The Affection Multiplier - Chapter 218: Attempt at redemption – A proposal from the teachers. (Patreon)

Author's note: This is the start of a series of chapters with changing points of view and focusing primarily on Olivia, Lilian and Jessica.

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Olivia, Lilian and Jessica got called to Ms. Owens’ office during lunch for predictable reasons. What wasn’t really predictable was finding Ms. Campbell and Ms. Miller waiting for them as well, sitting on chairs at opposite sides of the English teacher’s desk.

Olivia has to suppress a snarky comment about wondering what this could be about.

And so, with door locked and voices at a low enough volume, everyone greets each other with distant politeness and Ms. Owens starts.

“I think it’s best we save time and get to the point. You three know why we called you here, right?”

“It’s about David, right?” Olivia says, just to avoid misunderstandings.

“Yes.” Ms. Owens nods.

“We called you here because we want to hear it for ourselves.” Ms. Campbell says. “What do you plan to do with what you know?”

“…You’re not going to threaten us with expulsion or something if we tell anyone?” Lilian speaks, raising a surprised eyebrow.

“Not really.” Ms. Miller shrugs. “So? What will it be?”

“I told David already. We won’t speak a word.” Olivia says firmly.

In front of her and her friends are three of the four people that could potentially become their greatest allies. Although they never did anything to them directly, they also know most of what they’ve done. Yet being called here to talk, the casual tone with which they’re speaking and the lack of hostility in their eyes are reassuring by themselves.

If they can do something to convince the teachers that they’ve changed, then that will help them convince the others. Not solve everything entirely, but certainly help.

“We realize it’s not easy to believe us, though.” Jessica grimaces.

Ms. Campbell lets out a heavy sigh. “David is a very, VERY softhearted man. He tries to be cold and calculating, but he can’t quite pull it off a lot of the time.”

As she speaks, a smile starts forming in the literature teacher’s lips. Her colleagues chuckle softly in agreement.

“And your schoolmates are also very emotionally driven.” Ms. Miller adds. “That’s why we want to be the ones to look at thing objectively. At least, as much as we can.”

“We’ve watched you change, girls.” Ms. Owens says. “We’ve seen it in your grades and we’ve seen it in your attitude. We might not speak much, but teachers notice these things.”

Olivia swallows at Ms. Owens’ firm gaze.

“Of course, we also know that you want to make amends.” Ms. Campbell continues. “And we believe we have an idea.” She smiles wryly, looking like she doesn’t enjoy what they have in mind.

“W-What is it?” Jessica asks.

“You three repeatedly asked David to do your homework and assignments, right?” Ms. Owens asks. “Then we’d like to see how serious you are about paying him back.”

“Do you… want us to do his assignments?” Lilian asks with some hesitation.

“Not plural. Just the one.” Ms. Miller nods. “You wouldn’t believe how hard it was to convince him of this.” She sighs tiredly.

“What? Why?” Olivia asks.

“This isn’t really something we should be doing as teachers, but we’ll make an exception this time because it’s important.” Ms. Owens says.

“For in the next literature class I’ll give you an assignment that’s worth 20% of this semester’s grade.” Ms. Campbell explains. “A traditional book report. However, each student will have to read a different book. You three will need to submit your own reports as well as David’s.”

…

W-What!?

Olivia and her friends share a nervous glance. They already struggle with their own reports. What’s more, since they started doing their own work, they get together to write them. Now they’ll have to do that, PLUS reading David’s book and doing his assignment!?

“Keep in mind that David has a near perfect record in every class. He’s the highest ranking first year student, with a few other girls following just a little behind.” Ms. Owens says. “If the report you submit is any less than perfect, his grades will take a permanent blow.”

“And I won’t grade it better just because it’s supposed to be his.” Ms. Campbell clarifies, eyeing them coldly. “It’s why it was hard to convince him of this. He’s scared his perfect record will be stained. Bluntly speaking, he doesn’t believe you can do it, even if he didn’t want to say it.”

“…"

Not Olivia, Lilian nor Jessica blame him. This isn’t something they can do.

“It wouldn’t be an understatement to say that screwing this up would mean screwing him over.” Ms. Millers says. “To be honest, I still don’t agree with this idea.”

“Even if he got the worst grade here, that still wouldn’t impact his overall performance. He would easily recover.” Ms. Owens shrugs. “He’s just very proud of his academic achievements. He works very hard for them and, for a long time, they were mostly what defined him.”

Her eyes seem to look deep into Olivia, and she bets Lilian and Jessica are feeling the same.

“Of course, you don’t need to agree to this. You’re free to say no and focus on your own work. This isn’t more than our arbitrary way to see if you’re serious about paying him back for all you made him do. If you say no, we won’t hold it against you. If fact, we’d be relieved since it wouldn’t risk him a bad grade.”

“…”

But they can’t refuse. Olivia realizes that. If they do, they’ll lose their chance to earn the teachers’ trust. It might be roundabout, but Olivia can see it. This isn’t really about the assignment. It’s about seeing how much effort Olivia, Lilian and Jessica are willing to put into making amends. Writing ONE book report is harder for them than it is for David to write FOUR. They’re being tested while putting David’s pride on the line.

