Reborn As A Rich Heir

Chapter 2

"... you know, the graduation ceremony may be in three days, but that doesn't mean that you should skip any of the remaining classes," Matt began after he took a moment to observe me as I examined the attire I was wearing. It seemed that I hadn't noticed before that I was dressed in the school uniform until he pointed it out. He found that strange because I should have been in the uniform before entering the door on the other side. The teleportation shouldn't have affected my mind from before then.

"I have to attend classes?" I asked. To be fair, I was at a school and the uniform I had on meant that I was a student. There could be no other explanation for that. I had no memories from before I found myself in the dark. I had to trust his word about feeling better after a while.

"As the prefect, I can't allow you to skip on any classes. This is your final year and though I doubt the attendance will count when the graduation day arrives, you'll still have to go. Do you know what course you're taking?" He asked, further confusing me. I had no idea as to what I was to say to him. Who was this Sophia whose role I was suddenly supposed to take up? What course was she taking in her final year of high school?

"Wait, does that mean that I won't pass the year?" I asked, unsure as to why I was so concerned about repeating a grade. As far as I was concerned, I was a 19 year old girl with a name and identity I couldn't quite recall, but I was certain that I was already through with high school. In fact, that year should have been my first year in a university and I was supposed to start the final semester's examinations. However, I found myself back in a high school building before I could start.

"Of course. You haven't attended school all year until today," he said, his gaze wandering off to the door behind me. He averted his eyes down to the cat that was scratching the back of its ear with one of its hind legs.

"By the way, why are you here? So late into the year, too?" Asked Matt, prompting me to consult my thoughts. There was no answer for his question so I just shrugged my shoulders.

"I don't know. But can you tell me... about this place... and what you know about me?" I asked, looking about the hallway. There were some windows that gave a good view of the outside and from that I could tell that we were higher off the ground. The greenery that was the tops of the trees from the forest outside and the thin length of blue that was the ocean water in the distance proved that I wasn't anywhere near the city I grew up in. It was safe to assume that I was in a school that was near the coast, but which one, I couldn't figure out on my own.

"Well, I don't know much about Sophia Astor except that you've been attending here basically since your first day in the 8th grade. But you didn't register for the final year earlier and didn't make it to the entrance ceremony either," he explained, "You're the only one who didn't, so it isn't difficult for me to assume that you're the only one the door will open for."

I was taken aback by the amount of information that Matt, the school's sole prefect, knew about a specific student. I may have displayed the astonishment I felt on my facial features and he noticed it, responding to it by lightly blushing and turning his head away for a moment to hide the red hue covering his face.

"You must be really good at your job if you know so much about me," I commented and he was quick to deny it.

"Not at all. Well, I wouldn't be the prefect if I wasn't somewhat skilled at certain tasks. But you'll find out why I know so much about you. You are... what should I say, very popular around here," he said, and right on cue, our conversation was interrupted by the ringing of the siren throughout the building. I knew enough about schools to realize that the siren signaled a change, and down the hallway, I noticed a group of students, all similarly dressed in the same fashion as we did.

They walked down the hallway towards us and it wasn't until they were close enough that I noticed that their tires were purple instead of the red that Matt and I wore. I became curious about that, but before I could ask why there was such a difference, Matt motioned for me to follow behind him after he walked around my figure to close the door.

"The next classes are about to start. Being late for the year is one thing but it won't help if you're late for the lesson," he said, walking away as the group of students walked by me. They all turned their heads, curiosity filling the atmosphere, because just as Matt did, they were well aware that the door only opened to people who were allowed through, and they were also aware of each and every student. Seeing a new face so late into the year came as a surprise for them.

As for me, I was still bewildered and didn't know much of what to think. The only thing I could do was to follow Matt. So, without thinking carefully about it, I crouched down and reached my hand out for the white cat to leap onto it. It wasn't heavy per se but I felt that I needed to hold onto it with both my arms instead of one. Looking down at the cat, I wondered where it could have come from. Perhaps it was a cat that I already owned and it happened to accidentally come along with me. Either way, I just couldn't leave it there on its own. Not to mention that it would have just followed me all the way anyway.

I hurried down the hallway to catch up with Matt, who noticed that I appeared behind him. I was able to finally get a better understanding of him from the short conversation we had with each other. While I didn't initially see it, he was a lot taller than I was and frankly speaking, he had facial features that could only be described as cute or pretty. The shoulder length hair only contributed to his feminine appearance. To add to that, he gave off the feeling of being someone with a kind soul; someone I would enjoy having around.

Then again, as the school's prefect, he had to have a presentable personality that wouldn't scare off people. He had to be liked by almost everyone and I could only imagine how much effort it took for him to get to where he was. His grades had to have been splendid as well.

"By the way, Matt, how long have you been at this school?" I asked and he turned his head to look at me from the corner of his hazel eyes.

