Miss Irvin

Following two steps behind his teacher, Ethan had no choice but to occasionally glimpse at her magnificent bottom, lightly jiggling as she walked towards her office. It was no wonder she was well-liked among the boys. Many approaching students were envious of the fortunate young lad who had the privilege of walking next to such a goddess.

Arriving at the teacher's lounge, Miss Irvin took a seat at her desk and gestured to Ethan to do the same. Obliging, Ethan did as instructed and sat down right across the golden-haired beauty. With an additional fifteen years of life experience, he, in general, felt quite self-confident in social situations. Sitting across a charming lady like Miss Irvin, though, still made him feel remarkably nervous. While he did come into contact with similarly attractive women in his past life, it was only to pack up their groceries and wish them a pleasant day.

Miss Irvin took a paper from her drawer and recited,

"Ethan Goulding, fifteen years old. Previously a student at Phil High Academy in Godsbury. Barely passed last year exams, with an average of 3.9. Especially lacking in Math and History. Has trouble fitting in and rarely participates in class."

Looking up to get a glance at Ethan's expression, she added,

"These are notes by your former homeroom tutor. Anything to add?"

Ethan was aware of the negative assessment. Miss Irvin cared a lot about her pupils, which the end-term results of her class reflected. The main reason for the excellent scores being the individual attention she gave each student. In Ethan's past life, Miss Irvin addressed the evaluation from his previous school, as well. Although the way she approached it differed significantly. Ethan wasn't entirely sure why, but Miss Irvin was far more straightforward and belligerent this time. It seemed as if he already left a poor impression by arriving late to class. He needed to rectify the situation.

"I got nothing to add, but I'd like an opportunity to explain my past behavior."

Miss Irvin seemed to be caught off-guard. Presumably, she anticipated Ethan would start bickering right away. She lifted her eyebrows and implied Ethan to continue.

"It is true that I barely managed to pass last year's exams. The main reason for my miserable performance was admittedly my lack of enthusiasm for school. I much rather wasted my time playing video games all day long."

Ethan sheepishly scratched his nose.

"I have realized how harmful my actions were, though, for multiple reasons. I now understand that my performance at school not only is crucial for me but my Mother, as well. You presumably aren't aware, but she raises my sister and me all by herself, while simultaneously working a fulltime job. Only to be able to afford the tuition for both of us. When I think about my previous actions now, I feel deeply ashamed. No amount of apologies can correct that. The only way to amend is to improve my behavior and approach to education altogether."

Ethan paused and looked at his mentor with an earnest expression.

"Miss Irvin, I promise. If you provide me the chance to prove myself, I will not fail you. All I ask is for you to judge the current me and not the person portrayed in these evaluations."

Miss Irvin was perplexed; Ethan's grave expression made her feel a little flustered.

As she received the records about the new transfer student, she expected a troublesome adolescent. The Principal preferred to place these kinds of pupils under her care. She was the only one capable of handling them. Ethan, however, appeared to be remarkably earnest about his change of mind. The introverted, passive person described in these evaluations was nowhere to be found. Arriving at a decision, she put the paper away and looked at the handsome scholar.

"Very well, Ethan. For now, I will disregard these reviews and won't take any harsh measures. I assumed I might have to give you a few additional one-on-one lessons, but that seems redundant for now. My lectures are arduous, and I demand a lot from my students. I hope you will not abuse the trust I place in you."

Ethan blinked twice as if he couldn't believe what he just heard. Private lessons with Miss Irvin? Other students would kill to receive that privilege. Quickly he interjected,

"Wait, wait! I might have a better outlook on school, but that doesn't mean I don't have to catch up on a lot of material. I believe that perhaps some private lessons could be helpful to me."

Miss Irvin stared at him with an expression of incredulity. She wasn't dense. The beauty knew what Ethan hinted at and was mostly aware of her standing amongst the students. While she dressed very conservatively in response, she didn't mind being admired by them. As long as it didn't cause anyone's grades to plummet, that is.

Ethan acted flustered. His teacher offered,

"I agree. Some support with the old material would probably be necessary. However, I have too many other mischief-makers to attend to. I will have our Class President, Alice, aid you with that. It might help you uniting with your classmates a little as well."

Disillusioned by the failed attempt but still grateful for her concern, he agreed and expressed his thanks. The pause was nearly over and thus concluded their secret talk.

The next periods were rather uneventful. Once the educators noticed Ethan, they usually asked a few superficial questions and commenced their lesson on time. In between classes, a few curious classmates walked over to his desk in order to talk to the new student. They wanted to know why his family moved here and how Ethan typically spent his free time. He decided not to be honest and reveal his gaming passion. Ethan resolved himself to quit gaming. In his opinion, life had much more to offer. He couldn't make the same error and throw away multiple hours day after day.

Ethan was honest about his family's situation and admitted to looking for a parttime job. Deciding to apply for work was an obvious choice for him. If he wanted to be successful this time around, capital was essential. Ethan had a lot of helpful information from his previous life, but he was no genius.

The fictional novels he remembered talked about reincarnators using their expertise to create firearms in a world of swords and shields. Such a plan would be nonsensical for Ethan. Were he to be stranded in a preindustrial world, his knowledge would likely be utterly useless. Neither would he be able to advance society by inventing a steam engine, nor could he improve peoples quality of life by producing penicillin. Ethan was aware that he was no genius, but fortunately, that didn't imply it would be any more troublesome for him to amass wealth. His superficial knowledge of the stock market and future developments would entirely suffice. But first, he required some start capital. He had no savings and didn't even contemplate selling his father's watch. It was his most cherished item, and he was not willing to give it away once again. Without any alternatives, finding a parttime job and slowly accumulating the capital was his best option. He had more than ample time to make use of his knowledge.

Hana, the gal sitting to his right interjected while Ethan was explaining. Apparently, she was listening attentively.

"My Aunt owns a popular fashion boutique downtown. If you want, I can ask if they need some help tidying up and doing inventory. Don't expect too much, though."

Ethan was astonished that Hana volunteered to help. She always struck him as a superficial girl, interested in no one but herself. To be fair, he didn't know her sufficiently, though. Did she pity him because his Mother was a single parent? Ethan couldn't arrive at a conclusion, but her proposal sounded genuine and would be a tremendous help. Putting on a tender smile, he responded,

"Sure, that would help me out a lot, thanks!"

Hana was already back to filing her nails and only replied by giving a diminutive nod. It was easy to overlook if you didn't observe her carefully.

Ethan's first day of school concluded with some pleasant conversations and a potential job in sight. Overall, Ethan was satisfied with how the day went. Reaching his goal of becoming a popular student was presumably still far away, but for his first day, it went well. At least far better than it did in his previous life.

He vaguely remembered hearing a few of the girls in class tattle back then. They called him a creep and insisted Ethan stared at their breasts nonstop. In hindsight, it might have been possible these accusations were valid. Ethan was a lustful adolescent whose only contact with the other sex was through video game designers.

Shaking off these shameful recollections, Ethan finished packing up his back. It was now time to walk home. His sister was likely already waiting for him.

Strolling over to the middle-school department, Ethan tried his best to locate her in the crowd of pupils. Thanks to his height, he had a good overview. Nonetheless, he still didn't succeed in finding her.