'Bonjour, étudiants.' the teacher,Mrs.Moreau said cheerfully after she entered and placed a few of her books on the teacher's table.
Oh. I forgot we were supposed to greet back. 'Bonjour,Madame.' The class greeted back a bit dully.
'Guess what we will be doing today!' She said. Her english accent wasn't too clear,but understandable.
The whole class just stared at her with blank faces. If my expression could be described,it would be one big question mark. Unfortunately,Mrs.Moreau was one of those teachers who is always joyful for no reason and keeps announcing tests as if they were hey's and hello's.
'Well,today all of you will be doing an activity...'
Groans, ugh's and what's came from different sections of the class.
'..in which you will be practicing your French communicative skills. Alors,there will be group discussions in which you will have to talk about your favorite aspect about Nature. It could be anything including saisons,animaux and so on. There are recorders placed in the center of the tables which will record your french fluency and vocabulary. I will assign your grades based on these two points.' She clapped her hands after she had spoken.
There came sounds of ruffling,opening of books,et cetera. Unlike homeroom,this seating arrangement was different. Four desks making a square in the center,on which there were recorders. Aleah and I took our seats. The seat to my left was taken by Aleah and the seat to my right was taken by Keith. Hm,one seat remaining.
I had a hard time finding a pen in my bag. I began searching while-
'Um...excuse me?'
Our heads snapped up. Oh. If it isn't Ryan Walter. Aleah gave me a sidelook which said Ohhhhhh.
'Yes?' Keith said as he looked at Ryan occasionally as he pulled out his notebook.
'Is that seat occupied by someone?' Ryan asked,pointing to the seat opposite to me.
'Uh....no' I replied. The people who usually sat with us were absent today.
'You can take it' Aleah said as she spared me a glance sideways.
Keith's expression said Who the heck is he? Never saw him before. Ryan took his bag off of his shoulders and sat across from me.
Ah,I found my pen. 'Alright étudiants,please begin.' Mrs.Moreaux said.
Aleah's hand reached up in the center and pressed the record button. The little red light began blinking as we started off with our conversation.
'Bonjour,mes chers amis' Aleah started.All of us greeted back.
She talked about her favorite aspect: Oceans. Well,if we need a good score,we have to talk about something,I thought.
It was my turn next. 'Uh,Je m'apelle Sara. J'aime les arc-en-ciel.' I continued speaking about why I like the rainbow and why the 7 arcs of colors fascinated me.
Keith spoke about Summer. Ryan was up next and last in line. He started: '.....J'aime les arbres.......' Trees? Okay.
He continued in french: '....what interests me is...the green color. It's very captivating. Something that lures us away....' He made eye contact with me. I looked at Aleah. Why is she smiling at me? Apparently,Keith happened to notice this.
We were done with the activity and the bell rung. Some see-ya-later's sounded here and there.
Aleah finished packing and stood up waiting for me. Keith called out 'I gotta hurry. It's calculus class. Mr.Parker will kill me with insults if I reach late.'
'Sure' Aleah said. I nodded at him with a smile and he exited the class.
'Let's go.' I said getting up as I wore my bag on my shoulders. Aleah and I joined hands and began walking out when-
'Uh...Hello?' We turned around.
'Uh...hey Ryan.' I said smiling,Aleah did the same.
'Is this yours?' He said handing me a blue notebook.
My eyes widened. 'Oh,thank you. I've been looking for this.' I took the book from him. I keep forgetting things.
'No problem..' He replied with a bright smile.
'Well,I'll get going.' I tugged at Aleah's hand and turned. She understood.
'Um- see you tomorrow.' He said.
'Of course' I replied over my shoulder.
Aleah followed suit and caught up to me.
'Things got interesting' she said as we got into the hallway. Other students were talking/proceeeding towards their classes.
' What?' I asked. She gave threw me a look. 'Listen, I don't hate him. I just don't....want to start any relationships without knowing the person.'
'I agree. He is acting weird but I bet he has atleast a little of awesomeness in him. I'd keep my distance too.'
