Carmen would normally have made enthusiastic small talk with him by now. Instead, she remained silent, as if she had not noticed him at all.
Upon seeing that, Flynn threw himself down on the chair and opened his textbook to get ready for class. If she would not speak to him, then he would not start a conversation with her either. Fine! Let’s see which one of us succumbs to the pressure first!
Everyone else seemed to have detected the scent of gossip in the air; they were now curiously peering at both Carmen and Flynn while waiting for drama to unfold.
Usually, by that time, she would have been trying to get him to talk to her. He would then give her the cold shoulder and undoubtedly be extremely irritated with her. Their exchange usually served as a form of entertainment for the rest of the class. However, there was nothing going on between them today. In fact, she was unusually quiet in the morning and barely uttered a word even as class started. On the other hand, he turned to look at her more often than he normally did.
Everyone was beginning to read the situation. It appeared that Carmen had upgraded her methods and she was now playing hard to get.
Hope entered the classroom just as the bell went off for self-study. Everyone scrambled back to their seats. Alpha Class was the best class in their year and their form teacher was the toughest among the faculty; it was his words that held the most authority because he came from the notorious Fletcher Family in Bayside City.
Everyone knew the four most elite families in Bayside City—starting with the Fletchers, who wielded power over the country’s military. As long as Cethos remained a sovereign state, there was no way that their family would fall. Next was the Winstons, who ran the underworld that thrived against the forces of justice and thus was unlikely to perish anytime soon. Up next was the Edwards, who lay down roots all over the globe, and lastly, the golden triangle that reigned over Bayside’s elite circle—the Mitchells, the Michels and Ronney Group.
Then, there was the Yard Family, who recently returned from abroad. They were formidable as well, but they had been stationed out of Bayside City for a number of years and did not receive official recognition as a top player in the field. In other words, their forces and reputation were far more established abroad than in the local elite scene.
Therefore, with Mr. Fletcher as their form teacher, the students in Alpha Class were naturally the most obedient ones in school. Furthermore, their form teacher was a handsome young man who boasted elegantly chiseled features. While he shared a striking resemblance with Theo—the security guard by the school entrance—Mr. Fletcher was of an entirely different league from the latter. He was the best-looking teacher in the school and everyone had a love-hate relationship with him.
However, there was a chill that followed the man in the morning. Everyone was taken aback when he threw his teaching materials onto the desk and there was a deafening silence that ensued. The students peered at him cautiously and did not dare to breathe a single word.
He was usually gentle and rarely angered, but today, his face was like thunder. As his gaze swept the class, everyone could tell he was extremely furious. They began to silently pray. Whoever he’s angry with, please don’t let it be me!
Hope tapped the teaching aid against the table loudly as he gave everyone a pointed look. “Next week, all of you will be sitting for your first practice test of the term. Your focus now should be on your studies! Nothing else matters! Your goal is to ace the June finals, whereupon all your hard work for the past three years will be reduced to a single, crucial moment. You simply cannot afford even the slightest distraction right now! And yet—”
He broke off in the middle of his lecture, leaving everyone on the edge of their seats, and when he spoke again, it was with a pained voice. “I received a report this morning that a student was seen entering and leaving a nightclub after the self-study session last evening and he was caught drinking as well!”
Upon hearing that, the whole class went into an uproar. They began exchanging bewildered looks as they wondered who among them would visit a nightclub at a time like that. How unfortunate did this person have to be for Mr. Fletcher to catch wind of this incident?
Just as everyone was growing flustered at the suspense, Hope rapped his knuckles against the table and a hush fell over the room once more. His chiseled face was grim as he snapped, “Mr. Flynn, aren’t you going to explain yourself? What in the world were you doing in a nightclub?”
It was Flynn Clark… Everyone drew in an audible breath of shock. None of them could believe that Flynn was the one who had been caught going to a nightclub!
Meanwhile, the moment he heard the word ‘nightclub’, he knew instantly that Carmen had been the tattletale. He could not believe that she would actually snitch on him, but he did not think that Mr. Fletcher would call him out in front of the entire class!
In fact, Hope Fletcher came from the distinguished Fletcher Family and he was also related to the Clarks. It was through him that the Clarks were associated with such a powerful family. Without him, they could not so much as clamber their way up the social ladder.
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