Chapter 9 "Don't make me anxious"

Dad always looked at me with a proud smile and patted my head for standing up for myself.. He often said "You are my daughter and my daughter can return home after getting bruised in a one on one fight.. and can also beat anyone who makes things difficult for you.. but remember one thing, you must never come back and cry in front of me after getting beaten up.."

"You should cherish yourself and make sure to pay those people back who make you feel bad or hurt you, whether it is physically, mentally or emotionally.. Just do whatever you want to do.. and if things go wrong, just remember that I'm here for you.. but make sure you don't hurt innocent people.."

That's my dad for you.. he'd always encourage me and motivate me to do things that I like.. but yeah.. we went off topic there a little bit..

After the bell went off we all went to our seats and soon after teacher Matthew, Who's also the homeroom teacher for class 8th, which means my class, came with some books in his hands.. wearing glasses..

He's my favorite teacher.. he helped me out many times in situations where I needed emotional support.. he guided me with my studies and also whenever I had fights with Rico, he helped me sort them out.. many times we were about to go physical but he made sure we didn't..

He was always very friendly with everyone.. He was everyone's favorite I guess.. But sometimes when he got serious, you can't escape the punishment..

Teacher Matthew put all his things on the desk then looked around the class to make sure that everyone was paying attention to him..

"Alright class.. pay attention because I'm going to take your attendance.. and after the class is over, I have something important to tell you.. so let's get to it.."

Teacher Matthew started to take attendance but Yuna still hadn't made it to the class.. and I was getting anxious for her because if she missed the attendance, then the school will call at her home to notify her parents, and things' gonna get complicated..

Choi Yuna's a fun loving girl.. always showing you her best and cheerful side.. but there was something she never told anyone until one day.. when she was late to school and missed the first class, the school made a call to her parents and things got ugly when she got home after school..

Her father was a gambling addict.. he never liked to get himself involved in the lives of his kids or wife.. but he got a sh*tty temper for receiving complaints.. he beat Yuna till she fainted.. after that she skipped school for five days, giving the excuse of getting sick..

You must be thinking how I found out? So, it happened one day, when we went to a hot spring as we are both from country A and we love things like that.. and I coincidently saw the bruises on her back.. I asked her about it, she said that she it was because she fell from the stairs.. And accepted her answer, although having some doubts..

After that day I asked her if we could go and study at her house.. I'd never been to her house before because she said that her dad didn't like when she got friends over..

But one day when I went to her house to study with her, because we had exams coming.. She said that her dad wasn't coming home that day so she'd take me to her home.. But when we went on studying for an hour or so, her dad came home pretty drunk and started throwing things around the house..

Her mom tried to make him calm down but he was not listening to her and started beating her.. Yuna heard her mom's voice and went downstairs to stop her dad.. but her dad started beating her up too..

I was too shocked to do anything, so I made a call to the police.. the police came pretty fast, and took her dad with them.. Yuna and her mom were sent to the hospital.. I went with them and gave my statement to the police..

That day Yuna cried in front of me and told me about the time we were in the hot spring, the bruises were because of the beating.. I just hugged her and let her cry.. and told her to not tolerate this kind of behaviour..

Her mom didn't file any charges and her dad came back home after a week of stay at the lock up.. After that day her dad forbade her from taking any friends home..

And that was the reason I was anxious.. she was late again and it was going to turn badly for her.. either she came early before her name was called out or we'd have to prevent the teacher from calling her parents.. and convincing him to do that was a hassle in itself..

But I guess God was on our side.. Yuna came running to the class "Excuse me Sir.. may I come in?" She spoke as she was trying to catch her breath..

Teacher Matthew looked at her and then looked at the register "You are lucky miss Yuna.. I was just about to call out your name for the attendance and you came.. You can come in I guess.. I'll let it slide today.. but make sure you come on time and I hope this won't happen the next time.. because you know the consequences.. now hurry up.."

"Thank you sir.. I'll keep that in mind.. and make sure this doesn't happen again.." She quickly made her way to her seat and sat there.. after drinking a few sips of water, she looked at me and winked..

I furrowed my brows at her carefree behavior and sighed while shaking my head.. "You know.. I was about to have a panic attack if you were a single minute more late.. Girl stop making me anxious.." I whispered to her..

She looked towards to teacher if he was looking this way or not.. after making sure that he was not, she whispered back.. "I'll tell you after class, about what happened.. so, don't worry about it.."

I nodded my head and went back to looking at my book..

After the attendance was over Teacher Matthew started to teach us mathematics.. time went by quickly, it was about time the class ended.. Teacher Matthew closed his book and looked towards us and said "So the important thing I was going to tell you'll was that.. our school is going to host this year's sports festival.. so all of you have to participate in it.. the one who participate in any kind of sport, will get bonus marks.. and non-participant's marks will be deducted.."

After taking a small pause he looked at his watch and said again "So, today after school, give your name and sport, in which you'll take part, to the class representative.. the class is over.." He picked up his books and left the class..