My Teacher

Chapter 5

"I'll pay your fees."

Did I just hear what he said? Did my teacher just offer to pay for my hostel fees?

He must be joking. I started to laugh.

"Why are you laughing?" He asked.

I looked at his expression and it was dead-serious.

My face dropped. "You aren't serious Sir...are you?"

"Of course I'm damn serious." He said.

"What....but....but..." I didn't know what to say. No one has ever offered to help me as much as Mr. Ranawat. "Sir, I can't. I don't have any money to pay you back."

"Nonsense. You can pay me back when you start working." He assured. He smiled gently and took my hand in his. They were smooth and warm. "I know how you feel, I too would've felt awkward taking money like this, but Tina, look at it logically not emotionally. You have no other option, and I'm helping you. You're a good student, and you deserve to get an education and I see great potential in you, please, just take the money."

I saw sincerety in his eyes when he spoke. "Okay, Sir. I'll take the money."

~~~~~~~~~

After great difficulty I got some sleep. Mr. Ranawat said I should meet him early in the morning to collect the money, then take it to the office and pay the fees.

I felt uneasy at first, but he calmed me down. I didn't like the feeling of being indebted to someone, especially if it was my teacher. But he assured me that in the mean time I can pay him back by maintaining my marks. We laughed about it, but I will surely pay him back as soon as I have the money.

I did my usual morning routine and went to straight to Mr. Ranawat's office. He was sitting at his desk, typing away on his laptop. I knocked gently.

He looked up, "Come in, Tina."

I walked in quietly. He opened his drawer and took out an envelope. "Take this."

I did as told. "You may go now." He dismissed me.

"Thank you Sir." I said after what felt like one hundred times.

"I told you it's fine, now go, quickly." He told me.

After a few minutes I was standing in front of the front office, clutching the envelope tightly in my hand.

The same man from yesterday sat there.

"Sir," he looked up, "I have the money to pay my hostel fees." I placed the envelope onto his desk and pushed it towards him.

"Oh, well um, unfortunately you just missed the due date. Your hostel room has already been booked by someone else this morning." He said.

I was frozen. This cannot be.

"But you said I have until today to pay the fees and I have it here so take it and give me my room back!" Tears started to pool in my eyes.

"Miss, I did say that, but there are other people on the waiting list who want to stay at the hostels we provided here and as soon as there was a room available they booked and paid for it. I'm sorry but there's nothing you can do about it." I could tell that his apologies weren't sincere.

"Listen, I have the money, could you just please-"

"I just told you that you can't do anything about it. What's done is done, now please leave from here before I call security." He was losing his patience.

"Fine. I'll go." I wiped away a fallen tear. "Thank you for your help." I said, my voice laced with sarcasm. I grabbed the envelope and quickly walked away.

Tears streamed down my face. I stuffed the money into my bag and headed towards class. I was late by twenty minutes but I didn't care.

I wiped away my tears and opened my hair to cover my tear-stained face.

When I reached the classroom Mr. Ranawat had his back to the class and was writing something onto the board.

I knocked lightly onto the door. "May I come in, Sir?" I asked.

His head snapped towards me and he physically relaxed. "Yes, quickly." He mumbled.

I sat down next to Tanya. "What happened to you yesterday? I couldn't find you anywhere. And why are you late to class?" I panicked because I didn't know how to answer.

"I-I uh, I-" I stuttered.

"No talking in class." Mr. Ranawat said, looking at me and Tanya. "You can disscuss your personal lives outside of class." He directed his comment towards Tanya, but I knew he was helping me indirectly by preventing me from answering her questions...which I wasn't able to answer at the moment. I secretly thanked him with a smile and he replied with a nod.

Throughout the rest of the lesson I only had one thought.

What am I going to do now?

I have Sir's money which I can use to stay at a hotel, but that won't even last me a week. But what other option do I have?

Maybe I'll get a job.

But that would affect my studies.

Ugh why can't I find a solution to this problem?

Before I knew it class ended. I was about to leave the room when Sir suddenly called me.

"Tina. Close the doors and come to my desk."

I did as told and stood in front of him.

"So, I reckon you got your room back." He smiled.

I looked down. I felt the tears coming again. No! I must not cry again.

"Tina?" His voice held surprise.

I couldn't control myself any longer. I covered me mouth and let out a sob.

His chair scraped backwards against the floor and I soon felt his hand under my chin.

"Tina, what happened?" His eyes searched mine.

"S-someone already b-booked my room and there's n-no more rooms available. They didn't take the money." I sobbed.

"Shit," He cursed. "I'm so sorry, I actually don't know what to say."

"It's ok, Sir. You don't have to do or say anything, you've helped me so much already. You have a good heart, and I'll forever be grateful for your selflessness." I smiled, my words holding honesty and gratitude. I took out the envelope containing the money and placed it into his hands. "Thank you."

"But" he started but I cut him off.

"Thank you again, Sir." And I walked out of the classroom.

~~~~~

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