Same Face, Different Nature
A lecturer approached me, asked me to immediately hand over the pile of papers that were in my hand. I didn't immediately hand it over while standing, turning my back to the lecturer for a moment while checking some papers. It could be disastrous if it contained top-secret information of Archtier.
However, the papers were apparently just a list of student grades. Before I could find my name among them, the lecturer immediately took the papers.
"How presumptuous!"
When he glared at me just before leaving the room, all I did was freeze in the middle of everyone's stares. Their intimidating stares sent chills down my spine. Too real to be a dream, too strange to think I had came back so suddenly. The worse part, I was standing there in classic white shirt and brown trousers.
There really was nowhere to hide. My memory of today's class schedule as my gaze fell on the calendar made me mindlessly dashed to my class. The class I had to attend was Mrs. Olivia's class, the most considerate lecturer when assessing students on the campus. Being late might not only exacerbate my transcript problems, but also put me in a special part of her memory if we ever meet again.
Just as the bell rang, my steps have crossed the doorway of the medium-sized room. I pretended not to see my classmates' confused looks, walked over to where I usually sat, then fixed my gaze on the white board. If I hadn't just had motion sickness from the time travel, perhaps I would have asked out loud what's wrong with people wearing vintage clothes.
Class wasn't as noisy as usual because most of the students in the classroom were looking at me like a critic. Though it was hard for me to concentrate, I tried my best to focus on Mrs. Olivia because her judgment on me was far more important than my classmates' judging looks.
"I swear no one pays attention to class because of what you're wearing now, Bris," Nicho said while taking off his brown leather jacket, holding it out to me under the table. I glanced at Ji to my right, who nodded with a concerned look.
"Alright, alright," I replied, grabbing his jacket. Since being friends with them from first semester, they had never been so fussy over my clothes. "Here, I've put it on."
Nicho was right. As I glanced around, their gazes changed to amazed for a moment before going back to focus on the laptop and books on their table. Sigh. Such a hell of a thing to deal with, though I just got back.
Amid the discussion between Mrs. Olivia and Ji, my brain replayed the events that I remember experiencing before I arrived at the lecturer room. How could I return to campus so easily after for about twenty-four hours I wandered in the past?
Flashbacks of Harris's face flashed through my head, followed by a classic townscape, a room with lots of typewriters, and the faces of the people in the editorial office. I prevented a little girl from falling into a river in the dark of the night, prevented Harris from being hit by a bicycle, went to the second door in the editorial office to put the papers there and took the typewriter manual.
Was my return because of my prayers?
"Brissia Niverte."
I stared ahead in slight surprise. The woman with jet black hair and a purple suit stared at me indifferently. The class fell silent, looking at me expectantly. Nicho and Ji stared at me tensely without saying a word.
"Try to answer this, miss. How did the beginnings of double entry come about?"
The question froze me. However, I quickly regretted my decision to remain silent as Mrs. Olivia said again later in a calm tone.
"If you can't answer that, then I won't be continuing the lesson."
Hustling filled the class. Several classmates urged me to answer immediately. I reached into my trouser pocket, about to take out my cell phone. However, its emptiness reminded me of something. I've never brought anything since I started to work in the editorial office, not even my cell phone.
"Ji, lend me your phone please," I whispered in desperate.
She handed me her cell phone under the table, which screen has shown the answer to Mrs. Olivia's question.
I cleared my throat for a moment before looking ahead and acting confident. The class atmosphere was intense again, maybe because they knew that I was ready to answer Mrs. Olivia's question.
"Italian merchants in the Renaissance needed better record keeping when their trade with other cities became more complex," I replied, looking confidently at Mrs. Olivia, hoping my answer would be accepted.
Mrs. Olivia nodded. "Very well, Brissia. Luca Pacioli explained about double entry in his book entitled 'Summary of Arithmetic, Geometry, Proportion and Proportionality …."
I sighed and leaned back in my chair. My body felt weak. Answering the lecturer's questions was as if the fates of all mankind were in my hands.
Ji asked me to treat her later as I didn't bring anything today. I slowly brushed off the book that Nicho was using to fan me at the time. He just giggled softly before returning to pay attention to Mrs. Olivia's explanation. Never once did they not tease me. Even so, they were the people I trusted and relied on the most.
The red hue in the sky was clearly visible through the wide glass window of the hallway. With only a few pairs of steps being heard, it allowed me to temporarily calm my mind. But not long after, I caught the presence of the annoying teaching assistant in front of me.
I turned my face away when we were about to pass each other. However, I stopped when I had passed him a few steps because I remembered something.
"Excuse me!" I called loudly as I turned to face him, sharpening my gaze as sharp as I could. What I didn't expect from the start was that he was already standing there, facing me with his cold expression. Oh, could it be that he had changed his mind before I intended to change his?
"If it's a matter of remedial, quit it and move on," he said.
"What if it's not about that?"
His annoyed look at me lasted for a few moments. Even without words, I wasn't going to move until he agreed to help me pass the course. Although what I really wanted to tell him was...
"Then you're wasting my time."
He turned around, went away from me with steps that were exactly the same as Harris's. It felt very strange when comparing their faces and their traits. Well, at least they were from two different dimensions so they couldn't be the same person... right?
It was an exhausting day. And somehow, my fatigue brought me to the front door of the lecturer room.
There was no reason for me to come to that place. Nor it was an unfinished business I had to deal with one of the lecturers inside. But the face of a man in a dark blue uniform suddenly crossed my mind and moved my hand to the doorknob.
A hope that I didn't deserve after getting home safely came across my heart. The sight of an old town unfolded before my eyes, evoking memories of people passing by in neat and long coats, calm flowing water, and people's faces that blended into the atmosphere of the typewriter room.
Nevertheless, my hope was shattered as soon as I opened the door. There were no wooden rooms with antique furniture, no typewriters, Gabriel, the employees, or Harris.
All that was there was a black-haired woman in a dark purple suit standing in front of me, expressionless. It reminded me of her question to determine the fate of everyone in the class. At that time, I wondered: would my fate instantly be in her grasp?