I followed the principal with my head bowed. I was a shy person naturally.
I decided to wear a hoodie because I thought it was best to avoid attention.
"Good morning students." He said and the students muttered their replies."Today, a new student will be joining you. His name is Leo Patel." He paused. "He is one of the scholarship beneficiaries we enrolled this year." He turned to me. "Hoodie off, Mr Patel." He whispered.
I sighed and slowly took off the hood. I raised my head. The class applauded. Well, mostly girls. I suppose that's what you get for being so cute.
"Go get yourself a seat, Mr Patel." He said before walking off.
I looked around for a while. A lot of girls were beckoning at me but I found George smiling broadly.
He gestured at the seat beside his and I hurriedly walked to the seat.
"Hey there, handsome." He said in a girly voice.
I laughed. Before I could utter a word, the teacher walked in.
"Math." George whispered. "He loves a silent class, so save yourself from getting detention and be quiet."
I nodded and focused on the man before the class.
"Just to test your reasoning...." He wrote an equation on the board. "Who can solve this?"
The class started a kind of chant. "Ava! Ava! Ava!"
"Another word from anyone and I'll make sure you spend the rest of the week in detention." The class became silent again. "Miss Miller?"
The girl stood and walked over to the board. Honestly, she was really pretty."
When she was finally done, she handed the marker back to the teacher. A confident smile played across her lips and I could guess immediately that she was egotistic.
"Wrong!" The teacher said. The whole class gasped. "It's okay, it was Year 12 math anyways." He said. "Since Miss Miller couldn't solve it, I suppose..."
"Can I try?" I said gently.
The teacher looked so astonished.
"S...sure".
I stood and walked over to the board. I looked at the equation again and I let out a smile. Too easy.
I solved the equation though it took so long. By the time I turned around, everyone was staring at me in silence. Some geeks even left their mouths open.
I walked back to my seat.
"Correct!" He said. " Mr..."
"Leo Patel."
"Mr Patel did it right!" He said.
The whole class applauded.
"Cute and smart?" George said. "Boy, am I going to rock this School."
I smiled. I was proud of myself.
During lunch, I tried to find my way to the cafeteria when I accidentally bumped into someone. Books clattered on the floor.
"I am so sorry." I said and bent to help her with her books immediately.
"Why don't you just watch where you are going?" The voice said.
I looked up and found Ava. I handed the books to her.
"I'm sorry." I said smiling. " Ava, right?"
She rolled her eyes. " Just get lost." She said and walked away.
"What just happened?" George asked.
"I just bumped into her by accident." I replied. "She's so mad at me."
"Ava Miller." George said. "The brightest kid and richest girl in Westfield." He said. "His father is a billionaire." He paused. "No one has ever been able to beat her grades."
"No one?"
"Not even the seniors." George replied. "She's probably mad at you because you did better than she did earlier."
"I didn't mean to make her feel like that " I said.
"It's alright." George said. "Just stay focused."