Advanced calculus did not disappoint. It was just as challenging as I expected it to be. I was looking forward to covering the materials from the textbook and simplifying difficult equations. The only downside was having to watch girls from my boyfriend's fan club drool over him. It became so unbearable, Mrs. Moon had to address it. Hino Matsunaga, on the other hand, wasn't phased in the slightest. He was cool as ever, showing teeth to whoever bothered to look in his direction.
I couldn't believe I used to swoon over the soccer prodigy. Everyone who first met Hino Matsunaga, was charmed by his kind words and magnetic smile. I was no different. In junior high, I was smitten by his thoughtful and attentive personality. Over time, I learned that was only half of who he was. Hino had the ability to become just as ruthless and terrifying as Khaleel Abdul, if not more. When my brother found out I had feelings for one of his friends, he quickly opened my eyes to the truth. There weren't a lot of people who had seen Hino lose his cool, but those who had said the experience left a sour taste in their mouth.
Advance calculus wasn't the only class I had with the soccer prodigy...or my boyfriend. Second period, the three of us had politics with Mr. Hermans. My brother asked me to look-up his friends' schedules for the year. I assumed it was because he was upset about not being able to graduate with them. It couldn't be helped. He shouldn't waste time in high school when he could be attending a prestigious university. Something about those acceptance letters worried me too—I looked into how difficult it was for a sixteen year old to apply to an ivy league school, and as it turned out, a parent or guardian's signature was required for almost half the forms. Did my brother trick our parents into signing the paperwork or did he forge it? If he forged it...my father would have exposed him in court.
My head spun in circles. It was better not to think about that stuff right now. Loyal would open up to me when he was ready. I had to believe that.
I got to Mr. Herman's class with lots of time to spare. I took my seat at the centre of the class, in front of Hino Matsunaga, behind Khaleel Abdul and across from my boyfriend. As expected, more girls from his fan club circled him. I glared at them, in hopes of discouraging their inappropriate behaviour, but it didn't work. They knew how Zander felt about me, and that seemed to be enough to keep them at bay, but I could tell they were waiting for an opportunity to bully me. I sat up straight and focused my attention on Mr. Hermans, and the young man he was chatting with at his desk. He was new. I hadn't seen him at Jackheights before. He couldn't be a teacher. He looked too young, too unrefined to earn a yearly salary.
The man's eyes connected with mine. They were bright green and his brown lashes were long and feminine. Like Matilda, he was a mix of two very different countries. I could tell that much by his wavy chestnut hair, caramel complexion and bone structure. The young man caught me staring and grinned. My brows twitched a little, confused by the implication.
"Heaven's smiling down on us!" one of the fan girls gushed. "God, please let him stay. Let him stay, let him stay!"
"Shut-up, Samantha!" another airhead hissed. "Show some loyalty to Zander, would you?"
"You expect me to meet eyes with a Greek god and not swoon? Girl, bye."
Maybe I was mistaken. Maybe it wasn't me the young man was looking at? I took initiative and opened my textbook to skim through the chapters. It was easier to ignore the flock of airheads surrounding my man. It was easier to pretend I had no interest in whether the young stranger stayed or left. "Hey," I felt a finger tap my shoulder. I turned to find the soccer prodigy beaming at me. "Do you have a highlighter I can borrow?"
I pulled one from my pencil case and set it on his desk. Hino flaunted his perfect teeth. "Much obliged."
"Can I borrow one too?" My boyfriend's voice lit a fire under my feet. I tried my best to not blush under his gaze when I handed him the purple highlighter. His fan-girls stopped gawking at the 'Greek god' and turned to glare at me.
"Thanks beautiful," Zander winked.
Khaleel scoffed.
"Here!" one of the airheads said, handing Zander another highlighter. Soon after that, another one did the same, and then another, and then another, until my boyfriend's desk was full of enough highlighters to draw a rainbow.
"I really don't need all these," Zander exhaled, staring down at his new collection.
The bell rang and urged the girls to return to their seats with their rejected highlighters. Zander took the opportunity to wink at me again. My stomach somersaulted. I batted my lashes to snap out of it, and stared up to pay attention to Mr. Hermans. That's when my eyes locked with the 'Greek god'. I was sure he was looking at me this time.
Mr. Hermans closed the door and began his introduction. "Welcome to politics. I recognize a lot of you from last year, but in case you needed a reminder, my name is Mr. Hermans. The only advice I'm going to give you to pass my course is to be prompt and present. I don't tolerate tardiness, not with attendance or assignments. Unless your world is actually crumbling, don't bother making up excuses about why you can't do the work I assign."
The class tensed up.
"Also," Mr. Hermans said, looking over at the young man. "I want to introduce you all to Falcon Salim. He's a student teacher from the capital, and will be doing his placement at Jackheights. He's also a former graduate, so don't go making trouble and ruining our school's reputation. Fal, you should say a few words."
"Sure," the 'Greek god' stole the spotlight. "Since I'm a student teacher, please call me Mr. Fal instead of Mr. Salim. You all look very smart and capable but I want you to know my door is always open if you need anything. My job it to help you with your studies this semester and to take some workload off Mr. Hermans."
The tension evaporated and the airheads lost their minds. "How old are you?" they gushed.
"Where are you from?"
"What's your zodiac sign?"
"Are you dating anyone?"
Mr. Fal laughed but Mr. Hermans wasn't amused. "Knock it off ladies," our teacher droned. "Your desperation isn't attractive."