Chapter 23: The Talented Evan

This is Natalie Portman's second year at Harvard University. Although she's been busy filming "Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones" recently, she still returns to school whenever she has time, not only for her studies but also to experience college life.

In September, with filming paused, Natalie enjoyed school life and even attended the homecoming dance. Although she didn't like it that much and even found it a bit boring, she still regarded it as a fun experience due to her meeting a certain charming individual.

Next week, filming would resume, and she wouldn't be able to attend school for a month or two, so she cherished this last week of school, which was also the first week of formal classes.

Today, Natalie went to the School of Design to have lunch with her roommate. Natalie is a person of extraordinary abilities, and she likes to associate with people who are similar to her, which is one reason she chose Harvard.

Amongst her three roommates, one had performed on the same stage as the famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma, another had published a collection of poems, and the third was from the School of Design.

Compared to other colleges, Harvard's School of Design is a bit cramped. The entire school has only one huge classroom. All the students in the Departments of Architecture, Environmental Art, Digital Design, and Urban Planning take classes in this one room, so the schedule is always full.

The classroom feels like a huge gymnasium, and its emptiness is a bit intimidating. Typically, freshmen sit at the top of the stairs, with upperclassmen sitting lower down. The oldest students are at the bottom so that freshmen can see what the senior students are doing.

As the class was about to end, Natalie Portman stood at the door of the classroom and immediately saw her roommate, who was in the first row, a senior student. At this time, everyone in the classroom was seriously drawing something on the design table, probably designs based on the content of the class.

The senior students looked calm and confident, occasionally stopping to think before continuing. Compared to the juniors behind them, they were much more efficient.

Natalie's gaze stopped on a figure in the innermost part of the first row, also from the Department of Architecture. She recalled that the Francis Loeb Library was indeed in the last collection catalog. What she saw was Evan Bell. They had first met in the library and then again at the homecoming dance. She hadn't expected their third meeting to be like this.

The School of Design's classroom is unique. Near noon, sunlight filled the room through huge glass windows, shining on Evan Bell. His side profile cast a shadow on the glass table, his focused eyes and serious posture made Natalie curious.

What kind of person was this boy, or man? His indifferent attitude toward girls, his disdainful demeanor, his loneliness at the dance, and his dedication to his work today greatly intrigued her. She couldn't help but smile, realizing that Evan Bell was changing her opinion of him every time they met.

Ten minutes passed quickly, and Natalie's roommate walked out. The two girls were headed to the cafeteria side by side. Evan Bell was still packing up, and soon, his figure bathed in sunlight disappeared from sight.

"Aren't students seated in order of grade level in your classroom? Why did I see juniors in the first row?" Natalie asked, remembering that Evan Bell was a junior.

Her roommate thought for a moment and then understood, "Oh, you mean Evan? Do you know him?"

Natalie nodded, saying she'd met him twice.

Her roommate seemed curious but didn't press for gossip, "You know, our department is tough. Harvard's School of Design, Yale, MIT, and RISD are top design schools in the U.S. Evan Bell is special, even in our department. During his interview, he impressed our department head, who praised him highly. Even though he's just a junior, he's already working on his graduation project. The department head of our department has only one student under his name this year, so there is basically no problem for him to graduate."

Natalie raised her eyebrows. She had guessed he was talented, but this was way beyond her expectations.

"This semester, the professor wanted him to be his teaching assistant, but he didn't have time, so he declined. He's also a psychology student working on his thesis topic already," her roommate continued.

Natalie knew choosing a topic meant doing extensive preliminary research, a long and crucial process. Starting to choose a topic in the first semester of the junior year was impressively fast.

"But he came to ask for leave today. The department head approved it without hesitation of course," her roommate added enviously. "Forget it. We get a few geniuses like this every year. Before he becomes the next I.M. Pei, he's not truly amazing." I.M. Pei, the world-renowned architect who designed the Louvre Pyramid, was a Harvard graduate and a legend. "By the way, what should we eat for lunch? Let's try that new Italian restaurant at the corner."

As they walked towards the school gate, Natalie had another exclamation mark in her mind.

Meanwhile, Evan Bell finished packing and headed to the cafeteria. He had a lot to do in the next two days, including meeting with Muller-Lance, his psychology thesis supervisor.

He planned to take Muller-Lance's social psychology course again and then decide on his thesis topic. But now it seemed he'd be missing classes from the start, though he had taken the course before.

Entering the cafeteria, which looked like the Great Hall of Hogwarts, Evan found it fascinating. It was a magnificent space, like a cathedral, with luxurious and solemn decorations.

Harvard's cafeteria is a buffet, offering cuisine from around the world. Evan chose some Chinese food, including Kung Pao Chicken and Mushu Pork. While looking for a seat, he saw Jacob Tibo waving at him. Sitting with Jacob were Gillen Haas and Bruce Stewart

Evan joined them, and Jacob immediately asked, "I heard you're taking a month off. What's up?"

Evan smiled at Jacob's eager eyes. "I've accepted a movie role. It'll take a month to shoot."

Jacob's excitement dimmed, but Gillen asked, "What movie?"

Jacob recovered quickly, joking, "Which international director is it? Next time we meet, you'll be a movie star, won't you?"

Evan knew they were more concerned about the band, so he reassured them, "Don't worry, I'll still focus on the band. We'll record a demo this week and send it to record companies."

Hearing this, their excitement returned. Even Bruce looked at Evan Bell. "Let's practice well for the next two days. We've booked a recording studio for Friday," These words calmed the hearts of the other three members. Bruce Stewart couldn't help but clench his right fist and waved it to express his excitement