chapter 3

**RINGS**

The school bell rings.

‘Shoot! I am running late, I need to go to my classroom as fast as I can,’ Jen thought. She uses the stairs sprinted to the third floor, she pants heavily while walking in the hallway.

She is searching for room 305 early in the morning. Jen looks up to the room number of every classroom she passes by.

“’Room 303, Room 304, and Room 305… Room 305 there it is!” Jen mumbles to herself. Relieve feelings is what she feels when she found her room. She hopes that her professor is not yet around so that she will be marked as late.

However, before she can reach her room. “Is that loser still here? She should drop out here.” Says the lady in the hallway. Most of the people laugh at her claim. Jen remained calm and rolled her eyes in the crowd while laughter is audible sound in the hallway.

Then, Jen saw a man professionally dressed well and formal with his glasses on panting hard while his hand holding his chest. Her eyes widen it might be her professor, so she races herself to get to the room first.

She reaches the doorknob and opens it.

**CLANK**

What greets her in her first period and first classroom are the eyes of other students inside the room, but their eyes feel like looking at their own eyes, eyeing Jen so hard that could melt her. Jen feels her chest tightens. She feels the atmosphere is too heavy for her.

‘Shit! I am still panting heading here, now this. That fucking bell ruins my very first day. Why their eyes never leave me? I am not fucking special.’ She thought to herself weakly.

Jen starting to get scared from those hungry eyes, she takes a step backward and bumps someone behind.

A voice of a man behind her back speaks closely to her ears, “Where do you think you are going?”

It was the same man she saw earlier, who is also panting and sweating, but he still maintains his professional manner and tone.

Jen was thinking that she is saved from trouble, but trouble always seems to find a way to her. She facepalms to herself mentally. She gulps before she turns around to see her professor.

She sees her professor meeting his eyes it is evident that the professor is waiting for her reply; Jen gives him an awkward smile and forcefully says, “Good Morning Sir! I am sorry for bumping you, I was taken aback, I am just excited in our class” (white lies)

Jen Willows suddenly have a bad feeling but she decides to neglect it. She gives no damn about it.

“If you plan to stand here close to the door for an hour that’s not a good idea, but kindly move because you are blocking the way, plus you need to take a seat from running late just to reach this room before me, it is tiring right? Aren’t you? So kindly take a seat,” My professor added then he walks to his table.

‘Touché! Oh dear, life. He knew that I am marked as a late shoot! No, no! This is bad. I was planning not to get late marks on my very first day of our second semester, that’s why I wanted to get here first’

Jen looks down and sighs in defeat. She scans through the empty seats and found a seat that is near to the window.

Their professor is busy setting on his laptop and wiping his eyeglasses. Trying to fix himself.

She sits in her chair without any second thought, Jen turns her head to her left side and meeting this pair of ocean blue eyes. She wonders, ‘Is this guy new? I haven’t seen this man, but who am I to tell, I am just Ms. Nobody in this institute, but why is he staring me like that as if he wants something from me?’

The guy smirks then wink at her as if he is trying to hit Jen straight to her heart. She feels her heart beating fast. Jen has not engaged in a serious relationship so she is asking herself is this it. Is this love, she finds him interesting.

She giggles to herself in a quiet tone as she can feel her cheeks burning. She smiles at the guy. Looking at each other’s eyes, they seem to be lost to each other’s eye contact

The professor tightens his tie and say. “Ehem! Good morning class, sorry for being late on our first day, do not worry, I will not let this happen again. Let me start with my name, I am Glen Jones your professor for this period, I hope we will get along in a journey we will take. I have been teaching Programming Languages for 8 years here in Layber’s College. I also hope to get along with everyone in this room.”

In his introduction, you can feel the burning passion of him in teaching and he is very serious.

A loud step in front of Jen startled her breaking her eyes from the guy she flings with. She looks at the man in front of her. It is her professor Glen looking at her with a frown in his face, then he playfully smiles at her and says, “Am I right Miss?”

She is shocked, loss of words. She did not know what to say. At that moment she thinks that it is like, study first before flings.

She gives him a grimace look and manages to reply, “ummm, I am Jen Willows yeah?” 

Jen is shaking from subconsciously looking at Mr. Glen’s big brown eyes. It was visible to his eyes that are dark and sad.

He put his right hand in his chin while eyes are on Jen, scanning to Jen’s eyes, like searching for an answer. He then nodded and smiled, “Hmmm…Good, Miss Willows”. He turns away from me and continues walking heading to the other students in the room.

Jen stays sticks her eyes on their professor. She is staring at Mr. Glen’s every action and movement for the whole first period.

‘Why do I feel this way?’ Jen ask herself

She is feeling a feeling she cannot describe. Her thoughts suddenly direct to the unsolved suicide cases or rumors that spreading to the campus.  She shook her head trying to distract herself from thinking of these silly ideas and she feels bad for thinking of Mr. Glen in that way but-

Is it weird that Jen finds him SUSPICIOUS?