It was still early in the day.
Alex didn't delay and went straight to the office.
The office was at the end of the corridor, with the door ajar.
Alex knocked on the door.
"Come in"
A response came from inside.
He pushed the door open and walked in.
It was lunchtime break, and most of the seats in the office were empty. Only by the window sat a mature woman.
She was marking assignments with a red pen. Hearing the movement, she looked up. Seeing it was Alex, the woman was slightly stunned, then revealed a smile.
"Oh Alex. What's the matter? Is there something you need?"
As the class teacher, Helena Pappas naturally knew a bit about Alex's situation.
This child had a rough and difficult life, plagued by misfortunes.
Although he had a very good personality and never caused her any worries in his studies during their interactions, it was a pity that misfortune always struck the most vulnerable and sought out the suffering.
Although Helena sympathized with the child's situation, she had her own life after all. Except for taking extra care of him at school, she really didn't have much energy left.
"Mrs. Pappas, I'd like to ask for a leave," Alex stepped forward and stated his purpose.
Helena was stunned upon hearing this. She put down the red pen in her hand and bent down to rummage through the cabinet.
As she searched, she asked in a gentle tone, "What's wrong? Why the sudden request for leave?"
"I want to go to the hospital for a check up"
The boy's calm words made Helena pause in her movements.
She thought of something, and her brows furrowed tightly.
She took out a leave form, brushed aside the hair falling by her ears, and her expression turned serious.
"Alex, are you feeling unwell? If you have any discomfort, you must tell us at the first opportunity. Don't keep it to yourself, okay?"
Her tone became even gentler, afraid of touching the child's self esteem.
At the age of sixteen or seventeen, they cared about this the most.
But her concern was obviously a bit unnecessary. Even without having gone through nine lifetimes before, Alex wouldn't have had any significant emotional fluctuations because of this.
"Teacher, there have indeed been some changes in my body..."
He took the leave form and casually picked up a pen from the desk and started filling it out.
Speaking of this, Alex suddenly raised his eyebrows. "But it's in a good way, so you don't need to worry too much. Maybe after the hospital diagnosis, I'll be just like a normal person."
"If that's really the case, then of course it's best..."
Helena sighed. She held Alex's hand and looked at him intently. "Promise me that no matter what, don't give up easily, okay?"
"I will always support you."
Feeling the warm touch from his hand, Alex smiled and withdrew his hand.
"Teacher, I will take care of myself."
With that, he picked up the leave form and got up to walk out the door.
"Hey!"
Helena called out to him.
Alex turned his head and saw the latter raise a small fist and waving it at him.
"You can do it!"
...
...
As soon as he walked out of the office, Alex heard a commotion.
Looking up, he saw quite a crowd gathered at the door with the Senior Class 1 sign.
Walking closer, he found that the onlookers had spontaneously formed a circle.
Inside the circle stood a boy and a girl. The boy had the trendiest middle part hairstyle, with fair and tender skin. In his right hand hanging by his side, he held an envelope, and the seal of the envelope even had a heart-shaped wax seal.
At this moment, his face was very unsightly. His fingers tightly grasped the letter, wishing he could immediately find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
For a teenager at this age, there was nothing more embarrassing than being publicly rejected after confessing.
Hearing the subtle discussions and ridicule, Dimitrios Stavros only felt his cheeks burning as if they were on fire.
He had never been so humiliated in his life!
He awkwardly turned his head and happened to see a familiar looking boy walking this way.
Dimitrios had a vague impression that this should be his classmate.
As for the name, he couldn't quite remember. He only remembered that every time there was a physical education class or physical activity, he would hide quickly.
He was usually not active in class, a pure little transparent figure, perfect for taking the blame!
Thinking of this, his eyes suddenly lit up. He hurriedly squeezed through the crowd, walked up to the other party, and then patted his shoulder, pretending to be familiar.
"You see, I told you early on, even if I went up, the school beauty Lina still wouldn't accept it."
Dimitrios clicked his tongue and stuffed the envelope in his hand into Alex's hand.
Then he turned around and left with a carefree attitude.
Leaving behind a group of dumbfounded onlookers.
This move of shifting blame was played very skillfully. Dimitrios also acted very naturally. Even the girl who was confessed to now slightly raised her eyes and looked over.
Her features were exquisite, her cheeks bright and dazzling. Even wearing an ordinary blue and white school uniform, she still couldn't hide her graceful demeanor.
But Alex didn't look at her.
He casually threw the letter in his hand into the trash can in the aisle. Alex didn't even give a single explanation and just left on his own.
He was very lazy.
Explaining such things had always been very troublesome.
The key was that many times, even if you explained for a long time, people mostly wouldn't listen.
And sometimes, actual actions were far more powerful than words.
"Dimitrios from Class 2... I'm dying of laughter, he's really something."
"So he was really helping someone else deliver a letter?"
"You actually believe that? Are you that fool?"
"Tsk, I think it's really hard to say. Didn't you see that person didn't refute it either?"
"Idiot, I think he was too lazy to bother."
There were chirping discussions. This matter would probably become a topic of conversation for them for quite a while.
As for Alex, he had already walked far away.
He walked down the stairs and arrived at the main gate of the School.
An old man was sitting in the security room at the entrance. He took off his shoes, stretched his feet out long, and put them on the table. He leaned back in the chair and put his cap on his face, looking extremely comfortable.
Alex knocked on the glass window.
The old man's toes moved, but he didn't wake up.
Alex knocked again.
This time, the old man reacted. He took off his hat, sat up slightly to take a look, then lay back down and didn't move again.
"Bring the form."
Alex did as he was told and passed the leave form through the semicircular small window.
The old man squinted and checked it, then waved his hand and opened the gate.
Walking out the gate, the afternoon sun was a bit scorching. Alex shielded his eyes with his hand.
He stood by the side of the road, thinking about how to get to the hospital.
If following the thought process of an ordinary person, they would definitely either take the bus or a taxi.
After all, the hospital was still some distance from the school, about a dozen kilometers or so.
But today, Alex wanted to try running there.
He had never run at full speed in real life before.
So, the boy slowly half-squatted down, imitating the movements of those long-distance track and field athletes he remembered from his impression. His body leaned slightly forward, and he tiptoed.
In less than a second, he exerted force with his legs and dashed out.
The sound of the wind blew in his ears.
Alex thought to himself that the feeling of running was indeed quite good.
'No wonder so many people in this world liked running'
'However, my speed is a bit too slow'
He slightly frowned and silently chanted in his heart.
*Divine Steps*