."
Emma agreed with him. "Yeah, who says these sisters are polar opposites? They are just alike."
While the whispers turned into a huge commotion, Clara was still sitting on her seat with the same look on her face, without a hint of anger on it. "So, you are saying you didn't do it?"
"No, I didn't. And why do I need to do any of those where I am getting all the marks."
Clara chuckled softly hearing Maria, lowering her head a bit. When she held her gaze up at Maria again, a subtle coldness was clear in her eyes. "Then if you think that you are going to pass your high school life the same way as you did in your middle school, I am sorry to say but you are in a huge delusion."
"AND WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO STOP DOING IT! WHOSE MONEY DO YOU THINK PAYS YOU FOR TALKING NONSENSE STANDING UP THERE, HUH?" Maria shouted out loud, almost deafening everyone's ears.
Yet, Clara never changed her expression. In the same calm manner, with the coldness in her eyes, she stated, "That money is something your father volunteered, not forced upon. So, if you think that that money would stop my wages, or your education, then I am again sorry to disappoint you but that won't."
Maria seethed in anger. "I am warning you; this won't result in something good, lady."
"I hope that doesn't, because I am not an easy deal to crack. And, as you didn't submit your assignment today, I have to mark you as 'FAILED' in your first term assessment."
With that saying, she picked up her papers, bid everyone to have a nice day.
Leaving behind a puzzled classroom, and a rude, angry student, angry enough for seeking revenge.