"My grades?" Chase asked, feeling extremely tired and trying to keep the smell of trash out of his head.
"I regret to say this, Chase, but you aren't doing well in class". Ms Marina said as she rotated her computer around to show Chase his grades.
Chase Tennyson's report is as follows:
Math - D
English - E
Science - D
Business studies - C
I.T - D
Power system studies - C
Math, English and Science were compulsory, but the other three were of his choice.
Chase looked at the computer's screen, bewildered. No good grades, these would earn him a beating at home.
"What do you think we should do, Chase?" she asked, turning the computer back towards herself. "You know that I don't want to call your parents in..."
"I will study harder." He said meekly.
"That's what you said last time, " She replied, shaking her head. "And there were no improvements.'
Chase couldn't really think of anything to say to her, so he stayed quiet, hoping that she would let him go back home sooner.
She sighed, "I know that you want to go home now, so actually promise me that you'll study and improve your grades before the October half term."
Chase nodded but didn't answer.
"Tch!", A nearby voice exclaimed, "You are a disappointment to your whole family!"
"Please, Mr Mkpoin," Ms Marina said sternly, " I know he can do it. He just needs to apply himself."
"At this rate, he's going to ruin his sisters' good reputation with his bad grades!" He exclaimed. "Him being weak already affected his family, and now it appears that he wants to bring everyone else down with him! There isn't any place for the weak in this world!" He furiously exclaimed as he stood up from his desk.
"Come on, Warren. " Ms Marina said, trying her best to control her anger, "He's only a child."
"Yes, Emma!" He exclaimed sarcastically. "A child who knows that his existence is hindering the progress of his entire family!"
"That doesn't mean that you can criticize him like that!" Ms Marina shouted as she stood up, a hint of anger and irritation flashed across her face."It's not his fault he was born that way!"
"Well then," Mr Mkpoin countered, "Maybe he'll be doing everyone a huge favour if he dropped dead! Lucas should have killed this garbage a long time ago!"
Ms Marina's eyes flashed with fury. The distance between the two teachers was less than a metre. She slapped the living daylights out of Mr Mkpoin, causing him to fall backwards and hit his head on a nearby desk, knocking him unconscious.
Her smooth black hair was messy, and she couldn't quite control her anger. She remembered that there was another person in the room. She patted down her hair and tried to give a reassuring smile to Chase. She only managed to give him a small smile without much emotion, as she was still quite angry.
"Nice," Chase said out loud.
She smiled but quickly switched the topic, "I'll talk to Ms Pierce about this." She said as she headed towards her co-worker and slowly dragged him out of the room. "You make yourself scarce, Chase, I'll bring Mr Mkpoin to the infirmary". And with that, she left the room with Mr Mkpoin.
Chase left the staff room and found himself smiling at the image of Mr Mkpoin falling unconscious. He knew Ms Pierce was not going to intervene and that his life would be hell tomorrow since he had I.T that day. He brushed the thought aside, exited the building and walked towards the main gate leading outside the school.
"You still here, kid?" The security guard asked as he leaned out of the window of his stall.
"Yes, Sir" Chase replied emotionlessly as he exited the school and started making his way towards the main road.
"Take care of yourself!" The security guard yelled behind Chase and disappeared back into his stall.
Chase didn't respond or even look back as he was trying to get home as quickly as possible. Even though he could have taken the bus, he preferred walking and smelling the freshness of nature instead of staying in a bus surrounded by people eyeing his injuries.
He crossed a couple of pelican crossings before going up a hill and then turned left to arrive at his destination. The street that he had turned into was called "Ends" and contained a row of houses.
They lived on an immense island near the continent of Nova, which the island was a part of. The country's name was "Crown" as well as the capital, and there were about fifty million inhabitants. It was a country in some ways, with its growing economy and international trading system. Crown used to be uninhabited until about three centuries ago, when some citizens had enough of society and decided to seclude themselves far away and by discovering this island, they were able to do that. Even though the island was big enough to contain a growing population, nobody had wanted to approach it because of various abnormal events happening in the ocean surrounding the island. Because of the ancestors' efforts, the island is what it is today, with its luxurious apartments and houses, as well as being one of the world's best tourist sites.
The house in which he lived was quite big. A big gate covered the entrance, and a paved route for both pedestrians and vehicles stretched to the front door and garage, with neatly clipped bushes lining the sides. It was a three-storey house with seven bedrooms, an enormous living room and dining room, an immense kitchen, an attic, eight bathrooms and toilets, three garages, and spiral stairs leading upstairs. Every room in the house was as big as a standard living room, but their living room was larger. A set of French doors led to the garden. There were four bedrooms located on the second floor and three on the third floor, but the attic could be turned into another bedroom. There was also a large rectangular pool in the garden with four lounge chairs, a couple of parasols, a bar and a balcony looking over it. The house was surrounded by a fence like the rest of the houses on the street, with some exceptions.
Chase had taken out his keys and unlocked the gate's side door before stopping and noticing a dark blue sports car parked on the pavement a couple of metres in front of the house, and realised that Maria was visiting. He was quite happy to see her, but also anxious about the things he had told her that morning. He feared that she would tell his mother. He was relieved when she had unlocked the door for him and told him that she hadn't said anything yet. Plus, his mother was not home yet, which made him sigh in relief.
"You sure took your time, huh, Chase?" Lazuli asked as she appeared from the living room wearing a grey hoodie and blue shorts. "Dang, you smell like trash!" She mockingly exclaimed as she covered her nose with her hoodie and ran back into the living room.
Chase ignored his sister's annoying remark, thanked his aunt for opening the door for him and for not mentioning his injuries before heading up the stairs. Just then, a small figure wearing a full blue tracksuit appeared at the top of the stairs, blocking his path.
"I wanted to go home with you today, but Lazuli said that you were already home." The figure said, placing its hands on its hips. "I've been looking around the house for you for ten minutes."
"Forgive me, Lily," Chase said apologetically as his sister moved out of the way to allow him up the stairs. "I got caught up..."
"You should stop speaking so formally to your little sister," Lily said as she pouted. "We're family."
"Sorry, Lily" He apologized again, "It is something I am used to..."
"Whatever." She said with melancholy as she headed downstairs. Chase stared at his sisters and his aunt but said nothing and continued up the stairs.
Liliana Tennyson was a 14-year-old girl with an energetic and enthusiastic personality. She had shoulder-length light blue hair with bangs and hazel eyes. Her tomboyish nature made her appear intimidating and confident to the boys and girls in her class, yet she was, at heart, a peaceful person.