''What is wrong with me?'' Maria murmured to herself and smacked her head before she sighed and walked to the boy. They both walked into the staff room.
Carl calmed his nerves as he watched the new teacher take her seat before him.
A lot of thoughts ran through his mind as he took the books from his classmates. His unusual actions shocked everyone. Throughout their four years in the school, Carl has been known to be aloof and cold. Even some of the teachers feared him. He was the top scorer of the entire school. He hardly spoke in class and would often answer questions only when the teacher asked him. For a long time, he never spoke to any teacher on his own accord. There were probably only a few people in the class that dared to speak to him and get a reply from him. The rest of the class feared him and only went to him when they needed assistance on any subject.
Though he was always aloof, he wasn't prideful and wasn't inattentive to his peers. He would often offer help when the need arose. It was just that he rarely ever smiled at anyone , hence the distance between him and his classmates.
When Carl offered to take the books to their new English teacher, everyone was shocked and surprised but none said otherwise and handed the books over to him. He was the class monitor alright but he never did such things. It was always Calia, the assistant class monitor who did such stuff so when Carl offered to do it instead, Calia was surprised but still allowed him to do it.
Truth be told, Carl himself was unsure why he was behaving that way. This was way out of his line. It wasn't something he would do on a normal day. But, something in him kept pushing him forward to get closer to the new teacher and speak to her. Now that he was standing before her, he didn't know what to say anymore.
When she was in the class, he didn't hear a thing she said. All he was focused on was her face. He only looked at her silently without saying anything until the end of the lesson. Even still, he wanted to see her again so he decided to secretly follow her when he saw her going to the school cafeteria with the rest of the teachers.
He didn't like the way the male teachers surrounded her in the cafeteria and when he heard them asking her whether she had a boyfriend or not he felt uncomfortable and didn't know how he would feel if she had said she had a boyfriend. But when she said she didn't have, he felt some jittery feeling in his heart. Something stirred within him at that moment and his mood improved. He was almost enjoying his meal until Karen came and spoiled the mood for him.
He intentionally looked her way when he was leaving and caught her looking at him too. She blushed and turned away and he pretended and walked away.
Now that he was standing in front of her, he didn't know why he felt that way. He was someone who knew how to conceal his thoughts and feelings easily so he naturally put on a poker face in front of her as he spoke.
''Lisa, here are the books from my class. The assignment you gave us this morning''. His voice was deep and hoarse, filled with manly ripples. His gaze never left Maria as he stretched forth his hand that held the books.
'He…spoke to me'. Maria said those words in her heart, not having the courage to look him in the eye. His voice was the kind that male idols had. It was so melodious and captivating and Maria felt that it had the ability to invade her mind and thoughts.
The two were both lost in their own thoughts. Each trying to make meaning of their current feelings towards the other.
One was looking at the other affectionately while the other lowered her gaze not daring to reciprocate the other's gaze.
A voice rang behind them bringing them back to their senses.
''Oh, is Carl, are you here to see the new teacher?'' Miss Mani said as she walked to her desk.
"Yes, I brought our class assignment for Lisa," Carl replied while looking at Maria.
Maria turned at once as she heard the voice and looked up staring into Carl's greenish eyes. Maria nervously snatched the books from his hand, their hands slightly brushing each other before she placed them on the table and looked away as she spoke.
''Oh, thank you''. Maria said nervously.
''You're welcome, Lisa''. Carl said awkwardly and turned away leaving. Maria heaved a relief and looked at his retracting figure.
They just spoke to each other just now. Maria couldn't believe it. It felt strange but definitely not disgusting. He had the kind of voice that was so seductive. Maria didn't know she could love a voice so much. She even wondered if she had a voice fetish or something.
Shaking her head to clear her mind, Maria touched the books and her mind went to their slight skin contact. She had nervously brushed her hand against his as she snatched the books from him. Maria's face became increasingly red as she thought about it. She picked the first book on top and looked at the name ''Carl Denarius. So that was his name?'' Maria mumbled to herself before opening the book.
While walking to class, Carl kept looking at his hand. His hand had brushed with her hand when she was taking the books just now. That small touch made his heart race. If he was not someone who could pretend and act normal, he would have been smiling to himself by now. He even had a silly thought of not washing his hand for a few days because he didn't know when he was going to get the chance to be close to her again or maybe he could simply make up an excuse and take over the handling of assignments to Lisa himself. That way, he could make up ways to get in contact with her again without seeming like a creep.
Carl turned towards their class block and was stopped by Calia.
The latter smirked and stood in front of Carl with a suspicious grin.
''What?'' Carl asked impatiently.
''You just did something so unlike yourself today. I'm worried as a family member''. Calia said as she chewed on her gum pushing Carl into the corner by the stairs to avoid being seen by their colleagues.
''Family member?'' Carl asked. ''Who was the one who said she didn't want anyone to know we were related?''
''No one is here now. We are alone and you are not going anywhere until you answer my question''. Calia said.
''What question? Shoot and scream fast before someone sees us together''. Carl spoke impatiently.
Calia and him were cousins paternally but Calia's parents were out of the town so she is currently staying with Carl and his parents but, Calia said she didn't want people to know about their relationship and warned Carl to help her keep a low-profile. They have stayed together in the same mansion for the past three years yet no one in the school knew about their relationship. They had different drivers sending them and bringing them back from school so no one knew about them.
Calia's reason was viewed as petty and unreasonable by Carl but he never questioned her because he didn't want to get into girls' stuff.
''You…have a crush on Lisa, right?'' Calia asked suddenly.
Carl was flustered by her question but remembered Calia was always someone who was straightforward and never beat around the bush. She was also smart and picked on things fast. Once she was curious about something, then, there was nothing like giving up until she was tired of it. There was no use lying to her and also she was the person Carl trusted the most apart from his mother so he decided to be honest with him.
''Yes, am I not allowed to?'' Carl said and walked away.
Calia stood stupefied and chuckled. She would never have thought her dear cousin could be so daring enough to have a crush on a teacher and even admit it to her. Calia turned and watched Carl going into their classroom and she smiled going inside through the second door while murmuring "who would have thought my lovely cousin's first love would involve a teacher? Whoa!! Big news"
"What big news," Globus, who was walking behind her into the class, asked.
"Get lost," Calia said to him.
"I just love how nice you are to everyone but rude to me" Globus said and smirked "makes me love you more"
Calia shook her head and went inside, ignoring him.