“Wow, Madam Jackson, your Emily is so smart! She always ranks the top three in class!”
“You look so beautiful, Madam Jackson! This outfit really suits you.”
“Madam Jackson, not only are you successful in your career but also in nurturing such a smart daughter! Oh how I envy you!”
“Excuse me, are you Emily Jackson’s mother?” Mr. Smith asked sheepishly as he walked up to Megan.
“Yes, I am,” Megan replied, grinning from ear to ear.
“Can you tell us how Emily usually studies at home?”
“My little girl here has always been a hard working kid so the minute she reaches home, she’ll hole herself up in the room to study,” Megan replied while gently stroking Emily’s head.
“If only my kid was that obedient, I wouldn’t need to fuss over them so much.” The other parents sighed with envy.
“Madam Jackson teaches her daughter so well.”
As the other parents continued to butter up to her, Megan felt prouder as the moments went by.
“Madam Jackson is right; all parents here need to supervise your kids carefully!”
Meanwhile, Emily felt like she was sitting on pins and needles, not knowing how to stop Megan from finding out about Janet’s results.
As Mr. Smith was about to announce the first place, Emily had no other choice but to yelp loudly in front of her classmates, “Ouch, it’s so painful!”
Megan froze but quickly rushed over to help Emily. “What happened, dear?” she asked anxiously.
Emily grimaced and her palms broke out in cold sweat. “Mom, my stomach hurts! I need to go to the medical office.”
While all the parents in the class looked worryingly at Emily, only Janet who was sitting in the corner sneered at the duo.
Putting down the report cards, Mr. Smith offered to help support Emily to the medical office.
“Mr. Smith, you don’t have to come with us; I need only my mom to accompany me. You should go back to class.” Emily quickly dismissed Mr. Smith as she was afraid that Megan would ask him about the student who scored first place.
Upon hearing that, Megan nodded and replied, “It’s alright, Mr. Smith. I can take care of Emily. You should go back to class.”
Thus, Mr. Smith shrugged and walked back to the classroom. When he was back in the classroom, he continued announcing the results of the term exam, “This term’s first place goes to Janet Jackson, with a score of 440!”
Just then, all the parents turned around and tried to guess which one of them was Janet’s parents. They all wanted to know what it took to raise such a golden child. But as Janet stood up, she was all alone.
“Janet’s parents are quite busy at the moment, so that’s why they couldn’t make it this time.” Mr. Smith jumped in trying to help smooth things over.
The parents nodded and whispered among themselves, “Janet’s results are very good.”
“If I had a daughter like this, I would treat her like a princess!”
“We’re only going to announce the first three ranks for this term’s results. Parents, if any of you would like to know how your child did in their exams, please look for me in the office.”
Meanwhile in the medical office, Megan rubbed Emily’s stomach gently as she asked, “Emily, are you feeling better?”
Emily looked at the time. It’s been an hour. Mr. Smith should be done by now. Nodding her head obediently, Emily replied, “I’m feeling much better now, Mom. Let’s go back.”
Megan nodded in reply before helping Emily walk to the school gate to wait for their car.
Just then, Megan casually asked, “Oh right—Emily, who scored first place for this term?”
Emily stiffened and stuttered, “I-I think it’s a new student; I’m not too sure.”
“Alright, I won’t ask again.” Megan stroked Emily’s head and said lovingly, “Anyhow, my daughter is still the best.”
It was then that Emily could finally take a breather. Luckily for her, Megan didn’t manage to find out about Janet’s results.
Just like that, the mother-daughter duo chatted and laughed all the way to the school gate. Suddenly, two parents from Class A happened to walk past them and were discussing about the student who scored first place.
“I can’t believe that bumpkin Janet Jackson actually scored first place this term!”
