“Mary, which is your least favorite subject?” Ariel asked me.

    “Um, science.” I said.

    “Why?” She asked.

    “Is there a reason for hating a subject?” I replied.

    But in fact, I have a reason.

    It all started during a science lesson on an ordinary school day in Grade 4. The boy sitting in front of me was David, my friend. He was talking loudly, not aware that Miss Chen, our science teacher, was watching him.

    “David!” I whispered: “The teacher is watching you!” But David ignored me and continued talking.

    Miss Chen was furious. She went towards David, pulled him up, pushed him out onto the corridor and told him to stand there. He stood there until the end of class.

    Since then, Angelina, my best friend, has avoided David. When I asked her why, she said: “Well, David thought Miss Chen was wrong to punish him, so he reported her to the principal.”

    I was shocked and started looking for him immediately.

    “David!” I shouted: “Have you lost your mind? You went to the principal?”

    David hid his eyes from my angry gaze and, after a minute of silence, he shouted: “It is true. Miss Chen was wrong for punishing me.”

    “No, she wasn’t. You broke the rules,” I shouted back, but David disappeared in a split second.

    During the last science class of Grade 4, I learned that Miss Chen would not teach our class next term.

    When school was over, Miss Chen went into her office, closed the door, and shut it tight. That was the very moment I understood that Miss Chen would not teach our class next term. All because of David.

    Our new science teacher is okay. If I did not have Miss Chen to compare him to, I would think he was excellent. But I have gradually lost interest in science to the point of hating it, because I lost Miss Chen.

    This story is dedicated to Miss Chen. I will never have a better science teacher.