The sound of pens rapidly tapping against desks filled the room. The atmosphere tense. Anxiety, stress and confidence could all be felt in the air. Slowly and gradually, as though some silent signal had been given, the sound of papers turning resonated off the classroom walls.
"Fifteen minutes left!" shouted a grey and dull figure at the front of the room. The gloomy looking individual sat upon a leather chair, the material of which was beginning to fade away. His lazy eyes darted from student to student until they fixated upon one in particular. The teen, unaware of the stern gaze trained on him, stared at the blank paper before him.
"Jake! Carry on doing your paper!" shouted the gloomy teacher from the front of the classroom, an undertone of irritation present in his words. The sudden voice caused Jake's focus to briefly shift to the teacher, before falling back to the paper on his desk. Slowly, he began to reach for the pen lying idle next to the sheet. After spending a minute or so pondering over the first question, he raised his hand in confusion.
"No questions during an exam!" barked the teacher, his face beginning to turn red in frustration.
"But, Mr. Jones, the paper doesn't make sense," Jake pressed, his voice soft and filled with confusion. The whole class looked back at him, in surprise.
"What did you say?" Mr Jones demanded, his face now an angry scarlet. His eyes glared at the boy, who simply stared back impassively.
"I said, there is a mistake in your paper." Jake's tone now harboured a sense of annoyance. A slight scowl appeared on his countenance. His almost frighteningly dark blue eyes bore deeply into the teacher's, as though reaching through to his soul. The elder individual felt the weight of Jake's unnerving gaze, subconsciously softening his attitude and approach towards the teen.
"Maybe there is. Let me take a look at it then," Mr Jones' relented, his tone and demeanour dramatically cowed compared to previously. The sudden softness in attitude caused all the students to stare at Jake in confusion. The situation lead to an outburst of whispered gossip amongst the students.
"What's that all about?"
"Did Mr Jones, just question himself?"
"How in the world could Jake have the audacity to talk back to Mr Jones?"
"This can't be the real Mr Jones can it?"
"The face that Jake showed to Mr Jones was really scary it's no surprise that Mr Jones changed his personality completely."
Unfortunately, it seemed as though they weren't quiet enough, as the teacher's face once again turned into a mask of solid stone. There was a resounding thud as his palm hit the desk, causing pin drop silence to once again settle over the room.
The man's next words came out somewhat shrill and vexed. "That doesn't give you all the queue to start talking!" This was immediately followed by him getting off his chair and walking towards the student who initially dared to question him. He stared down at the boy with a cold, neutral gaze. "What mistake were you talking about?" His usual bitterness was gradually returning.
Jake calmly pointed to a question on the paper in response. "Sir, the first question begins by stating a piece of evidence from Newton's law of motions, which is; Every object persists in the state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed on it." The blue eyed teen spoke with an almost unnatural fluentness, sounding as though the answer had been rehearsed several times before. A charismatic aura of sophistication and intellect seemed to manifest around Jake.
This caused all the students to gaze at him in awe, even Mr Jones stood spellbound for several moments. After a brief moment, the reality of the situation dawned upon Mr Jones. The eyes of practically every student within the class settled upon him almost unnervingly.
However, none of this seemed to disturb Jake in any sense as he continued.
"It states flaws within the laws of motion were already picked up by Einstein in his theory of relativity, therefore it can't be answered due to Einstein's theory already boarding up the holes within it." Beads of sweat began to form upon the brow of Mr Jones. His composure no longer stable. How could he miss such a big detail? The Theory of relativity! However, Mr Jones' ego did not allow him to admit defeat, especially to a teenager. He had redeem himself before the eyes of all his students, otherwise he would become the school's biggest laughing stock. He breathed in deeply and collected all his thoughts in an attempt to remain in a rational state. He picked up the paper from Jake's desk and began to read the question to himself. He read the question once, twice and then a third time, in a desperate attempt to pick out a mistake in Jake's logical break down. He had to redeem himself and show that he was indeed the smartest individual in the room. Under no circumstance could he allow a student to appear smarter than him.
The processes of his brain worked at a capacity that would drive lesser men insane, but was for naught. This became evident as all the students in the class unanimously concluded the ultimate outcome of the confrontation. Their teacher had been outsmarted by his student.
Mr Jones could no longer bear the questioning, in some cases even pitying, stares of all those around him. He swiftly stormed out the classroom. The door was shut with considerable force as he left, causing a slight vibration to spread throughout the room. A few moments of silence passed, the current events that had transpired replaying themselves in the minds of the students. Suddenly, a huge hail of applause and laughter broke out within the classroom.
"Wow! The Tyrant has been defeated!"
"Is this actually a free lesson?!"
"Jake, you genius, thank you!"
Smiles and joy now filled the atmosphere, as though a festival had begun. Students began to get off their chairs and slap Jake lightly on the back, to create a sense of gratitude for what he had done. One by one the students started to exit the classroom in perfect sync of the bell in as it rang, signalling the end of the school day.