Chapter 9- Trouble (2)

Delilah's heart swelled with gratitude as she crumpled the paper in her hand, her eyes locking onto Fredrick's.

"Delilah..." Mr. Zhou's voice cut through her reverie, his tone dripping with impatience.

"Don't keep the class waiting..." He smirked, his eyes glinting with amusement.

Delilah's back straightened, her heart racing with fear. "Y-y-yes, sir..." she stammered, she felt her breathe laboured.

With a deep breath, she began her slow march to the chalkboard, the weight of the class's gaze upon her.

"You know, Ms. Chen," Mr. Zhou began, his voice dripping with sarcasm,

"I'm starting to think you're allergic to mathematics. Every time I call on you, you turn a lovely shade of green."

He said and the class erupted into laughter, Delilah's face flushed with embarrassment.

He gave her the marker pen and stepped down from the podium.

With trembling hands, Delilah began to solve the equation on the whiteboard until…

" What is this?!" Mr. Zhou snatched the sheet of paper in Delilah's hand. He opened it and went through it before he faced her again.

Delilah felt like her soul was sucked out of her body when Mr. Zhou snatched the sheet of paper from her, she turned extremely pale.

" I want an explanation, miss Chen, what is this?" Mr. Zhou growled.

" W...Working sir, they are work-workings sir, I- I wrote my workings in- in it…", she lied but Mr. Zhou wasn't buying it.

He opened the paper again, they are indeed workings, and correct in fact, but the handwriting doesn't comprehend one another.

Mr. Zhou kept looking back and forth, from the handwriting on the whiteboard to the one on the sheet, they are polar opposite.

Mr. Zhou crunched the sheet of paper, obviously in outrage.

" Do you take me a fool!" he yelled enraged, Delilah shook her head like a rattle drum, cold sweat running down her face as she trembled.

" Then tell me who wrote this for you!", he snapped.

Delilah's lips shuddered, her eyes blurry with tears. She hurriedly bowed her head.

" I-I am sorry sir, I should not have done that, I p-promise I won't do such again…", she quickly apologized.

" I don't need your apology, just tell me who…", before Mr. Zhou could complete his statement, a cool voice interrupted.

" I, sir… I wrote it for her. I am sorry sir", Fredrick rose from his seat and bowed apologetically.

Following his apology, the classroom erupted into a flurry of whispers and gasps as Fredrick; standing poise, radiating an air of confidence, apologizes on her behalf.

Delilah's cheeks flushed a deep shade of pink, she never thought Fredrick would stand up for her.

The classroom buzzed with excitement as the students discussed Fredrick's unexpected interference.

A cute girl with an idol obsessed smile and sparkling eyes cupped her face in her hands, exclaiming, "Did you hear that? Fredrick is so …thoughtful!"

Another girl, with a menacing glint in her eye, chimed in, "She's such a lucky witch, humph!"

Someone commented, "Oh my gosh, the school hunk and school flower… They don't look too bad together!"

The girl with glasses and a bookish demeanour, sitting with him, replied, "What are you saying? This is only few weeks into the first semester; they mustn't be thinking stuffs like that…" However, the chatter drowned out her words.

A girl with a scowl on her face glared at Delilah, her eyes blazing with jealousy. "I can't believe this! Why am I not the one sitting with the school hunk, huh? Indeed, an ugly witch!" she spat, her hands folded over her chest.

Another girl, with a pinched expression, grumbled, "I so much want to scarify her ugly face… I should be the one sitting with Fredrick." Her eyes shot daggers at Delilah.

Mr. Zhou slammed his ruler on the desk, his face reddening like a cooked lobster. "Silence! Keep quiet, all of you!!!" The classroom fell silent, with the students exchanging nervous glances.

He was about to reprimand the students when he remembered one standing behind him, "And what are you still doing here?"

Delilah looked perplexed, she spoke, her voice as soft as cotton "Huh? Sir, you asked me to…"

"Return to your seat!" Mr. Zhou barked, interrupting her speech. His finger pointing towards the class.

Delilah, still looking flustered, made her way back to her seat, head downcast as she took her seat beside Fredrick.

Mr. Zhou turned to the class, his expression stern. "Now, all of you. You all seem to have had quite some fun this morning… turn your textbooks to page twenty-three and solve all the equations in that exercise!"

Collective groans and wails echoed through the classroom as the students cried out, "Twenty questions of trouble…"

After the class,

Delilah approached Fredrick, who was packing his books. The sound of pages rustling and zips closing filled the air. "Uhm… thank you, classmate Fredrick," she said, bowing her head slightly.

Fredrick grunted a curt response, his eyes fixed on his books as he continued to pack.

Delilah bit her lower lip, thinking about how to keep the conversation going, but before she could open her mouth, Fredrick had already left the classroom.

Delilah's head fell onto the table, and she let out a deep sigh.

The gossip about what happened in class will spread like wildfire, she was sure of that.

As her head rested against the table, she couldn't help wonder what his true intentions were. Like, why would he even help her?

During lunch break,

The hallway and classrooms buzzed with students discussing what happened during maths period in Delilah's class.

As she walked through the crowds, heading for the school Café, her head downcast, arms hugging her textbooks tightly.

She overheard snippets of conversation. "Did you hear about Fredrick and Delilah's gossip?"

"I know, right? She is unfortunately lucky."

"You don't think Frederick has a crush on her, do you…?"

Delilah's face grew hotter with each passing remark, and she quickened her pace, eager to escape the gossip mill.

As she reached the cafeteria, the first thing she witnessed was Amy's glare hitting her like a slap in the face, she was sitting with Victoria and some other girls, and seniors.

The aroma of steaming noodles and simmering soups that wafted through the air, mingling with the sound of clinking utensils and lively chatter; seemed to chill, the sounds of the cafeteria fading into the background.

Amy's glare, so intense, burned a scorching hole in her, she trembled, her stomach churning and goosebumps rose her arm.

She slowly made her way to their table, "A~Amy?" She called.

Amy's gaze was intense, her red rimmed eyes expressing her anger. "You seem to have gotten quite popular just in a day Dia, I'm so jealous of you"

She spat, leaning forward, every word dripped with sarcasm, causing the girls at the table to snicker and giggle.

Their eyes eager with excitement for the drama.

Only Victoria didn't laugh, she seemed lost in thoughts.

Delilah's head sunk deeper into her neck, "It wasn't intentional, classmate Fredrick was only helping…"

"Are you the only one there to help!" Amy's hand struck the table as she lost it, the sudden noise ripped through the air like a whip.

The cafeteria fell silent, the only sound the soft hum of the refrigerators and the quiet murmur of hushed conversations.

Delilah trembled fiercely," I'm… I'm sorry, it wasn't intentional. Such won't happen again, please don't be upset." She bowed as she apologized.

Her eyes pricked at the corners, promising tears welled up in her beautiful eyes.