I was sure I had not done anything to get me called to the office. Exiting the classroom, I could feel my classmates' stares drilling holes into the back of my head.
Timid as a rabbit, I found the faculty office and entered. As I looked around, I didn't find the teacher but found another teacher, who was inspecting her appearance in a mirror and called out to her.
"Excuse me mam, is Miss Elena here?"
"Hmm? Ele? Oh, she was just here a moment ago."
The teacher had wavy, shoulder-length hair, which made her look mature. The way she said Elena's name made them sound close. They were near in age and probably friends.
"She must have stepped away for a minute. Do you want to wait here?"
"No, thank you. I will wait in the hall."
I did not like being in the faculty office. I hated attention, so the hall would do just as well. However, the young teacher unexpectedly followed me.
"I am Jessica, in charge of class B. Ele and I have been best friends since high school."
Well, she just went ahead and introduced herself & the info seemed kind of surplus.
"Hey, why did Ele call you? Huh? Huh? Why?" she asked.
"No idea." Like I already said, I had literally no idea what hell was I doing there?
"I don't understand something. You were called to the office without a reason? Hmm? What's your name?"
An onslaught of questions. She scanned me from top to bottom, as if sizing me up.
"My name is Philip," I said.
"Philip, huh? That's a cool name. You are pretty popular are not you?"
What's with the overly friendly teacher? She acted more like a student.
"So, do you already have a girlfriend?" she asked.
"No… I am not that popular."
I tried to seem reluctant, but she kept pushing herself onto me. She grabbed my arms with her slender, delicate hands.
"Hmm? How unexpected. If we were in the same class, I'd never leave you alone. Perhaps because you are so innocent? Or do you like playing hard to get?"
She caressed my cheeks. I had no idea what to do. And yes I was literally freaking out internally.
"What are you doing, Jessica?"
Miss Elena appeared out of nowhere, grabbed my shoulder & pulled me out of Miss Jessica's clutches.
"Hey, that's not fair." She cried.
"What's not fair?"
"Why you keeping him by all yourself?" asked Jessica.
Wait…what?. Was I something like a toy?
"I am not keeping anyone or anything to myself & what do you think you were doing with him?" Elena spoke in a harsh tone.
"Oh, me. I was just only keeping him company, while he waited for you. Right Philip?" and both of their attention shifted towards me, waiting for my reaction.
What the hell was wrong with these women?
I looked at both of them with a confused look.
Noticing my reaction Miss Elena spoke with a sigh.
"It would have been better if you just left him alone. Thanks for waiting, Philip. Let's go."
"The guidance office?" I asked. "Did I do something wrong? I have been keeping a low profile here."
"A good answer. Come.
While I wondered what this was all about, I followed Miss Elena. Miss Jessica remained by my side, smiling widely."
Miss Elena noticed this and turned around, her face much like a demon's.
"You stay, right here." She ordered.
"Come on, don't be like that! I won't be the end of the world if I just listen. Besides Ele, you are not the type to give one-on-one guidance. Pulling a new innocent student like Philip into the guidance room out of nowhere…Are you after something, I wonder?"
Still grinning, Miss Jessica scooted behind me and placed her hands on my shoulder. I really had a bad feeling about this.
"Ugh! What the hell is wrong with you Jess? This is a class D matter, so mind your own business and stay out of this." Miss Elena said angrily.
"Huh? I can't go to the guidance room? That's not okay? Come on, I can give advice, too." said Miss Jessica with a pout on her face.
As Miss Jessica continued to follow, a female student came up to us, a beautiful girl with light pink hair. I had never seen her before.
"Jessica-mam, do you have a moment? The student council wants to discuss something with you." She glanced at me, but quickly returned her attention to the teacher.
"All right, you have someone who needs you. Get to it." Slap! Miss Elena smacked Miss Jessica on the butt with the clipboard she held.
"Aw! She will get mad at me if I hang around any longer. See you later, Philip! All right Emma. Let's go to the faculty office."
With that, she turned around and left with the beautiful Emma.
Soon after we entered the guidance room, which was beside the faculty office.
"So. What do you want with me?" I asked.
"Well, about that… Before we begin, please come here."
She briefly glance at the clock hanging on the wall & opened the door. Inside was a small Kitchenette. She placed a kettle on top of a stove.
"I am going to make tea. Is roasted green okay?" she asked.
"Listen, I am not here to…"My words were cut short.
"Don't make any unnecessary moves. Shut up & get in here. Understand? Don't make a sound and stay until I tell you to come out. If you don't do as I say, you will be expelled," she said in a scary voice.
"Huh? What do mean by---"
She closed the door to the kitchenette without any explanation, leaving me inside.
What in the world was she scheming? Wait, was I getting kidnapped? No, how could I get kidnapped inside the school building?
And, with no way out, I did as I was told; I waited.
Soon after, I heard the outer door to the guidance room open.
"Ah, come in. So, tell me what do you want to talk about Amanda?" I heard Miss Elena say.
Apparently, Amanda was also in need of guidance.
"I will be frank. Why was I put into Class D?"
"That's quite frank, you know."
"Today you told us that, the school sorted superior students into Class A & Class D was filled with the leftovers."
"Yes, I did say that. So…"
"I solved nearly every problem on the entrance exam. I made no substantial mistakes in the interview either. At the very least, I shouldn't have been sorted into Class D."
"Then, you must consider yourself to be a superior person. Right?"
I wondered how Amanda would respond. She was definitely the type to think herself superior.
But before I could hear her voice, Miss Elena spoke again.
"I know that you solved nearly all the problems on the entrance examination. Hmm? Normally I could not show the examination results to individual students, but I will just make an exception in your case. I just so happen to have your answer sheet here."
"You are really prepared. Are not you? It's like you knew, I would come here."
"I am an instructor. I understand the mind of students, at least to some extent, Amanda Watson. As you said, you did really well on the entrance exam. You had the third-highest test score among the first-year students and were so close to the other two. You did exceedingly well. And you are right; we found no particular problems in your interview. On the contrary, we evaluated you very highly."
"So then…why am I in Class D…?"
"Before I answer, please tell me something, Amanda. Why are so dissatisfied with Class D?"
"What type of rhetorical question Is that? I mean who could be happy with an incorrect evaluation? Furthermore, the class rankings greatly impact our future prospects. Of course, I am dissatisfied."
"Incorrect evaluation? Perhaps your self-evaluation is far too high my dear." Miss Elena snickered, or rather, laughed outright.
"I acknowledge that your academic ability is excellent. You are certainly very smart. However, who in the world decided that smart people are categorically superior? We never said that."
"But…that's just common sense."
"Common sense, really? Didn't this common sense of yours create our current, flawed society?"
"You are an indeed capable student. I don't deny that. However, this school's goal is to produce superior people. If you believe academics alone place you into a higher class, then you are certainly mistaken. That was the very first thing we explained to you. Besides, think rationally. Would this school have admitted someone like Donald if we decided superiority based solely on academic merit?"
"Tch…" Amanda clicked her tongue.
Miss Elena was right in every aspect, despite the fact that this was one of the country's leading preparatory schools, this place allowed students to enroll for purposes other than academics.
I really wanted to hear, Amanda's response but again, Miss Elena spoke.