Metanoia: A Change of Heart

Chapter IV ~ Joshua

Chapter IV

In Speech and Literature class, Gabe was my classmate. I wanted to ask if he knew something about the random quotes, but I hesitated.

"Thursday next week, Joshua. That's when the first meeting will be." he said. Mister Tara, the teacher just came in. He was Muslim, but you could barely know it. He looked like an ordinary guy despite his curly hair and similar to Fredd skin.

He discussed something while I slowly drifted to sleep. One perk of being a top student was that you could sleep in lectures, cut in class, and be late in mornings without much hassle and homily in some classes. I felt the drowsiness until a knock threw it all away.

It was Nicole.

"Nicole emerged in. I discreetly fixed myself and sat properly. "Yes, sir." Her hair swayed as she walked.

"You like her, don't you," Gabe nudged my arm.

"Me?" I dumbly asked. "No, no. Why? Do you?"

He grinned. "Don't toss the tossed coin. I saw how you acted after seeing her enter."

"Not really." I denied. I like her, but my feelings and emotions played. The chemicals in my head were having a reaction party, the reason why my brain malfunctioned.

"Once in our life, it's normal to have some inspiration, especially those kind of inspirations who could push us forward." He sent me an encouraging smile then went back listening, or what I thought was listening, to the teacher infront.

Nicole sat a couple of rows infront of me. Her silk strawberry blonde hair was fixed in a ponytail, exposing her fair skin at the back of the ears and neck.

I checked the popsicle stick in my bag again and reread it. Second time. Who the hell made those?

I absent-mindedly answered the pop quiz given. Great! I didn't listen to the discussion earlier on the brighter side, I knew some of the questions. Nicole was constantly looking behind her, was she cheating?

"Are you alright?" Gabe consulted me while looking at my quiz paper.

"Yeah," I muttered. Was I?

The apple-shaped stopwatch on the teacher's table rang. Right after I answered the last question.

"Time's up!" My teacher announced.

"Are your answers correct? Dude, you don't look fine." He looked at me with concern.

"Just... some things," I said.

He nodded towards her. "Nicole?"

I denied forcefully than I expected. "No!"

Gabe nodded and we passed our papers and waited for the results, Gabe talked about the Student Publication.

My teacher walked, giving checked papers back to the owner. He reached our aisle and sighed. Literature was not one of my best subjects, but I got good grades in exams until he handed me a C+ in my popquiz. "What's going on with you?"

I took the paper and folded it in two. That's the worst part of being good--let's say, best--they would expect a lot. Once I failed their expectations, it would look like it's my fault not theirs. Sorry. Sorry for making you expect so much. But I couldn't blame them, anyway.

"First C+ this year," he seemed to say more but noticed the whole class' attention was on him, even Nicole's. "Just make it up next time." He walked to give the next papers and gave his comments based on the results.

I nodded and felt embarrassed. I clenched my fist and breathe. He was one of my good teachers who got a chance to mentor me when I joined an interschool quizbee.