Two

"Before we start today's material, I would like to introduce someone to you first," a man said, standing by the whiteboard and watching the students sitting in front of him.

"Excuse me, Mr. Brooks" one girl raised a hand and made the others turn their heads towards her. "Do you mean new student?" she asked, looking at the man who was Mr. Brooks, the school's history teacher.

"Right. He is a new student" replied Mr. Brooks nodding his head. Then he turned. "Please come in," he said, staring at the open door.

A man walked in, stepped into the classroom, and walked over to Mr. Brooks. Then he stopped and stood next to him.

"Grace!" Kaylee said, patting the shoulder of her friend sitting in front of her.

"What?" Grace asked, lowering her head and busy scribbling on a book that was on the table.

"That's the guy who hit you earlier" Kaylee replied, looking at the man standing in front there.

Grace immediately stopped and slowly lifted her head. But her eyes widened when she saw the man who accidentally bumped into her earlier.

"Turns out my guess was right he was a new student" Kaylee added, snapping Grace out of her reverie. "No wonder why we've never seen him before"

"Please introduce yourself to your friends," Mr. Brooks said, looking at the man standing next to him.

The man nodded. Then he looked away. "Hi, everyone. My name is Theo Hawthorne, and I just moved here. And I used to live in Canada" he said, looking straight ahead and watching the students with a smile on his face.

"Hi, Theo, nice to meet you" a female student replied.

"Hi, nice to meet you too" Theo smiled.

"Theo, may I ask you something?" another female student asked, and made her friends turn their heads towards her.

"Sure" Theo nodded. "You can ask anything"

"Do you have a girlfriend?" asked the female student.

Grace immediately sighed, rolled her eyes, and looked away.

As for the other students, they shouted at the female student and made the whole class noisy.

However, Theo just chuckled, shaking his head without saying anything. He didn't even answer the girl's question.

"Everyone please calm down," Mr. Brooks said, causing them to instantly fall silent and lower their heads. "And, Jessica, if you want to ask Theo that, you can ask him during recess."

"Yes, sir," replied the female student bowing her head.

"Okay, have a seat, Theo. You are free to sit anywhere" Mr. Brooks turned and looked at the new student.

"Sure. Thank you, sir," Theo replied, nodding his head and smiling. Then he walked over to one of the empty chairs.

A few moments later, he stopped, put the bag he was carrying on the table, and sat down in a chair. Then he looked straight ahead and noticed Mr. Brooks who was standing in front there.

Grace slowly turned and saw the new student who was sitting right next to her. But the man turned and looked at Grace with a smile etched on his face.

Grace immediately looked away, lowered her head, and looked embarrassed. It was as if Theo's smile affected her.

Mr. Brooks nodded. "Alright, let's start today's material"

***

Grace fell silent, lowered her head, and stared at a drawing book sitting on the table. While her hands were busy scribbling the book.

"There's something I want to ask you," Kaylee said, noticing the glass of strawberry milkshake that was on the table.

Grace immediately stopped. "Something?" she frowned and turned to look at her friend. "About what?"

"About your hobby" Kaylee replied. Then she turned to look at Grace who was sitting in front of her. "I forgot to ask this before or not," she said, making Grace raise an eyebrow. "If I may ask, since when did you like to draw?"

"Since I was 7 years old" Grace replied. "At that time my mother gave me a drawing book and colored pencils and she said that when she was young she loved to draw. She once dreamed of becoming a painter"

"Does your mother want you to be like her? And she wants you to make her dreams come true?" Kaylee asked, frowning and looking at Grace.

"No." Grace shook her head. "She never said that. She didn't even tell me to become a painter. But after I drew, I found it so much fun. And I couldn't stop doing it" she explained, lowered her head, and continued her activities.

Kaylee nodded. "That means you have talent as your mother has. And I'm sure she must be very proud of you" she said, averting her eyes and looking around the crowded cafeteria.

Grace just smiled, continuing to scribble on the picture book without saying anything.

"Theo, you haven't answered my previous question."

"Your question? Wait, which question are you referring to?"

"When I asked, do you have a girlfriend? You haven't answered yet"

Kaylee immediately frowned when she accidentally saw Theo who was walking with a girl.

Theo chuckled. "Oh, about that," he said, looking away. Then he turned. "Sorry, but I can't answer it. Because it's privacy"

"It's okay" the girl nodded. "And if I may ask, where did you live in Canada?" she asked, looking at Theo who was walking beside her.

"In Toronto," Theo replied, turning to the girl.

"Wow! That is one of my favorite cities" the girl said.

"Is that true?" Theo raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," the girl nodded. "I want to live there. Because I like big cities"

"Hopefully someday you can go to Toronto and live there," Theo said, looking at the girl with a smile etched on his face.

"Thank you" the girl smiled. "And I hope so"

Theo just smiled, looked away, and kept walking.

"Look, it looks like Jessica is trying to seduce the new student," Kaylee said without taking her eyes off Theo and the girl.

Grace immediately stopped, turned to her left, and saw them walking side by side. Then she sighed. "I'm not surprised. Because the new student does have such a handsome face" she said, bowed her head, and continued her activities.

"But I don't like seeing it!" Kaylee said, turning to look at Grace. "Because as you know, Jessica always tries to seduce the famous guys in this school. Even after you and Cam broke up, she tried to seduce him. Luckily, Cam always ignored her"

"Then you feel jealous of her?" Grace asked without lifting her head and looking at her friend.

Kaylee immediately snorted. "There's no point in me envying a girl like her. Because it looks embarrassing" she said, averting her eyes.