276 The New Professor

"Elle, Jess, did you hear the news?" As Ella, Mary, and Jessica were walking toward their next class together, Mary voiced in a thrilled tone, as if she was looking forward to what was going to come.

"What?" Ella and Jess asked simultaneously. This made them briefly throw an amused grin at each other.

"Our university has a new faculty member… moreover, I heard he's both young and handsome!" She replied.

"Is that so? But what's that got to do with us?" Said Ella in a disinterested tone.

"Of course it does! I heard he's going to be a prof of our next class!"

"Ah… really?" Jessica inquired, clearly interested now.

"Yes! I heard he's a genius! Moreover, he's a famous super detective in London, according to rumors, apparently, there's nothing he can't solve! Not only that, but he also got his Ph.D. in our own major too, from a famous uni in England at that! Don't forget, he's also very handsome!" Mary, who had clearly done her research about the said person, stated excitedly.

Not stopping there, she proceeded, "It doesn't end here, not only has he taught in famous universities around the world, but he's also worked in the Aston Martin Corporation before! That Aston Martin Corporation… this is no joke! He must be filthy rich!"

"According to the info I received, he himself voluntarily applied to be a professor in our college, and seeing his application, the university jumped at hiring him without a single blink!"

At this point, both Ella and Jessica were interested in the so-called new teacher who was young, genius, handsome, rich, with a great career, and everything a person could ask for.

"Wow! How old is he?" Jessica inquired.

"Around 29, I heard." Mary answered before continuing, "If I could only have such an amazing boyfriend… ah, how wonderful would that be? Just thinking about it makes me excited… a student and a handsome professor falling in love! This can be almost considered borderline forbidden love!"

"Well, I admit… for a professor with such a career, 29's considered quite young, I wonder why he would choose our college from among so many magnificent universities around the world… oh, it's our class, let's go and witness this new professor of ours!" As Jessica was talking, they reached their class.

…

"Hello everyone, I'm going to be teaching this class, this semester." At this point, he began writing his name on the whiteboard, "John Lock."

"I'm professor John Lock, I hope we have a wonderful class together."

"Oh my god… that British accent of his is a killer!" One of the girls in the class murmured with eyes that had long turned into hearts.

…

After briefly explaining how the semester was going to be, and how the scores of this class were given, he arrived at another subject, "I'm also going to appoint a representative for our class myself… the representative shall receive a plus in his or her final score since that person's going to assist me in a lot of areas. Hmm, let's see…" At this point, he was skimming through the list of students, when finally, his eyes stopped on a particular name, "Right, I heard this student was one of the top ones, she shall be this class' representative then… Ella Dell."

After the representative was announced, Jessica, Mary, and Ella's other friends and best friends looked in her direction with clear envy apparent within their eyes. Mary even murmured, "You lucky bitch."

…

As the class went on, Mary couldn't help but also say, "Wow, he's really handsome! Wish I was the representative."

Hearing this, in clear disdain, Jessica said, "You better study for ten more years before wanting to be our representative."

…

At the end of the class, as he dismissed the students, he said, "Everyone's dismissed… oh, Miss Dell, would you please stay for a while."

Hearing this, both Jessica and Mary looked in Ella's direction in a surprised manner as if their eyes were asking, 'What's happening?'

Shaking her head, Ella murmured, "I think he's going to explain my duties as the representative of the class."

…

"So, Ella… hmm, I beg for you pardon, but can I call you Ella?" After everyone had left, John said in a calm and British tone.

"Sure, professor Lock." Ella replied, a bit confused regarding the situation she was currently in.

"Okay then, Ella. So, as the class representative, I'm going to impose a lot of labor on you and you're going to have a lot of responsibilities such as assisting me with choosing the class teaching materials, passing along each class's special syllabus to your classmates, assisting me during the class itself, and many other related tasks." Not stopping there at all, he added, "In short, I'm going to make sure you fully deserve that plus mark, is that okay with you, Ella?"

After carefully listening to the professor's words, thinking his words made sense, nodding her head, she agreed, "Of course, professor Lock."

"Good… now, since it's going to be necessary for us to be in a lot of contact for the sake of the class, let's exchange our contact information, shall we?" He inquired further.

Then, as they were adding each other's number into one another's Virus Phones, suddenly, as if he had just remembered something, John began talking, "Oh, right! I just recalled something… previously, I went through the scores of all of my top students, and I couldn't help but notice that only your average score has experienced a fall. Now, I don't care about the fall, I'm only asking this out of pure concern about you… but, is there a particular reason for this? If it's not rude of me to inquire of course. Are you, perhaps, going through a rough period of time in your life?" At this point, an invisible sharp glint passed through Detective Lock's eyes as he stared into Ella's eyes. Obviously, Ella didn't notice this.

"Uh… that's…" These were the only words Ella could say before awkwardly going silent.

And seeing how uncomfortable she was feeling, Detective Lock proclaimed, "It's alright if you don't want to talk about it right now, no pressure. Just know this, you can call or come to my room to talk to me whenever, wherever, regardless of it being a matter related to the class or something private… I'm all ears. During the class, I'll be your professor, but outside the classroom, please treat me as a friend, no need to act respectfully."

"Yes, professor Lock." Ella agreed. And hearing this, wearing a smile, Detective Lock couldn't stop himself from saying, "Please call me John."

"Still within the perimeter of the classroom. So… professor Lock it is." Ella replied showing a half-smile.

"Haha… you're right…okay, you may leave now."

…

The moment he walked out of the faculty building, all of her best friends which consisted of Jessica, Mary, Grace, and Faith joined her as Mary was the first person to open her mouth in a hurry, "Ahh, Elle! What did he say? Tell us everything!"

Seeing herself surrounded by her best friends, letting out a helpless sigh, she clarified, "As I said before you guys left, he just wanted to explain my responsibilities as the class representative… nothing else."

Catching her words, looking at her face left and right, filled with doubt, Mary uttered, "Really?"

"Mary! Why would she lie! Of course that's what happened!" Faith interrupted their conversation at this point.

"Sigh, I just don't understand why it is always Ella who attracts the handsome and capable men… first, it's that tycoon Aizen Vee… now, it's Professor Lock…" Helplessly, Mary said. All of Ella's best friends had long since known that the relationship between her and Aizen wasn't that good these days.

Seeing Mary mentioning Aizen's name, filled with concern and worry, Grace first looked in Ella's direction before starting to scold Mary, "Mary! You idiot! Don't talk about him!" Talking about Virus was a taboo among them at the moment.

Then, as if she was just stating the obvious and as if she was trying to improve Ella's mood, she replied further, "Also! It's because she's the most beautiful one among us… Duh! That's why she attracts handsome men!"

"Come on! It's nothing like that, it's just being the class representative…" Seeing how her best friends were making such a big deal out of this, a bit down now, Ella muttered while her mind was already occupied with the thought of 'Aizen' once again.