Whiles trying to take off my bag before occupying my seat beside the class window, I spot an intriguing figure roaming in the woods in the distance.

Adrian, seated behind me, tugged incessantly at my shirt. He wanted to show me something hidden in his bag that he had smuggled to school.

Suddenly, an open book blocked my view from everything else in the classroom, magnifying the diagrams and numbers scribbled on the page.

It was Suzanne. Her indirect way of asking if I had done my assignment.

The exercise book parts my face, drawing my attention to the new drawings fastened to the classroom walls.

With widened eyes, I turn in the direction of Bill.

“Where is ours?” I mime. He pulls out a light green manilla card under his desk and opens to show me its contents. I sigh my relief.

A pretty face in front of the class turns to smile and wink at me.

The teacher lets down his newspaper just in time to catch the wink. His cold, scrutinizing look, accentuated by his bald head, shifts from winker to winkee, wilting the broad smile sprouting on my lips.

Sadistic giggles of envious onlookers echo at the back of the class…