While clenching her jaw, Nova knocked on the instructor's door, a sheen of sweat on the back of her neck. In a moment, a voice asked her to enter.
Kaelen was seated, flipping some documents. When he noticed her, he stood up while grinning.
'What's up with him?'
Nova deliberately left the door wide open and walked towards his desk.
"No, just sit on the couch."
As far as she was aware, this wasn't how a teacher should treat a student who had just broken school rules. Either way, if his good mood meant he might overlook her punishment, then playing along wasn't going to hurt.
"Thanks."
With a slight bow, Nova walked toward the green sofas on the other side of the room. Kaelen then moved to the open door, smiling thinly.
Nova couldn't take her eyes off him. She wondered if closing the door was a prerequisite for talking to her.
As she rubbed her upper arm while following each move he made, Kaelen suddenly hunched and began groaning.
It looked like something a person suffering from a backache would do.
Since Nova had already been staring at him, she couldn't simply look away and pretend as though she had seen nothing.
She silently sighed, and went over, albeit not being sure whether he required assistance.
"Need a hand?"
"Ah, if you don't mind."
Kaelen wrapped his arm around Nova's shoulders, and in that instant, her neck tightened as though trying to escape. She had never felt this uncomfortable.
Furthermore, Kaelen was breathing a little shallowly and quickly.
Nova couldn't also ignore the hand that was gradually advancing to her cleavage. In all likelihood, this man was trying to make advances on her.
"Oi, stop looking at me like that. Didn't you say you were single?"
'So that's really what you're after, scumbag.'
With trembling hands, Nova tightly grabbed Kaelen's hand to prevent it from advancing down. Her blood felt like it was boiling in her veins.
"You're going to regret—"
"Shoop! Shoop! Shoop!"
While she was on it, three series of bright light abruptly illuminated the vicinity.
Nova immediately looked at the hallway, and saw a blonde girl with a scornful smile and eyes, pointing a phone at them.
"Eh, what have I just stumbled upon."
Quickly, Nova pushed Kaelen away.
"Don't get it wrong, his back was hurting, but he's fine now."
Even though Nova rarely interacted with other students aside from the Occult club members, she was practically familiar with every face and name at the school. This girl was Orlyssa, a fellow second year but in a different class. She was famous with the boys.
"He gets better as soon as I show up? That's a ridiculous lie."
As Nova had expected, this girl had already formed her own conjecture.
She knew that explaining her way out of this situation was going to be difficult, so she looked to Mr. Kaelen. However, rather than facing Orlyssa, Kaelen turned to her.
"What are you doing here? I thought classes are in session."
For the first time in her life, Nova felt as if the world had turned against her. She'd thought Kaelen would at least try to defend them both, but she was wrong. Kaelen had chosen to save his skin by sacrificing her.
"Imagine the chaos if I put these pics on the forum and said, 'Teacher getting with a student.'"
Nova looked down, clenching her fists. The distance between her and Orlyssa was barely two metres, so dashing forth and snatching the phone wasn't something difficult. Despite that, her legs couldn't move.
"Relax, you're not in any trouble yet."
Saying that, Orlyssa returned the phone to her blazer's pocket, and with that, Nova's chance of taking the phone vanished. Her heart couldn't stand herself.
"We should chat about this later. Meet me by the gate after school."
As though satisfied, Orlyssa walked away with a slow gait.
Then, without sparing Nova a glance, Mr. Kaelen marched back to his desk.
"Leave. We'll talk about your punishment later."
It took around thirty seconds before Nova left the office. So far, everything felt like a nightmare.
Her face had turned red, and her lips were dry, so she took a detour to the washroom before returning to the classroom.