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EVENING:
The school ended at 3:30 in the afternoon as usual. Aleah and I joined Simon and his friends at the sportsfield.
'Heyyy cupcake. I heard some rather interesting things today.' Simon started. I rolled my eyes and looked at Keith. He shrugged.
'Nothing happened except that you're acting awkwardly.' I answered back.
'So....you ready?' Nial interrupted.
'Oh. Yeah sure' I said remembering the plan for the evening.
We started walking when I felt a hand on my shoulder.
'Forgetting us?' said Aleah. I gave her a quizzed look.
'I thought-' Nial started.
Simon patted his back 'Of course we're coming.'
'Oh' Nial said slumping his shoulders. I shrugged.
All of us walked to the nearby cafe- Impresso Expresso. Everyone gave their orders including me,I could use some mocha right now. We occupied the seats around the corners,beside the window.
Keith and Aleah started sipping on their drinks. Simon opened his laptop,started typing as he spoke up.
'About our project,please pay attention.' Everyone nodded and I started stirring my drink.
He continued ' I've searched online for the top businesses in our country. I've taken into account the managerial expertise,amount of power and sales of the companies. Thus,I have decided that we will be interviewing the CEO of Blackford Industries.' He paused and sipped on his coffee.
'Oh- I know! Levi Blackford,right? Oh my goodness,I've seen him a number of times on the covers of many magazines'
'Exactly. Blackford Industries is considered the best in the world. It operates in almost everything. Manufacture,Trade,Minerals,Clothing,Technology,et ceterea. You name it. Blackford has it.' Simon said without stopping.
I raised my eyebrows. Aleah whispered to me 'That's one filthy rich man. Trust me,he is devilishly handsome and breath taking as well.' She said squealing but still in whispers.
'Since our dad' Simon said gesturing to both of us ' is the president of Kingston enterprises,I used the company name plus our individual names to request for an interview.'
'Wait-when did this happen?' I burst out.
'During lunch. I contacted the Reception desk of Blackford Industries and confirmed the meeting as well.' Simon replied as he finished his coffee. ' I have even informed Calum to arrive late.'
'We have one month left,right?' Keith said. 'Lots of time. When is the interview?'
'Tomorrow at 9 in the morning.'
'What?' Nial said with an amused expression.
'Don't worry,the school has granted us permission. And the faster the work done,the better' Simon said coolly. 'One thing bothers me though....'
' And that is...?' Aleah said as she finished her drink.
'People wait for weeks to get a meeting with Levi Blackford. Months also,sometimes. I wonder why we didn't have an obstacle.' He said in an amused tone.
'Who cares? We get to conduct the interview smoothly.' Aleah said before shrugging.
'So let's start preparing some challenging questions.' I said.
Everyone nodded and we indulged into the work. An hour passed by and all of us had done a pretty good job.
'Calum will be here in a few minutes.' Simon informed. I nodded.
'Oh by the way,' he snapped as if he remembered something suddenly. Everyone looked at him.
'Please do wear a formal attire. Levi Blackford is one powerful man. I'm sure we need to look decent and appropriate enough. His rank demands respect.'
'So be at our house tomorrow at 8:30 AM,everyone' I said.
'All of us will go in one car. That leaves no room for confusion.' I continued. Everyone slowly nodded and started getting up.
'See ya tomorrow,Sara.' Aleah said as she hugged me tightly. Simon spotted Calum waiting outside.
He coughed. 'Calum's here' All of us started to disperse. I said goodbyes to Nial and Keith as well. Simon and I went outside and got into the car. So did Calum.
'So,you have plans 'morrow?' He asked.
'Yeah.' I said.
'Tomorrow will be very hectic though.' Simon added.
They continued their conversation while I drifted into my own thoughts. I looked outside the window. I sighed. I thought about the interview tomorrow. I had never seen or met this Blackford guy. What is he like? How did he start and expand his gigantic empire? The sun started setting as we were on our way home.
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A/N: Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. -LadyAmanda424
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