The next day, Mona left home as early as possible. She didn't want to cross paths with Mr Ken as she knew what he had in store for her.
Despite being cognizant of Mr Ken being her teacher, she had the guts to call him a know-it-all.
At first, she didn't regret it but after thinking it through, she realized that what she did and blurted out to her new mathematics teacher was rude and disrespectful.
Mona entered her class quietly to see darkness, so she looked for the switch and brought light to the room.
Turning to locate her seat, she saw Derrick playing with his phone.
He was in the dark all along, how could he stand staying in the dark?
However, she went to her seat, acting as if she didn't acknowledge his presence in the class.
She brought her bag to her front and lay it on the table.
As he had already seen her, she expected Derrick to come and join her. They were the only ones in the class.
"What's up, Mona? You are early today." He demanded a reason. She shrugged in response.
"Why weren't you in school yesterday? Mr Ken asked about you?" Derrick tried again and this time he was able to catch her attention. She immediately looked up at his face.
Did he ask about her? Was he perhaps missing her? She thought.
"He did?" She asked and smiled at herself, he does care about her.
But then, the fact hit her harshly. He asked about her because he wanted to punish her for her presumptuous attitude toward him the day before. The smile on her face was erased slowly.
"Yeah, why weren't you in school?"
"I went to the museum," she answered apathetically.
"You must have enjoyed yourself." But he forced the conversation.
"Hmm, I saw the pink stone." However, mentioning the pink stone she saw yesterday made her agree to converse with him.
"It looks weird but it's actually magical," she smiled as she vividly recalled the small stone caged in a glass. "I'll go there to see it again," she concluded.
"Then, maybe I will tag along," he suggested. Mona replied by shrugging one of her shoulders.
"So, tell me, Mona, why are you so bad at mathematics? The subject is…" He continued.
"Difficult," she said for him but wrongly.
"It's like a mystery," he corrected her but she didn't lift her gaze from the phone she brought out of her bag earlier. "I can tutor you if you let me."
Truth be told, he just wanted to get closer to the girl.
She was black, not exactly black. Her complexion was the colour of chocolates.
Her uniform fitted her perfectly, the white shirt boosted her beautiful upper curves and her mini red skirt exposed her lower curves.
She sure had admirers but she was a busy girl. Always on her phone and going on adventures, thus, she didn't realize that people die to get her attention. She was everyone's friend in class as she was funny and dumb.
Mona makes the class lively sometimes with her stupid questions and whenever she is caught using her phone, she insults the teachers indirectly but she meant no harm to anyone.
She can be naughty sometimes but was vulnerable, a scaredy-cat, definitely the last child and shy.
Derrick, on the other hand, was a boy with glasses on, everyone knew he had no eye issues. The glasses he wore were just part of his crazy lifestyle. The style added to his handsomeness.
"No thanks, I'm not interested in knowing more." She was busy doing some research on the stone. She was always interested in ancient kinds of stuff.
"Then—How about you tutor me on history?"
She instantly lifted her gaze and smiled. "Sure but you seem like someone who knows every subject."
"If you don't tutor Mona, who knows, I might fail the exam," he exaggerated but she fell for it and agreed.
"Alright, I'll tutor you."
"Lunch break is okay, right?"
Mona nodded. He replied by pinching her cheek. She was cute.
The tutorial started after she had a quick lunch with her Bestie. She wasn't reticent about why she was avoiding Mr Ken. Gina laughed at her. She made fun of Mona until the girl remembered that she had to tutor Derrick as promised.
That was how they ended up sitting by the window because she hated a boring area. Sitting by the window would make her view part of the school and the students passing by.
Not that Derrick didn't understand anything in history, he just wanted to spend time with her.
While explaining a topic, Mona found it difficult to elucidate about the big skull with no teeth. So, she stood up to get the big history book from the shelves.
Mona surveyed the shelves, searching. Suddenly, she choked on her own breath the moment she caught a glimpse of Mr Ken.
With that, she immediately leapt down and crawled to the other side because he was turning to settle on her side of the shelf.
The man chuckled silently, he was glad she knew she did wrong.
Soon his head began to ache as he couldn't stop hearing the thoughts of so many students.
Some were in the library to watch blue films, some couldn't stop thinking about how their first time would be.
Some were hungry, some were being bullied. Some were thinking about how to commit suicide, and some were thinking of the chores they'd go do when they closed from school as they were servants. And some were thinking of their future.
While Miss Mona was thinking about how to escape from him. He wouldn't chase her, she'd come to him by herself. He grabbed the textbook he'd be needing to teach her class after break and headed toward the exit.
Mona settled back in her chair and watched Mr Ken's back as he left through the stairs. He suddenly looked behind him, causing her to immediately cover her face with the heavy textbook she could get her hand on.
He left eventually. She heaved a heavy sigh and touched her head.
"What's going on?" Derrick asked.
Mona stared at him for a while, she couldn't share her minor dilemmas with him.
So, she just confirmed something. "We are having mathematics after the break, right?"
His answer was positive. She cursed the composer of the timetable. Why on Wednesday? She screamed. And then realized, "No, we are supposed to have mathematics on Thursday not today," she elucidated.
Derick thought deeply about it and nodded as she was right.
"So when he arrives we send him away," she smiled.
"I guess so."
But Mr Ken didn't enter her class. Derick informed him beforehand that they did not have mathematics.
"It's your luck, Mona." Ken smiled as he led his legs to the class he would be taking instead.
Mona felt exceedingly relieved when the school closed, she didn't wait for Gina as she needed to pass Mr Ken's street before she got to hers, so she needed to leave earlier.
She ran to her car immediately after school was over and dashed out of the school premises. What a big relief!