Entering the office, he saw Mrs. Smith sitting at her desk, with Annie standing next to her. Behind them was a huge portrait of Mrs. Smith herself.
'Holy, narcissist.' Realizing what kind of person Mrs. Smith was, he couldn't help but look at her with a bit of disgust. She finally noticed he had entered the office and looked back at him.
"You wanted to see me, Mrs. Smith?" Bradley quickly erased his expression before she noticed and lightly greeted her.
"Indeed, Bradley. We need to discuss your grades and whether or not you intend to graduate." Mrs. Smith looked at him with an annoyed expression, remembering his grades and how they could affect her reputation.
"Is it that bad?" While he expected some bad grades due to his month-long leave, he at least hoped for some leeway from the school.
"Here, have a look for yourself…" After she spoke, Annie handed her some papers, which Mrs. Smith then gave to Bradley.
'The fuck!' Looking at the paper, he was baffled. His grades were all in the E- range.
[French - E-
Music - E-
Art - E-
Science - E-
Gym - E-]
Looking at those grades, he suddenly heard a 'ding' as a blue screen appeared in the corner of his eyes. He realized another sub-quest had been created.
[Sub-Quest: Pass all subjects
Details: After seeing your grades and how bad they were, this quest was created.
Reward: Will be decided after you complete it.
Failure: Will be decided after you fail it.]
Acknowledging the quest, he felt a little better. Even with all those bad grades, a big reward was waiting for him if he could get through it.
"But man, I'm failing everything," he mumbled loudly, still surprised by the grades.
"I told you…" Mrs. Smith said, shaking her head in disappointment.
"That's what happens when you skip school for a month," Annie chimed in with a sharp voice, still annoyed that he had missed school for a month.
"I wasn't skipping! My dad died, Annie?" He looked at her with a confused expression, unable to understand why she was so angry.
"Be silent, Annie!" Mrs. Smith looked at her with an annoyed expression for butting into the conversation. Annie looked back at her with a timid expression. "I-I'm sorry, ma'am…"
"But regardless of the circumstance, you need to raise these grades if you don't want to repeat the year." She pointed to the paper in his hands and continued her lecture. "And I'd suggest talking with your teachers about making up the work you've missed."
"Okay, ma'am." He nodded lightly while looking at Annie with a smile, to which she glared back at him.
"Do whatever it takes," she reminded him, as she didn't want him to damage her and the school's reputation. "Now, go back to your class."
"Before that, ma'am?" Before she looked away, he decided to bring up the topic of the locker code.
"Yes?" Both Mrs. Smith and Annie looked at him with curious expressions.
"I forgot the code of my locker. Can you help me with that?" He asked with a sheepish smile. Annie once again looked at him with anger.
"What do you mean you forgot!?" Annie walked toward him with an annoyed look. "Everyone was told to write down their locker combination at the beginning of the year." She then took a folded paper from her blazer's breast pocket, presumably her locker code, and pointed to it. "Like this."
"Well, stuff happened, and I lost it." With no memory of the code or of writing it down, he decided to go with that excuse.
"Pfft, typical," she said with a mocking smirk.
"That's very disappointing of you, Bradley." Mrs. Smith looked at him with disappointment. After seeing his grades, she didn't expect him to do something like this. "We'll have to give you a new lock."
He nodded lightly, not wanting to get her into a lecturing mood.
"I'll send Annie down with her master key momentarily…" She glanced at Annie, who nodded back. "And I would recommend you get everything that you need now." She rubbed her forehead in frustration over his actions and the cost of the lock. "It could be a while before the lock arrives."
"Yes, ma'am." He nodded with a blank face, holding back his smile because the lecture he had expected hadn't come.
"Head down there and then get your butt to your class after you've finished," she said with a stern voice and walked back to her seat.
Nodding lightly, he looked at Annie, who was doing something near a drawer, and exited the room. But before going down, he decided to wait outside for Annie. While waiting, he turned on his phone. He saw a notification, clicked on it, and saw a reply from Debbie.
[Bradley: Reached the school.
Debbie: That's good, sweetie. Just let me know if you need anything, and good luck for your day at school once again.
Bradley: Thanks a lot, Debbie, and have fun at home.]
Replying to her, he put his phone back in his pocket and looked around the hallway while waiting for Annie. Looking at the four other doors in the hallway, he noticed how they were all customized to the professors' personalities. In contrast, Mrs. Smith's office had no customization, which further showed her stern personality. Just as he was looking at the door, it suddenly opened, and Annie walked out.
"Sup." He greeted her with a light smile. Realizing he was still there, Annie looked at him with a frustrated expression. "What are you still doing here!?"