✧˚ °➶𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓯𝓮𝓼𝓼𝓸𝓻'𝓼 𝓟𝓮𝓽➶˚ °✧

Chapter 1. First Class (cntd.)

He walked with confidence unlike any other, and something about him struck true to my soul. But he was my professor, so I only listened closely to his words as he spoke in the silent room. He didn't face the class, only grabbing a pen and writing something on one far side of the whiteboard in black.

"My name is Mr Hart," He spoke with a young, husky voice of gold. Every word seemed to be perfectly pronounced. "I will be your mathematics with physics teacher for this semester, and hopefully the rest of the year if you don't get tired of me."

The class chuckled softly at his remark, and he turned to face us, having written 'Mr Hart' in neat font on the board.

His smile was temporary, but soft. He was young, perhaps thirty years old or so. He had dark hair and a good body, wearing business casual clothes that hugged his body generously. His skin was like perfect glass, almost tan but still quite pale, one strong pigment - he was a healthy specimen. I hated that I thought in words like that, but that's how I saw him.

He had blue eyes that scanned the classroom, landing on every face including my own. I knew that I had a resting bitch face, but his glance lingered on my eyes for a moment, returning to the rest of the class after a second.

"Alright," He continued, speaking at the perfect tone with the most perfect voice. "Now that all of our introductions are out of the way, let's get into what you're all here for - some maths. Before I teach you anything, I want to know where you're all at. Who here took calculus in your senior year at high school?"

I raised my hand, along with most people in the class. Mr Hart nodded at this, his expression neutral.

"Okay, very good." He continued. "How many of you know how to solve for x?"

Most people kept their hand up.

"Quadratics?"

Some arms fell.

"Formula for speed, acceleration etc.?"

Most arms were down.

"Cubic factorisation?"

I looked around, and saw maybe three others who raised their hand, including myself, who sat closest to the front of the class, just three rows of desks away from the floor.

He looked at me, smiling. "Perfect. We have our first volunteer, everyone. Come on up, what's your name?"

"Um... Natalia."

"Alright, Natalia I've got a problem for you." He turned around, writing something on the board as he spoke, and as I made my way to the front of the class. I wasn't some proud bitch, but I was certainly sheepish, as I didn't want to mess up in front of everyone, let alone try. "I'd like you to solve for x, and y in separate equations, convert each to the appropriate units for a physics investigation, and find the force."

By the time I had arrived at the front of the class, he had written two intimidating-looking equations, with cubed x on either side.

He held out a blue whiteboard pen for me, smiling compellingly. I didn't think that he expected me to be able to know even where to start - this was the kind of mathematics that I did on a Friday night at three in the morning when I was bored, not what I was taught in high school.

I hesitated, raising the pen and then turning to him. "Do you want me to explain my thought process or just write the working?"

"Do whatever gets you to the right answer." He said, and began to wander off to the other side of the front, to his desk, sorting some papers out.

Even though I knew my peers' eyes were all on me, I just went for it. I looked at the first equation, x, and pretended I was in my dorm all alone looking at some random question provided by chat GPT.