Page 6 of Brighter Shades of Light

After two episodes, I got up, threw away our trash, and went to my room. Several of the professors for that semester had emailed the course syllabus, all basically saying the same thing in their messages.

“Please print this syllabus, go over it, and come prepared for the first day of class.”

I was a mechanical engineering major and in my senior year, so my classes for the fall were mostly related to my degree, with a few general electives. All my pre-requisite classes and gen-eds like English and algebra had already been taken. I was enrolled in a few lab classes where I’d do some hands-on learning with mechanic materials, as well as a few courses explaining the science behind it.

All in all, I was looking forward to it.

As I was saving the documents, another email came in. My heart picked up pace. Dr. Sebastian Vale. I still couldn’t believe I had managed to get into his class.

I had signed up for my classes super early last semester, just so I could snag a spot in his highly-sought-after lecture. There were other professors that taught chemistry and thermodynamics, but Dr. Vale was the best of the best.

He was renowned for his work, not because he’d been a nuclear chemist before becoming a professor, but because of his research on nanotechnology and utilizing solar energy. He had also helped develop radioactive treatments and medical imaging software. I mean, the guy had basically done it all.

I had no clue what he even looked like, but I wanted to have his babies.

I clicked to read the email.

Good afternoon class,

I hope you all enjoyed your summer vacation. Attached is the syllabus for this semester, and it’d be much appreciated if you looked it over before tomorrow’s class. You will be allowed to ask questions about the course material and what I expect of you for the first fifteen minutes, so please have your questions ready to keep things moving smoothly.

I look forward to having you all in my class.

-Dr. Sebastian Vale

Tristen didn’t have a printer and neither did I, so I clicked out of my email, made sure I had my wallet and keys, and went into the living room.

“Where you going?” Tristen asked, sprawled out on the couch. He was fully dressed, as if he planned to go somewhere but had only made it as far as the living room before surrendering to laziness again.

“Library. I need to print shit for class. Be back later.”

***

The library was more crowded than I expected. Usually, there weren’t that many students until the semester began, but it seemed as though everyone was getting a jump start. Row after row of computers were occupied by people, some typing papers and others browsing their social media pages.

Okay, so some were slacking instead of working. Made sense.

The other side of the library was filled with books and study areas, away from the clacking of fingers on keyboards.

Seeing a girl stand up from one of the computers, I jogged over and snatched the empty spot before someone else could. I logged into my email and tried to print the syllabi for my classes, but I kept getting some stupid error code.

What the actual fuck?

The front desk was down the short hallway, past the computers and restrooms, and I whistled as I made my way toward it.

“Can I help you?” the guy at the desk asked. He was a student worker around my age.

“Yeah. The printer won’t print. It keeps giving me some kind of weird error.”

“Ugh. It’s been doing that all day,” he responded, running a hand through his red hair. “What do you need to print? School related or personal?”

“School related. Mandatory syllabi for my classes.”

“Ah.” He searched around his pristine desk and grabbed a business card. After writing some letters and numbers on the back of it, he handed it over. “You can use the professors’ lounge up the stairs to print, just until we can get that one fixed. Here’s the password to get in.”

Wow. They had a fancy-schmancy password protected lounge, huh?

“Is this, like…safe?” I asked, motioning to the card. “You giving out the password to random students and stuff?”