Chapter 49 - Another Day at Joyville International

This time, Scarlet made sure to wake up an hour earlier so that they wouldn't be late. Alex was feeling the ache in her legs from walking that much and standing on the bus, but she persevered. It was only the second day of school after all and all three children were excited to be going back to school to work on what they wanted.

Scarlet got a seat on the bus while Alex and Jasper stood. They were earlier than usual so the bus wasn't as crowded and the roads weren't as congested. The blogger had dark circles underneath her eyes but Jasper didn't comment about it. Alex didn't really notice them but she thought Scarlet looked tired.

"Can I help to carry your bag?" she asked. "You look tired today."

Scarlet yawned and smiled at her sister in decline. She was seated anyway, there was not much use in carrying the bag that was already on the floor. Still, it was a nice gesture and that put a smile on Scarlet's face.

The trio made it to school this time on time. The security at the counter saw them and immediately stood up to bow as they passed. The girls paid no attention as they walked to their classroom with Scarlet hobbling along.

Jasper helped the girl settle down in class with her laptop and promised to be back for lunch.

"Where are you going?" the Wilde princess asked even though she had a guess.

The gardener's boy grinned and waved goodbye before running off. "I have a man-to-man promise to keep!"

Alex decided to keep Scarlet company for the compulsory lessons today. Like Jasper and Scarlet, the Wilde princess had her private agenda too. Still, she was in no hurry and can attend to it after the two-hour lesson. Danny was a fun teacher and she was looking forward to some of his classes.

"Good morning everyone! Are we ready to start our basic math lessons?"

Scarlet felt her eye twitch at the obscenely bright colour Danny chose to wear today. He wore bright pink trousers with white polka dots that went surprisingly well with his white sneakers. This time, he got rid of the suspenders and opted for a lime green sports top instead. The thick-framed glasses was still perched heavily on his nose. Scarlet tried to give the outfit a rating but her common sense scale was broken. How did the school employ such a counsellor again? Also, did Danny mention basic Math?

"I thought we were having a different teacher for each subject?" Alex took the words right out of Scarlet's mouth.

Danny blinked. "Is that so? Do you have a problem with me teaching?"

Alex shook her head and Danny resumed his cheerful self, ignoring the question and continuing with class. Scarlet didn't know what to expect from Danny with his quirky attitude. If anything, she didn't know what the counsellor could accomplish. Physical Education class was fine because you didn't really have to be trained in how to play a sport professionally to teach. Just a healthy dose of common sense is good enough. On the other hand, Math isn't something that can be taught without going through some sort of formal education or training.

To the girls' surprise, Danny was not only an excellent teacher but one who knew just how to push them to be better versions of who they were. He didn't just teach Math. He linked Math to Physics and Chemistry for a more practical application. It was also used to teach basic business and economics, something normal children wouldn't have to deal with until they were in their late teens.

Still, to Alex and Scarlet, they soaked in the new knowledge like good sponges. Scarlet listened to the stories Danny told with gusto. Her writer mind was spinning information in the back of her head into potential stories just waiting for the right moment to explode while Alex was beginning to feel depressed at her lack of knowledge. No wonder her father wanted them to be independent. She'd been too sheltered from the world and imprisoned behind luxurious walls.

Their notebooks were full of scribbles as Dany talked. The whiteboard was completely free of marker ink and it was amazing how lessons were conducted. Time flew by quickly and they were only left with fifteen more minutes before the lesson ended. Still, Danny didn't touch on the topic he had to teach that was meant to be 'pi' for calculating circles.

It was only to the last five minutes that Danny got back on track and uncapped a marker to scribble two lines on the board. On one line was the formula for calculating the circle's diameter and on the other, was a line for the formula to calculate a circle's area.

Danny then drew a circle that looked more like an oval and drew a line out from the centre. "This," he pointed at the line and labelled it "r". "This is called the radius. The diameter is formed by two radii and "pi" is a greek thing for the value of 3.14 or 22/7 whichever is provided in your questions. Homework will be the entire chapter on circles due next week. You can skip all the questions in section A and B. I only want to see how you managed for the word problem questions in Section C. That's all for today, class dismissed!"

Danny didn't even wait for the girls to pack up before walking out, leaving Scarlet and Alex rushing to finish taking down the questions they needed to do for homework. Alex thought that Jasper was in a lot of trouble for skipping class. After all, Danny did share a lot more than just Math in the class. What if all these came out for their test? Will he fail?

Scarlet was already flipping through the questions and decided that she might as well get them done before lunch so that she can spend the entire afternoon with Ms Connor. She wanted to do some preparations before the tutor arrived because she wanted to make a good impression. It would be the first time someone was going to be looking at not just her work but also her heart.

Alex watched Scarlet scribble down answers on a blank piece of paper and then back to the board. How can she understand what Danny was talking about in five minutes? The Wilde heiress looked at the thick textbook and sighed. Unlike Scarlet, she wasn't as quick to understand the crash course lesson.

Still, it didn't deter the blonde from trying. She flipped open to the examples section in her textbook and tried it out with the easier questions before checking her answers with the book. This process repeated for a few times before Alex attempted the questions.

From the security room, a flamboyantly dressed man observed with unblinking eyes. It was difficult to recognise the same jovial man from earlier if it wasn't for his unique sense of fashion. His interest was more towards the girl with a cast and the boy who took over the teacher's job in the delinquents' classroom. The counsellor wrote his observations down in a diary to add to the special children's' portfolio later. The school just might find some really interesting talents this year.