This chapter is in the POV of the boy in glasses, who will finally be named. I also explore his past, and there's a time skip. Enjoy!
Chapter Four
The end of the year passed, and the summer, too. As the first day of the new school year arrived, one young boy entered the school with all his other peers. He was of average size, handsome, and good at soccer. He wore thick glasses, and was well known for breaking the tradition two years in a row of 'eighth-grader only wins the science fair'. He was also well known among the girls for his good looks. They loved his modesty, his intelligence, and his helpfulness. He never seemed to have any problem in class, and he was a star player on the soccer team, and was physically fit.
The boy ignored all attention given to him by girls and doting fans. He'd had plenty of experience with them before, and knew all they were was just a big pain. Plus, he'd had his heart broken by a girl in the past, and wasn't willing to let anyone else in.
When roll was called, his name was always skipped, since all the teachers in the school knew his name from his multiple achievements. He'd been offered numerous advanced training, like skipping grades, but he always declined, even when'd he'd gotten an almost perfect score on a practice SAT.
He spent his day in class reading, and none of the teachers cared. They figured he was a multi-tasker, and was listening to class while reading his book, and he'd never given them any reason to doubt it.
However, the boy had a secret. He actually never paid attention. His books were always more interesting than anything any teacher had ever done. Teachers were always taken by his intelligence and his willingness to help his peers, so they never punished him for anything.
He'd moved from Japan a few years before, after having his heart broken by a girl who had moved suddenly. He'd searched all over Japan for years, until he'd at last given up. The place he lived held memories of him and the girl, so he moved to where his parents lived in L.A. to get away from them. He'd become an instant celebrity once people got to know him, and he'd never given them a reason to change his status.
Eighth grade chemistry was, he thought, likely to be boring. He walked into class, pulled out a book, and started reading. Although it was never spoken aloud, all the novels he ever read were detective novels of various kinds, though obviously many had noticed it. When the class started, though, he decided to pay attention to the start of course speech, so he'd know class rules and other stuff, just in case he needed to.
In this class, though, there weren't many rules. The teacher, Miss Graythorn, had started off by not saying most rules out loud, and had instead pointed to a poster on the wall. She said that rules likes respect and responsibility were a given and should not have to be reiterated. She said everyone would be obliged to follow them, and if anyone stepped out of line, then something drastic would happen, though she didn't specify.
Then she explained the layout of the room, and where everything was. She said that just about anything was there for students to use, and if it wasn't on or behind her desk, then they could do whatever they wanted with it. She had stressed, though, that behaving irresponsibly would turn the whole eighth grade class against them, since if they broke something, or she had to remove fun activities from the room, then no one in any class could do anything with it.
Finally she explained the grading system. She said she didn't really give out much homework, since most kids would do it right before class, and wouldn't learn anything by rushing, and would turn in something sloppy. Any work not done in class could be turned in the next day for no penalty, but any later than the first five minutes would result in grades to be dropped. Tests and quizzes were to be done on the day they were given. Projects could be done either by yourself or with others. Lab work was only to be done in her presence, and if anyone wanted to work outside of class, they had to schedule a time with her.
She then went over typical lab safety, and passed out parental consent forms, though she said that she thought they were unnecessary because they were all teenagers, and they could take care of themselves. She stressed that any horseplay in the lab would result in drastic punishment, and all students should learn the safety rules OR ELSE.
The boy in the glasses was surprised by the teacher's attitude. She had actually considered the students' feelings on the whole thing when presenting. She'd joked with them, laid down the rules, and everyone was paying attention, and not side barring, which for that class had to be some kind of record. It was obvious that she was teaching because she actually cared for the students, and not because of the money involved, or the power of influencing young people. She even adjusted her classes according to what they wanted, though it had to relate to something on curriculum, or they'd all be in trouble.
She was also very outspoken, though she had a naturally soft voice. She gave her personal opinions on topics, joked in class, and was always nice before being strict. The boy soon realized that even though the classwork itself was likely to be very boring, the class itself wasn't in any way.
Then she called the roll. She said that the only reason she was doing it was so that she could get to know everyone, and once that was done, she'd never have to do it again, making everyone happy, since they all hated teachers at the start of class calling roll every day.
She also didn't do any get-to-know-you stuff since she figured that everyone already knew everyone else, and she could find out what she needed to know simply by observing their behavior and their classwork. She then had given them several assignments of varying difficulty, and told them to do it in any way they saw fit, though she'd keep a close eye out for cheaters.
The boy was very intrigued by the teacher. She was young, though obviously older than any of them by at least a decade. She also knew the material very well, but never showed off. She even had extra coaching after school for walk-ins if anyone needed it. She was also rather pretty, though she didn't show it off at all. She also seemed somewhat familiar, but he couldn't think of how.
He noticed a constant sadness behind her eyes, though it never showed on her face. He figured she'd had heartache at some point in the past, and hid it completely to not show anyone that the great Miss Graythorn could have a weak link of any kind. He therefore resolved to befriend her, as he'd never done to any of the other teachers he'd ever had. After class, he went up to her.
"Miss Graythorn?"
"Yes?" Her tone was friendly and encouraging, and the boy realized that she'd probably never had any of her students come up to her like this, unless it was for help on homework or something, and especially not on a day where they did hardly nothing.
"I'd just like to say that your class today was very intriguing, even for someone like me."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well, it's just that your class was so…different than any other class I've ever been in. You're a lot more open with the students than most teachers, and you can anticipate their wants and needs and react to them better than anyone else. I actually found myself paying attention to everything you said. "
"Why, thank you young man. No one has ever complimented my work like that before. I'm just happy that someone enjoys being in my class as much as I like teaching students."
The boy was feeling a lot more cheerful than normal, and so said, "In that case, let's be friends! That alright with you, ma'am?"
"Sure! No student has ever treated me as more than a teacher before." They shook hands then. "Vi Graythorn," said Vi.
"Jimmy Kudo," said the boy. They finished shaking hands, and then the boy left.
For anyone who guessed correctly that the boy was Shinichi, good work! Also, if you guessed his name, good work on that, too! He doesn't recognize her as Ai because of her personality change, just as she didn't recognize him last chapter for the same reason.
Half the point of this fic is that they don't find out who the other is until the end, which is why it's 'Suspense'. It's suspenseful because you're thinking, 'Will they finally realize who the other is, now?'
Anyways, read and review! Next chapter Vi tries to get Jimmy to open up more, since she's convinced he's not Shinichi.
