I Am Not An Idiot

1

The birds sang a cheerful song along with the fresh breeze of fresh air. The sun smiled to the people on earth as Valerie walk on a stage with everybody clapping their hands towards her. She held her graduation scroll with pride and lifted the medal hanging on her neck, letting it shine by the reflection of the golden sun ray.

The outdoor stage faced a crowd of parents and graduates. Everybody cheered, crying out Valerie's name and whistled. Her wavy brunette hair cascaded. She gave the widest smile her face can give, and took a respectful bow.

Everything was perfect. Valerie was the star of the show. She is number one. The sky was so bright and now everybody loves her.

But a few moments later, the sky became dark. The sun was covered by something undefinable and everybody started laughing at her. There was a giant shadow of a person that stomped towards her.

"VALERIE!" Valerie snapped out of the dream, sat up to her desk instantly and opened her eyes, realizing that the whole class was laughing at her. A woman stood in front of her, glaring with rage through her thick glasses. Her dark hair completed the frightening look along with her red suit and black pencil skirt. Mrs. Rowan crossed her hands, "How was the nap?"

Valerie bit her lip, trying to avoid eye contact with anyone. Gosh, that was so embarrassing.

"So you think you can just sleep in my class when I spent all my energies trying to teach you? Don't you have any respects?" Mrs. Rowan's voice increased.

"Sorry, Mrs. Rowan." Valerie replied, looking down to her feet with embarrassment.

"I would appreciate you if you could ace every one of your tests, but your grades are not even qualified to pass. Do you think my class as some kind of a joke?"

"No, ma'am." She replied.

Mrs. Rowan shook her head in disappointment and sighed, "What am I going to do with you, huh? You barely even pass your tenth grade, and yet here you are with no changes upon your life?"

Valerie was speechless. She had nothing to defend herself. She was in total guilt. 

"Maybe I need to get you another tutor. I can see Gladys wasn't much of a help." She glanced up to Gladys, sitting next to Valerie, who then looked away. 

She's totally right. Gladys wasn't much of a help. In fact, she was no help at all. She was Valerie's worst nightmare. Every time they had a tutor session, Gladys always tease and looked down to Valerie, repeating about how stupid Valerie was just because she couldn't answer a question in a homework paper. She never taught Valerie. Instead, every session was Valerie studying by herself and Gladys scrolling her Instagram feeds while calling with her friends. Even though Gladys ranked number two in her school, she wasn't a good teacher at all.

"Fine. Then starting from tomorrow your tutor will be Matthew. That is determined." Mrs. Rowan walked back to her desk, when the school bell suddenly rang. She dismissed the class and let all the students rush outside for lunch break. 

Valerie was left behind. She packed her belongings and carried her bag, when Mrs. Rowan called her, "Valerie, please come here."

Valerie slowly walked towards Mrs. Rowan's desk, fearing what might come upon her. "Yes, Mrs. Rowan?"

"Take this to Matthew. Say that it's my order. This is your last chance to lift up your grades. If this doesn't work out, I'm sorry but you can't continue to the next grade." Mrs. Rowan handed a piece of paper. 

"Yes, Mrs. Rowan." Valerie took the paper and left the class. She rushed to her locker to put her books. 

"Why did I fell asleep again? I'm such an idiot."  She shut the door and banged her forehead to the locker, "Now I'm gonna have to face that jerk."