Billionaire Bad Boys of Romance 2(178)

“Are you nervous?” Charity whispered to Mairi.

She had to think really hard how to answer that one. The right answer should be no, but Charity sounded like she would rather hear Mairi say ‘yes’.

Don’t say yes. Velvet shook her head with a warning glare. She was always after Mairi to be more assertive.

But Mairi still heard herself saying, “A little?” She just couldn’t make herself start a fight – even if it was warranted.

“Awww.” Charity sounded terribly sad, but there was a gleam of unholy glee in her eyes.

Behind Charity, Velvet made a circular motion next to her ear. Psycho, her friend mouthed.

Mairi choked.

“Oh! Are you okay?”

“I’m, umm---”

Charity shut her down sweetly. “I hope you’re not coming down with anything, Mairi.”

Darn it. Charity’s oxymoron ways were just too confusing. She said weakly, “I’m not?” At Charity’s scowl, Mairi said hastily, “I mean, I might be?”

“Aww.” This time, Charity smiled.

The sight of it just made her head hurt worse. Charity’s smile had always been like this, half-friendly and half-nasty. Mairi had tried several times to replicate it without any success, tempting her to write to the Guinness Book of Records to report the phenomenon. And if Guinness didn’t want it, well, there was always Ripley’s.

“I know this is your first PTC so I totally understand if you’re nervous.”

Oh, how sweet. Charity seemed honestly concerned about her this time. Mairi began, “I’m actually---”

Again, the other woman cut her off with a pretty smile. “That’s why I thought you should stick to taking care of the girls in Class E and I’ll take care of those in Class A. I’m just concerned you won’t be able to cope with it. Class A parents can be so demanding.”

Velvet was exhaling loudly. Sucker, she mouthed when Mairi looked at her.

Mairi sighed. Drat it, Velvet was right. She had played the sucker. Again.

There she was, thinking Charity had finally discovered her nice streak. But instead all Charity cared about was making herself look good in the parents’ eyes. Class A girls had the highest marks in English while most of the students in Class E, which Mairi had taken over when another teacher quit mid-semester, had some of the lowest grades in their year.

Charity gave Mairi another one of her unique smiles, but this time she wasn’t as dazzled. “You understand, don’t you?”

Mairi squared her shoulders. “Well, I---”

“As you should know, most Greek parents prefer their children to be taught English by the British. And especially when they come with degrees from schools like Cambridge, where I took my masters---” With every word that came out of Charity’s mouth, her British accent became more and more obvious. It was really weird, the way the other teacher only sounded like Queen Elizabeth when she mentioned she was from Cambridge or that she needed to-mah-toes in her omelet.

Mandy was frowning hard at the ground. Mairi knew that look. It meant her friend was this close to laughing her head off. Behind Charity, Velvet was already doubled over, having long perfected the art of noiseless laughter.

Charity patted her sleekly styled hair, which curled becomingly against the expansive cleavage her strapless dress exposed. “Don’t take it personally, though. It’s just that they prefer their daughters to learn from those who really speak English.”

Mairi could only blink. What the heck did that even mean? That American English was some kind of fake version of English?

“So…” Charity looked at her expectantly. “We’re all agreed then?”

Before Mairi could answer, Rose twisted around to frown at all of them as she hissed from the bottom of the stairs, “They’re coming!” She made the students’ parents sound like a huge wave of zombies out to get them.

And so they came, indeed walking as slowly as a blushing bride who was about to go down the aisle. Since her Aunt Vilma was Hollywood’s favorite divorce lawyer, Mairi had been exposed early to the rich and famous. But even after all these years, she still couldn’t get over the air of privilege and entitlement these people had. They walked, talked, and acted like the rest of humanity was lucky to breathe the same air they did.

Rose greeted the first batch of parents and guardians with courteous charm, her soft but well-modulated voice setting the tone for the rest of the day.#p#分页标题#e#

Don’t look at them in the eye for too long.

Don’t call them by their first names – even if they invite you to.

Don’t let them know their daughter is not the most beautiful, smartest, and kindest person on earth.