Under the school rules, her line of defense

Seraphina Blackwell was the famously strict Head of the Discipline Committee, her buttons always fastened to the very top one, the inspection checklist in her hand even more rigid than the teacher’s roll book. Lin Shen was the boy who was always late. He never argued, never explained, and when he looked at someone, his stare was so direct it made your chest tighten. She had kept her eyes on him the entire semester. But one day after school, he cornered her at the end of an empty hallway and said something she couldn’t stop thinking about all night long. The next morning, he showed up at the classroom door right on time, with a trace of a triumphant smile in his eyes.