Chapter 2: Math

The first period of math class is just getting started, and the teacher, Mr. Li Wang, is giving an introductory lecture about the new concept they will be learning today. He explains the principle behind the concept and works through a few examples on the whiteboard to show the students how it works. The students are listening intently, taking notes and asking questions to reinforce their understanding of the material.

Thomas and Melissa are sitting up front, listening closely and seemingly taking notes as well. As Mr. Li Wang goes through the lecture, he notices the two of them paying close attention, or, at least that's what can be observed.

Thomas is paying careful attention to the lecture, listening closely and taking notes as Mr. Li Wang explains. But, this was usually how Thomas was. He always seems genuinely interested in the material and asks thoughtful questions to clarify certain aspects of the theory.

Melissa, on the other hand, is only half-listening to the lecture. She is pretending to take notes but is not focusing on the material and mostly tuning out the lesson. Every now and then, she will jot down a few words here and there, but she is more concerned about her own plans than the class itself.

More specifically, Melissa's attention was focused on the potential plan for tomorrow. The text she had sent Jessica moments ago already confirmed at least one friend’s participation. She knew Cole would go along with practically anything. The other two, she wasn't entirely sure. At least Thomas was already on board. But God, tomorrow couldn't come any sooner.

Melissa studies the classroom, taking in the details of her surroundings. The rows of desks, the chalkboards, and the various drawings and diagrams plastered on the wall are all part of the usual classroom setup. The lighting is a bit dim and the air is a bit stuffy, as most of the students are currently focused on their notes and the lecture.

Melissa hears Mr. Li Wang begin to call on some of the students to come up to the whiteboard and solve a few problems for the class. Well not exactly call up, but suggest a few names who would rather not. In her head, she laughs to herself. Thomas nudges Melissa, drawing her attention away from her thoughts. He quickly jots down a quick math note on her paper and gestures towards the board as if to tell her to write it down.

She glances at the note and then quickly grabs her pen and jots it down. Thomas gives her a quick nod before returning his attention to the lecture and the whiteboard.

She looks at him,

“Smart ass...” Melissa whispers playfully with a smile.

Thomas smiles back at her, clearly enjoying their little exchange. He whispers a quick response back to her, knowing that no one else can hear what they are saying.

"Better to be a smartass than a dumbass."

The two of them share a quick and quiet chuckle as Mr. Li Wang continues speaking and writing on the board.

Thomas winks at Melissa before focusing his attention back on the lesson. There was that familiar feeling in her stomach. She had hooked up with a boy or two in the past, but this feeling was never there. Melissa can't help but notice the way Thomas is looking at her. She feels a strange mixture of butterflies in her stomach and an uneasy feeling in her chest. She's never experienced this feeling before with anyone else, and it's making her feel a bit anxious.

She tries to focus on the lesson and ignore Thomas, but she keeps finding herself glancing over at him. The two have been friends since kindergarten, but this was only a recent thing in the past two years. Melissa never acted on it, but she didn't exactly shy away from it. Suddenly, Mr. Li Wang stops speaking and turns his attention to the board, which now has a complicated-looking math problem written on it. He looks around the class and calls on a student to come up to the whiteboard and solve the problem. The eyes of the class immediately turn toward the front of the room, and Melissa's attention is diverted as she watches to see who will be chosen to solve the problem.

After scanning the room briefly, Mr. Li Wang lands on a specific student and calls out his name. "Andrea, please come to the whiteboard and solve the problem."

The class remains silent for a moment, as they wait for Andrea to make his way up to the front of the classroom. Thomas and Melissa both watch as Andrea gets up from his seat and walks over to the whiteboard. The boy wasn't particularly good with English, but his teacher didn't discriminate. Thankfully, it actually helped Andrea improve, even though this wasn't exactly English class. Regardless, the shy boy reached the whiteboard and seemed to be studying it within seconds. Thomas and Melissa watch Andrea as he nervously walks up to the whiteboard to solve the problem. Thomas can sense the tension in the air and is curious to see how Andrea will fare in front of the class.

While Melissa is also watching the situation closely, she has a different plan in mind. She knows that if she makes the right moves, she could use this situation to her advantage. Mr. Li Wang turns to Andrea and gestures towards the board.

"Okay, Andrea. Can you walk the class through the process of solving this problem step by step?"

Andrea nods nervously and looks up at the board. He takes a deep breath and begins to explain the process to the class, working through the problem step by step. Melissa is listening intently, trying to keep track of every word that Andrea says. Thomas, on the other hand, is watching the situation unfold with a bit of skepticism and curiosity. Andrea walks up to the whiteboard, visibly nervous and uncomfortable in the spotlight. He begins to explain the process of solving the problem, but his words are a bit flustered and unorganized, as if he is trying to remember the steps quickly.

He can feel the eyes of the class on him and he tries his best to remain calm and steady. His nervous demeanour is evident as he struggles to find the words he needs to explain the steps to the class.

"Umm okay, so the problem is, um, it's asking me to find the value of x in the equation..."

Andrea can feel the pressure of everyone's eyes on him and he gets even more anxious and nervous as he tries to gather his thoughts and explain the problem. He's trying to remember the exact wording of the problem and the steps required to solve it, but his nervousness is preventing him from communicating clearly.

“We can't hear you!” Melissa calls to him with a light tone.

