Oliver was in the cafeteria, during the break hour. He was seriously ransacking his mind, thinking of where he would have dropped his mom's picture. He couldn't eat anything.
'Are you looking for this?' Vanya asks, showing him the picture. He collects the picture in a scuttle.
'Where did you get it from?' Oliver asks.
'I figured it all out. You were trying to look up this person on the internet, weren't you?' Vanya asks interrogatively, but Oliver was mute. 'Why didn't you tell us earlier? We could have left you,' Vanya states.
'I don't want to talk about it.' Oliver stands up to leave, but he's held back by Vanya.
'I can help you to look for her. Just tell me to… I suspect she's your mom. Is she?' Vanya asks slowly.
With the sadness that reflected in his eyes, Vanya knew he was saddened by her question. It is in no doubt his mom, Vanya thought.
'I knew it; she's your mum. I would love to help you look for her; I can't bear seeing anyone away from their mom – I have felt how the absence of a mom feels like, and I know it hurts.' Vanya confesses.
Oliver was still quiet. He didn't trust Vanya enough to tell her anything. Vanya noticed Oliver's restlessness, so she says, 'I know we started on a bad side, but I seriously want to know more about this matter. I am Vanya Celine Theodore.' She sticks her hand out. 'And you're?'
'I'm Oliver Sparrow.' He gives Vanya a handshake reluctantly. Soon it was time for lectures.
'Bye Oliver, I will see you soon.' She waves him goodbye as she makes her way into her class. She was in grade 11 – Same class with Oliver. Is this a coincidence or a set up? Oliver thinks to himself. He walks behind Vanya to the class.
'Good morning, class.' The teacher enters the class. 'Today, we'll be doing Calculus,' the teacher states.
'Arrrgh…!' The class groans loudly.
'Shhh…! It's an interesting topic; which y'all can relate with. We'll all love it.' The teacher notices Oliver's and Angel's presence.
'Do we have new students in this class?' The teacher asks.
'Yeah, that's those two.' Stanley speaks up pointing at the duo.
'What's your name, my dear?' He walks to Angel.
'I'm Angel Rudolph Anthem.' She answers with an angelic voice.
'And yours?' He faces Oliver.
'It's Oliver Sparrow, sir. And you're?'
'Teacher… I mean…' The teacher says clumsily. There was uproar of laughter. The teacher was now annoyed, thinking that Oliver wanted to make a fool out of him.
'Oliver, would you like to answer a question?' The teacher asks in a feat of revenge.
'Of course sir; if you would ask me, I will answer to the best of my knowledge.' Oliver gives him a befitting answer.
'Okay!' The teacher stands erect. 'The question would be from Physics – Should I go on?' He asks, flipping through the text book.
'Okay sir, go on.'
'And I read: A copper calorimeter of mass, 30 grams contains 50 grams of oil at 20° Celsius. Some dry ice at 0° Celsius is added to the oil. If the final steady temperature of the calorimeter and its content is 0° Celsius, calculate the mass of ice added. (The heat capacity of oil is 2,400 Jkg¯¹k¯¹.)' The teacher reads.
'Is it too much for your brain to handle?' The class laughs at the teacher's question.
'The mass of Ice added is 7.86 x 10¯³ kg.' Oliver says, dropping his pen.
'What?' The teacher asks, astounded.
'I said; the mass of Ice added is 7.86 x 10¯³ kg.' Oliver says again.
Suddenly, Stanley starts to snicker, followed by some students. Soon, almost everyone was laughing. The teacher looks at Stanley with a get yourself-together type of look. 'Stanley, can you tell the class the answer?!' The teacher asks in a feat of rage.
The class was as quiet as the grave. No one could speak.
'He's correct.' The Teacher confirms. Everyone applauds Oliver.
'Wow! I don't know how you solved this question in seconds; what I know is that you're a genius.' Angel tells him.
The teacher was speechless. He just stood in front of the class watching Oliver as he smiled.
At the end of the day in school, Oliver was on his way back home when Vanya meets up with him.
'Hello,.' She waves at him.
'Hi, Vanya,' he says, exhausted.
'You were amazing today; you left all the teachers speechless. I was surprised that you answered most questions, despite being new.' Vanya extols him.
'Thanks. I just practiced what I learnt.'
'You sure learnt well.' She pauses for a moment to absorb the cool breeze, and then continues, 'What about what we were talking about in the cafeteria?'
'Oh, that. I don't really want to bother others with my problems.' Oliver replies with a cold voice.
'Why are you looking for your mom; did she travel?
'You won't understand. I… I don't know who she is. I never knew how the love of a mother felt like; I still don't know.' Soon tears rolled down his cheeks. He tries to hide the pain, but he couldn't.
'You won't understand.' He says, then rushes out of the school as fast as he could, leaving Vanya behind.
Vanya knew how bitter she felt this few days – Her mom's absence was heartbreaking. She couldn't imagine her whole life without her mom; she felt really sorry for Oliver.