Chapter 9

Nina Walter was an infamously strict and ruthless teacher at Stuyvesant High who taught liberal arts subjects. She also happened to be a relative of the school's head teacher. As Nina collected the exam papers row by row, Mayra nearly poked a hole into the name section out of nervousness. After the papers were collected, Mayra cautiously asked Emily, "She can't tell what I wrote in the name section, can she?" Emily gulped and replied, "You better pray that she won't." Mayra was distracted in the next few lessons. Earlier, she had been called in and reprimanded by the school teachers for her suspected relationship with Gordon. Time flew by quickly. During the last class of the day, Mayra was called to the teacher's office, where she was harshly chided. Fortunately, there weren't many teachers around the office since school was still in session. Nina smacked the pile of exam paper on the table, producing a deafening sound. Mayra lowered her head. Staring at her feet, she hunched her shoulders and said nothing. "Mayra Sadler, are you in school to study or to date? Do you know you're going to end up last in the class if your grades keep falling? "You're still very young, but all you think about is love and dating. Have some self-respect!" Nina adjusted her glasses with a furious expression. "Look at the name on your exam paper! Did you think I couldn't read it because you crossed it out?" Mayra bit her lip gently and remained silent. "I need to talk to your parents tomorrow." The mention of Mayra's parents made her head go lower. She explained, "Ms. Nina, Andy has gone back to his family, and he hasn't been in contact with me for a while. We last talked three months ago. He's getting engaged soon, so I do not wish to cause him trouble." "Sorry, Ms. Nina!" Mayra lowered her head in shame. "I caused you trouble. Please give me one more chance. I promise that this will not happen again. I'll study hard from now on." Nina's expression softened upon seeing the actions of the young lady in front of her. More than anything, she sympathized with Mayra. Only she was aware of Mayra's background. Mayra had lost her parents in a car accident at a young age and grew up in an orphanage. She had been spending time with a "brother" who was not her blood relative. Nina assumed that Anderson must have perceived Mayra as a burden and abandoned her when he returned to his birth family. As an educator, Nina was not completely heartless. Still, she said sternly, "Don't bring that up again! You made the same promise last time, but look at where we are now. What should I do with you? You're just 15. What would you do if you were expelled from school?" Panicking, Mayra offered, "Ms. Nina, you can give me detention. I promise to improve my grades in the mock test." Nina handed the teary Mayra a napkin. "Dry your eyes. You're getting a one-hour detention today. If you can't do it, I'll report it to the higher-ups, and it'll count as a penalty. You already have one penalty on your record. If you get a second one, the school will expel you. Got it?" Mayra nodded, eyes filled with tears. "Thank you, Ms. Nina. I understood." She'd rather gain sympathy with her tears than make Anderson come to the school. His arrival would cause a stir in the school, and most importantly, Mayra didn't want to get Gordon into trouble because of her actions. She left the teacher's office, feeling relieved that she had somewhat evaded the worst-case scenario. When she returned to the classroom, Emily quietly asked her, "Did the witch punish you?" Mayra nodded. "It's nothing serious. I got a one-hour detention." Emily nodded as well. "That's not too bad. You need to be careful in the future. If you're expelled, I will lose a lovely classmate. Do you know that I'm the object of envy of everyone?" The last class of the day was a study hall. After class, it was Mayra's turn to clean the classroom. The other student in charge was off sick, so she had to sweep the floor and wipe down the whiteboard alone. Thankfully, there wasn't much homework that day. Holding a pail of water, Mayra stood on a stool and wiped the whiteboard with a wet cloth. Little did she know that a figure had silently shown up by the door, crossing his hands and leaning against the doorframe as he stared firmly at her hard efforts to clean the whiteboard. Gordon's muscular figure stood at the door. He covered his mouth and coughed to grab her attention. She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes. "W-Why are you here?" As Gordon was tall, Mayra was at eye level with him even though she stood on a stool with a cloth in her hand. "Is it your turn to clean the classroom today?" He took the cloth and rolled up his sleeves to reveal his tanned skin. The bulging veins on his lower arm extended all the way to his bony, slender fingers. His hands looked extremely attractive as he washed the cloth in the pail of water. He wrung the cloth and folded it. He could easily clean the corners of the whiteboard which Mayra struggled to reach. Nodding, she examined his side profile with conflicted emotions. "Yeah. Weren't you ignoring me earlier?" He paused before proceeding to clean the entire whiteboard. Not only that, he swept and mopped the entire classroom for her, completing all her tasks for the day. The evening sunlight shone on Gordon, casting a long shadow behind him. Mayra's eyes followed his movements. It felt like a dream to be able to see him again in this life. In Mayra's past life, Gordon would cook for her, showing patience with her picky eating habits. He'd give her the best. Whatever jewelry Anderson gifted Isabel, Gordon wouldn't hesitate to purchase a more expensive one for Mayra. She started questioning her taste in the past life. Why did she ignore a perfect gentleman like Gordon and choose Anderson, who had never loved her? "Hey, Gordon!" She got off the stool but paused when she found Nina, her homeroom teacher approaching. Without another word, she dragged him along and hid at the back of the classroom. She reminded him, "Stay quiet. My homeroom teacher is here." Nina peeked into the classroom and asked, "Are you the only one on cleaning duty today?" Standing at the door, Mayra nodded. "Yes, Ms. Nina." Nina noticed Mayra's odd expression but did not think much about it. She pointed at the corridor floors and said, "Don't forget to mop the corridors. Oh, and remember, you have detention today." Mayra replied, "Got it, Ms. Nina." She finally let out a relieved sigh after Nina left. Gordon went up to her, asking, "What detention?"