Thursday

She went to the staff-room to leave her bag and consulted her schedule. The classes were named based on Greek alphabets. She had mainly senior classes on her list. As she entered the Grade 12 Alpha class again, she was pleasantly surprised to find Ileana sitting in the front row. Seemed she had already made two friends as she was eagerly speaking with them before she broke in.

She politely greeted everyone, took out her black marker again, introducing the next sub topic. And as she discussed about some mathematical problems, she could find Jace yawning at the back of the class. The boy had almost fallen in a sleep it seemed.

Sierra questioned, "Now who wants to give me an answer? Raise your hand."

No one dared. She saw the eyes looking away from her, up to the ceiling, down to the copybook, sideway but not towards her. "Anything from you, Jace?"

Jace opened an eye, looking boringly at the whiteboard and groaned as she dared bother him. Sierra could see the class captain, shaking his head as if warning her. A warning she didn't pay heed to. "Do you have an answer?"

Jace grumbled as he rubbed his two hands on his face, shaking off the sleep, "Why do you disturb me?" He stood, walked towards her and she wondered what he was doing. He snatched the marker from her hand and solved the problem in a matter of seconds, right there on the board, "There you have it, your bloody answer. First and last time you annoy me, get it?"

She was stupefied by his aggressiveness but what could she say, the solution was correct. Her colleagues had warned her about Jace Torres' ruthless behavior. He didn't really respect any teachers here and no one had the power to stop him since he was the son of the CEO who owned this building. He was popular among the students and he even had a not so discrete fan club, or so she heard.

They also warned her to let him do anything he wanted and not to get in his way. He already had three teachers fired in the past, made another two of them ask for transfer and had several insignificant fights with some others.

Jace tossed the marker on her desk, "Aw, you know what? Now that I shocked you, I'm going for a stroll."

She frowned, "You can't just leave my class in the middle of a lesson...though, um, even if you got a good answer."

He snapped his fingers in front of her face, "Sure I can."

"I'll report you."

He laughed in her face, "I'm the one who reports teachers here."

"Oh really?" She placed her hands on her hips, "Please go back to your seat and follow."

He stared at her for a moment and mocked, "I'm so scared right now."

Ileana bit her lips. That was bad. She wanted to laugh like everyone else were doing. It was kind of entertaining to watch them arguing. So his name was Jace? It kind of suit him. She had been wondering about it since yesterday. God, when she went to the washroom, he and his gang were basically a hot topic of conversation on the lips of the girls there.

Sierra felt a headache starting as the little pest made his way towards the door, "Mr Torres! I'm giving you a last warning."

Fancy using his family name which only made him feel even more powerful! Jace sighed. What did she want with him? Well, she could go to hell. He grabbed the doorknob, opened the door and walked away whistling a song. He'd go and see the others train at basketball. That was way more interesting...than learning the same old useless calculus.

Sierra asked herself what she was supposed to do with a student like that. She tried to maintain her patience and above all, her dignity as a teacher, "We'll continue with or without him. So as I was saying, when you have a question like this, you need to bring the power down and reduce the power by one in order to..."

As he made his way to the gym, he heard familiar voices around the corner. So familiar that it managed to send a shiver up his spine. And only one man could do so. He glimpsed to see the principal wiping his sweaty forehead with his handkerchief as he spoke with none other than his father.

Argh damn it. He could recognize his father's professional inspectors walking closely behind him as well. What the heck was this man doing here today?

He checked the date in his digital watch and realized that it was around this week that his father would make his usual semester check up to see if the school was running smoothly or not. Especially that now, they were in the third semester. How could he have forgotten that?

He could hear him talk, "Yes, my inspectors will do the usual round to see how the educators are doing."

"Sir, you could have informed me that you were coming. I'd...er, I would have arranged a nice welcome for you."

"Haha. I love making surprise visits. Enough with these talks. Now..." He turned to his people and said, "Ladies, gents, cover the area. I'll take this block here."

Jace quickly reacted, his heart skipping a beat. He ran back to his classroom, ensuring he didn't make a lot of noise. Of course his damn father would inspect this side of the school. Like always. Damn it.

That smart beast knew he had classes here. He smoothly opened the door, peeped inside to see the teacher's back turned to the whiteboard. He closed it gently, sneaked behind her back under the curious gazes of his friends.

He gestured at them, telling them briefly that inspectors were here. Ileana wondered what Jace was trying to convey. It looked pretty serious. She saw others nodding at him obediently and they instantly shifted in their seats, straightening their back and focusing all their attention to the lesson. Jace shared a brief look with her before he made his way back to his seat.

Sierra instinctively turned as she felt movement behind her, without breaking the flow of her explanation. Not noticing anything, she returned to the board before she heard, minutes later, two firm knocks on the door.

It opened and her breath caught in her throat as she saw none other than her interviewer.

The students stood, greeting him in chorus as he walked inside. He raised his hand briefly and they sat back properly. This man generated such a powerful presence. Sierra averted her eyes to see the principal waving silently at her, telling her to be very careful.

One hand in his pocket, he questioned, "Where have you reached in the syllabus?"

She felt thankful she reviewed it, "Three more chapters left to go."

