The Serial Bully

chapter 40~ algebra & the green eyed monster

The maths teacher strolled in, he was a man in his early thirties, short, round man with a comical smile. He launched into an explanation of the topic we had on the syllabus for that week. I paid careful attention as i didn't want to ruin the fine foundation I was already building up in mathematics.

I took a discreet look around the classroom, a majority of the students within my line of vision seemed to be paying careful attention while the slight minority seemed more engrossed in their scrutinization of the walls, the furnitures and their stationeries.

A deliciously relaxing breeze caressed me compelling me to shut my eyes briefly and heave in a relieved sigh. I was brought out my temporary musing when i heard the teacher pause abruptly midway through his explication and call out amusedly "the distracted girl over there, come on up here and solve the equation I wrote on the whiteboard."

Although I understood the equation and could effortlessly solve it, my heart hammered a bit faster at the thought of all the pair of eyes that'd remain fixated on me from the onset right to the finish.

The teacher's gaze on me remained unswerving. I gestured to myself to affirm if it was definitely me he was referring to.

"Yes, you. Come on up over here." He stipulated with a firm nod

I stood up and made a move to approach him when the lighthearted laughter he let out caught me off guard and had me stopping in my tracks. "What're you doing? I wasn't pointing at you. I was referring to the girl sitting directly behind you who can't stop snacking whilst a lecture is going on."

I heard snickers and rumbles of low laughter as I settled back into my seat. I ignored them, the relief i felt was evident in my smile.

As the person the teacher had in actuality been referring to walked past me, I recognized the doll like figure sauntering past as Arietta, sidekick to Diane the one and only queen of partying, drama and inimical gossip in our grade.

He handed over the marker to her and she rewrote the exact question he'd asked back on the board. Her hand hovered over the board as she seemed to be having a grueling time solving the equation.

After two minutes of shifting from foot to foot in front of the board and being unable to solve the equation, the frizzy haired maths teacher took the marker from her slightly quivering fingers.

The transformation I was witnessing was incredible. She was no longer the confident, hostile girl i had come to know her as, she was a mortified girl who didn't know the answer to the question. I almost felt sorry for her until I recalled how nastily her behavior to people was.

The teacher smiled patronizingly "Patricia, you may go back to your seat now."

"My name isn't Patricia, it's Arietta, Mr.Robert" Arietta countered, a teensy bit of her old sass resurfacing in her voice

"If you can't adhere to the simple instruction of not snacking during class, then the very least you could do is pay attention. If you find it excruciatingly difficult to obey simple rules, why would I remember your name?" He motioned for her to return to her seat with a dismissing wave

I heard a low whisper of "please apply liquid nitrogen to the burnt area." from the right side of me and I chuckled lightly at the remark.

"Where's Cole?" he asked, eyes roaming the room.

"Right here." Cole answered lifting his head from his position of tying his shoe laces

"Come solve this equation." The teacher ordered

I heard a throaty holler of "favoritism at it's finest." ring out in the room

The teacher turned around "you're absolutely right John Lancaster, Cole sit back. John come solve the equation."