9 Another encounter

The boy slowly awoke with his eyes gazing at an unfamiliar ceiling.

'Huh? What happened? Where am I?' he thought.

He had no clue what had happened to him or where he was. The boy frantically sat up and tried to get a good look at his surroundings to determine where he was. Before he could see anything, dizziness overwhelmed him. He groaned in pain as he hastily held his head on both sides with his hands.

"Oh, you're awake," an unfamiliar old lady's voice said.

The boy lifted his head and looked at the direction of the voice he had just heard. His vision was still blurred but slowly recovering; he sees a grey-haired old woman in a nurse's gown.

"Uh… Who are you? Where am I?" he asked.

The nurse smiled. She was glad that he had regained his consciousness.

"Right now, you're at a certain someone's villa" she replied and then proceeded to ask, "Can you remember anything?"

"Someone's villa?" the boy confusingly questioned. Then a moment later, he said, "But I was just in school, how did I get here?"

"Oh, you're still at school. You see, this villa is built on the school grounds. What's your name, young man?" the nurse said.

"Oh, I see. My name is Jack, Jack Bluebell, Ma'am," said Jack.

She grabbed his wrist to check his pulse. After making sure that his heart rate was back to normal, she then asked, "I'm Nurse Mimi, pleased to meet you. How are you feeling now, Jack?"

"Huh? Oh, right. Nice to meet you too, Nurse Mimi. I'm feeling fine now, I think?"

Nurse Mimi smiled and explained, "That's good. Right now it's already 10 AM."

Jack was startled and blurted out, "10 AM?! Oh no, I missed homeroom!"

Nurse Mimi continued, "Yeah, you did. But, don't worry about it. Just make your way to Principal Grant's office and tell him what happened. And make sure to explain that you were recovering under the supervision of Nurse Mimi. That should be enough. Now, off you go."

"Huh? Oh, Okay! Thank you, Nurse Mimi," said Jack, before leaving in a hurry.

He came outside and looked around. 'Which way is the principal's office?' He asked in his thoughts. He looked to his left and saw trees. 'Doesn't look like that side,' he thought. Then, he looked to his right and saw even more trees. 'Uh… Which way should go?' Jack was simply lost. He didn't know which way the principal's office was located, not to mention the school's main building. Thus, he turned around to go back inside the villa and ask for directions.

The nurse stepped out just as he was about to knock on the door. Impeccable timing. Jack showed an embarrassing expression; he had his right hand rubbing the back of his head while chuckling. Without a word, she knew that Jack had no clue which way to go.

"Follow me… " she directed.

Jack continued to rub the back of his head and chuckled, "Haha, thank you!"

After a short while, They arrived at the principal's office.

"Here you are. Now be sure to mention my name to the principal," Nurse Mimi said.

Jack gave a deep bow as a sign of gratitude to see her off. He was just about to knock on the door when he stopped himself. His face turned red, and his ears became hot. He was embarrassed again. He felt more shame than embarrassment. It was the first day of school, and he was over 2 hours late. Jack shook his head, clenched his hands together forming fists against his puffed-up chest and muttered to himself, "I'm a man! I must face the consequences for my actions." Quickly thinking it over, he gathered up all of his strength and courageously knocked on the door.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

The door opened. It was the principal. He took a glance at Jack and smiled.

"Come in, come in." Principal Grant said before thinking to himself, 'Ahh, he looks just like her… '

"Sorry for my intrusion!" Jack announced as he walked inside.

"You must be Jack Bluebell," Principal Grant said.

"Huh? How did you-I mean- Yes, sir!" Jack was flustered.

"Ahh, good boy. I was your mother's classmate," he said.

"M-my mom's old classmate?"

"That's right. If it wasn't for your father's tenacity in pursuing your mother back in the day! I could've, I could've… Kuh!" Principal Grant revealed an unpleasant side of himself at that moment.

"W-what? What are you talking about Principal Grant?" Jack was confused.

"N-nevermind, boy," Principal Grant brushed it off and changed the subject.

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be in class right now?" he asked.

"Right, about that… I… "

Jack explained to the principal of what had happened this morning. The incident with the expensive dress that he has taken on as his new debt to pay back and of his absence from homeroom class.

"Oh, is that so?" Principal Grant pondered, "That is troubling. But, do not fret. You're just late, no harm in being late for class. Just go see your homeroom teacher and tell him I sent you, then he will give you your class schedule."

"O-oh! Thank you, Principal Grant!" Jack bowed in gratitude again.

Just before Jack was about to exit, he suddenly realized that he didn't know who his homeroom teacher was. He embarrassingly turned around scratching his temple with a finger and asked, "W-what was my homeroom teacher's name again? Ah ha ha… "

"It's Mr. Cane. You can find him in the faculty lounge. It's just around the corner. When you leave here, turn right and then another right at the corner," Principal Grant explained.

Jack bowed once again and said, "Thank you, sir!"

Next, he turned and proceeded to leave the principal's office.

Jack quickened his pace to make his way to the faculty's lounge. However, in the corner when he was about to make a turn, he bumped into a fellow student. Stacks of papers flew in the air and landed all around them in a big mess. The two fell backward and moaned in pain. The student was holding a stack of papers that were to be brought to the principal's office. Jack quickly got to his feet and gathered the scattered papers.

"I'm so sorry! I'll help you gather these right away!" he said while frantically picking up all the papers he could reach.

"Ahh, I'm sorry too! I should've watched where I was going! Don't worry about the papers, I'll gather them myself," the student said as she started gathering the papers around her.

The two's hands met as they both reached for the same pile of papers near them. The student's face flushed red as she hurriedly retracted her hand.