chapter 2
1767 Words
“My name is Calder Kane. I’ll be teaching this class from today.”
The room stayed quiet for a few seconds.
No one welcomed him.
No one even bothered to pretend they were interested.
Calder turned toward the board and wrote his name in clear, steady letters.
CALDER KANE
Nia watched him from her seat.
She had expected the new teacher to look nervous.
Blackridge was not an ordinary school. The students came from wealthy families, powerful families, families whose names could open doors that ordinary people could only dream of entering.
Some of the students had already made it obvious that they didn't care about rules.
Yet Calder stood at the front of the classroom as though none of that mattered.
He didn't look nervous.
He didn't look impressed by the expensive uniforms, watches, phones, or confident expressions around him.
He simply looked like a teacher who had come to teach.
For a man standing in front of a classroom full of wealthy students who clearly believed they could do whatever they wanted, he seemed strangely calm.
Nia found herself studying him for another second before looking away.
“Before we begin,” Calder said, turning back to the class, “I expect everyone to follow the basic rules of my class. You will respect the class, respect each other, and...”
A chair scraped against the floor.
Nia looked up.
Damian Carter had stood.
Several students immediately started laughing.
Damian didn't hurry.
He moved with the confidence of someone who knew the entire room belonged to him. His uniform was neat, but he wore it differently from the other students, as though even the school rules were optional for him.
His friends watched him with amused expressions.
Nobody tried to stop him.
Damian slowly walked toward the front of the classroom.
Calder watched him approach.
“Can I help you?” he asked.
Damian stopped a few feet away.
“Yes you can.”
A few students laughed again.
Calder's expression didn't change.
“About what?”
“This lecture.”
Damian looked around the room.
“I don't think we should be having it.”
His friends laughed louder.
Jason leaned back in his chair.
“Yeah,” he said. “I agree.”
“Same here,” another student added.
More laughter followed.
Nia looked around.
Nobody seemed surprised.
Nobody looked uncomfortable.
They were entertained.
It was as though this happened every day.
Damian turned back to Calder.
“You should probably find another class to teach.”
Calder picked up the marker again.
“Go back to your seat.”
Damian raised an eyebrow.
“Excuse me?”
“I said, go back to your seat.”
Damian laughed.
“You must be new.”
“I am.”
“That explains it.”
Damian looked at Calder from head to toe.
There was something insulting in the way he examined him, as though he was trying to decide whether the new teacher was worth taking seriously.
“You haven't been here long enough to understand how things work.”
Calder's eyes remained fixed on him.
“I understand that you're disrupting my class.”
Damian's smile disappeared.
“You're just a teacher.”
The room became quieter.
Calder said nothing.
Nia noticed the change immediately.
A moment ago, the students had been laughing. Now, most of them were watching the two men carefully.
Damian stepped closer.
“You walk in here on your first day and think you can order me around?”
He glanced at Calder's wrist.
“That watch looks expensive.”
A few students chuckled.
Damian smiled.
“Fake?”
Someone at the back laughed.
“Probably.”
Damian nodded.
“Or maybe Daddy bought it for him.”
The class erupted.
Nia didn't laugh.
She watched Calder carefully.
Most teachers would have reacted by now.
Some would have shouted.
Others would have threatened to send Damian to the principal.
Calder did neither.
He simply stood there, his face calm and his eyes steady.
It was almost as though Damian's insults had failed to reach him.
Damian seemed pleased with himself.
“Relax, Mr. Kane. I'm only joking.”
Calder placed the marker on the desk.
“Go and sit down.”
Damian folded his arms.
“And if I don't?”
Calder looked directly into his eyes.
“Then you will regret saying another word.”
The laughter stopped.
The silence that followed was different.
For the first time since Damian had walked to the front of the classroom, nobody seemed amused.
Damian's face changed.
Not fear.
Surprise.
Apparently, people did not speak to him that way.
Nia could see it in his expression.
He was used to people backing down.
He was used to teachers giving him what he wanted.
He was used to being the person who controlled the situation.
But Calder wasn't backing down.
Before Damian could respond, the classroom door opened.
A male teacher stepped inside.
He looked from Damian to Calder.
“Mr. Carter.”
Damian turned.
“What?”
The teacher hesitated.
“Could you come outside for a moment?”
Damian stared at him.
“No.”
The teacher swallowed.
“It's just for a minute.”
“I said no.”
