Chapter 147: The Teacher and the School Nurse

Chapter 147: Chapter 147: The Teacher and the School Nurse

Chapter 147: The Teacher and the School Nurse

By the last class of the morning, the novelty surrounding Cyrus Calder’s new appearance had not faded.

At the front of the classroom, Daphne Whitlock taught with the same polished composure she always carried at St. Alder. Her professional clothes were immaculate, her delivery was clear, and even students who normally struggled to pay attention rarely complained when she was the one standing at the board.

More than a few students admired her regardless of gender.

Today, however, Daphne’s attention drifted toward the back corner several times.

Nobody seemed to notice.

Cyrus did.

He ignored every glance.

Whatever else could be said about Daphne, she was good at teaching, and Cyrus had no intention of wasting an entire class because she kept checking whether he was still sitting there.

Besides, one more person staring at him hardly made a difference today.

Daphne was having considerably more trouble dismissing the change.

Cyrus had spent so long hiding his appearance that his sudden decision made little sense to her.

He hated attention.

She knew that much.

So why walk into school with his hair cut short enough to expose the face he had deliberately hidden?

A possibility bothered her.

Was the memory problem getting worse?

Maybe Cyrus had started preparing for the possibility that one day he would need someone else to depend on.

Someone new.

The thought immediately made Daphne uncomfortable.

Or perhaps there was another explanation entirely.

She kept teaching while quietly working through possibilities, unable to decide whether approaching him again would help or only make him withdraw further.

The lunch bell eventually ended the class.

Students had barely begun packing their things when several people converged on Cyrus’s desk.

"Cyrus, do you want to grab lunch with us?"

"You should come with me. There is a cafeteria station that is actually good today."

Another student leaned in from the side.

"We could all go together if you want."

The sudden friendliness did not surprise Cyrus.

He stood without answering immediately and stepped far enough away from his desk that the cluster naturally followed him.

His reason had nothing to do with enjoying the attention.

Faye sat directly in front of him.

She had already been tense since he entered school that morning, and Cyrus knew she disliked being surrounded by too many people.

There was no point in reducing Audra’s trouble only to create a new problem for Faye.

Once the group had moved away from the back corner, Cyrus noticed Faye’s shoulders loosen slightly.

She quietly gathered her things and left the classroom.

Only then did Cyrus address the students still waiting around him.

"Thanks for asking, but I prefer eating alone."

None of them seemed malicious.

Cyrus simply had no reason to suddenly become close with people who had barely spoken to him before today.

He did not even feel motivated to examine why they were interested now.

There was no need to offend them.

There was also no need to become friends.

At the front of the room, Daphne deliberately took her time organizing papers.

She watched Cyrus pick up the lunch she had prepared for him that morning and leave by himself.

That was enough to improve her mood slightly.

Cyrus found an empty place elsewhere in the building and ate without interruption.

Once he finished, he started toward the fourth-floor classroom where he usually met Audra.

His phone vibrated before he reached the stairs.

Vera Sable had messaged him.

Vera: I’m hungry. Come to the nurse’s office and let me drink some more.

Cyrus stared at the screen.

He could practically hear her saying it with that shameless smile.

Only an idiot would voluntarily go back after what happened last time.

Vera had already given him a possible way to remove the ring, and irritating as she was, the information sounded plausible enough that Cyrus could not dismiss it outright.

She had no remaining leverage strong enough to make him offer his neck again.

If anything, Cyrus regretted opening the message at all.

He should have left it unread.

Instead, he simply gave Vera nothing.

No reply.

Cyrus continued toward the academic building, stopping by his classroom long enough to pick up his books before heading upstairs.

Spending time with Audra did not require them to do anything special.

The lingering glamourkin influence weakened as long as they stayed around each other, which meant Cyrus could use the time productively.

Studying beside Audra was considerably better than sitting around doing nothing.

If he encountered something he did not understand, she could also explain it.

At the rate things were going, Cyrus suspected his grades might improve again simply because a dangerous artifact had accidentally created regular tutoring sessions.

Audra was already in the empty classroom when he arrived.

She acknowledged him with a small nod.

Cyrus returned it and took his usual seat.

A few students wandered past the doorway during the next several minutes.

Their pace became suspiciously slow near the room.

Some glanced inside under the pretense of looking for someone or checking the classroom number.

What they found was disappointing.

Cyrus was working through school material.

Audra was reading.

Neither sat unusually close.

