Forget it! She supposed Gordon didn’t even know who Mason was judging from how thick he usually was.
When the school bell rang, their class teacher stood behind the podium with a solemn expression on his face. All the students of Class A were feeling so apprehensive that their palms were sweating.
“Mr. Smith, please just kill the suspense and tell us what’s on your mind,” one of the boys raised his hand and pleaded in a humble tone.
Mr. Smith dropped the solemn expression at once and declared, “Honestly, it isn’t totally a bad thing. The school is having a parent-teacher conference tomorrow.” It wasn’t a bad thing, at least in Mr. Smith’s perception, because he was glad to see these rascals in his class receive punishment.
Several beats later, the classroom was filled with sighs and groans.
“I knew I wouldn’t be able to escape it!”
“My doomsday is coming! I think I might as well just drop out from school! Once my parents know that my results rank fifth from the bottom, I’m sure they will suspend my allowance!”
“Damn it! I’ll have to suffer a round of endless nagging from my mother again at home.”
For those students who excelled in the exam, they would cruise through the parent-teacher conference but for those who didn’t do well, it would be a torture.
“Mr. Smith, can my parents not come tomorrow?” One of the boys put up his hand and said, “My parents are so busy and they have no time for me.”
Mr. Smith chuckled and countered, “For the parents who can’t make it tomorrow, I’ll have a chat with them over the phone.”
“Argh!”
After the period ended, Abby inched close to Janet and said, “Janet, I’ve never met your parents. I bet they will be over the moon when they know your exam results are at the top of our batch.”
Appearing unperturbed, Janet chuckled. “Will they?”
Whispers broke out among some of the classmates who overheard Abby’s comment.
“I’m really curious to see how much of a bumpkin Janet’s parents are.”
“I’m sure they will dress as shabbily as Janet and their clothes must be filthy.”
“Will they stink?”
They were talking in voices that were barely audible, not daring to say it to Janet’s face. They didn’t want to be punched, like what had happened to Jennifer from Class B.
While some were overjoyed about the occasion, others were greatly depressed over it. Emily from Class A was one of the latter. Ever since Mr. Smith told them about the parent-teacher conference, she held her head low and bit her lips, not saying a single word. It was because her results were ranked second to Janet’s first.
She wouldn’t mind being defeated by anyone, just not Janet. If her parents learnt that she was beaten by Janet, she would no longer be their most loved and excellent daughter. On top of that, they would surely change their perception of Janet once they knew how outstanding her results were.
Later that night at Jackson Residence, Megan was sitting on the sofa, talking to Emily with affection written all over her face. “Emily, I’ll go with you tomorrow. Do pick out what I should wear to the parent-teacher conference because I wouldn’t want to embarrass you.”
Emily was petrified and her face looked awkward. Trying her best to smile, she agreed, “Okay.”
Megan caressed her head and remarked, “Once again, you’re going to make our family proud.” Everytime Megan attended the parent-teacher conference, the teachers and the principal would always compliment Emily for how clever a girl she was. Having worked as a professional model before, Megan was used to being vain and the praises from the teachers and the principal on Emily fed her ego well.
Holding her head low, Emily asked cautiously, “Mom, since you’re going to attend the conference with me tomorrow, will Dad be there with Janet?”
Megan frowned at the mention of Janet as she still held a deep grudge against her. “I don’t think we will attend hers.” If she were to attend the conference as Janet’s mother, it would bring her nothing but embarrassment.
Janet reached home just in time to hear what Megan said. However, she only let out a chuckle and wasn’t too bothered by it.
Brian, who was reading the papers, spotted Janet and said to her, “Janet, Megan will be bringing the two of you to the parent-conference tomorrow because I can’t make it.”
“Okay,” Janet responded nonchalantly.
Megan looked bitter as soon as she heard what Brian said. Tugging his sleeve, she grumbled, “Brian, do I really have to be there as Janet’s mother?”
A crease appeared on Brian’s forehead because he knew what Megan was thinking. Trying to avoid speaking too harshly and hurt Janet, he said after some contemplation, “You girls are free to make any suitable arrangement.”
Janet chortled before she muttered in self-mockery, “Seems like I don’t deserve to be a part of this family.”