The teacher looked uncomfortable.
Nia noticed it immediately.
He wasn't angry.
He wasn't even trying to be authoritative.
He looked like he was trying not to make Damian angry.
That small detail told Nia more than the students' laughter had.
The teachers were careful around Damian.
Very careful.
Damian gave him a cold smile.
“Do you have a problem?”
“No.”
“Then leave.”
The teacher hesitated.
For a second, Nia thought he might finally challenge him.
He didn't.
He turned around and walked out.
Nia stared after him.
Her fingers tightened slightly around her pen.
She had been at Blackridge for only a short time, but she was already beginning to understand that there were rules here that weren't written anywhere.
The official school rules were one thing.
The real rules were different.
And Damian Carter clearly knew them.
The door opened again.
This time, the principal walked in.
She looked tense.
“Damian.”
He turned toward her.
“Yes?”
“Can we see you outside, please?”
Damian laughed.
“No.”
The principal paused.
“Damian, please.”
“No.”
“Let's talk about this outside.”
“I said no.”
His voice became harder.
The principal glanced briefly at Calder before looking back at Damian.
“Please come with me.”
Damian stepped closer to her.
“And who the hell are you to tell me what to do?”
The classroom went silent.
The principal's face tightened.
Damian continued.
“Have you forgotten what I can do to you?”
Nobody laughed this time.
The words hung in the room.
Nia watched the principal carefully.
She looked uncomfortable.
Very uncomfortable.
There was something in her expression that made Nia's stomach tighten.
This wasn't a student simply refusing to follow a teacher.
This was something deeper.
Damian pointed toward the door.
“Go.”
The principal didn't move immediately.
Nia couldn't believe what she was seeing.
The head of Blackridge was standing in front of one of her students, and she looked like she was afraid of what might happen if she pushed him too far.
Then she looked at Calder.
“Mr. Kane, could you continue the class?”
Calder's eyes remained on Damian.
“I can.”
The principal nodded.
Then she looked at Damian again and really pleaded.
“Please.”
Damian rolled his eyes.
“Fine.”
He turned toward the door.
The tension in the classroom eased slightly, but Nia didn't relax.
She watched Damian as he walked past the rows of desks.
Then he stopped.
Right beside her.
Nia slowly looked up at him.
Their eyes met.
He smiled.
It wasn't a friendly smile.
It wasn't playful either.
It was a warning.
Nia held his gaze.
She refused to look away.
Damian leaned slightly toward her.
“You made the biggest mistake doing what you did earlier.”
Nia's expression didn't change.
She knew exactly what he meant.
The incident before class.
The fight.
She had known there would be consequences, but she hadn't expected them to come this quickly.
Damian straightened.
“You'll find out soon enough.”
Then he walked out.
The principal followed him.
The door closed behind them.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
The classroom remained unusually still.
The students who had been laughing moments earlier were now avoiding one another's eyes.
Nia slowly looked toward Calder.
He was already watching her.
His expression was unreadable.
For a brief moment, she wondered whether he had noticed what Damian had said.
She couldn't tell.
Calder didn't ask her anything.
He simply looked at her.
Nia looked away first.
Her mind returned to Damian's words.
You made the biggest mistake doing what you did earlier.
She had fought one student before class.
Now the most powerful student in the school had noticed her.
And judging from the way everyone had reacted to him, Damian Carter wasn't someone she could simply ignore.
Nia lowered her eyes to her notebook.
The page in front of her was still blank.
She had come to Blackridge for one reason.
Zuri.
That name was the reason she had walked through these gates despite knowing how difficult the school might be.
She needed answers.
She needed to understand what had happened.
She needed to know the truth.
But now she was beginning to realize that the truth might not be easy to find.
There were people in this school who had power.
There were teachers who were afraid to challenge students.
There was a principal who had practically begged Damian to leave a classroom.
And there was Damian himself, a student who seemed completely certain that nobody could touch him.
Nia tightened her fingers around the pen in her hand.
She wasn't going to let him scare her away.
Not yet.
She had come too far.
But as she looked around the classroom, she couldn't ignore the uneasy feeling growing inside her.
Blackridge was hiding something.
And whatever had happened to Zuri was connected to this place.
Nia took a slow breath and looked toward the closed classroom door.
She had come to Blackridge looking for answers about Zuri.
But after what had just happened, she was beginning to understand something else.
At this school, finding the truth was going to be dangerous.
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