Chapter 5 CHAPTER 5
Despite my protests, Aunt Kelly insisted on me getting the new car.
As I drove the wine coloured Honda civic Coupe through the beautiful town and staring at the road as well as the text message I'd sent to Tori.
(Can we swap cars? Your Mom is just trying to make me feel welcomed because of my Mom's death. But I'm fine, you should have the car you've always wanted, it's not anyone's fault my Mom OD’d.)
She didn't respond, maybe she's not like me that can multitask. I'll just speak to her when I get to school.
I park next to Edgar's car and wait for Tori to get to school, my mind filled with hot tension. I didn't want to be the reason she has issues with her Mom, I'd just gotten here and I'm already causing a family fight.
It made me feel like shit, like I bring problems with me every where I go.
Finally she drives the white rover into the parking lot and I watch her go to the other side.
Pulling the keys out of the passenger seat, I grabbed my bag and got down from the car, waiting for her to come back.
The second she was within earshot, I headed towards her, the keys in my hand.
“Did you see my text?” I asked, my heart beating loudly.
“Yes. Don't worry about it, enjoy your car,” she replied dismissively, walking past me with annoyance that slowly transferred to my mind.
What else was I supposed to do? I didn't ask for any of this to happen and I don't know what she wants but being angry at me makes no sense.
My stomach grumbled but I ignored it and headed to class.
Thankfully I made it in time before the bell rang.
Mr Cael walked into the class in a woollen sweater that hugged his chest, and I felt momentarily jealous of the piece of clothing. He paired it with black jeans and glasses that although I knew they weren't recommended, but he treated it like one.
“Mr Valkori, you look dashing today,” Cara's voice rang out even before the man could drop his bag.
“Thank you Cara,” he replied with a smile and moved his attention to the rest of the class immediately, “everyone submit your assignments to the table ahead of you.”
Mumbles filled the class for a few seconds.
“If you haven't done yours, you're staying back for detention, no questions asked.”
“But sir –”
“Hold it in Matt, detention or assignment. No other option.”
I handed mine to the guy ahead of me and he did the same until everyone that had something to submit, did.
“Now, let's get into the lesson for today.”
His fingers closed around the marker and he scribbled on the board, my eyes zeroing in on every motion his body made.
I forced myself to breathe the second he turned and our eyes met.
Oh dear.
"Limits," he said, tapping the board. "The behavior of a function as it approaches a value it never actually reaches. Who can tell me what happens when we evaluate the limit of x squared minus four, divided by x minus two, as x approaches two?"
Hands went up. Cara's first, obviously.
"You factor the numerator," she said, not waiting to be called on. "X plus two times x minus two. Cancel out x minus two and you're left with x plus two. Plug in two. The answer is four."
"Perfect answer Cara, you are a star.”
She practically glowed and giggled to her friends, making me roll my eyes.
He wrote another equation on the board. Longer this time. A rational function with a hole in the graph that most people would miss if they weren't paying attention.
"This one's trickier. I want someone who hasn't spoken yet."
His eyes scanned the room and landed on a girl sitting two rows in front of me. Small, brown skin, box braids pulled into a low ponytail. She'd been writing in her notebook the whole class, head down, clearly hoping to be invisible.
"Naomi. Walk me through it."
She jerked up like she wasn't expecting to be called out even though it was clear this man loved an interactive class.
And I totally get her.
Can't be just drone on and on like every other teacher and call it a day?
I won't mind listening to him talk all day though, with a voice like that.
"You substitute directly?" Naomi tried.
"What happens when you do?"
"Zero over... zero?"
"So what's your next move?"
Her hands were shaking. The numerator was a cubic. Thirty people watching. Teacher close enough to count her breaths.
"I'm not sure."
"It's a sum of cubes," I said. "Factor the numerator, cancel the common binomial, evaluate what's left. Twelve."
Silence.
He turned to me slowly.
"I don't recall asking you, Miss Voss. But since you're so desperate to be seen, let's see how far that confidence stretches."
My blood went hot.
"The limit of sine x over x as x approaches zero,” he asked, stepping towards me.
"One,” I answered, my blood running hot.
"Hmm. What about… what's the derivative of e to the power of negative x squared?”
"Negative 2x times e to the negative x squared."
"L'Hôpital's rule. When does it apply?"
"When direct substitution gives you an indeterminate form. Zero over zero or infinity over infinity."
He stepped closer to me, staring me down in my seat. The class had gone completely still.
"The integral of one over x squared plus one."
His voice was barely audible. Sensual.
I could feel it warm me up all over.
"Arctan x plus a constant,” I answered, my brain on autopilot, while my body inched closer to his without my permission.
His hand stopped atop my desk, and I noticed the contrast blue coloured tattoo that started from his fingers and disappeared into his sweater.
I was imagining running my hand through to it's end when his voice brought me back to the duel unfolding between us.
"The second derivative test fails. What do you do?"
"Use the first derivative test or analyze concavity directly."
Faster now. Like he was trying to outrun me.
"The limit of one minus cosine x, over x, as x approaches zero."
"Zero."
"Wrong."
The word landed like a slap. He almost smiled, stepping back and straightening up like he'd finally won something.
"The answer is one, Miss Voss. Perhaps your confidence outpaces your ability."
My face burned. But something in my gut wouldn't fold.
"No. You're thinking of sine x over x. That's one. One minus cosine x over x is zero."
He stared at me. The room was so quiet I could hear Cara breathing through her mouth.
“She's actually right sir,” Naomi's voice broke the odd spell holding us captive and we turned to see her showing him a page from the textbook we were using. “Here sir.”
"Oh, so you know how to read now, do you?” Naomi blushes and put her book down. “Moving on,” the man breathed and moved away from me.
It felt like every step he took hurt something in my chest.
I really should have listened to my cousins and eaten something this morning because all of this were just signs of the intense hunger I felt.
That's the only explanation possible.