Chapter 34: School Tensions (3)
After thinking over his plans for tomorrow and confirming everything, he decided to check on the other new thing he had done earlier that day after coming home from school, which could be considered a bit risky on his part.
With the new progress in his hacking skills, Christian had hacked his math teacher's phone earlier today. He created a small program to track the teacher's location, intending to find the most convenient time to confront him and give him a beating.
The new thing he did today required some programming skills. And while he wasn't particularly proficient in that area, his strength being more in breaking through programs, he had still learned enough from his hacking experience to make it work, and it was good enough for what he needed.
So after checking that the location marker was working properly, Christian could finally say that everything was ready for tomorrow.
Filled with anticipation, excitement, and even a bit of nervousness for tomorrow's events, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to sleep tonight.
As he lay in bed, tossing and turning, he found himself unable to sleep.
Christian started thinking about all the things that had happened to him lately, and suddenly, something came to his mind.
There was this student who had been battling Olivia for the second rank in school, continuously cheating to stay ahead. If she found out about this tomorrow, and especially how it was done with help from the math teacher.
Even if she had previously not cared about the top-ranking students, wouldn't she still be enraged, or be indignant at least if she found out one of them had achieved their position through cheating?
Given how wealthy she seemed, it was impossible that she couldn't leverage her family's influence to address the issue with the school.
So, she should at least interfere with the school, making their punishments more severe and potentially helping him. Or so he thought.
But now that he thought about it, why were they here in Harrisburg in the first place? Shouldn't they be in a bigger city like New York or Washington, DC, which are not too far from here anyway?
While Christian was curious, as he didn't know the reason. He still didn't feel like hacking and searching for it.
If he could get to know Eva later, he could just ask her in the future. And if he couldn't, there would be even less reason to search for answers.
While mulling over various thoughts, Christian finally fell asleep.
…
After waking up and going to school like any other normal day, but filled with motivation unlike usual, Christian was now in his fifth class, watching the female teacher, who appeared to be in her early forties, finish her biology lesson.
Christian couldn't be more awake today at this time as he stared intently at the projector, where the announcement and the article he had written were about to appear.
Looking at the classroom clock across from him and checking the time, he knew that nothing remained just merely seconds. Then, glancing at the digital watch he had bought yesterday specifically for today and watching the timer tick down from thirty seconds, he felt a mix of anticipation and slight nervousness about what was about to happen.
As the number ten ticked down and he realized the moment was almost upon him, Christian suddenly thought it was truly lamentable that the current class wasn't for the math teacher. He really wanted to see his face at this moment.
He wanted to see the math teacher's expression and how it would shift into panic and horror when the article appeared.
But maybe there is really nothing perfect in this world. And this how it meant to be?
But maybe nothing is truly perfect in this world. And perhaps this is just how it was meant to be?
As his thoughts came to an end,
[3]
[2]
[1]
[0]
"Ding, dong. Ding, dong."
The sound from the loudspeaker in the classroom began, not the usual signal that indicated the class had ended, but a different tone, reminiscent of a doorbell ringing.
The sound was accompanied by a change on the projected screen. Instead of the biology class, an article appeared, featuring a photo of the math teacher along with images of each student who had cheated. The assistant principal's photo was also displayed alongside in the corner.
With an eye-catching title that read: [The Education Scandal]
And below it was:
[The Revelation About the Truth of Math Teacher Clayton Murphy and the Assistant Teacher]
Following the sound of ringing, a somewhat robotic but female voice came on, starting with "Announcement, announcement." It then began reading the article aloud while declaring the start of the ensuing mayhem.
The students, initially shocked by the sudden change and unsure of what was happening, fell silent at first. But soon, they all began talking at once, their voices blending into a cacophony of confusion and disbelief.
"What?! That's impossible! Mr. Clayton is a great teacher!"
"How is this being announced in the first place?"
Then a girl, looking at the picture of the male student who was often ranked second or sometimes third in the school, spoke up.
"This is ridiculous! Why did he have to cheat? He's supposed to be a role model!"
The reactions ranged a lot from shock and disbelief to anger and betrayal.
But for the student whose picture was revealed in the article, the reaction was different. Panic was evident on his face as many of the other students crowded around him, questioning him intensely.
While Christian initially reveled in their reactions, knowing that all this chaos was caused by him, he eventually came to his senses. As he realized he needed to make some kind of reaction himself.
He couldn't be the odd one out in this situation after all.
But should he take a stance of disbelief or one of rage? Christian was torn, trying to decide which would be more effective, which would provoke a stronger reaction from others.