SOC 101 (SUBJECT 2)✓

2

-UNKNOWN GROUNDS-

Walking fast towards the hall where my first class for the day was to be held, I noticed students scrambling into the hall and I joined them to stay on the safe side. I found a sit quickly and placed my bag by my side before keeping my eyes fixed on my fingers as they intertwined and danced together. I couldn't bring myself to look up for fear of making eye contact with someone.

"Oh, it is you." A voice said and I looked up sharply. He placed his bag beside me as he slid onto the bench and I moved back too.

"What are you doing? There are other seats around." I whispered harshly as I moved away from him.

As though running away from their little corner wasn't enough, I had to be in a class with one of them.

"Sitting beside you because I want to. Why do you look so uncomfortable?" He chuckled as he asked and I chose to ignore him as I stared straight ahead, anticipating the arrival of our teacher.

To take my mind off the man beside me, I started imagining other things. Like the knitted sweater I was still making for Ryth and a bunch of other things when I saw a figure walk in from the corner of my eyes.

My teacher wasn't how I expected him to be, he appeared uncoordinated as he rushed in with... Was that oil stain on his shirt? He placed his bag and books on the table behind him before rounding it and sighing. His fingers still had streaks of oil on them and I grimaced.

"Good morning class." He greeted and got scattered responses from across the room. I wondered if everyone had the same thoughts as I did considering the look the stranger beside me had on his face. "I am your lecturer for this course and I'm pleased to meet you all."

He started with his teaching, the voices of students loudly chattering at the back of the class covering his and I strained my ears to pick points from what he said before using a bullet to explain further to myself. The concept of society.

"This is just the first class, why are you being so serious?" He asked. I turned to look at him to see the look of genuine curiosity across his face and I felt my face heat up.

"Would you rather me be unserious like everyone else?" I asked back before I found myself rambling, "It's part of my habit, I tend to write down things I can't hear properly because I tend to understand those first."

"I'll just pretend I understand what you said." He whispered into my face and I moved away from him.

"What is wrong with you? Don't you know what personal space is? You're invading my space."

"Oh, sorry." He moved away from me before using his bag as a sort of barrier between us. I was surprised he even moved in the first place, "Is this better?"

"Yeah, thank you."

"Class, listen to me." The teacher's voice suddenly ripped through the air and I found him pinching his nose as he muttered something that sounded like 'Not again' under his breath.

"I know this is just the commencement of the course and I can tell just how bored it must be for you all." He started as he walked around his table to fold his arms before laughing as though he remembered a fond memory.

"You know, just a while back, I had some students just like you all. They got bored from the first class and hadn't bothered to hide it. I know it's boring, I get bored teaching this too." Like clockwork, the students chuckled lowly.

"I have an announcement to make and I'll prefer if you listen properly. This will be the last class we'll have together that I'll be teaching you. Every other class from today henceforth will be solely to discuss your research with me." He explained while my eyes looked around, noting how the students seemed to have calmed down.

Research?

"You are all going to be conducting individual-based experiments, you're not allowed to discuss your project with your peers in this course or openly say what you're discussing till it is time for your presentation." Everyone murmured, and I stared, watching the man beside me as he looked at me with amusement in his eyes.

"What?" I whispered.

"Nothing."

"Questions?" He asked, watching as the students slowly shook their heads.

"Starting from our next class, you'll all come to me one after the other to tell me what your experiment will be on, if it has been taken, you'll do your best to find another."

No one said a word, we all stayed focused on the words leaving the mouth of our teacher.

"You'll be researching the hushed topics in the society. Topics that you know would get shunned if it gets mentioned, something considered dirty, illicit and immoral to talk about, mention, listen to someone talking about and more."

"Any topic we feel?" A timid voice asked. That timid voice was mine, and I yelped as I covered my mouth.

"What was that?" The teacher asked.

"Nothing." I shook my head.

"I look forward to seeing your topics and watching your presentation when the time is due. Good luck."