There was no flirting, whispered confession, secret hand-holding, or anything else capable of feeding the rumors properly.

Eventually, the curious students moved on.

Audra kept her book raised.

After a while, she spoke with the casual tone of someone asking a question that had only just occurred to her.

"Do you remember when your birthday is?"

Cyrus stopped writing.

He thought about it.

"I honestly do not remember."

His answer carried no visible emotion.

It was not another attempt to hide something from her.

Frostborn did not attach the same importance to birthdays that humans did. Cyrus had never grown up treating the date as something worth celebrating every year.

After enough time passed, even he had forgotten the exact day he had been born.

Audra’s fingers paused against the edge of her page.

Cyrus noticed the silence and asked, "When is your birthday?"

"Mine is November third."

Cyrus nodded and returned to the problem in front of him.

Among humans, close friends usually exchanged gifts on birthdays.

That seemed simple enough.

When November arrived, he could get Audra something.

It would also help maintain the friendship.

A useful safeguard should not be neglected simply because the current problem involved schoolwork rather than immediate danger.

Cyrus made a mental note to ask Faye about her birthday too.

Across campus, Vera Sable was looking at a very different kind of unanswered message.

Her phone clearly showed that Cyrus had read what she sent.

He had simply ignored her.

Vera was not offended.

Her mouth curved instead.

So he would not come willingly anymore.

That was understandable.

She could think of another approach.

The glamourkin ring Audra carried was interesting, but Vera had no intention of interfering with it yet. Mind-control artifacts tended to create unnecessary complications, and she preferred entertainment that did not immediately place her inside someone else’s problem.

There was, however, another person nearby who seemed to be sinking into a problem without realizing it.

Helping a teacher sounded almost responsible.

Vera rose from her chair and headed toward the cafeteria.

The third floor was primarily used by faculty and staff during lunch.

Daphne usually prepared her own food, but that did not prevent her from occasionally buying something extra from the staff cafeteria.

Today was one of those days.

She selected a few things she normally liked and took a table near the windows.

Lunch was already well underway, and because Daphne had arrived late, only a handful of staff members remained on the floor.

That made the newcomer easy to notice.

Daphne recognized Vera from the white coat before they ever spoke.

The new school nurse.

She had heard people mention her several times.

Young, competent, and unusually accomplished for someone working in a school health office.

In a vague sense, Daphne felt that Vera belonged to the same category of adult professional she did.

Capable.

Self-possessed.

The sort of person others noticed quickly.

It was not enough to call it trust, but it created a favorable first impression.

Standing near the food counter, Vera seemed to notice Daphne’s attention.

She looked over.

For several seconds, the two women assessed each other.

Then Vera offered a polite nod.

Daphne returned it.

Vera bought a small lunch but did not approach her.

Instead, she chose a table one row away.

That was deliberate.

Walking straight up to a stranger and forcing familiarity usually made people guarded.

Vera had plenty of patience.

There was no reason to rush.

The next day, much the same thing happened.

Vera arrived at roughly the same part of lunch and noticed Daphne again.

This time, they exchanged a few words while standing near the counter before taking separate seats a comfortable distance apart.

Two more days passed with similarly casual encounters.

By Wednesday, Vera had become familiar enough that seeing her in the faculty cafeteria no longer registered as unusual.

That day, she carried her lunch directly to Daphne’s table.

Daphne was not surprised.

They had already traded enough small pleasantries over the previous lunches that the progression felt natural.

Vera sat across from her.

A faint, pleasant smile rested on her face.

"I hope this does not sound intrusive, but you look like you have not been sleeping very well lately."

Daphne gave a small sigh.

"It is not too serious. There are simply a few things occupying my mind."

She did not explain further.

Part of the problem was mundane enough.

She had been putting more effort into Cyrus’s meals lately, choosing ingredients carefully and trying to keep everything fresh. That meant earlier preparation, extra planning, and less sleep than usual.

A medical professional noticing her fatigue was hardly shocking.

Vera nodded sympathetically.

Then her attention settled more fully on Daphne.

"This may sound strange, but I have been thinking that you remind me of one of my relatives."

Daphne’s interest shifted toward her.

"Do I really?"

"You actually do."

Vera’s smile warmed.

"Would you like to hear the story about her?"

Daphne had no objection.

"I would not mind hearing it."

Lunch break still had time left, and chatting with the new nurse seemed pleasant enough.

Daphne settled more comfortably into her seat, unaware that Vera had taken several days simply to make this conversation feel accidental.