The tests had been quite conclusive as I had gathered the information needed to give a curriculum to most of the students in my class. Some students would require more observation because their talent was too overwhelming, but for most, I had everything ready. However, I would be finishing that tomorrow because tonight I was going out with Ava.
She had asked to see me alone out of nowhere when I got back from testing my students. I was pretty sure it wasn’t a date since she hadn’t blushed or anything while talking to me. In fact, she looked extremely focused, as if something had been spinning around in her head over and over again.
Still, even if it wasn’t a date, I put on my classic tuxedo and made myself look as dapper as possible. It was currently 7 PM, and I was waiting in front of the Royal Academy.
I tried my best to hide from the students coming out of the Academy, but some did spot me and asked questions. I answered most of them, but I knew that rumors would spread tomorrow. The good thing was that they hadn’t seen Ava at all, so they could only guess who I was going out with tonight.
-Cough!-
-Cough!-
Hearing two weak coughs behind me, I turned and saw Ava. The weird thing was that she was actually wearing something other than her lab coat. She was wearing a short black dress that fit her perfectly. It was just as elegant as my tuxedo, and our outfits matched. If anyone were to see us, they would definitely think this was a date.
But as I said earlier, it’s not. I wouldn’t go on a date with one of my colleagues right after the semester started. This is, uh, an important meeting. Well, an important meeting where I have no idea what we will even be talking about. Either way, Ava looked absolutely amazing. Her big glasses added a certain charm.
“H-Hey…” she said. Her voice was so quiet that I had to get closer to her to make out the words coming out of her mouth. It also made her blush even more, which was quite funny. “W-We should go.”
“Right. Let’s go!” I said excitedly as there was already a car waiting for us. It was a long black limousine that looked quite expensive. To be honest, I wasn’t sure why Ava had booked something like this just to talk.
I opened the door to the limousine for her and followed right behind, sitting next to her. We were off to the restaurant. Not being able to resist any longer, I had to ask the question that had been on my mind since she asked to meet alone.
“So, what did you want to talk about?”
As soon as I asked, her eyes focused on her fingers, which she kept fidgeting with. She was very nervous, probably because I was so close to her. So, I took the empty seat to my right, giving her more breathing room.
“Ah! You didn’t—”
I just smiled. “Don’t worry, it’s fine. We’re not close enough to be sharing that much skinship, haha!”
She opened her mouth but closed it again. We spent a few seconds in silence before she spoke again.
“I wanted to talk about my daughter and also because I discovered something that I thought you might want to know.”
I frowned. A daughter and a mystery? Good thing I agreed to come. Still, she had a daughter? And why does she want to talk about it with me?
I rubbed my chin and glanced at her with a worried look. “Uh…why do you want to ask me about your daughter?”
This time, she looked at me with a strange expression.
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“Uh…no?”
“You don’t notice any resemblance between me and one of your students?”
I gave her a good look. Nerdy appearance, glasses, purple hair, purple eyes. Seconds passed, and the face of one student in particular appeared in my mind. The one who kept raising her hand to answer! She was her daughter? How didn’t I know that? Hm, well, I didn’t read their profiles, so that’s probably why.
“You do look like one of them. Wait, what’s her name…” I didn’t want to seem ignorant in front of Ava, but I had no idea what her name was. I just remembered that she raised her hand every chance she got.
“It’s Olivia. Olivia Jensen.”
She saw that I was ashamed of not remembering her name. “Ah! It’s okay. I also don’t know the names of all my students.”
I nodded. “So, what did you want to know about her?”
She looked down and fidgeted again. “You see…she talked to me a little bit about your class and how you do things. So, I was wondering how she was doing…from your point of view?”
-Screech!-
The car suddenly stopped, and it seemed we had arrived at the restaurant. I kept my answer at the back of my mind as the driver opened the door for us. I walked out of the car and helped Ava out by giving her my hand. When I turned toward the restaurant, I was mind-blown. It looked absolutely amazing! All kinds of people were walking into it, wearing outfits just as expensive as ours. This was clearly a restaurant for nobles and the wealthy.
As we walked up the stairs, I decided to restart the conversation that had been cut short.
“Right. About your daughter. She’s one of the most interesting people in my class. She certainly has a lot of talent in everything that requires theoretical knowledge, but she struggles when she needs to apply it in real life. To give you a better example, it’s like she knows how to do things but can’t actually do them. Still, don’t worry, she has made friends and I’ll help figure out that problem of hers.”
Ava nodded, clearly agreeing with me since she had probably noticed the same problem, being her mother. “I see. That’s reassuring. I thought she might have a lot of problems getting along with other kids, but if you say everything is going well, then I’ll believe you. Also, I trust you. I’m sure you’ll make an even better person than she is right now.”
Shortly after she said that, we arrived at the entrance of the restaurant, and she stopped for a moment, pulling me to the side. “Before we enter, I need to tell you about the other thing that I wanted to talk to you about.”
I frowned. It looked serious. “What is it?”
“You’re in danger.”
