Flora’s Guide to a Second Chance at Love and Life

Keaton watched Tyler with a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth, unable to suppress his amazement. Suddenly, Tyler seemed like a small-town kid who'd never seen the world before. Having such a genius unexpectedly placed in his class left Keaton feeling a bit on edge.

He thought about giving Tyler the usual pep talk about not resting on his laurels and continuing to push himself, but those near-perfect test scores left him speechless. Really, who was he to tell Tyler not to be proud? If anyone had a right to be, it was him.

"Alright, you can head back to class," Keaton cleared his throat. "If you run into any issues, come see me. And if anyone gives you a hard time, let me know. The exams are just around the corner, so keep your focus there and don't let anything else get in your way."

"Okay," Tyler nodded, then turned and walked back to the classroom with purpose.

As Keaton watched him go, he couldn't help but feel a bit rattled. Witnessing a former underachiever transform into a top student was something else. It made him wonder about Fiona-could she be a secret genius too? But that seemed unlikely. When Flora had placed Fiona in his class, she mentioned her grades weren't great and even showed him a less-than-impressive report card. How could two high achievers have a daughter who struggled academically?

With exams coming up, every teacher was reminding students to buckle down after class. When Tyler returned to the classroom, the teacher was right in the middle of one of those reminders. She cast a discreet glance his way. Tyler's impressive scores were already the talk of the teacher's lounge. If he bombed the upcoming exams, it would be a blow to Keaton's reputation.noveldrama

But she didn't single him out. She didn't want to pile on the pressure. She just went over the exam rules and left as soon as the bell rang.

"Hey, Tyler, what did the homeroom teacher say to you?" a curious classmate turned around to ask.

"Not much, just told me to focus on the exams," Tyler replied casually.

"So, how'd you do on the practice test?" The curiosity was thick in the air.

"Uh... out of 750, probably 740," Tyler answered, thoughtful but sincere. His nearby classmates were dumbstruck.

The boy who asked gave him a thumbs up, "Dude, if bragging

show, you'd be the headliner

a

compete with that."

740. That was the kind of score a state champ would boast about! How could he just drop that bomb so casually?

Tyler furrowed his brow, not one to argue on his own behalf, so he kept quiet.

"Tyler, let's go, time for lunch," Fiona called out, tossing her backpack to him and heading for the door.

There sessions, which y

hour break before

evening

optional. Fiona, of course, wasn't

planning on attending. Co were

WY

Tyler didn't see the point either.

He grabbed her backpack, slung his own over his shoulder, and followed her out. At the back of the class Nash's expression shifted suddenly as he watched them.

"Whoa, Nash, what's up with those two? Flora actually asked him out for lunch. They seem super close!"

"Yeah, I've noticed too. No way, do you think they might be dating?"

The boys in Class 19 were all taken aback. Flora had never treated any of them like that!