Introduce Yourselves

Professor Leonark introduced himself to the whole class.

He told them that he graduated college when he was 23 years old. Then he finished his masters degree when he was 26. Since then, he had been teaching English studies since he always loved the language as well as its literature.

The moment he was done, a student raised her hand. When she was called to speak, she giggled as she asked, "Are you single or married?"

The other girls who heard her question swooned playfully, making the other boys internally roll their eyes at them.

'Whatever. Is this high school?'

Professor Leon shook his head as he smiled. "No personal questions," he said then the girls sighed, wanting to press him to answer.

"Please, Sir Leon?"

When one student said this aloud, the other girls chimed in, making the professor show his left hand, revealing he wore a gold ring on his ring finger.

"Is this enough answer," he asked and when the students saw the ring, some of them laughed and some of them showed disappointment.

"I am married to the most beautiful woman in my life. She is—well was, a model," he added, making the students curious of who his wife is and how she looked like.

"Model? What's her name," Dharvey asked but Professor Leon just shook his head, declining to answer.

"Now I introduced myself already. Now it is time for you to introduce yourselves!"

When he said this, suddenly, the students talked among themselves, making the professor's tactic to distract them from asking more questions about him successful.

"Do we have any volunteers," he asked and when he said this, Dharvey from the back of the room raised her hand to volunteer.

Professor Leon nodded, allowing her to speak. The girl stood up, smiled at everyone, making them shift all of their eyes on her.

"Good morning, everyone. My name is Dharvey but you may call me Dhav if you want. I am in my second year of nursing school. For interests, I like dancing and socializing. I also do well in arts. I love arts," she said, introducing herself then she sat down, making the others clap.

"Wow. That's nice. Nice to meet you, Dhav," Professor Leon appreciated her volunteering then he spoke again to look for next volunteers. "Who's next?"

Soon after, Arlo raised his hand then without waiting for their instructor's approval, he stood up, then introduced himself.

"Hey, guys! Some of you already know me... but the name's Arlo, an irregular 2nd year psychology student. I work in Pizza Hut and at the same time I am this university's basketball varsity player," he said and one guy from the front shouted "obviously" making Arlo look at him and laugh at him then he continued speaking.

"For likes, he's right. It is obvious," he said finally making the other students laugh at him.

"I see. You are very hard working indeed, Arlo. Being a student who also works... then being part of the varsity, too!"

The students agreed as they gave him compliments then he sat down, thanking them.

"Oh! Can I volunteer someone to introduce himself," he asked then their professor smiled as he nodded. "Then this guy here," Arlo added as he pointed at Arvid, sitting beside him. His eyes slightly widened, not expecting for Arlo to suggest him.

"What are you doing," the young immortal whispered, feeling slightly embarrassed since he hadn't tried introducing himself in front of many people. Arlo shrugged, then gave him a pat on the back.

"Come on, man... you can do it!"

Frey and Angeal grinned as they saw Arvid's reaction. At the same time, they were expectant for him to speak since this is his first time speaking to a lot of mortals... appearing in front of them, too!

Arvid stood up as he put his hands in his pockets, trying to suppress his nervousness.

"Uh... hey, the name's Arvid. I just enrolled this year due to some reasons. I'm a physical education student. For likes, uh..."

He didn't know what to say but he looked at Angeal as if looking for an answer but the girl just stared at her and shrugged, gesturing him to continue.

For some reason, when he said the word like, he looked at Angeal by instinct.

He does like her...

"Likes... I like working out and I'm pretty good at fighting," he just said as he shrugged his shoulders making the other students laugh at him as he sat down. It was obvious that the young immortal was feeling awkward.

"I see. Thanks for sharing, Arvid. Who do you want to volunteer next," the professor said and asked then Arvid grinned then pointed at Frey.

"Thanks, babe," the girl said, still keeping the act up of being his girlfriend. She stood up, then started introducing herself.

"Hey, guys. My name's Frey, and I am a second year psychology student. When it comes to likes, I love being at peace with myself and with the people around me. But I am inclined to be snappy when provoked so beware!"

Frey sat down then a lot of boys reacted "ooh" when she said this. Frey in turn giggled then looked at their professor to make a request as she put her hand on Angeal's back.

"This lil cinnamon's next, Professor Leon," she suggested and Angeal shot a look at her, indicating that she wasn't ready yet. The girl smiled then whispered. "Come on! You have us! You can do this! I know you've been typing!"

Hearing her best friend's words of encouragement, Angeal stood up, getting everyone's attention. Their eyes were already on Angeal as they waited for her to speak. The girl sharply breathed, then exhaled, making herself calm.

"Hush now, everyone," Frey said loud enough for the others to hear and when they did, the room fell silent. They were curious as to why they were shushed.

Feeling slightly confident, the girl clicked read after she put the volume of her phone in full blast.

"Hello, everyone! My name is Angeal. I am a first year creative writing student. I got delayed a bit since I am working. For my likes, I love reading and as well as writing. Nice to meet you all!"

When they heard the robotic voice speak for her, the room still remained silent. As seconds passed by, the human girl started feeling nervous, their gazes not leaving hers.

'Oh! Stop it now, please... I did my best!'

The professor of their class smiled, now understanding why this girl kept silent the whole time as he observed the students. He looked at Angeal sincerely, then with a soft voice, he spoke.

"Nice to meet you, Angeal! It must be difficult for you to gather your courage to introduce yourself to the class," he commented and the other students who heard the professor's remark gave her a nice smile then nodded in agreement.

"If I may... how can you understand? Is it lip reading," the professor asked and when Angeal was about to answer with her phone, it was Frey who volunteered to speak for her.

"Angeal can actually hear but cannot speak," she answered, shifting the students' attention to her. "She had psychological trauma at an early age which led her to lose her voice," she said finally then the whole class silenced, now understanding why the girl was quiet.

Somehow, they even pitied her. Some people who even had bad judgement about her for using her phone to speak, felt guilty upon knowing that she couldn't speak due to psychological trauma.

But of course, this was only a reason to cover up the miracle that happened to Angeal. She was born deaf and mute... but because of an unexpected blessing, she could now hear, though couldn't speak.

Feeling too awkward, the girl smiled then gave a small bow at everyone before she sat down. Angeal shot a look at Frey, her fingers also pinching the leg of the girl beside her.

"I'm sorry," Frey mouthed and Angeal only rolled her eyes at her.

Arvid gave Angeal a pat on the back and Arlo gave her a thumbs up, appreciating her courage to speak up.

"Thank you so much for sharing." Breaking the silence, the professor spoke, continuing the meet and greet session. "Now let's hear for the other students' introduction as well," he added, making the students groan when they thought their professor actually forgot about the introductions.