When one is forced into an environment one hasn't acclimated to, one tends to feel cold and alienated. Though Rentri has set up dormatories for Aylin and me, class schedules amd information but nothing could stop the glares from the other students. After all we were just a pair of strays who got lucky. Except for the icy gazes from both students and teachers alike, no one harassed us. It was shocking that nobody degraded us for being strays. Aylin and I got assigned rooms adjacent to each other with a some strings pulled by Rentri. We had gotten the school uniform as well and were placed with the first years even though we were 3 years older than them.
"Vivshi!" Aylin called out to me as I was walking to next class.
We walked through the lushious garden full of native flowers. The sea flowers that bloomed only in the city of Nautilus covered the surfaces of the ponds in the garden. I could feel the eyes were staring at us and quiet muttering amongst the students as we walked by them.
Aylin was semi-aware of the gazes, but it seemed like years as a sailor and working in the brothel had toughened her and made her resistant to being cast under. She cheerily hummed a nursery rhyme and asked me if I was excited to attend our first class. I couldn't help but smile at her optimistic mindset and quietly hummed the lullaby of the moon with the same rhythm as Aylin. Our first class of today was mathematics. The teacher seemed uninterested in us students and just told everyone to sit down. The classroom was spacious and lined with rows of seats. The lecturer told us to sit down freely in any of the seats. The teacher started to write numbers onto the chalkboard and lecturing us. Both Aylin and I had been taught the basics of math from our mothers, but this was the first time we saw the use of variables. But after the lecture the teacher told us to freely practice what we had learned. Aylin showed me her notes and started to write down some practice exercises on my paper.
The class was a bit chaotic as the boys were wrestling and falling over their desks. They were laughing and yelling but the teacher didn't seem to give a single care to their cacophonous behavior. He sipped on his coffee, on closer look, the teacher did seem really tired. His face had deep sunken eyebags and messy ungroomed hair, he leaned back on his chair and put his feet onto the teacher's desk.
"Professor Linus?" A student raised their hand and asked for help.
The Professor sighed heavily as if he had been told to work in the mines. He took slow steps towards the student in need and walked pass the disruptive boys without even a glance. He pointed out the mistake she had made and slowly walked back towards his chair but that's when Aylin also called for him.
Aylin showed the Professor the questions she had made and the teacher seemed a bit surprised. He took up the paper full of exercises and for the first time in this class, he looked pleased. He handed back the paper containing the questions and praised her for her enthusiasm before heading back to dismiss the class. Everyone was packing up and I looked over at Aylin who was still writing down some extra questions to practice and that's when in the corner of my eye I saw someone familiar. She had long black purplish hair and was elegantly dressed, her dress had the infamous embroideries of the royal family. It was the girl from the capital, Emovi.
"Vivshi! let's gooo to our next class!" Aylin tugged on me.
I turned back towards Aylin and nodded and she dragged me away to the next lecture. From that moment on, I kept running into Emovi everywhere but didn't know if I should talk to her. She always was with someone and chatting away happily. I thought if I interrupted her life here at the academy, bad things would happen.