After Chase signed himself in at the school's reception, he headed to his lesson, hoping that the teacher wouldn't question him too much. He took a glance at his watch: 9:25 am. He was now 15 minutes late for his second class. He rushed to class, knocked on the door and waited for his teacher to let him in. The door opened, and he was met by his Business teacher, a tall man with a burly figure who appeared slightly confused upon Chase's arrival.
He inquired about Chase's lateness, but he wasn't particularly mad about it; what he was mad about was that Chase had interrupted his train of thought. He instructed him to sit down at his desk before continuing with the lesson, as they had a lot to cover.
10:20 was usually homeroom, so Chase made his way over. He entered a building called the Jubilee block and climbed the stairs, brushing past a couple of students coming out of their classrooms. One of them, a clean-shaven older guy, bumped into Chase and didn't bother apologising. Instead, he decided to start something, but the bell rang before he could, leaving the student scowling at Chase. Chase was grateful that the bell intervened, but it also meant that he was late for homeroom, so he hurried up the stairs. He made his way to the top floor, opened the double doors and entered the first classroom to the right.
The classroom was well-lit, buzzing with chatter and laughter.
As soon as his figure was visible, the class went silent, and 30 pairs of eyes stared at him, which was weird since they usually ignore him. Chase tried not to look at the faces of his classmates as he stepped inside the classroom.
"Good morning, Chase." Said a cheerful voice coming from his right.
Chase turned to face the voice that had called out to him and saw the smiling face of his homeroom teacher sitting in front of a PC.
"Good morning, Ms Marina." He replied with a smile.
Emma Marina was a striking 25-year-old, dark-skinned teacher who radiated an aura of pure elegance. She had long, curly black hair and pretty brown eyes. She was caring, passionate and energetic. She was popular among the students and staff for being kind-hearted and a good listener. She was a homeroom teacher as well as an English teacher. She always strove to make her English classes enjoyable and respected every student regardless of their status or background. No one under her teaching had ever failed their English tests.
Chase walked towards his seat at the back of the classroom, which pressed against the right-hand window, trying to ignore all the piercing stares.
"Are you alright, Chase?" Her voice laced with concern as she noticed him wincing in pain.
"Yes, Ms." He simply replied and took his seat. His classmates lost interest in him as soon as he had sat down and resumed talking.
Ms Marina quieted the class and took the morning register. Everyone was in class except for 5 students. She approached the end of the register and paused on Chase's name. She got up from her computer and circled the one late marking on the class he had missed.
"Chase?" She called out as she looked at him. He focused his eyes on the clipboard she was holding.
"You missed your first lesson?" She asked while pointing at the circled part of the register.
"I am sorry, Ms, I overslept." He said, feeling suffocated due to the intense glares of his classmates.
Ms Marina asked sweetly, "We wouldn't like your attendance to go down now, would we?"
"No, Ms, it will be the last time."
"Good, I don't want to start calling your parents in because of your poor attendance, and I'm sure you wouldn't want that either."
Chase nodded silently. It was nearing the end of September, and Chase had already missed several classes. If his parents found out, they would make his life very difficult, a situation the other students would find amusing, given their awareness of the strained relationship Chase had with his parents.
For the remainder of homeroom, Ms Marina let the kids talk among themselves as she sorted out some files. All Chase wanted was to go home. The bell rang, signalling break time at 10:50. The students all stood behind their chairs with their bags waiting for the teacher to dismiss them.
"Alright then, have a good day, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow!" She exclaimed as the students headed toward the door, exchanged 'See you tomorrow' and 'Bye, Ms.' They exited the classroom and made their way downstairs
Chase was the last person out of the classroom, but before he could leave, Ms Marina called out to him. "Chase, come with me for a bit." She said, moving away from her computer and urging him to follow her.
"Where are we going?" He asked as they headed downstairs.
"You'll find out soon." They descended to the bottom of the staircase and continued straight towards a door at the far end of the corridor, leading outside. They walked for a while, passing the gymnasium and the school's reception. Finally, Ms Marina stopped in front of an open door and ushered Chase in.
A huge whitewashed room stood in front of Chase, and as he looked around, a dozen beds were placed two metres from each other. Each bed had a long blue curtain draped around it for privacy. He knew where he was; the infirmary. A nurse sat behind a computer and looked up as soon as she heard the door open, welcoming the familiar faces in.
"Ms, I really do not need to be here..." Chase said as he turned to face his homeroom teacher. "I am fine."
"I've seen you wince in pain enough times to know that something's wrong." She said calmly before she greeted the nurse.
Gemma Jones was in her mid-thirties and was a great doctor. She had blonde hair and green eyes that seemed to pierce through you. She had worked at a national hospital for about 10 years before being offered a job opportunity at the school. It was her third year at the school, and she seemed to enjoy it, as it was far less stressful than her time at the national hospital.
"Hello, Ms Marina. Hello, Chase." Mrs Jones said before gesturing for Chase to sit, "Let me take a look at the injury." She grabbed a couple of bandages, a bottle of antiseptic and an ice pack nearby.
Chase took off his shirt and tried not to glance at his darkened bruise.
Mrs Jones examined his bruise and sighed, "At least it's better than the other times." She instructed him to place the ice pack on his bruise, which caused him to flinch, but he toughened up to not show any pain.
"Who did this to you, this time?" Ms Marina asked as she studied his bruise.
"I fell down the stairs." He replied sheepishly.
"I don't understand why you're so secretive about it. We need to-"
"You do not need to worry about it, Ms, it is a personal problem." He interrupted.
"Stop squirming, " Mrs Jones said as she tried to bandage him up, "It's very hard to work with your fidgeting."
"I apologize, Mrs." He said.
"Do not worry, Ms Marina, " he started, "I will deal with it myself."
Ms Marina folded her arms and gave him an angry look. "And how are you going to do that, Chase?!" She furiously asked. "One of these days you're going to get yourself killed!"
"She's right, " Mrs Jones said as she finished wrapping the bandages around his body, "You can't properly defend yourself, Chase. And as Ms Marina pointed out, you are at risk of getting seriously hurt if you don't tell us about what's happening." Her voice softened, contrasting with Ms. Marina's harsh tone.
Chase put his shirt back on, strapping his bag over his shoulder and fixing his gaze on the floor, mindlessly. Despite the urge to speak up, his mind went blank. He heard the worry in their voices, but he had no way of reassuring them. In truth, what the teachers were telling him was not wrong; he knew that he wasn't the strongest kid around, which made him prone to bullying. What began as verbal taunts quickly escalated into physical assaults. Despite having martial arts experience, he lacked the strength and speed to match his opponents. In any confrontation, he knew he would be outmatched even in a one-on-one fight. As someone who hadn't awakened their powers on their fifth birthday, he was looked down upon. There were only a few people who actually cared about him.
"I guess we'll go see the principal then." Ms Marina said. She thanked Mrs Jones for helping Chase and headed towards the door. She didn't spare any time for Chase to protest and motioned for him to follow her. Chase thanked Mrs Jones and followed behind sulking.
"Chase?" Mrs Jones called out.
He turned around, "Yes, Mrs?" He asked.
"It pains me to see you always come here injured." She said as she looked at him with pity and sadness.
Chase did not know how to answer, so he stayed quiet, gave a soft smile, and left the room to follow Ms Marina, who had been patiently waiting for him.
Mrs Jones sighed, placed the bandages back where they belonged and prayed for the boy's safety.