A new year at Hamilton Hall. Excited freshmen, stressed juniors, and tired graduates, students of all types buzzed around the corridors.
A few were signing up for clubs, others roamed the campus in groups, while the rest dreaded another year of university. The same old atmosphere as every time, nothing new.
The sharp clacking of heels cut through the corridors, familiar and fearful.
Almost every senior flinched in terror, while the newbies blinked in confusion.
Out of courtesy, and admiration from some, greetings were exchanged.
"Good morning, Professor Collins."
"Morning, Prof.!"
"Good Morning, Professor."
The woman hummed in acknowledgement, and strutted down the hall, head held high.
The students released a breath they didn't know they were holding.
"Who is she?"
"Seems scary,"
"You might want to watch your mouth," a senior warned the speaker, "Prof. Bee might hang you if she sees a single toe out of line."
"Prof. Bee? What, is that an inside joke?"
Suddenly, a junior hushed them, "He's here!"
Everyone turned to the end of the hall where the guy pointed.
Sure enough, the woman in heels had halted, and was staring at a man who blocked her path. They seemed like polar opposites, one had jet black hair that clashed with the other's icy blond. The crease on the woman's brow opposed the mocking curve on the man's lips.
Their aura was equally different. The man, tall and lean, had students following him cheerfully. However, the woman repelled people like two norths of a magnet.
"Good morning, Professor Beatrice." he offered a polite smile. Some students behind him giggled.
"Respectfully, get out of my way," she snarled, adding, "Professor Nathaniel."
"My, the year just started. Why do you have to be so... stingy?"
He paused, letting the implication land.
And he could very clearly see it did. The woman's cheeks reddened.
"Action and reaction, Mr. Victor," she sniped, "you provoke me, so I sting."
"Don't go applying your physics on me, Professor. I am beyond that." he smirked.
She raised a brow. "Oh? Was I... interrupting the harmony of your day?"
Snickers rippled through the crowd.
His brow twitched, "Touche, Professor."
"Please get out of my way. I have much better things to do than waste time with a pack of Men-" she caught herself, and cleared her throat, "...with you, Professor Nathaniel."
"Ah, my bad," he bowed dramatically, and stepped aside, "this way, my liege."
She bit back an insult, choosing to walk away instead. The blond watched her retreating figure with a victorious smirk, and turned to the students behind him.
He froze. They were giggling and taking pictures.
"You guys have too much fun with this," he couldn't help the small grin that crept up his lips as he walked down the hall, going on with his day.
When both professors were out of earshot, a freshman spoke up, "I don't get it."
"Huh?" his sophomore friend's brows were furrowed.
"'Stingy', 'third law', 'harmony'. What is going on?"
The junior from earlier, stifled a laugh, "Listen here, kid. See that woman? She's going to be your Physics Professor in a year or two. The name's Beatrice Collins, though everyone knows her by 'Bee'."
The freshman made a soft sound, nodding. "The man? He's a professor too?"
"Yeah, he's Nathaniel Victor, the Music prof. for sophomores and juniors. He's pretty chill, and he was the one who came up with 'Bee' for Professor Collins."
"Oh."
"In retaliation, Collins came up with 'Mentoes', though she rarely calls him that in public. They're always fighting, and there's always bets on whether they're in love or just too competent."
He blinked, "...What?"
"Yeah. Apparently, they've been like this ever since they both joined the college, which was about the same time," the junior picked at his nails. Suddenly, someone called him from the courtyard.
"Gotta go, newbie," he waved at the freshman, and ran off in his friend's direction.
"Bee and Mentoes? Seriously?" he bit back a laugh.
"Sounds almost like... toes." The other replied.
"I know right!"
"Anyways, I gotta run. Class starts in 10. See you in the library?"
"No probs, buddy." They fist-bumped, and the older one ran off to the Lecture Hall.
. . .
Confused seniors and sophomores stood in the Hall. Two figures stood in the front, staring each other down.
"For the last time, this Lecture Hall is already reserved for 2-F."
"Which is practically impossible, since it was already booked a week for the seniors before the semester started."
Black once again clashed with white as two professors argued civilly. For now.
"So, unless you had time-traveled, this Hall is reserved for Class 4-D." Beatrice concluded.
Nathaniel scoffed, "If you really made the reservation as you assume, then I would have been informed if the space was not available. Yet, I had no such news delivered, and here you are, making false claims."
"Oh? I'm making false claims? You just love to waste everyone's time, including your own, Professor. I'm starting to wonder if you got rejected as a janitor so you applied for lecturer instead."
Victor barked a laugh, "At least I didn't use... unjust means while applying."
Collins' cheeks went red, "Excuse me?!"
"What is going on here?" a new voice boomed.
Both professors' heads snapped to the door.
Their commotion had reached the ears of The Dean of Music, Mr. Timothy, who was now standing in the doorway with his arms crossed.
"Ah, Mr. Timothy!" Nathaniel's expression shifted to his usual warm one, "It's nothing, Professor Collins was just about to leave."
"No, actually. Mr. Victor was just getting ready to take his students to another Lecture Hall."
Mr. Timothy raised a brow, having assessed the situation, "Professor Victor, I believe 2-F was supposed to go to Hall 7E, not 3A."
He paused. "Excuse me?"
The man whipped out his phone, and checked a message. Sure enough, the seniors had an Intro to Quantum Physics scheduled in 3A, while the sophomores were supposed to be in 7E for a Lecture on Compositional Analysis.
He was standing in the wrong classroom, fighting with Bee for no reason.
Nathaniel raised his hands in surrender, a sheepish smile on his lips. "Ah, sorry, I misread."
He turned to Beatrice, "My apologies, for causing emotional distress."
She rolled her eyes, "Please, stop wasting my time."
He whistled for his students, "Come on, kiddos! We're going to another Lecture Hall. This one was boring anyway."
The students obliged, filing out of the Hall as the seniors settled on their seats.
Before shutting the doors, the woman shot him a final glance.
"Have fun with the babies, Mentoes."
The door slammed, and the class burst out laughing.
Beatrice sighed, shaking her head.
"That's enough. We've already wasted fifteen minutes." she said, her voice booming in the Lecture Hall. "Let's start with what we were here for."
The whispers and chuckles died down, as the lecture began with the History of Physics.