Elite Affairs - Book one

Chapter Nineteen

"Not seeing the dangers doesn't mean it's not there"

Mariya sat in the physics classroom, surrounded by the cream-colored walls adorned with diagrams of atomic structures and equations. The boarding school, spared no expense in providing its students with top-notch facilities. The classroom's sturdy, dark wood desks, arranged in neat rows, had built-in troughs for pens and pencils.

At the front of the room, Sister Gabriella, a stern but kind nun with wispy grey hair peeking from beneath her habit, wrote complex equations on the blackboard with swift precision. Her voice, low and soothing, lectured on Newton's laws of motion. "Momentum, my dear students, is the product of mass and velocity. Remember, F equals ma..." Sister Gabriella's eyes scanned the room, ensuring her students were following along.

Mariya scribbled notes in her binder, struggling to keep up. Physics wasn't her forte, and the intricate concepts swirled in her mind like a jumbled puzzle. Her blond hair, pulled back into a tidy ponytail, felt tight against her scalp. As she furrowed her brow, concentrating on the lesson, she felt a sudden tug on her hair. Mariya rolled her eyes and shot a withering glance over her shoulder at Aiden.

Sister Gabriella continued, unfazed by the brief distraction. "Now, let's apply this to real-world scenarios. Imagine a car traveling at 60 kilometers per hour... If it takes 10 seconds to stop, what's the force exerted on the passengers?" Mariya's mind wandered, struggling to grasp the abstract concepts.

As the lesson progressed, Mariya's notes became increasingly illegible, her hand moving across the page in a frantic attempt to capture Sister Gabriella's words. She underlined key terms, hoping to review them later, but her brain felt like a sieve, leaking information as quickly as it was absorbed. The classroom's silence was punctuated only by the soft scratching of pens on paper, the occasional whispered question, and the creaking of chairs as students shifted in their seats.

Sister Gabriella droned on, her voice a steady hum that seemed to lull the class into a state of lethargy. Mariya's eyes glazed over as the nun scribbled complex equations on the sleek, interactive whiteboard, explaining the intricacies of Newton's Second Law of Motion. The board's touchscreen interface and colorful graphics made the lesson feel more engaging, but Mariya's attention wandered, her mind drifting to the upcoming tests.

"F equals ma," Sister Gabriella repeated, her stylus gliding effortlessly across the board. "Force equals mass times acceleration. Can anyone give me an example?" The classroom fell silent, with only the occasional rustle of notes or whispered question breaking the stillness.

Aiden, seated behind Mariya, poked her gently in the back, his finger tracing a gentle pattern on her shoulder blade. Mariya's annoyance simmered, her eyes flashing a warning over her shoulder. Aiden's smirk only grew wider, his eyes sparkling with mischief. Why did he insist on distracting her? Didn't he know she was already struggling to keep up?

Mariya's frustration mounted. Why couldn't Aiden focus on the lesson? He always seemed to grasp the concepts effortlessly, earning top grades with ease. Yet, he insisted on distracting her, making it impossible for her to concentrate. Sister Gabriella's patience seemed limitless, but Mariya's was wearing thin.

Sister Gabriella's voice cut through Mariya's thoughts, her tone sharp. "Mariya, can you explain the difference between velocity and acceleration?" Mariya's heart sank. She hadn't been paying attention, too caught up in Aiden's antics. She hesitated, her face flushing as she stood up, her chair scraping against the floor.

Aiden's smirk grew, his eyes glinting with amusement. Mariya glared at him, her anger simmering just below the surface. "V-velocity... is... um... distance over time?" Mariya stuttered, her mind racing. She knew it wasn't entirely correct, but she hoped Sister Gabriella would let it slide.