Chapter Six — Math Class

“Let’s just wait for math class,” Mei said. She tried to sound normal×ふつうの. “Then we can decide what to do next.”

Amelia and Mei went into their classroom. Some students were talking quietly. Some were reading. Mei and Amelia sat down next to each other.

The bell rang. The students got ready for their math teacher, Ms. Yamamoto. But Ms. Yamamoto did not come. A tall woman came in. She had long black hair and dark eyes. It was not Ms. Yamamoto.

Mei gasped×はっと息をのんだ. She grabbed Amelia’s arm. Her eyes were wide and she was pale×青ざめた. Amelia never saw anyone look so scared.

“Good morning, students,” the woman said in a cold voice. “I am your substitute teacher×代理の先生 today. My name is Ms. Fujiwara.”

Amelia felt cold and afraid. Something about this woman was wrong. The woman was calm and polite, but Amelia wanted to hide. And Mei was terrified×とても怖がった.

Ms. Fujiwara went to the whiteboard×ホワイトボード. She picked up a marker×マーカー. Very fast, she wrote 100 math problems on the board. The problems were not easy. They were very, very hard. The students never saw problems like this before. A normal student could not solve them.

“Start with these problems,” Ms. Fujiwara said. “No talking. You must finish every problem by the end of class.” She looked at Amelia for one second, and Amelia could not move.

Everyone looked at the math problems. Their pencils moved on the paper. Mei was struggling×苦労している. Amelia tried her best too.

A few minutes later, Mei tried to pass a note×メモを回す to Amelia. It was very small and folded×折りたたんだ many times. Amelia reached for the note. But Ms. Fujiwara snatched×さっと奪い取った it from her hand.

“You cannot pass notes in class,” Ms. Fujiwara said. Her voice was soft, but it was sharp×（声が）鋭い and scary. She opened the note and read it. Then she put it in her pocket×ポケット.

Ms. Fujiwara looked up. Her eyes were hard. “Hana-chan,” she said. Her voice was sweet, but it was not kind. “And Mei-chan. Please stay after class×放課後に残る.”

Amelia’s heart beat fast. Mei was right. Something was very wrong about this woman. She knew×（秘密を）知っていた their secret.