HUH?

Mr. Smith knows very well that he should not encourage this student in front of him with more questions based on his experience, but he can't help but keep on questioning. 

"Very!" Ariana boldly answered it quickly.

Of course, regret always comes later!  Because in the end, he is the one who will lose his words. But still, he always gave her a chance.

"So what now? Tell me what happens again. " Let out a long sigh, Mr. Smith asked w ith patience while trying to control himself.

Ariana grinned.

She knows even if Mr. Smith is a fierce person, he always has a soft spot for her. That's why he is her favorite teacher, she always prepares a gift every year for teacher's day. In fact, he is the only teacher she ever gifted with something as the other teacher is not really fond of her as she is quite 'naughty' and not that 'smart'.

But that doesn't mean the other teacher is a bad person. It's just she is also kind of fond of this Mr. Smith like he is her own family.

"You won't believe what happened this morning. I was on my way to school, but because I know I'm already late, I went through that XX Road to get there quickly. You know there very well right Mr. Smith? The rumor that says that the place has always been a place of crime, is probably right. I saw an old man being beaten by a group of people. Being faint heart myself because I could not bear to see people being persecuted, I try very hard to help the old man. I am very lucky that I was not injured. I even said sorry to the old man as I can't help to send him home as I'm already late for school. Don't you think I did a good job today? " Ariana now takes a deep breath as she lose all of oxygen as she tries to say all these things in just one breath.

Even with the explanation, Ariana could swear that she kinda saw the irritated sign on top of Mr. Smith's head then. He looked at his watch and his whole body even trembled.

She knows something is not right.

"So... Can't you cut me some slack today? " Ignoring the rage aura coming from Mr. Smith, Ariana boldly ask.

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS NOW?!!!"

Finally, Mr. Smith shouted a question. The loud sound that came out of him was like a strong wind blowing toward Ariana at that time, making her feel chilled to the bone.

"Umm... 10 in the morning?"

Mr. Smith massage his eyebrows as his migraine seemed to arrive.

"Sorry, Mr. Smith. Last night I watched some thriller movies. It's too much fun that I can't stop. Then this morning my alarm clock..."

"Stop!" Mr. Smith stopped her from talking now. He can't bear to listen to her stories anymore or his head might explode.

"Come here this instant."

Still not getting off the fence Ariana tried to make a request.

"Promise me you won't hit me."

Upset with a student who always made his days restless, Mr. Smith could feel his blood rising again and again. He can't even count anymore.

"Get down now! What are you going to do if this fence falls? My salary has already been cut in half because of you!"

Ariana laughed a bit, remembering what happened before. She accidentally broke the glass door in the school library as she ran around without caring about her surroundings. Weirdly the glass door is the one that was damaged and not her head!

This teacher of hers didn't even ask her or her family for damages, but he repaired it himself. Of course, Ariana will never let it go. She was never one to take advantage of that good person. She secretly transferred the money to his account without his knowledge and seeing him still talking about that means he didn't even realize that yet.

"Promise me first!" Ariana didn't want to back off.

Mr. Smith might be strict but he never breaks his promises. That's probably one of the qualities that make Ariana quite fond of him.

"How can I promise when you are behaving like this? You need to get hit once and twice to come to your senses! Wait there. You didn't want to come, let me come to you. " Mr. Smith started walking fast towards her.

Sensing danger is coming, Ariana jumps from where she is, even though where she is now is quite high from the ground. It's not a problem for her then. She has already been used to all this.

"H-Hey! Careful will you. Do you want to die or what? " Even now, when angry, Mr. Smith is still afraid she might get hurt.

Standing completely on the ground Ariana poses for a while to show him she is just alright before running away.

"Stop! Where are you going?! " Mr. Smith started to chase. He is quite fit even though he is already old. He always makes her remember her own father.

"Don't come after me. I'm going home! " While running Ariana makes her decision. That's probably the best for now.

She managed to look back and found Mr. Smith is still chasing her even though she has already been running for some time.

"Give up already. You'll be sick if you come to me like this! " Ariana shouted while still running.

From a distance, she can hear Mr. Smith still nagging her nonstop while panting.

"You brat... Already in her senior year... What do you want to be if you behave like this? Stop there!!!"

Of course not. Ariana really ran for her life after seeing Mr. Smith determined face to catch her.

The 'chasing' between her and Mr. Smith walks for quite a while before Ariana decides to hide in a park while panting.

"What an opponent that Mr. Smith. I'm not always out of breath like this. " She said to herself while still alert to her surroundings.

After realizing that Mr. Smith is not following her anymore, she ended up sitting on a bench there while exhaling her breath, tired.

She didn't know why, but if she does sports, martial art, or even fighting she never feels tired like this but running away from Mr. Smith always makes her drain. Right, this isn't the first time this is happening.

"Where is he now? Back to school? Hopefully, he is doing alright."

Ariana chuckled now while remembering Mr. Smith's red face, who looks so determined to bring her down.

Now, she took out her smartphone to inform her best friend what just happened.

*Using messaging apps*

Ariana:

- Don't look for me today. I just finished a hell of a marathon.

Lily:

- Again?! What are you? Are you an athlete? Wait, should I give Mr. Smith some refreshments? He sure is tough for that age.

Ariana:

- Give him his favorite juice then. I will pay you later. Thanks!

Put her smartphone back in her pocket after finishing what she wanted to say, Ariana then got up and started stretching.

"Argh! What a good workout for today. Thanks to you Mr. Smith."

She decides to go home as she doesn't know what she wants to do anymore, but, her eyes caught on to something.

The new shop not far from her looked so interesting, making her curious. Slowly she approached and peered from the outside.

It's a flower shop and based on her observation the shop is not just selling bouquet flowers, but also fresh flowers planted in pots. It's like a mini garden inside!

Ariana has a secret. Even if she behaves like a tomboy, she really falls in love with flowers and plants (of course besides her love for food). She didn't even share this with her father and brothers, but her mother knew about this well.

The secret is actually not a big deal. She just didn't want her brothers to tease her about this. She is fine with them getting angry with her about her not being feminine rather than being teased about this. So this became a secret between her and her mother. Girl's secret!

Slowly, she entered the shop premises as she was fascinated by what she was seeing. There are a lot of types of plants that she has never seen up close and only read about in books but it's there. It's really exciting!

Suddenly,

"Welcome, may I help you?"

Ariana jumped a little there hearing the greeting. There, a man who looked a little older than her approached where she was standing at that time.

He came in with a smiling face, wearing layers of clothes with an apron on top which had rose petals here and there stuck there.

Ariana gaped seeing him walk closer as if she just looked at an angel. When he was right in front of her,

"Oh my, flower boy..." She blurted that out without thinking.

"Sorry?" Confused, the man didn't really get what she was saying.

With him saying that Ariana returned to her reality.

"I-I mean," She got flustered even though she usually wasn't like that. She also didn't know why. This is the first time she is like this. Nervous without a solid reason.

Then, she just said what was on her mind.

"Do you know that roses have 150 species and a thousand hybrid ones?"

Both now blinking at each other in confused.

"Huh?"