Chemical Attraction (Student/Teacher Relationship)

Chemical Attraction Chapter 6

 Chapter 6

                             

The double Biology lesson dragged on and on. I doodled aimlessly in my notepad, while Jo-Jo fidgeted and yawned beside me. We caught each other's eyes and grimaced simultaneously. The teacher, who had introduced herself to me as Miss Jones, droned on at the front about oxygen dissociation curves, drawing complicated graphs on the whiteboard that made absolutely no sense to me whatsoever.

 I felt my eyes slowly droop as my crying jag in the early hours in the morning finally caught up with me, helped along by the woman who could bore people for England. I slumped forward in my chair and rested my head on the desk, cushioning it with my arms. I slowly let myself drift off...

 Smack!

 I yelped in shock at the sudden noise of a book slamming down on my desk and shot upright in my chair with my limbs flailing, causing the class to erupt into noisy laughter. I gazed up into the eyes of Miss Jones, and instantly shrank back in my chair, intimidated by the fierce glare she was directing at me.

 "Am I boring you, Miss Miller?" she questioned irritably, her thin lips pursed in disapproval.

 'Yes,' I thought inwardly, fighting off a bizarre urge to laugh. I was sure that wouldn't be the best way to make a good first impression. Although I think I have messed that up already.

 "Of course not," I lied smoothly. "It's just with the stress of moving schools, I haven't been sleeping well at night and I'm incredibly tired. That's all. Oxygen dissociation curves are really interesting." I kept my face as neutral and innocent as possible, relaxing at last as she sniffed and returned to the front of the class.

 "In that case, please try to control yourself and wait until after lessons to catch up on sleep," she said patronisingly. "Now, who can tell me which direction the dissociation curve for a field mouse would lie relative to a human?

 A couple of hands shot up into the air, but Miss Jones ignored them and continued, "Perhaps Miss Miller can enlighten us?"

' Oh no!' My mind was blank as I struggled to think of an answer. Suddenly, I felt a fingernail poke into my leg and looked down surreptitiously to see Jo-Jo's finger pointing to the right.

"The curve would be to the right, Miss Jones." I stated slowly, feigning confidence.

 "Correct," she replied tightly and carried on teaching. Jo-Jo faked a cough beside me and I turned to her, mouthing my thanks.

 Eventually, the bell rang and I shoved my books and pens into my bag and joined the mad scramble for the door. I heaved a sigh of relief as I walked down the corridor, thankful to be released from the mind-numbing boredom of Biology. It was the one science I hated with a passion.

 "Wow, you really got thrown in the deep end there!" Jo-Jo exclaimed loudly. "Miss Jones is one of the strictest teachers at the school! If you are going to sleep; you have to be less obvious about it. Like me!"

 "I thought she was going bite my head off!" I confessed.

 "Don't worry. She's strict but she doesn't hold grudges. Her lessons are extremely dull though." She sighed and shook her head at me. "That was only your first one! Just imagine what it's like when you've had her for months!"

 I hummed with sympathy as we joined her friends, who were grouped together in a courtyard outside the building. A cool breeze whipped my hair across my face and I wrapped my arms tightly around my chest as I shivered in an effort to keep warm. Today was so much colder than yesterday had been; English weather was so fickle.