After a while, they finally finished what they were doing. They were tidying the things on the table when Kristoffer spoke up.
"Hey, Sophia. Can I head out? I've got class duty today, so I need to take care of a few things. Is that alright?"
"Of course!... not!"
"What?!"
"Just kidding! It's fine, you can go ahead. The three of us can finish up here. I'll see you soon."
"Yeah! Thanks! See you later, Mr. Burton!" Kristoffer said, dashing out of the room.
After some time, the three of them finished and came over to me.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Burton. Let's go together, then."
(In the classroom)
The three of them entered the classroom first while I waited for Sophia to call me in.
"I think most of you are already aware that a transfer student is joining us today. He'll start his classes this afternoon, so I'd like everyone to welcome him warmly and help him feel at ease. Please come in, Mr. Burton."
I stepped inside as soon as she invited me.
"Introduce yourself, Mr. Burton."
"Hello, everyone. I'm Bill Burton. I hope we'll get along well," I said, my face stiff with nervousness. These students were wealthy; I had to be careful not to offend anyone. One wrong move and I could easily make a bad impression.
"Mr. Burton, you can sit beside Ms. Atkinson—the girl by the window," Sophia instructed.
I walked over to my assigned seat and saw the meek-looking girl staring at me. I bowed politely, but she only gave a small, awkward smile. Perhaps she was intimidated because I hadn't smiled during my introduction.
"Alright then, let's move on to today's activity. Ms. Ross is on leave because her son is in the hospital after a car accident. She left an activity for us to complete in her absence," Sophia explained.
The classroom filled with sighs of disappointment as students groaned at the news.
"Prince, can you help pass these worksheets to our classmates?" Sophia asked.
"Of course, Sophia!" Prince replied.
As Sophia clearly explained the activity, handouts were distributed.
"Our lesson today is on 'Thesis.' According to the teacher, you'll work in pairs. And to make the pairing more effecient, it was decided that you'll be teamed up with your seatmates. You'll choose a topic, considering the following questions: Is it important to society? Will it benefit individuals? How can we address the issues involved? Decide who will do the reporting and who will handle the research. You have the remaining minutes to plan."
After Sophia's explanation, I glanced at my seatmate. She was still staring at Sophia, seemingly frozen. I gently poked her shoulder.
"Umm… Hello. Nice to meet you, Ms. Atkinson. I think we should start the activity now, or we might run out of time."
"Oh, right. I'm sorry. Shall we get started?"
"Yeah."
We finally began the activity. Despite being intimidated, she was cooperative. When we picked a topic, I suggested that I handle the reporting since I thought it might be her weakness. She agreed immediately, and I could tell she was relieved. Thank goodness…
Class ended, and some classmates had already left. After packing my things, I decided to say goodbye to Janna since we would be sitting together from now on, and I wanted to start on good terms.
"See you tomorrow, Ms. Atkinson. Good job earlier," I said.
"Uh… y-yeah. S-see you t-tomorrow!" she stuttered.
I smiled and nodded, then left. She seemed so nervous that I thought it best not to linger. Well, if that's how things went today, I'd just let destiny decide how my high school life would unfold.