The Best Way to Learn

Later that day...

It was early afternoon when classes ended for the students of Eastside High School.

As the students left, Zac stood next to Sean, pretending he hadn't seen or discovered anything about the black-haired boy's betrayal.

"Man, I almost lost my smartphone today," Sean commented with a smile as he walked next to Zac. "I spent about 40 minutes frantically looking for it. Luckily, it was in my backpack.

Sigh, my old man would have ripped my skin off if I'd lost it."

"Really? Good for you, then." Zac laughed, trying to sound as natural as possible, even though he was trying hard to do it.

"Maybe you were doing something really important and forgot where you put it." He added, remembering the scenes he didn't want to see again.

When he returned to put Sean's device in this guy's backpack, Zac saw Mia and Sean in a small dressing room in the theater, doing something teenagers like them should avoid and should not do in school.

It had made him hate them even more, but he was already calmer and more committed to his plan to change his intentions.

Sean heard Zac's comment and remembered what he was doing before he 'lost' his smartphone.

"Yeah, you're right. Maybe that was it." He smiled but didn't say anything about what he had done to sweet Mia.

But in his mind, Sean couldn't help but feel unbelievable when he thought about the things he had done to her.

He honestly had no feelings for Mia, but he wouldn't deny her beauty. After a few experiences with her, he honestly didn't think having a relationship with her was a bad idea until he found a better option.

'Hehe, I will have a lot of fun the next few days.' He clenched his fists, feeling full of energy.

"See you tomorrow, Zac." He said goodbye as he took a different route from his 'friend.'

Zac watched Sean for a moment, but soon, he was on his way to the martial arts gym where he would train this afternoon.

Today he would have some difficulties in his training. He was a little too tense to make certain movements and to interact with his colleagues as he always did.

His martial arts teacher would notice this but wouldn't say anything to Zac. Everyone had difficult days in their life, sooner or later. As long as Zac didn't do anything wrong, no one could talk to him about it.

He had to learn to control himself without outside interference and to know that living in a state of tension wasn't the answer.

At the end of Zac's lesson, Mia's brother watched the young Small leave the gym door where he worked from Monday to Saturday.

"What's up, Oliver?" A middle-aged man in a kimono asked as he entered the gym and saw the young teacher with a strange expression on his face.

"One of my students seems to be in trouble. He looked different today. I don't know. He was serious and had a determined look, but he was more stubborn than usual." He commented, making a meaningful expression to show that he didn't think it was just nothing.

The newly arrived man laughed and patted Oliver on the shoulder. "You were like that when I first met you. Every now and then, you'd come in here with a terrible look on your face."

Oliver Bell's expression changed as he looked at his sensei. "I was always fighting and getting into trouble back then. Do you think he does the same? Zac looks like a normal boy."

"Sigh! Nowadays, ordinary kids go into schools with guns and make dozens of adults shed tears and repent in front of graves." The man got a little more serious. "Talk to him next time you see him. Sometimes, all a trapped person needs to find their way out is a helping hand."

"Sensei..." Oliver looked into the man's green eyes and felt ashamed. "I made a mistake. I should have talked to him today."

"Don't be so quick to blame yourself for not doing something. I also took longer to help you than I should have." The old man made a gentle expression. "Don't beat yourself up. As much as we can try to help, we have no control over other people's lives. In the end, it will depend on the boy's will. There's no point in approaching him when he's in the middle of an issue.

He's probably already up to something. Let him suffer a little and guide him to learn from his mistakes. There's nothing better than that.

You cannot know the value of peace until you understand war."

"Thank you for the lesson, Sensei."

...

After arriving home, Zac could have concentrated on reading Sean's messages to Dario and Mia, but he overcame his curiosity and did something else.

He meditated non-stop for two hours, controlling his thirst for revenge a bit more and getting back in control of himself.

The feeling of hatred can be very tempting for a person in search of strength and energy. However, it corrupts the path of those who blindly follow the path of hate, making them negligent in certain aspects and causing the hatred of the scum to create new scum of its own.

Martial arts taught that fire should not be fought with fire. Zac wanted revenge, which made him wrong in terms of what martial arts taught. But that didn't make him forget what he had learned about self-control and self-knowledge.

He saw how much more compatible self-control was with his special powers than hate.

Hate wasn't useless and could give him the power to improve faster. But that improvement would only make sense if he was in control.

So he calmed down and regained control of himself before continuing with his curiosity.

After his meditation, he noticed that his heart rate had returned to normal. At the same time, the electrical devices around him no longer showed any signs of malfunction.

'It is time to find out the truth.' He got up from where he had been meditating and picked up his smartphone before lying down on his bed.

Ignoring the notifications on his device, he went straight to Sean's file, immediately opening the conversations between Sean and Dario, where he would begin his investigation.

For the next three hours, he would do just that, reading from the beginning of the messages between the two to the last time they spoke, which had been the day before.

Amy would be home during this time, but Zac would give her no indication of how much anger and hatred he felt.

He had discovered many things that explained much of what had happened to him in the last year but also showed how wrong Sean was!