Catching Up

—You have courage for showing up, mister King—

The way Miss Holly says my last name is just creepy. I can’t think of what she has in mind right now, but I bet she is already imagining how she is going to **** me. She doesn’t show much emotion, but I can sense a lot of hostility coming from her. It makes sense why she would hold a grudge on me, even when she doesn’t show how upset she really is at me. But having her standing so close in front of me makes me a little nervous. On top of that, the whole class is staring at us, and her malicious stare has left me speechless. But I still try to keep my composure, think rationally of what to say, and end up coming up with a good answer.

—Yes, and I’m also very excited to learn once again!—

Okay, that was terrible. I was trying to go for a bit of a friendly, cheerful tone to make myself sound innocent. But I think even my classmates know that I’ve missed too many classes to be this friendly. And if it wasn’t clear, Miss Holly leans in to, I assume, intimidate me further. She succeeds at making me nervous, but I manage to keep my cool, even maintaining eye contact, until she presses me harder to confess my mistake, or just explain myself.

—So, are you going to tell me why you went missing for months and now you are deciding to come to class?—

—Ahhm, yea. I was a bit busy…—

—Oh really? Well, maybe you were too busy to hear this, but you are currently failing my class and you will fail this year—

Ah, she knows how to humiliate me. Why does she say it like that? Why is she so blunt and scornful? I didn’t think Miss Holly would be so disdainful, but apparently she is. Of course she is, I forgot who I was talking about. But as I’ve already received enough embarrassment in front of everyone, even though I deserve it, I think it’s time to switch the topic for her to start the class. Even though she won’t believe me, I just have to try to be honest.

—I know, but that’s why I’m here to study and get those grades up!—

I’m hoping the teacher will finally stop putting me in the spotlight if I keep up this cheerful attitude, but she keeps staring at me. I don’t get why she is paying so much attention to me. Perhaps she thinks I’m lying, or that I sound too optimistic, I don’t know. It’s a bit weird to sound so positive in front of her, but I think my classmates understand why I’m doing it, they have definitely gone through this exact interaction plenty of times with her. Well, they probably never missed months worth of classes, but still. And luckily, after a while of awkward staring, she turns around and walks back to the front of the class.

—You have to catch up a lot, mister. I won’t give you any chances, so you better study hard and take notes if you want to pass the last exam…—

Even though she just said she won’t give me any chances, I at least have the hope that I can make it. Sure, she is probably going to make things extra hard for me, I probably have to get a perfect score on the last exam, and I’m sure she won’t even try to help me, because that’s just how resentful she is. But knowing that there’s a possibility, a tiny chance of me passing her class, is all I really need to hear. So I nod to Miss Holly’s orders, a bit relieved that she stopped talking to me, but also turning anxious because I’m sure I will have to write a lot in this class. But I’m willing to do everything to make this class enjoyable, which means catching up to whatever we are learning right now. I don’t even think I could get on Miss Holly’s good side, because she doesn’t have one, and also because she probably hates me now. But I don’t want to think about that, since she has already started writing.

The lesson is fairly simple. We just review old contents, which I remember vaguely, and learn a few new concepts. They are new to me, but it seems like the rest of the students didn’t remember as well, because Miss Holly spends a long time explaining them. That actually allowed me to write a lot of notes, so I’m grateful that my classmates are dumb. We also had to read a few texts, but it was nothing out of the ordinary. The whole class, the teacher didn’t pay much attention to me, but that’s because she knew I was too focused on taking notes. She was even more patient than usual, as she gave us plenty of time to read and take notes.

Overall, the class was just like I remembered, tense, a bit boring, but fairly quick. We didn’t even do any exercises, we just read, but Miss Holly did say we need to respond to a few questions in the next class. It actually ended so quickly, that I was still taking notes when the bell rang. I look around to see that everyone is already leaving, they probably couldn’t take more stress in their brains. I think I understood everything in this lesson, but before I leave the classroom, I notice that Miss Holly is talking to her favorite student, who just walked in the classroom after doing what she always does.

This student is kind of special, she is actually Miss Holly’s assistant, named Diana, who is pretty much the young version of the teacher, but a lot more annoying. She is more like the teacher’s pet, but she has been given the school key, which means she can roam around the school freely. As you can tell, to receive such a responsibility, you must be a really good student, and she is. Diana is the best of the best, but only in her grades. In terms of personality, she isn’t the greatest. Actually, just like her mentor, Diana is hated by pretty much everyone in school.

I don’t know her that much, since I don’t see her that often, but I can tell she wants to be just like Miss Holly. She does her job of being a sort of mini principal very well, and that's why everyone hates her. I don’t want to get into too much detail about it, since I know I don’t have the power to say anything negative about Diana. But since I need to learn more about this final exam I need to take for this class, I have to approach Miss Holly, even if her pet is right next to her. It’s a bit scary to do so, but I try to act casual and hide my nervousness, while also trying not to be rude, in case I’m interrupting their conversation.

—Hey, Miss. Sorry to bother you, but do you know when this final exam is going to be?

—Don’t think about it, you have other things to worry about in this class. I’ll need you to focus for the rest of the year, and maybe you’ll get a chance of passing…—

—Oh, ok… I see…—

—But you know you can’t do that, not even if you pretend to want to study. You are just not ready for it—

—B-but… What do you mean?—

—I mean that you can’t pass this class alone, you are going to need some help—

Miss Holly always likes to discourage students. I’m used to her telling people she doesn’t believe in them, that they are not smart, that they have no future, no meaning, no worth, etc. She is pretty mean sometimes, and often says that to students she really despises. Good to know that I’m one of those people. But what makes me curious is how she says I will need help. I doubt she will offer herself to help me pass this class, and since I feel like she will do anything to make me fail, I can’t help but be a little confused.

—I’m sure you are going to have many questions. I no longer help lazy students like you, so you’ll have to ask for help to someone else…—

—But I’m ready to put in the work. I’ll study hard, I promise. I don’t think I’ll need help…—

—You think that now, but I’m telling you.... Try asking Diana for help, she knows everything about this class…—

I take a glance at Diana, who is standing next to me, staring at me awkwardly. A small silence forms, nobody says anything, not even Miss Holly, who usually pokes fun at awkward moments like this. Something tells me that Holly won’t like to help me with this class. But to not be rude, I **** a smile, which only makes things more awkward. But fortunately, Miss Holly draws Diana’s attention, so I don’t have to stare at her anymore. It looks like she will be open to help me, if Miss Holly tells her to, of course. But while they talk, I take my opportunity to just get out of here and go to recess.

—Alright, thanks for the advice. I’ll do everything to pass this class, see ya!—

I don’t even wait for Miss Holly to respond, I just run out of the classroom. I’m sure they don’t care, but I’m a bit anxious to see how I will be able to pass this class. But it’s better not to think about it now, I can relax a little. And now that I have recess again, I’m not actually sure what I should do. After the last recess, I now have the chance to plan my **** against my bullies, but I think I’ll wait for another day to do that. I actually need to talk to more people, mainly because I’m planning to enter a club as well for another part of my plan. But the only person that can introduce me to other people is Sunny, so I better find her to see if I can make more friends…