Faith and The Vampire ✔️

Chapter Nine

Back in my room, I had my own crash. Studying and working had worn me out too, and for an instant, I wished I could have a normal life. Immediately, I cast that thought out. No one was normal, not really. And I'd never feel so close to my dream...but man, it was so hard sometimes.

Fundamental Psychology 1, Developmental Psychology, Educational Psychology, French, History of Psychology, Physical Education, classes I attended went on and on. Today, I had Neuropsychology for my third period before lunchtime. I was surprised to see the lecturer. Our lecturer was Domnule Ionescu, whom I knew from the language proficiency test, which I failed. I thought he was just a foreign language lecturer, I didn't know he was one of the professors from my faculty. He was a little older than most professors here, but not nearly as tall. When he walked into the classroom and saw me sitting there, his eyes widened as he circled the room and started his lecturer about neuropsychology.

After spending one hour of human nerves combined with psychology, Domnule Ionescu dismissed the class. Andre was about to go with his partner to finish their paperwork. He told me to wait for him at the canteen and saved him a seat. He then rushed out immediately. By now, I'd burned up a lot of time leaving class. I'd almost made it out from the class myself when a voice behind me called my name.

"Miss Darmawan?"

Peering in the voice's direction, I caught sight of Domnule Ionescu, his kind face smiling at me as turned off his laptop.

"Hello—er, Bună, Domnule Profesoară " I caught myself just in time, having nearly forgotten Romanian terms. I hadn't used them while living with my friends.

"I see they decided to keep you here?" he asked.

"Da. They gave me a second chance" I tried to think of something conversational. "Do you have another course to lecture today?"

"No. This is my last course for today. When I first saw you—I simply knew that we will meet again."

I nodded, not sure what else to say.

"I wanted to tell you..." He spoke hesitantly. "I understand the gravity of your failure, but I think Doamna Padma acknowledge something that I already knew. You do belong to this faculty. I believe you will be a great psychologist. You just have to study harder."

I was surprised and pleased for what I heard. "Mulțumesc, Domnule Profesoară " I said.

"I'm sure you want to eat." He turned to me. "I hope you find my course useful for your future career."

I smiled. "It's an honour."

I helped him carrying his things, opened and closed the door. We made our goodbyes, and I finally arrived at the canteen.. I picked up my pace into the commons. I started moving again, scanning the tables as I decided where to sit. A few pairs of eyes looked up at me with blatant curiosity.Yet, as I walked by, I noticed something weird. People started looking at me. Whatever. Ignoring them, I hunted around and found my friends

"Hey, guys." I greeted them all and sat down.

We ate and talked and laughed and talked about safe things, like the football team, and Aisha's classes, and what Kak Dani's fellow students were like. We chatted for a bit about the kinds of things my language tutoring involved. Andrei arrived with hands full of foods, he sat next to me. Then we talked about our scholarship – mostly about how the scholarship awardee was.

I had this feeling that people still staring at me. I squeezed my eyes shut, just for a moment, and then opened them again. Ignoring them grew harder and harder, though. The whispers and looks increased. I didn't know if my friends heard that or was it only in my head?