𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓶𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓻𝔂❤︎

Chapter 35

The next day, the classroom felt noticeably quieter, with Jamie back in her regular class. The focus today was on matter, vapor pressure, and interpreting graphs, a topic that seemed to drain the energy from the students even before the lesson began.

Y/N slouched in her chair, her notebook open but completely blank. She stared at the projected notes Mr. Le had prepared, but her focus was anywhere but on the screen. Instead, she had her laptop out, an anime playing quietly in the corner of her screen, while the notes were minimized and ignored.

"Alright, people," Mr. Le said, pacing at the front of the room. His mask obscured his expression, but his tone carried his usual laid-back authority. "Vapor pressure is just the pressure exerted by a vapor in equilibrium with its liquid or solid phase, yeah? Simple enough. But the graphs? That’s where the fun is."

He turned to the board, sketching a graph with a steady curve. "This," he said, tapping the graph, "is how we visualize vapor pressure versus temperature. The steeper the slope, the more volatile the substance. So don’t forget that for the quiz."

A collective groan rippled through the class.

"Yeah, yeah," Mr. Le muttered, rolling his eyes. "I know, learning is hard. But trust me, you’ll thank me later when you don’t bomb the quiz, yeah?"

The students began typing or writing notes, the clicking of keys filling the room. Mr.Le began his usual rounds, moving between tables and occasionally glancing at screens to make sure everyone was on task.

When he reached Y/N’s table, he slowed. Her laptop’s screen was split: on one side, a colorful anime sequence played, vibrant characters locked in an intense battle. On the other, the minimized lecture notes sat untouched.

"Y/N," Mr. Le said, his voice calm but pointed.

She flinched, quickly clicking to pause the anime and maximize the notes. But his sharp eyes had already seen everything.

"Seriously?" he asked, crossing his arms. "We’re over here learning about boiling points and vaporization, and you’re watching—what is that? Another episode of magical girls?"

"It’s not magical girls," Y/N mumbled, her face heating as her classmates stifled laughter. "It’s Demon Slayer."

"Demon Slayer, huh?" His tone turned teasing, and the corners of his eyes crinkled above his mask. "Didn’t know Tanjiro had anything to do with equilibrium graphs. Mind explaining?"

Y/N flushed even more, her gaze darting to her untouched notebook. "I—I was multitasking," she muttered, quickly closing her laptop.

"Right," Mr. Le replied, the amusement in his voice unmistakable. "Here’s a better idea: focus on the graphs now, yeah? Tanjiro’s fight will still be there after the bell rings."

Her tablemates erupted into quiet laughter, and Y/N glared at Eliana, who was barely holding back a smirk.

"Don’t look at me like that," Eliana whispered. "You know you got caught."

"Whatever," Y/N muttered, begrudgingly opening her notes and pretending to care about the graph projected on the board.

Mr. Le continued his rounds, occasionally stopping to answer questions or call out other distracted students.

"Alex, are you really on TikTok again?" he asked another student. "I swear, you’re gonna graph your own failure at this rate, yeah."

By the time the bell rang, most students had managed to fill their notes, though Y/N’s page was still mostly empty. She packed up quickly, hoping to escape unnoticed.

"Y/N," Mr. Le’s voice called, halting her in her tracks.

She turned slowly, clutching her backpack strap.

"Try to stay with us next time, yeah?" he said, his tone light but his gaze serious.

"Yeah," she muttered, her cheeks burning as she hurried out of the classroom.

Behind her, Mr. Le shook his head, his mask hiding the faint smile tugging at his lips.