Literary Criticism

Time passed by so fast and before they knew it, it was already class time. Good thing their classes started in the afternoon, so they have done a lot for the party.

3:30 in the afternoon was their first class, and Arvid and Angeal were scheduled for General Psychology class.

However when they arrived in class, their teacher wasn't around so after doing the usual learning contract, they were dismissed earlier.

Since it was also their first time attending their classes for T-Th-S schedule, Arvid and Angeal already expected that it would be another day of doing learning contracts so they already expected that their classes would be boring.

In the university campus, Arvid, Angeal, and Arlo were found at the track and field, sitting on the bleachers to kill time as they watched the athletes run on the field.

"Ah," Arvid exclaimed, getting both Angeal and Arlo's attention. "Is it always like this during your first days? Endless learning contracts?"

Arlo laughed as he was browsing his phone for some videos to watch.

"Yeah, sucks right?"

Angeal opened her contacts to search for Frey's name. She remembered that she got their master's approval for her to invite Frey so she typed her text.

"Hey, I asked our master if we can invite you to our dinner party and he said yes! Let's meet up after my class. It ends at around 6:30."

The moment she sent this, Frey sent her reply. It read: "Sure! TTYL, in class~!"

With that, Angeal smiled as she kept her phone in her pocket. She looked at Arvid and Arlo conversing on the higher bleachers and seeing them this way made her smile wider, since it was nice seeing them get along.

They only met recently... but she could see that they are already becoming great friends.

"Oh, that's right," Arlo said, making the two look at him. "I haven't gotten your number yet, man," he added and this made Arvid fish out his phone from his pocket.

"Oh, right, right! Lemme get yours, too," he said and when he opened his phone, Arlo saw that his wallpaper was a stolen photo of Angeal.

He noticed that in the photo, it was during the time they were in the cafe. Angeal was seen looking down on her notes, as she wrote on a piece of paper. Arlo knew that during this time, he was beside her so the thought of Arvid cropping him out of the photo made him laugh.

"Shut up, dude," Arvid said embarrassingly as he shoved his phone to him. "Just put your number and I'll DM you so you could save mine," he added.

Curious as to why Arlo was laughing and why Arvid showed that kind of reaction, Angeal walked up to them to look at it.

"Woah," Arvid reacted cautiously, as he nudged Arlo beside him with his elbow.

"Yeah, yeah," Arlo said as he chuckled. He quickly put in his number then gave Arvid his phone, making him keep his phone in his pocket.

Seeing how the two guys acted, Angeal squinted her eyes at both of them and pouted.

'What are these guys hiding?'

At the same moment, the first bell had rung, indicating that the students should prepare and head on to their class before the second bell rings, signifying that classes would now start.

Instinctively, the three stood up and gathered their things. They also made sure that they left nothing on the bleachers.

"Well, off to class now then. It's my major. I'd be with Frey," Arlo said then he gave the two a smile. "See you guys tomorrow!"

The moment he bid them farewell, he left them. Arvid then looked at Angeal then spoke.

"I'll be here. Says on the form physical education would meet here. I hope there would be no learning contracts," he said making Angeal show him a wide grin.

"Bye," she mouthed then she walked down the bleachers carefully as Arvid watched her retreating figure.

Angeal made her way to class and sat down. It was her major, literary criticism. She saw familiar faces in class but she never bothered talking with them since they avoided her in their previous semesters so she always worked alone.

Soon after, the second bell rang, making the others in class find their seats.

The instructor that entered their class was someone not new to Angeal. It was Professor Leon—their teacher in World Literature.

As he entered, those girls who were not familiar with him swooned, making a few boys roll their eyes at their reaction.

Seeing a familiar face in class, Professor Leon smiled at Angeal, making the girl nod and smile at him as a greeting.

Seeing their professor for the second time, Angeal could see now why women swoon at his presence.

He was handsome from the depth of his eyes to the gentle expressions of his voice. He had the kind of face that stopped you in your tracks.

He had tousled blonde hair, which was thick and lustrous. His eyes were a mesmerising deep ocean blue—as if it reflected beauty itself.

"Now," the professor said, making most of the people get them out of their thoughts. "Who's single here," he asked and the moment he did, a lot of women—around 12 of them, raised their hands enthusiastically.

Angeal was single, but she didn't want to raise her hand. She gave herself an internal sigh as she thought to herself.

'What's with his question?'

"The best lover you could ever have, is a writer," the professor started, making everyone quiet in the room.

"She could wrap her love for you through her beautiful words. No certain amount of words could modify her feelings for you. No right number of pages could explain her wrestling thoughts about you. And, no margins and borderlines could limit her random gorgeous emotions for you.

"Believe me, a writer is the best lover. She could bring you into her wildest colorful imagination. She could view you as a fallen angel, a perfect mess, a lonely star twinkling in an exploded galaxy, a flawed man, everything!"

When the other creative writing female students heard this, some of them felt giddy as they talked with the person beside them with excitement, making Angeal roll her eyes at them. Good thing she was in front, so they couldn't see her reaction.

'Vixens everywhere!'

"She could also be your best friend, a pen partner, a love-letter sender, a romantic storyteller, an unsung poet, a midnight narrator. The best lovers are writers."

The professor walked around in class then stood in the middle of the room and continued speaking.

"She could be your perfect lens to see an artistic world, and a magnifier to imagine a mysteriously chaotic universe. Love a writer. Trust me."

With that, all of the girls swooned loudly except for Angeal who found their professor's words cringe worthy. She had the same reaction with the few boys in the room.

'Can he please shut up?'

"She could make you smile through her lines. She could make you feel pretty through her rhymes. She could make you laugh through her words. She could make you sob through her verse. And, she could make you marry her through her ballpoint's curse."

With the last words the professor said as it rhymed, the room now erupted into a room full of excited screams, making the boys, and Angeal, cover their ears in annoyance.

Seeing their reactions, the professor chuckled then spoke.

"Those were the lines of Eia Reyes," he said as he showed them his left hand, showing them his ring finger. "But I am married to a model, so..."

Now knowing that their professor is married, the girls who were excited just a second ago, groaned in disappointment making the boys shook their head, a smug grin appearing on their faces.

The professor fooled them!

Their professor went back in front of the board then greeted everyone formally.

"Good afternoon, class. My name is professor Leonark, but call me professor Leon. Welcome to one of your major subjects, Literary Criticism."

As they heard his introduction, the students clapped their hands and the professor made a gesture for them to stop.

"Let's move away from this usual learning contract, shall we?"

"Yes!"

Hearing that they were moving away from the learning contract, everyone in class, including those silent boys, rejoiced. Angeal also grinned, feeling happy that for this class, they won't be doing the learning contract.

So far during her university life, she found Professor Leon to be the most interesting professor as of the moment!

And she hopes that he will continue being this way—minus the cringe worthy lines.