It was a long time before everyone had collected themselves again.
"Teacher, really, are you sure you're human?" asked one of the students.
"Well, what do you think?" Alex smiled mischievously. Then, he returned to his usual seriousness.
"I want you all to learn something from this. 'Pride comes before a fall'. And if you lose at something, accept defeat. Don't be a sore loser. Now, everyone stand in a line."
The students hesitated a little.
"We don't have time to waste," Alex snapped, glancing at his class sternly. "Move it!"
Everyone in Class 6 began to move, obediently standing in line. For once, they were actually behaving better than the students in Class 1.
"All right, class. Today, we're going to start with squats. Let's go!"
The field echoed with the students' complaints. Yesterday they laughed at the teachers who were forced to run. Now it was their turn to make fools of themselves.
"Billy, if you're not too tired and think you can handle it, you can join us. You need to improve your fitness, considering you fainted yesterday. Look at you, you look worn out," Alex turned and said to him.
"How dare you, Alex. Don't be so arrogant." Billy glared at him. He hadn't expected the competition between Alex and Dylan to end this way.
Alex's eyes widened in surprise at his outburst. He was just trying to help and wasn't expecting Billy to be so angry.
"What a jerk", Billy thought. Huffing an exasperated sigh, he immediately vowed to do everything in his power to drive Alex away, then turned and stomped off.
"Oh, well. Have a good day then," Alex calmly replied, and turned back to his class.
The students were getting tired from their squats, but they did not stop.
**
Before Alex arrived at Oak Ridge High School, Class 6 had always been the primary concern of all the teachers. The students were an unruly group and had been impossible to control. That's why it was such a surprise for the teachers when they looked out the window of the staff room and saw that the students were actually listening to Alex.
"Why, how did he get Class 6 to be so obedient today? They're all doing squats and jumps," one teacher announced. The other teachers crowded around the window.
"Really? What the hell is going on?", asked one in disbelief.
"They're all so serious," said another in shock. "And obedient."
Each teacher was just as confused as the other as they stared out at the field. This was unprecedented. No matter what happened or who was teaching Class 6, they had never been a cooperative group.
**
After what felt like a thousand squats and jumping jacks, Alex finally allowed the students to go back to the classroom. Their legs were burning, and they slowly and painfully limped back into the school building, taking various breaks to catch their breath and leaning on each other for support.
They mumbled and grumbled quietly to each other. Among them, Dylan was the most serious, processing everything he had seen and learned that day. After the jumping jacks, he found Alex. He had a newfound respect for his teacher, and he looked forward to learning more from him.
The two chatted and laughed, watching all the students as they stumbled back to class, dazed at seeing Dylan and Alex getting along. It was as if Dylan had betrayed them by showing such respect and favor to their new teacher.
"Well, that's it," Alex was finishing up saying. "If you practice enough, that regime will certainly help your long-jump technique in the future. And if you need any help, you can come to me and ask. However, if you go back to class and you don't listen and cause trouble, then I won't help you."
"Thank you, teacher. Thank you." Dylan was very excited and strode back to class.
He appeared to have completely changed. From then on, he took notes in the lessons, his posture was straighter, and he listened to every word that his teacher said.
He was very energetic for the rest of the day. After he had asked Alex for advice, he felt like his world had opened up and his thinking had become infinitely broader. Many of his previous sports problems had been easily solved with a few pointers from Alex. Dylan had never experienced such rapid improvement. He had reason to believe that his future in sports would be bright and full of success.
The other students, however, didn't have this type of relationship with Alex and didn't understand how and why Dylan was different. After a couple of classes, the other students looked at him strangely, worried that he was unwell. One of them came over to see if he had a fever, stretching their hand toward his forehead, but he brushed it off and jumped on top of his chair.
"I'm sorry, everyone. But I support Mr. Alex now. Don't ask me to help with any schemes you come up with that will harm him, because I won't do it." After his speech, Dylan sat down.
The whole classroom was silent.
After a while, someone asked, "Hey, Dylan, are you okay? How could you change your mind after he beat you?"
"Ah, Dylan, you're giving up? What did he give you?" chimed in another student.
Dylan shook his head and opened his book, ignoring the surprised looks of the others.
"Well, that's fantastic," Lance, who was sitting beside him, sneered.
Eric walked over to join him. "Now he has Dylan on his side," he said lowly. "If it goes on like this, it will be very bad for us. I think we need to think outside of the box if we want to get rid of Alex. We should go directly to the boss."
"Wait a minute. We don't have to go that far yet," Lance hissed back.
Eric rubbed his aching legs and said, "Our classmates are changing their minds about him. Look at what happened today! Dylan's one of his lackeys now, and no one fought back when he made us do those stupid squats and jumps. The best way to get rid of Alex is to get my boss to come to the school and beat him."
"Let's not get too hasty," Lance replied. "There are easier solutions. If you want to take a man down, you have to start at his weak spot. Don't look at the people that have only been hanging around with Alex for these last couple of days. Look at the clothes he's wearing."
"His clothes?" Eric muttered.
"Yes. He dresses like a poor man. And he can't help it. His salary is low, so he may have to save his money for food and bills."
Eric rubbed his legs again. "What does that have to do with anything?" he scolded fiercely.
"It's very simple. Alex's salary is about eight or nine hundred dollars a month. Once he's paid for food and clothing, he basically has nothing left. In fact, since he's new and still on probation, his salary may even be lower. There are thirty-two students in our class now. What if we ask Mr. Alex to buy us all a meal in the canteen?" Lance said. "One meal for one person would cost about fifteen dollars."
"Actually, after removing Heidi and Dylan, there are just thirty people." Eric shook his head and sighed. "And it would only cost half his salary for him to buy meals for us all. He can still afford it."
"Yes, but if he doesn't buy any meals, the entire class will turn against him," Lance countered. "It's his job to take care of us, after all. If he allows helpless students to starve, there's no way anyone will support him."
"So, the question is, if he can afford to buy us all a meal, will he?" Eric scratched his head.
"I guess we'll have to wait and see. Anyway, it's worth a shot." Lance grinned.
**
Oak Ridge High School was an elite school, and its canteen was different from those of other institutions. There were two different floors, which offered various types of meals for different prices. For example, on the second floor, the minimum price for a school meal was fifteen dollars. Even Alex had to admit the food was very nice. And although it could be quite expensive, everyone could still afford to eat regularly.
As he walked into the canteen, a few students walked by and greeted him. He simply nodded in reply, carrying a tray with a salad and a sandwich to an empty seat in the busy room.
"Hello, teacher." He stopped and turned to face Eric, who was staring at him with big, doe-like eyes. "Mr. Alex, please help me," he said pitifully. Several students from Class 6 came to stand behind him.
"What's wrong?" Alex sat down, glancing regrettably at his tray. He was really hungry.
"Well, we don't have any money. Can you buy us a meal, Mr. Alex?" Eric moaned, so caught up in his ruse that he burst into tears.