At her words, the other teachers perked up. They were curious, too.
“I finished the entire high school curriculum years ago,” Juniper explained patiently. “So, whether I attended class or not didn’t really matter.”
Years ago? She was only eighteen now. How early could she possibly mean? Her early teens? Or when she was just a child? The more they thought about it, the more their heads spun.
“You finished… all of it?” Salma swallowed hard, struggling to get the words out.
“Yes.” Juniper gave a slight nod, her delicate features showing no trace of arrogance. It was as if mastering every subject was a trivial matter to her.
The other teachers could only stare, utterly stunned.
“I see.” Salma was too shocked to say much else for a moment. Recovering, she continued, “Well, we clearly misjudged the situation and accused you unfairly. Tell us what you want. You can ask for anything.”
An apology, for instance. The other teachers, especially the math teacher, grew tense. They had wronged her, after all, and an apology was only fair. But he had also furiously sworn that if Juniper got a perfect score, he’d call her ‘Master.’
The math teacher’s face fell. Could he perhaps do it privately? If he said it in front of everyone, Keith from the physics department would mock him for the rest of his life.
Just as the math teacher was squirming in his seat, Juniper spoke up. “I do have one request.” She tilted her head slightly, thinking for a second before saying calmly, “Now that we’ve cleared this up, can I go?”
“What?” Salma froze, not quite processing it.
“It’s almost lunchtime,” Juniper said, pressing her lips together earnestly. “If I’m late to the cafeteria, it’ll be packed, and they’ll run out of the beef stir-fry.”
She was really looking forward to the beef stir-fry today.

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