Unfit As A Teacher
“I’ve done what you asked,” Arielle protested with a hesitant gaze at him. “What else do you want from
me? To solve another question?”
“Not at all!” Marcus and Arthur hurriedly waved their hands, denying it.
Marcus explained, “Arielle, I would like you to know that throughout this ordeal, I, Professor Sleight,
and the rest of the staff had never once doubted your talent. Mr. Baxter was the only one to have any
suspicions toward you.”
Arthur nodded eagerly. “Mr. Brown is right. As per our agreement with Mr. Baxter, he has promised to
publicly apologize to you if you were able to solve his three questions. It is time that he takes
responsibility for what he has done, including the incident with Kelsea. Furthermore—”
“No need for all of that,” Arielle cut him off with an airy wave of her hand. “I don’t care about it anyway.”
What good would an apology do me? There are many things that apologies cannot make up for. Since
I’m not going to give him my forgiveness, I’m not going to stand up here and listen to Donovan another
second longer.
Arielle’s indifference incensed Donovan’s anger.
“What do you mean by that? Are you looking down on me?” he said furiously.
Arielle glanced up to meet Donovan’s eyes with disdain. “How would I look down on you if I had never
even deigned to notice you?”
Donovan scowled.
Despite being spared the humiliation of having to publicly apologize, her indifferent attitude toward him
somehow hurt even more.
This feels like a harder slap to the face than when she successfully solved my three questions.
“Well…” Arielle turned away from Donovan to face Marcus. “I’ll be heading back to my seat, then.”
Marcus nodded, not wishing to make things any more uncomfortable for Arielle. As soon as she
resumed her seat, the principal strode over to snatch Donovan’s microphone. “If Arielle would not hear
a word out of your mouth, I suppose I would have to speak on your behalf.”
“Mr. Brown, I…” Donovan started, though he could not think of anything to say.
How could I explain the fact that I would rather apologize than have the girl look at me with such
disdain? If I did, how am I going to explain myself? Tell him that I have a crush on a student whom I
despise the most? If this gets out, I’ll be ruined.
Finding his patience for Donovan wearing thin, Marcus raised the microphone once more. “Allow me to
make a minor correction to what Mr. Baxter said earlier. Let me make it clear that Jadeborough
University did not share in Mr. Baxter’s suspicions despite his overwhelming temerity. He and he alone
were deluded into pursuing the matter of having a public interrogation of one of our brightest students.”
At that, comprehension dawned on the faces of the students of the preparatory class as though it was
the most obvious thing in the world.
It was common knowledge within the preparatory class that Donovan disliked Arielle.
“Hasn’t Mr. Baxter gone too far for doing this? The questions he posed were so difficult as if he had
done it on purpose to stump Boss. In the event of her failure to solve the questions, that would unfairly
incriminate her as a cheater.”
“The punishment for cheating in an examination is termination from the university. Why does Mr. Baxter
hate Arielle to such an extent for him to resort to something as drastic as this?”
“Come to think of it, Mr. Baxter’s actions are awfully unethical. He’s unfit to be a teacher.”
As the students of the preparatory class were seated in the first row, Donovan heard every word.
Overwhelmed by the feeling of shame weighing down on him, he gazed around wildly for a place to
hide, but to no avail. As a result, he was forced to remain where he was to endure the repercussions.
Tonight was supposed to be an enjoyable one where I prove that Arielle is a cheater in front of the
whole school! However, every additional second on this stage now feels like deeper and deeper
shame.
Little did he know that the worst was yet to come.
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