With the immediate crisis averted, Lia let out a long breath, turned slightly, and whispered to Miaomiao, "That scared me to death. Thank goodness Mrs. Paget let it go."
Miaomiao was a little puzzled. "Why are you so afraid of Mrs. Paget? Would she hit you?"
"Of course not! Mrs. Paget is just a little strict." Lia's eyes went wide. "Why would you think that? Don't tell me... someone in the Wayne Family would..."
Lia abruptly clapped a hand over her mouth and hurriedly scanned their surroundings. Only after making sure no one was paying attention to them did she slowly lower her hand, press it against her still-pounding heart, and lower her voice.
"Wayne, why would you say that?"
"I just don't understand. If Mrs. Paget won't hit you, why are you so afraid of her?"
Remembering Miaomiao's earlier remark that she had never attended school, Lia began to grasp what that really meant. "Our teachers control our coursework grades. If we make a bad impression on them, they'll deduct points. If we lose too many points, we'll fail the class no matter how well we do on the final exam."
"Then..."
Miaomiao wanted to ask something else, but Lia cut her off.
"Shh, no more talking. Mrs. Paget is looking this way."
Lia immediately sat up straight, her back rigid and her hands placed neatly on the desk. She focused intently on the classmate beside her, looking for all the world as though she were diligently participating in a group discussion.
Seeing her act this way, Miaomiao instinctively followed her lead and settled down, though she still didn't quite understand. She quietly lowered her eyes to the open textbook and said nothing more.
The rest of the lesson went fairly smoothly.
Mrs. Paget knew Miaomiao was only sitting