"At Golden Willow High? Since the start of this year," was his simple response. As far as I was concerned, someone needed a good record for at least three years at a school in order to qualify as a prefect. But for him to achieve the role in his first year of school was something that was astonishing.

As for Gold Willow High, I had heard about the school a number of times throughout my life, the most memorable facts about it being that it has been standing for over 200 years and that it only caters to the education of students from affluent families. To be specific, the wealthiest families in the world.

"Here we are," Matt said as he stood besides a closed door. I couldn't hear much from inside other than the voice of a female teacher so it was safe to assume that the class had already started. I was hesitant on interrupting the class, but Matt did say that it wouldn't do me good if I just spent my time wandering about the halls instead of attending a lesson.

"I'll take that from you, if you don't mind," he said, moving close to pick up the cat from my arms. This didn't dwell right with it and it started to hiss and wriggled about in Matt's hands. I couldn't bring the cat to the class, for obvious reasons, but considering how it had reacted, I quickly took it back from Matt's hands and it calmed down the second it felt my embrace again.

"I'll bring it with me. I don't think it'll agree to go elsewhere," I said. Matt was dumbfounded for a moment, especially by how clingy the cat was. I wouldn't be able to go anywhere without it if I kept it so close to me that it became very clingy. He had in mind to utilize his authority to get me to get rid of the cat, but considering who I was and that the cat somehow managed to make it through the door that was meant for only humans to walk through, he came to conclude that allowing it to stay with me would be fine.

"Alright then. This is the English language class. Since neither of us know what courses you're taking, I assume it's safe that you be here for a while until I can figure it all out. I'll be back to get you when the class ends," Matt said before turning to walk away before I could say anything else. He must have been very busy. However, we didn't come across that many students on our way to the English class. High schools normally took in a large number of students but it seemed that Golden Willow High did things a bit differently.

Before walking into the class, I once again looked down at cat in my arms.

"What am I going to do with you?" I asked, expecting an answer that never came. I heaved a sigh and raised the cat up in the air with my hands under his front legs as one would with a baby.

"Oh, you're a boy? Well, that means I'm getting to know you better, doesn't it?" I asked with a light giggle. After tucking the cat away in my arms again, I somehow found a way to open the door, and soon came to realize that I had made the mistake of not knocking before entering. Because right as I set foot past the door, a cold shiver ran up my spine as the atmosphere quietened and everyone in the room turned to look behind them at the intruder. This included the teacher, who had an expression that was far from being referred to as kind.

She was an older lady, probably in her fifties, and had a scowl on her face from being interrupted.

"You're a new face. Are you lost? The school year's about to end and you still haven't gotten your classes memorized?" The teacher half yelled so that I could hear her all the way from the front. She was beyond mad; infuriated, I might say. The look on her face and the attention I was receiving from everyone else made me extremely anxious. The cat wriggled in my arms because of how tight my hold on him was. He wanted to break free and successfully managed to do so before jumping to the nearest desk, spooking the student who was seated there.

Once the cat had moved away from my chest, the teacher's attention was no longer on me or the cat but on the red tie that quickly caused her facial expression to change into a more neutral one.

"A red tie? You must be one of the slackers if this is your first time in my class. What's your name?" The teacher asked and I took a moment to consult my memory. The name I learned from Matt was starting to slip from my mind and the teacher was becoming impatient as each second passed. She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot against the floor, signaling for me to hurry up.

"S-Sophia..." I said in a low voice.

"Sophia, you'll have to be louder than that. What is your full name?" She asked.

"Sophia Astor," and I responded, a little louder than the first time. I was asked to state my name, and that I did, so it wasn't wrong that I was perplexed afterwards by the change of her attitude or the atmosphere in the class. As if I had told her to do so, her arms dropped to her sides only a second after I stopped speaking and she stood up as straight as her frail body could allow her to. Her face changed as well and she seemed as nervous as I was. Not to mention that the students had now taken to looking away from me in unison and others were whispering amongst each other.

"Sophia... take a seat. The lesson is just about to begin," she said, holding her left hand in her right and fumbling with her fingers. I didn't understand why the sudden change took place and I glanced down at the cat. However, I made eye contact with the male student who was seated at the desk first before they moved to the cat. He whimpered and quickly stood up, picking up every single item on his desk then moving further down the row where an empty desk was. This left the seat next to me and next to the door opened.

I didn't mean to frighten him off, even though I wasn't aware I had done so, but the lesson had been on hold for a few minutes and I didn't want to interrupt it for longer than I already did. So, I tucked my skirt neatly underneath my thighs and sat down on the chair where the other student had been sitting. With that, the teacher started teaching again, but this time, her voice was noticeably lower and held less authority than it did before.

I hated that simply saying the name was enough to drive a teacher to change her attitude in a second. I was still unaware of who Sophia was but it appeared that she was infamous throughout the school. I had taken her role but I had to convince everyone that I wasn't who they thought I was. But how could I do that if I didn't even know my real name to change their minds?