The more he spoke, the louder his voice became, and flecks of spit landed on my face.
“I heard you come from a single-parent family, just living with your mom? No wonder—when a woman’s in charge, everything falls apart! Look how spoiled you are, not a trace of manliness!”
“See? A household without a man to lead is bound to be a mess! On the very first day of school, I noticed the way your mom was dressed…”
I’d had heart problems since I was young. This bracelet was something my mom specifically bought to monitor my health data, to prevent emergencies. I never expected it would bring me this kind of trouble.
Seeing him start to drag my family’s privacy into it, I could no longer hold back and shot back at him:
“Mr. Miller! I’ve already said this is for monitoring my health data, not a decoration!”
“Second, the money spent on it was from my own family. We’ve been trading internationally for decades—how does me buying a bracelet make me some kind of foreign-worshipper?”
“And finally, as a teacher, please mind your words and behavior. Focus on teaching, not on what clothes my mom wears!”
Seeing me talk back, Mr. Miller’s face turned the color of pig liver. If not for a few other teachers restraining him, he probably would have slapped me right then and there.
“You brat, you dare insult a teacher?”
“You think having a bit of money makes you special? I don’t think you’re focused on studying at all! Pretending to be sick—you’re just spoiled rotten.”
“Right now, go stand on the field! You don’t come back until I say so!”
His last sentence was almost a roar, his eyes locked on me, clearly hoping to see me give in.
But I wasn’t afraid in the slightest. I met his stare without flinching.
Veins bulged on his forehead. “You still dare glare at me? Get out, now!”
A kind-hearted female teacher came over to pull me aside. “Classmate, just apologize to your homeroom teacher. He’s only doing this for your own good—he’s just… overly concerned.”
Her voice trailed off by the end, clearly realizing Mr. Miller was being unreasonable.
I ignored the others’ attempts to intervene, keeping my gaze locked on him without backing down.
My defiance made him laugh in disbelief. It was as if he couldn’t imagine a student having the audacity to challenge his authority.
As if searching for an outlet for his anger, he suddenly grabbed my collar and dragged me back to the classroom. Standing on the podium, he barked orders:
“Quiet! Everyone shut up! Alex Carter has ignored class rules, worn accessories, and talked back to a teacher. Do you think what he did was right?”
The class looked at each other in confusion, unsure what he was even going on about. It was only the start of the school year—nobody had ever heard of such a rule. No one knew how to respond.
When nobody spoke, Mr. Miller raised his voice. “Are you all deaf? Didn’t you hear my question? If you think what he did was fine, stand up and take the punishment with him! I’ll ask again—was he right or wrong?!”
This time, all the students reluctantly dragged out the words: “Wroooong.”
A look of satisfaction spread across Mr. Miller’s face. He turned toward me, clearly expecting me to fall in line like everyone else.
He smirked and said venomously, “Hear that, Alex Carter? Everyone says you were wrong. If you don’t apologize, I’ll have the entire class shave their heads—let’s put an end to this obsession with appearances!”
Groans filled the room. My classmates looked at me with either pleading or resentful eyes, clearly not wanting to be punished because of me.
Mr. Miller looked even more pleased, tilting his chin upward as if certain I would now bow my head and apologize to him in front of everyone.
