Hawking woke up with a start on the floor, panting. He stood up slowly and walked to the mirror. His eyes was red, and his hair was scattered.
"Arrgh", he hissed and held his head. That headache was still there. The last thing he remembered was him completing his homework, and that was it. How he ended up on the floor was something he could not understand.
With an impulse, he left his bedroom and walked to his parent's and tapped on the door, but there was no response. "Mum", he whispered.
"Mum". Hawking tapped on the door again, but still no response. Listening from the outside, he could hear her snoring lightly. Maybe she was tired, he thought and went back to his room.
He looked at the time, which was already ten minutes past midnight, before heading to his bed and covered himself with the sheets. And minutes later, he was out.
* * * * * * * * * *
It was day break, and the Williams house was bustling with activity. Julie was cooking breakfast, and Tammy was packing her books into her bag.
As soon as Tammy packed the last book, she zipped up the bag and placed it on the couch, then walked to the kitchen, and saw Julie taking out the biscuits from the oven.
"Let me get that for you", she volunteered. Julie handed the tray to her and thanked her.
Soon, the food was ready. Everyone came out and began eating. "Mmh, delicious as always", Richard said, making the face of satisfaction. "Aww thank you honey", Julie replied, grinning softly.
"Uh", Tammy scoffed silently. Every time, this same compliment. Doesn't her mum get tired of it?
Then, she noticed that Hawking was silent than usual. "Hawking", she called.
Hawking looked up to her. "Everything okay?" She asked. She noticed that Hawking faced displayed confusion. "What do you mean?" He asked.
She opened her mouth to say something but decided against. "Nothing, never mind", she said and resumed eating.
* * * * * * * * * *
The bus stopped in the front of her school, and the student poured out in a disorderly manner. "Come on, orderliness", the counsellor who was inside the bus with them scolded them.
Tammy gently walked out of the bus and looked up at the school's building, as she always does.
Before changing to this school, she made a full research on what the experience would be like. Unlike any public school she knew, Liberty High School, which was the name of the school was a very recognized school, even among other private schools.
Apart from the big and well-designed architecture, the school was also known for its high number of intelligent students. So far, the school has racked more than thirty awards of various causes, including spelling bee, sports, and math quiz, to mention a few.
But she wasn't as intelligent as the vast majority. She was simply another boring girl that was invisible to the eyes of her mates, except for the bullies, which happened to be the self-proclaimed queens of the school.
To be honest with herself, they deserved the title. Alicia, who was the idol of the prestigious public high school, have added four awards to the school because of her extreme math skills. She emphasized extreme, because that bitch can solve complicated questions on her head.
She went past the counsellor, catching her attention. "Tammy", she called her. She sighed and turned around. "Yes ma'am?" She answered.
"Meet me in my office during break, alright?" She said. Tammy nodded and resumed her journey to her class.
She walked to her seat and sat down. She looked at her watch, which read 07:56am. Four minutes to the first period.
Then, someone banged her table, causing the books on top to fall over. "Jeez, walk carefully", she mumbled and picked up the fallen books.
She was about picking up the last book when a female foot stepped on it. She already knew who it was. Alicia.
"Tammy Williams, is that correct?" She asked melodiously. "Yes", she could only answer. Alicia scanned her from head to toe and chuckled silently. "Not to be a jerk, but… what are you wearing on your legs?" She said with a disgusted expression.
Tammy subconsciously stared at her legs, which bore a dull brown shoe. "It's my shoe, okay?" Tammy replied, already getting uncomfortable by the elongated conversation.
This was the queen of the school speaking to her for heaven's sake. Before she could grab the book stuck under Alicia's leg, she heard a camera's capture sound.
"What are you doing?" Tammy asked with a deep frown. "Selling the junk to eBay", Alicia said and walked away. How could someone be a nerd and still be a jerk?
Soon, the teacher came in and began his lecture. "Alright, let's go over to what we discussed yesterday" the male teacher began. As he panned across the class, he locked his gaze on Tammy, who stood out clearly with her mournful expression.
"Are you new here?" He asked her directly, and all the gazes fell on her. "Yes, sir", she replied silently, shrinking on her seat. "What's your name, new student?" He asked.
"Tammy, Tammy Williams", she answered. "I'm Anthony Baker, Mr Baker by short. Since you weren't around yesterday, I advise you to collect your mate's book and write down the note", the teacher said.
Tammy nodded and faced the empty note on her desk, trying to avoid the stabbing gazes of her mates.
* * * * * * * * * *
Hawking walked to his class as usual and greeted his mates, who automatically walked away when he approached them.
"Alright sit down", a teacher walked into the class with stack of textbooks on the table.
"We know how this works, someone from the class paraphrase what we discussed yesterday?" The teacher asked, and multiple hands popped up. Everyone but Hawking, who was silently battling a headache.
"Hawking, can you help the class?" The teacher pointed him out and folded his hands. "I—I didn't raise my hands", Hawking said with a cracked voice.
"What happened to your voice?" The teacher asked with a frown. Hawking simply bowed his head.
"Whatever. Can you paraphrase what we discussed yesterday?" He repeated the question.
The class fell silent. They all watched Hawking as he mumbled something under his breath. "Something about general relativity?" He said.
"Yes, continue", the teacher insisted. "The general formula explanation… is not correctly explained", Hawking found himself saying.
The whole class gasped in shock. The teacher, who was looking at him changed his expression. "What do you mean it's wrong?"