Thomas looks at her with a smirk. The rest of the class seems to be embarrassed for Andrea, while some are smiling. Andrea hears Melissa's comment and freezes, caught off guard by her sudden interjection. He looks over at her and is embarrassed by the attention she is drawing to his discomfort. Thomas can't help but smile as he watches the situation unfold. The class is divided in their reaction to Melissa's comment. Still, their reactions hardly change. Again, some students are smiling or laughing at the situation, while others are feeling embarrassed for Andrea and his struggle to focus on the problem. It remains this way for the rest of the long ten minutes.

Meanwhile, Mr. Li Wang continues to watch Andrea with a look of concern and slight impatience.

“Try speaking up a bit, Andrea.” Mr. Li Wang suggests.

Andrea tries to take a deep breath and compose himself. He takes a moment to glance at Melissa, who is now giggling with Thomas. He turns back to the board and tries to speak louder.

"O-okay, okay. So the problem is asking me to find the value of x in..."

He trails off as he struggles with his words and finds it difficult to speak in front of the class. Meanwhile, Mr. Li Wang continues to watch Andrea, clearly trying to be patient and encouraging, but also becoming increasingly frustrated with Andrea's hesitance. Andrea takes another deep breath and tries to focus on the problem in front of him. He looks at the board and tries to gather his thoughts and solve the problem.

"Okay, so... the value of x is... um... it's... it's... uh... it's five because..."

His voice trails off as the pressure of being in front of the entire class and the expectation from Mr. Li Wang continues to build. He can feel himself getting frustrated and stressed, as he desperately tries to figure out the problem and solve it in front of everyone.

“I still can't hear him,” Melissa says.

“Melissa.” Mr. Li Wang looks at her.

“Sorry, I guess I won't hear him then.” She shrugs with a smile.

“You got this, Andrea!” She adds. Her fake encouragement caused the boy to sweat a little.

Thomas smiles and nods at him with the same amount of phoniness as his friend. Andrea looks over at Melissa and Thomas, who are both now openly smiling and encouraging him to continue. He can't help but feel a bit of comfort from their support, despite the obvious fake nature of their encouragement. This slight boost of confidence to stick it to them gives him a bit more motivation to continue solving the problem. He continues to concentrate on the problem and tries to work through the steps in his head.

After a few moments, he looks up at the board and starts to explain the process in a slightly more confident manner. He seems to be making progress.

“Why did he say it like that-” Thomas mutters loud enough for Andrea to hear him.

Andrea hears Thomas's remark and boom, the discouragement comes back a bit. He tries not to let it affect him and presses on with explaining the steps to solving the problem. Meanwhile, Mr. Li Wang can sense the tension in the air. He is beginning to lose his patience with Melissa calling out his inability to solve the problem, but he keeps looking over at him, hoping that he doesn't completely break down in front of the entire class. Andrea takes a deep breath and looks up at the board. He can see the final solution to the problem in front of him and he feels a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.

He looks back over at the class and sees that they are now watching him with bated breath. He takes a moment to collect himself and then begins to explain the solution. He speaks clearly and confidently, explaining each step of the process in a way that is easy to understand and replicate. Mr. Li Wang watches Andrea with satisfaction as the solution makes sense and the class begins to understand the material. Andrea takes another deep breath and finishes off his explanation of the solution. The confidence that he had gained throughout the question quickly vanishes as he stutters over his words and trips on his own tongue, stumbling over the final part of the lesson. He freezes for a moment, embarrassed by his mistake, and then manages to utter a quick "um" before ending his presentation.

Mr. Li Wang isn't impatient with Andrea's slow pace and fumbling response but rather encouraging. He glances over at the class and can see that some of the students are starting to get impatient with the entire thing. But not really. Melissa gives her classmate one final push of encouragement,

“Whoo! You did great!” The sarcasm was noticeable enough to rush Andrea to his seat.

Thomas laughs with her. With one last praise from his teacher, Andrea is done. Andrea takes his seat and tries to recover from the embarrassment that he just experienced. Melissa and Thomas continue to laugh as Mr. Li Wang looks over at them with annoyance. He shakes his head and starts to move on to the next lesson. The class watches in silence as Mr. Li Wang goes back to teaching and everyone begins to settle down.

Andrea looks over at Melissa and Thomas who are still giggling and sharing a glance. He feels slightly humiliated and embarrassed, but also a bit relieved that the situation is now over. Andrea feels his face grow hot as he looks down to see the sweat on his palm from the stress and pressure of the situation. He quickly wipes his hand on his thigh and looks back up at the class. He can feel the eyes of the class on him, judging him and his failure to solve the problem with ease. He suddenly feels very small and insignificant in front of everyone.

At the same time, he is also relieved that the situation is now over and that the class has moved on to the next lesson. But as a final blow, Andrea notices his teacher switch the marker from one hand to the other, wiping the previously occupied hand on his shirt. Andrea’s palms started their work out the minute he stepped up there... Andrea just wanted to shrink away. He can't help but feel a bit humiliated and embarrassed by Mr. Li Wang's actions. The boy believes his teacher is frustrated with his performance in front of the class and is trying to make him feel even worse.

Andrea can feel himself starting to tense up and shrink away from the situation. He can feel the sweat on his palms as it starts to slowly trickle down his arm. He wants to disappear and not have to deal with this anymore, but he knows he can't escape the situation so easily. But that's not how Mr. Li Wang thought of him, however, Andrea’s mind wouldn't let him see it another way. From across the room, Thomas and Melissa smiled to themselves as they took notes. Andrea looked away from them and back at his binder.