Chapter – 4

The next morning, I woke up an hour early and fixed myself breakfast. I was out of the house before anyone else had even had the chance to get out their rooms. My wounds were getting lighter and true to Hayden’s word, Matt had maintained his distance.

Beth was right, the walk to school was impossibly long but it was still better than riding with a conceited Hayden. So, I gladly walked/crawled the distance. I wasn’t a big fan of buses, walking had always been the preference for me.

I arrived at school just in time, avoided the gaze of the students and prepared myself for the worst. Since, Matt had found out that I was gay, I had constantly been on edge but till now there hadn’t been any mention of it, whatsoever. Did Hayden kill Matt?

Not that I’d mind.

The day had pretty much been uneventful, not that I was complaining. My next class was Math and I was actually looking forward to it, it was the only class I was good at.

I took a seat somewhere in the middle so that I didn’t draw any attention towards myself but the plan failed when our teacher said, “Jake! I want to have a word with you after class.”

And it was then when I bid adieu to my quiet and peaceful day.

I nervously counted the minutes till the class ended, stuck somewhere between wanting the class to never end and wishing for the class to end right that second.

I was relieved from my anxieties when the bell finally rung and I had a chance to talk to Mr. Williams. He was arranging a set of papers on his table when I meekly approached his desk. He looked up from his desk and smiled.

“Good morning, Sir.” I said, coyly.

His warm behavior made me feel at ease and I soon found myself laughing around him. For some time we talked about nothing in particular and the out of the blue he said, “It’s nice to hear you talk, you’re always so quiet and by yourself, it makes me worry.”

I chuckled at his words and dismissed them with a wave.

“You must be wondering why I called you.” I had gotten so engrossed in the conversation that I completely forgot that he had wanted to talk to me about something.

“Yes, I am.”

“Well, do you remember the test we had last week?”

“I do. Did I fail?”

“No, actually you did really well, better that I had expected anyone to do. It made me interested and I took the liberty to look at your previous performances.”

I didn’t actually know what was coming but for now, I was elated.

“You’re really good at Math. I want you to join our advance class.” It would be just to say that my ears as well as my cheeks had turned red. Getting offered to be promoted to an advance class was one of the greatest honors that a student could have at this school.

I realized I had been silent for quite a while so, to break the silence Mr. Williams asked me, “Do you want to join the class?”

I nodded with so much strain that my head could have detached itself from the neck. I guess; I really was excited.

Mr. Williams let out a heat laugh and said, “Mute, again?”

I shook my head in response.

For some time we went over my new schedule. Mr. Williams as kind enough to give me tips and tell me about the class and told me to come to him if I had any problems.

I don’t remember the last time I had been this excited to go home from school, but today was a different day. I had been told that I was good at something! This was uncharted territory for me, I was filled with this newfound enthusiasm that just made my day brighter. I couldn’t wait to tell dad, and have him look proud.

I was giddy with joy by the time I reached home and couldn’t wait for my father to come home. While I rushed to the stairs to go to my room, I saw Beth in the living room.

“Beth! What are you doing here at this time?”

“Oh, I just forgot some files.”

She walked over to me with a smile that I had never seen leave her face for as long as I had known her.

“Don’t you look all happy?” She said with curiosity laced in her tone.

“Well… Don’t tell Dad, I want to be the one to tell him, but I got upgraded to the Advanced Math class. It’s not a big deal.” I said.

Beth’s face had been overtaken with joy and she took me in her arms in that moment, itself. It was almost like my own mother had her around me, a feeling I could get used to.

“Honey, of course it’s a big deal. I am so proud of you! How about we go out to dinner to celebrate? You can tell your Dad, then!”

I tried to say no to kind offer but Beth looked so happy for me that it had almost moved to me to tears. So, I just said yes and I wondered if my Dad would be happier. 

A piece of information : Updates will be twice a week from now on! Thursday and Sunday most probably!  <3

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