Raccoon City University: Albert Wesker x Rebecca Chambers College!AU

Chapter Three

Rebecca followed Albert up the steps to the very back row of the classroom. She figured that they had shown up early since only about three other students were there and the professor was nowhere to be seen. Rebecca sat on Albert's right side and he sat his bag down to his left. Immediately, he began rummaging through it. He pulled out a thick, multi-subject notebook and a pen and set it down in front of him. Based on the curving of the pages, the notebook already seemed to be half-filled. Next he brought out a pair of prescription glasses. Instead of taking off his sunglasses and putting on those, he simply placed the prescription glasses on the bridge of his nose directly in front of the sunglasses. Rebecca couldn't help but giggle, causing Albert to shake his head slightly. The next item he brought out was a large textbook with the title "Biochemistry 201" in bright red and green letters. It was filled with multi-coloured sticky notes poking out the sides and the pages were covered with hand-written annotations within. He opened it and placed it between him and Rebecca. The final two items he brought out was a pencil and a neat folder filled with loose leaf paper. Albert handed those items to Rebecca.

"Wow," Rebecca whispered, even though the class was almost entirely empty. "Thanks so much! I guess I am a bit underprepared, hehe."

"It's not a problem at all. Whether you're going to take this class yourself or not, it would still be a good idea to take notes anyway." Albert barely, softly smiled at her and began skimming through the chapter in his textbook. Rebecca did her best to read with him but just couldn't keep up with his fast reading pace.

"Uhm... may I ask why you don't just sit up front if you need glasses?" Rebecca looked away from the textbook and up at Albert.

"I have to keep my sunglasses on but... I feel silly wearing them in the front of the class. So, I sit back here instead. Besides, there tends to be less distractions back here." He didn't look up from his textbook.

"Oh okay. Why do you have to keep the sunglasses on?" Rebecca really didn't want to come off as nosy but she just couldn't help herself. She had so many questions and hoped to get at least some of them answered.

"Uhm..." Wesker paused for a moment. He looked up in front of him then back down at the textbook. "It's called photophobia. It's an eye condition that makes them very sensitive to light."

"Huh, okay. Sorry to hear about that." Rebecca was eighty percent sure that was a made up condition but didn't want to press the subject any further. It was obvious that Albert was much more focused on his studies. She was definitely going to look up "photophobia" later, though.

As the minutes passed, the classroom began to fill up with different students. Rebecca didn't mind waiting, though. She always preferred to get to class as early as possible as well. 'Great minds think a like,' she thought to herself and smiled. Almost all of the students sat in the front rows, crowding them up quickly. The three back rows were almost entirely empty aside from Albert, Rebecca, and a few students who showed up too late to get a good seat. Once it seemed like all the students had arrived, it took around another five minutes for the professor to arrive.

The professor in question was an absolute tyrant of a man. He practically had to duck his head down to fit through the classroom door. He looked very out of place in such a class about biochemistry. Rebecca could easily picture him as the wrestling coach, deadlifting three hundred pounds easily in the campus gym. Who knows, he very well could do all that while also teaching biochemistry. Rebecca squinted her eyes and looked at the name plate on his desk. She just had to know who this man is. She could barely make out the letters from so far and so high, but, she believed his plate to say something along the lines of, "Mr. X".

This Mr. X wasted absolutely no time. Before he even took his hat and trench coat off and sat down, this professor went immediately into the lecture. Every student was practically in sync. As soon as the door opened, the simultaneous clicking of pens and mechanical pencils filled the room. Everybody was writing incredibly fast, hanging on to every word he preached. Rebecca was practically scribbling random strings of words together, hoping to make sense of it later. She looked over at Albert who was writing away at a nearly inhuman rate. Her mouth hung slightly open in pure shock. Albert glanced at Rebecca and took notice of her shock. He immediately slowed down his writing and began at a "normal" pace. She was definitely going to research "photophobia" later.

The lecture was unlike any class Rebecca had ever taken before. During her middle and high school years, Rebecca always felt that at times that she was much more passionate about a subject than her teacher was. However, she now felt right at home. She was in a class where the professor was just as passionate about the subject as she was – if not, more so. Science had always been her favourite subject and she was always wanting to learn and understand more about it. Rebecca had very little knowledge of virology but, as she sat in this class she wasn't even supposed to be in, she immediately knew what her major was going to be.

The lecture itself lasted about three hours and Mr. X even dedicated a fourth hour to helping the students that needed it. Albert and Rebecca stayed the entire time, despite not needing extra assistance themselves. Albert peacefully worked away at the assignment and Rebecca patiently watched him do so. After the fourth hour was up, the two of them bid Mr. X goodbye at the door. The pair stayed outside of the classroom to talk and reflect.

"What did you think of your first ever biochemistry lecture, Rebecca?" Albert asked, placing his prescription glasses back into his bag.

"Oh my gosh, Albert, it was absolutely wonderful!" She squealed, handing the folder and pencil back to Albert. He politely waved his hand, gesturing for her to keep it. "I think this is the major for me!"

"Really now?" He slightly smiled at her. "Well, after getting to know you a bit today, I can't say I'm surprised. Just glad."

Without even thinking about it, Rebecca gave Albert a big, friendly hug. Albert was immediately taken aback, not sure how to react besides just standing there.

"N-Now, what are you doing? What's this for?" He asked, doing his best to hide his surprise.

"I just wanted to thank you for letting me sneak into class with you today! And for helping me decide my major!" Rebecca looked up at him with a big smile. She kept her arms around his waist as she said: "Virology really seems like a lot of fun and combines all my favourite parts of science!" Albert gave her a gentle pat on the back and said:

"Well, I really didn't do much but... you're welcome anyway. I'm glad you finally decided." Albert gently stepped back and out of the hug. He really didn't want to seem rude or hurt her feelings but just wasn't sure how to react. Rebecca swore she saw a hint of pink spread across his pale cheeks. "Rebecca Chambers, it was a delight meeting you today. I have another class in about an hour so I should get going." He held her hand gently and looked her in the eyes through his sunglasses. "I do hope to see you around again."

As he turned around and walked off, Rebecca could clearly hear the clicking of his boots against the linoleum and the gentle clanging of the vials in his bag bouncing with every step.