Nolan squints, wondering why Alexander, the golden child, wasn’t giving his full, undivided attention to the teacher. It’s so unlike him that Nolan stares, unsure of what to think. If he could think, that is. Nolan grimaces as he tries, the stuffing in his head stopping all his trains of thought. His chest aches from the violently rapid twist he’d made to watch the two get scolded, but the phenomenon is so entrancing that he can’t help himself from looking. Nolan eventually gives up on staring Alexander to death, and tries to redirect his attention towards the information dump of a lecture.
By the time he’s able to focus fully on the board, the teacher is announcing the end of class.
“Be prepared for the test next week!” she shouts as a farewell, walking to one of the exits with her lunch in hand. After a short delay, Nolan’s eyes widen, and he tries to recall when she’d said anything about a test.
It’ll be on the online classroom, he reassures himself, ignoring the popping from his back as he shuts his laptop. I’ll be fine.