Purple Romance

THE YEAR 2011 COSMOS TOWN JOHN MILLS SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL. CLASS 3A

A student rushed into the classroom and stood in front of the board panting with heavy breathes as he spoke ''hey, hey, guys quiet down and listen to big news, I have fresh scope for you guys'' he picked a bottle of water from a classmate's table and unscrewed it to drink.

The students in the class about 20 in number all turned and quietened down looking at the boy in front of the board. He was the main news-getter in the school. The first to always have first-hand news about everything and anything going on in the school so whenever he stood on the podium anytime, the students would always give him their attention. After all, who didn't love to hear gossip at that stage. They were rich kids who lived for the entertainment and fun part of school life.

The boy smirked knowing he had gotten their attention. He looked towards the door before saying ''we will be having a new English teacher since Mrs. Mills is gone on maternity leave''. He told the students feeling rather proud to have gotten such firsthand news.

''What does that have to do with us, Charles Manus?'' A student in the first three row of seats asked arrogantly as she mentioned the boy's name.

Charles Manus shrugged his shoulders saying ''it does have everything to do with you, miss campus belle Karen Kash because your little title is going to be given to her''

''Oooohwoooo'' the class hailed and erupted into laughter.

''What?'' Karen Kash said angrily and glared at Charles Manus.

'"The English teacher is young and very beautiful. She graduated from the top of her class. She is intelligent and even skipped a few grades to enter the University. She was the youngest in her class and graduated with honors. According to my father, the dean, he had gone to the school to personally ask for her to come here and work. You know my father, he doesn't praise people that easily, right? But, he even said everything about this teacher is perfect. A femme fatale. You know the saying 'brown choco is the best', right?"

Charles Manus finished and felt quite satisfied with himself for having such indept knowledge.

''Is she single? I would like to date her if she is?'' another boy named Globus Jun said making the class to erupt into another fit of laughter.

''Not in this lifetime, maybe when you are reborn again, Globus Jun, which is never going to happen because she is way out of your league'' Charles Manus said. As the class was busy now talking about the new teacher, a boy with brown hair and greenish eyes sauntered elegantly into the classroom with his backpack hanging on his shoulders. He stopped at the door and looked at the class with a bored and calm expression.

The whole class immediately turned quiet and everyone looked at him.

If Karen Kash was the campus belle then this boy was the school hunk also known as the most beautiful and handsome boy in the school.

He had an aloof attitude and always kept to himself. He only had a few friends in the class but he wasn't snobbish and would help anyone who came to him for help. Only that, he hated noisy environments like the situation in the class at that moment.

''Noisy'' the boy said casually while looking at Charles Manus. His voice was deep yet hoarse and he had an Asian accent to it which made it sound foreign from the original Cosmos accent, but it was nice to listen to.

''Your Excellency is in, let's go back to been a cemetery, y'all'' Charles Manus said with a smile at the boy before getting down from the podium walking to his desk.

Karen Kash stood up and walked to the boy's desk and gently brushed her hair that was falling off on her face. She placed the book in her hands on the boy's desk as everyone watched them with curiosity.

''Ad-Din, here is a copy of last night's evening lessons. You couldn't attend because of your piano lessons so I made a copy for you that way you won't miss anything we learnt yesterday'' the girl spoke softly and shyly with a smile making the class to erupt into hailing.

''Wowowowowow''

''This is it, this is what we call true love. Ad-Din didn't attend our evening lessons because he was busy but pretty Karen made a copy of the notes for him. I wonder who will do same for me in this class?" Globus Jun said in an exaggerated manner.

''Hey, forget about this class, not even in this lifetime will you get someone to do that for you'' Calia Banks said and the whole class laughed.

''Hey, Calia Banks, why don't you try doing that for me? Who knows, I might start to reciprocate your feelings for me?" Globus Jun said smugly.

''Lunatic'' Calia Banks said and opened her book.

''Guys, stop saying nonsense. You all know Ad-Din hates such things. I am just giving him a copy as a classmate'' Karen Kash said and blushed as she went back to her desk. As Karen walked over to her desk, Calia humped and glared at her. To Calia, whatever Karen did was fake.

"Fake, tsk" Calia murmured and went back to playing her video games on her tablet.

Before Karen transferred to John Mills High, Calia was the campus belle but lost her title to Karen so the two haven't been on good terms since then. The only time Calia beat Karen was in their exams. Calia always scored and came second and Karen came third and the first position was left for Ad-Din who had never lost it ever since he entered the school three years ago.

Karen was competitive by nature so, she equally saw Calia as a competitor. To Karen, Calia was a jealous classmate who could only rely on her studies to beat her. She secretly hated Calia because her mother always compare them.

Ad-Din didn't give a reply to Karen but instead stuffed the copy she gave him under his desk and removed his study books of the day and placed them on the table. He pushed them to a corner and placed only the English book in the middle and flipped through it as the face of a woman came to his mind. He saw her entering the school when he was also arriving with his driver. He quickly shoved the memory away as he started reading.

THE STAFF ROOM

The dean entered the staff room with Maria Portia Lee closely behind him. She was a young girl of 22 years who had just graduated and had a petite body and was very beautiful, a typical coloured woman who hailed from Cosmos town itself.

Unlike most of its inhabitants that had fair skin, Maria was among the few minority that had a coloured skin. Maria inherited her chocolate skin from her mother while her father was a typical blonde.

The dean was very proud to be able to recruit her because a lot of schools tried to scout Maria Portia Lee to join them but she accepted his offer first.

When the teachers saw the dean walking in, they all stood up to greet him but he dismissed them saying ''no need for greetings again. I just came to introduce to you our new English teacher. She will be replacing Mrs. Mills who had gone on maternity leave''. The teachers who were seven in number, with four being men and three ladies all looked at Maria Portia Lee from head to toe. Maria kept her head lowered as she stood next to the dean. The attention wasn't new to her yet she could never get used to it. It made her a little uncomfortable being looked at all the time.

''This is Maria Portia Lee, a fresh graduate from Cosmos University. She graduated from the top of her class and I was able to scout her to our school. She will be teaching English language. Miss Lee, please introduce yourself to your fellow teachers. From now onwards you will be colleagues'' the dean said.

''Hi, I am Maria Portia Lee, but you can just call me Maria or Miss Lee. I will be in your care from now onwards, please look favorably on me and guide me'' Maria said and the teachers clapped their hands.

''Maria, you can use the desk over there, I will send you to your class when you are ready'' the dean said with a smile.

''Yes, professor'' Maria walked to the empty desk and put her bag on the table. She smiled at the teacher next to her before sitting down to sort and arrange her things. The dean nodded satisfactorily and went out.

The male teachers immediately swamped around Maria asking her lots of questions.

Maria was used to questions about her skin color and her last name which seemed contradictory. Maria wasn't Asian but because of her last name a lot of people thought she was. It was the same story she gave all the time. Her mother was a fan of all Korean actors with the last name Lee and decided to register her name a Lee replacing her original last name Suwait.