"Good. And what are you doing now?" He took a step back to look at the board, appreciating her gorgeous handwriting.

She resisted the urge to comment on how handsome he looked right now and she cleared her voice as he analysed the whiteboard, "Differentiation."

"Ah? Great. You love this chapter, don't you?" He again looked at her and she swore his gaze felt more intense this time that she felt compelled to just clench the marker, "I love anything related to Maths."

That passion again. He could feel it. She looked radiant today in her casual style. Very proper and sharp looking. He felt himself staring a second longer than he should before Jace coughed deliberately in the classroom, shaking him from his subtle trance.

James broke the contact and said, "Ignore my presence, Ms Danvers. Continue."

How the hell was she supposed to just ignore his presence when he was so good-looking? He chose a seat at the back beside Jace and Principal Keaton quickly seize the opportunity to whisper to Sierra before leaving, "That's Mr Torres, owner of this institution. Be excellent."

She swallowed hard, having to process a sudden information overload. As if having a whole class staring at her was not enough, adding in Jace who was a turbulence on his own and now his...father, probably...possibly.

She resumed her teaching, wondering if Jace had really left the class or not because...it was clear that he was now sitting beside that imposing man.

It might not be shown but Ileana could feel Sierra's nervousness under her cool demeanor. The brief gaze of familiarity that she shared with the inspector who just walked in told her everything.

But that inspector...was he actually? Oh my God. She couldn't believe it. A surge of excitement rushed through her as she wondered about the possibilities. Did they actually meet before or was she imagining things?

Sierra prayed in silent that the damn bell would ring but it didn't. It was doing her no good that he was here. Ugh, how she hated inspectors. They were people who would judge and criticize her pedagogy. She could notice Jace from time to time, leaning to speak to the man. Hell. What could that boy be telling him? Haha. Maybe she'd lose her job today itself. God.

For the first time, Jace could see the paper on which his dad jotted down critics blank. It was damn blank. Was she that perfect or what? His father was literally engrossed with that woman's lesson...while he was here, bored to death. No wait. He actually lowered his pen to scribble something.

He leaned in to peek and that crazy man was writing down a stupid maths problem and actually solving it along with the whole class.

James whispered, realizing how agitated Jace looked, "Is that how you concentrate, boy?"

Jace rolled his eyes and tried to follow that course. He found it amusing to himself that it was only now that he was going to make an effort to follow that teacher's explanation.

And after fifteen long minutes, the bell finally resonated across the corridors and all students started to pack their things. She exclaimed, "Hand me your assignments before you go." She quickly took the papers from the students as they then left the classroom. She gave Ileana a brief smile as she handed hers and as Jace passed beside her, she questioned, "What about you, Jace?"

He whispered, "I don't do homeworks."

She chuckled, crossing her arms, "You know your dad is right here, riiiiight?"

He hushed her with a glare, "Fine. Fine! I'll hand it over tomorrow." That woman was so evil.

She smiled mockingly, "Is that a promise?"

"Yes, damn it." He walked out, her victorious gaze following him. She saw another paper being handed to her and she held it with a thanks, now seeing it was actually him. She looked at it, seeing that he did the maths problems and some notes were scribbled at the back, "What's that..."

"A few observations I made. Work on them. I need to see those improvements next time I drop by. I believe this is your first time teaching senior students?"

She discarded the paper onto the pile on her desk, "Yes, it is." She looked a little bothered about the length of the paragraph he wrote.

She couldn't help but question, "So you must be Jace's father?"

"Yes, I am."

She looked hesitant and he encouraged, "You have something else to say?"

She looked at him straight in the eyes, "Yes. As his teacher, it is in my obligation to tell you to pay a little bit more attention to him."

He shifted, crossing his arms and frowning a little, "Clarify that."

She stepped back a little, realizing that they were now alone in that class. She was already regretting having this conversation, "He...doesn't listen."

"He's a Torres. What point are you trying to make?"

She pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear, "Alright. He's notorious, agitated and I believe he's troubled by something. I can't find that out. Maybe you can and you should."

James was surprised and it wasn't the good kind of surprise. He frowned, "You learnt that much on him based on a mere ridiculous two days? Know your place, Ms Danvers."

She was taken aback by his defensive reaction. It was as if she was facing an adult version of Jace. Of course... Of course. She waved the paper, "And you just made these assumptions on me in just 20 minutes."

Did she...just dare speak up to him?

"Unlike you, I'm a professional. So watch your words carefully, Ms Danvers." She was about to say something when he added, "Else, you might end up jobless again. I'll take your leave."

She strongly emphasized, "Goodbye."

James tried not to be bothered by what she just told him though he should admit, he felt triggered but by something else completely. It was a sort of frustration he dared not explore further. He saw the principal patiently waiting for him as he was sitting in a chair outside. He instantly stood, "Sir, there's a short break. Would you like some coffee?"

"Black. Thank you and then as usual, I'd like to see the state of the sports department after this block. If my time permits, I might attend today's match as well."

"Ah, yes of course, sir."

James ignored the clear whispers of the boys and girls in the school. Everybody knew who he was here and unlike that woman, they showed respect.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

11/12/2019