And that’s truly what scares Olivia. She’s never given a damn about grades and school performance, but David does. They made fun of him for it and took advantage of it, but now they can’t deny that academics are important to him. If they fail and soil David’s record, what will he think of them? Will he hate them? Possible. Will he be disappointed? Without a doubt.

…

Huh. To think Olivia would ever feel this conflicted about something so easy to avoid. All they have to do is say no and they’ll save themselves a lot of trouble. But they’re being given a chance to prove themselves, something they been desperately looking for.

She turns to look at Jessica, who nods resolutely. She turns to Lilian, who looks more hesitant. Yet she also ends up nodding. Olivia lets out a deep breath before asking.

“When’s the deadline?”

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“David, honey, you need to calm down.” Anzu tells you.

“What are you talking about? I’m calm.” You answer.

“You’ve been moving your leg since you sat down.” She points out.

“That’s…”

You’re sitting across from Anzu at her desk in the nurse’s office as you eat lunch. Yet…

“Just trust them, okay? They wouldn’t have suggested if it was going to hurt you.”

“B-But…!”

What if they don’t get a perfect score!? Somehow, Emma, Mia and Julia convinced you to let one of your assignments in the hands of Olivia, Lilian and Jessica. That assignment is worth 20% of your grade for literature class! TWENTY PERCENT. Reading the book wouldn’t take you more than a couple of hours and writing the report would take even less. Why did they have to choose this to test those three? Why is it even necessary to test them? WHY ON EARTH DID YOU AGREE?

“You’re moving your leg even faster.” Anzu points out.

“Ugh!” You groan and put a firm hand on your knee.

You know full well your teachers aren’t looking to screw with your perfect record. You know this isn’t about that. But… you don’t want to admit out loud that you simply don’t trust those three to write a report you’d approve of. Sophia or Katherine, maybe, but even then you’d feel uncomfortable.

“You know that this only works EXACTLY because it’s so important to you, right?” Anzu asks.

“Yes, but… would you trust ME to handle the nurse’s office for an hour? Especially if I wasn’t allowed to call you when something happened?”

Anzu suddenly shudders. “Oh god! Is that how you’re feeling right now?” She asks, aghast.

“See! You get it!”

“Well, unless those three decline, there’s nothing you can do. You already said yes. And if they fail, you’ll still get compensation, right?” Anzu giggles.

Yeah. That’s what made you agree. Yet another reminder of how dangerous it is to think with your dick. Emma, Mia and Julia said that, if those three don’t get a score that’s satisfactory for you, then they’ll act as your personal maids for a full weekend and service you in whichever whims you have.

You wonder who even came up with the idea, but you can’t deny it got you going. The problem is that, to make that consolation prize sweeter, they’re refusing to have sex until the assignment is graded.

The point being that you’re a nervous mess right now because you’re regretting agreeing to it because you simply don’t trust Olivia and the others to write a good enough assignment. Harsh, yeah, but true. You’d probably be more grateful to them if they refused to do it.

“Besides, even if they get the lowest score possible you’ll still be able to recover. It’s not like one bad grade here will destroy your chances of getting into law school, right?”

“That’s not why it bothers me.” You sigh heavily. “It’s about a personal challenge. Even before coming to Hayes, even before the app, before I started working out, having a perfect academic record was my thing. My father did it, my mother did it, my brother did it and even my little sister is doing it! All of them also have other talents, so if I don’t at least keep up with them in this, then I’ll feel like I failed.”

“We’ve had this conversation before. We both know we shouldn’t let our families dictate how we live.” Anzu says, frowning at you.

“I know, but it’s still something I took pride in, you know? Even if I’m not as talented as the rest of my family, I could feel proud that I was able to achieve the same results as them. Besides, I know I’ll get a call from my dad if/when he sees one of my grades is not up to his standards.”

“Then just tell him you goofed up and you’ll fix it.” Anzu shrugs. “You don’t need to compare yourself to your family. You’re working towards your own goals and you’re slowly achieving them, right?”

“…I guess I am.” You sigh tiredly again. “Sorry for being a pain.”

“It’s not like I don’t understand. It’s difficult to get rid of habits like those, but they don’t do you any favors. You’re not your dad, you’re not your brother. And you know full well none of us would like you to be.” Anzu says, smiling and giving your nose a gentle poke. “Just keep being you.”

“I know.” A small smile forms on your lips. “Thanks.”

“How about I help you keep your mind off this and take you out on a date this evening?” She offers with an excited smile. “I feel like going bowling. We could take the others as well.”

Your teachers won’t be able to go with you, sadly, but bowling actually sounds like a good idea.

“Yeah. I’d like that.” You nods. “I have to say late today and help the student council with some things, but I’m still free after.”

“Alright. It’s a date then.”

It’s a few minutes after that the bell rings. You say goodbye to Anzu and return to class. But right before entering the classroom, you run into Olivia, Lilian and Jessica.

“…” You open your mouth to ask how the talk went, but quickly close it. Somehow you feel scared of asking.

“…We accepted.” Olivia tells you before going inside. Lilian follows her and Jessica gives you a wry smile before she goes in as well.

You let out a heavy sigh.

At least this says they’re willing to try? Should you just make a backup report just in case?

Ugh. Just forget about it. It’s only one assignment.