Crossing Into Forever

Chapter 15

Ella sat in the front row of the classroom with friends on both sides of her. Christopher was not in this class, and it was such a welcomed break. He was in all but two of her classes and she needed time away from his constant badgering. Sibylla and Lucy were on each side of her and Millicent right behind her. They sat and chatted waiting for the professor to come in. Ella had been in her classes for two weeks now, and she was starting to get used to them and what they expected out of her. These teachers and professors were different from what she had been accustomed to at home since she was taught by the nuns and priests at the convent. As she sat and thought about the differences, she also noticed a twinge of homesickness. Oh, what she would do to go back to the convent now and see everyone. She had been told that Mother Christina was coming to visit soon, but she didn't know exactly when. She wished she could go back home with her when she came. Ella was holding on to hope that maybe by then, things would be settled down with Erebus and she would be able to leave. Of course, she told herself if that did happen, she would come back here to visit her new friends that she had made.

Ella was jarred out of her daydreaming by the ringing of the bell, and she straightened herself up in her seat and got her book and pen out. This was the class that she had the most fun in. It was taught by a very flamboyant but friendly man, that was considered handsome by several of her friends. His name was Professor Alfred Addison. Ella wasn't sure if she thought of him as handsome, but he was very nice and often complimented her on her work. As he walked through the side door to enter the room, Ella could hear the excited giggles and whispers from some of the girls behind her. She glanced at both Sibylla and Lucy, to find them both staring dreamily at him. He seemed to bask in the attention from these girls. Ella on the other hand, couldn't bring herself to put on such a brazen display, as she had been taught that staring and acting excited around someone of the opposite sex was both rude and inappropriate. She didn't think badly of her friends though. If there was one thing she learned in her short time at this school, it was that things were way different from what she was used to. There weren't as many rules, and you were allowed to have a lot more fun here. Ella still couldn't bring herself to move too far out of her comfort zone. The truth is, she felt safer behaving in a way that was normal for her. It also made her feel closer to her home when she acted in her more reserved manner. She did enjoy watching her friends though. She got a lot of joy from their carefree and happy spirits.

"Please, please let's all settle down now." He sounded like a radio announcer when he spoke. You could tell he was enjoying all of the oohs and aahs coming from the classroom. He was dressed impeccably, and his hair was perfect. Ella could have sworn she saw eye liner around his eyes, but as far as she knew, men didn't wear makeup. She decided that even if he had it on, that was just another one of those things that were different here. He stood in front of the class, in a regal looking stance, as he called his roll. With each new task, he would change his position and hold it for a moment. Ella thought maybe someone was in the back of the classroom taking pictures, but when she looked back, there was no one. He was always sort of quirky, but she really liked it. He made her laugh.

He started explaining the day's assignments and then announced he was going to pass out the test that was taken on the previous day. He told the class that he was a little disappointed because many didn't do well on the test. He went on to say that since the grades had not been that good, he would drop this test score from the gradebook. This made many of the students happy, as the tests were getting passed out and everyone was seeing what their scores were. There were a lot of unhappy groans, and you could tell, many were disappointed in themselves. The professor walked toward Ella and paused in front of her. He looked down at her, and her heart started to flutter. She wasn't sure if it was because he was considered so handsome, and this in itself made her blush, or if it was because she knew she was going to give her the test. He pulled a paper out of the small stack that was in his hand and laid it on her desk in front of her. It had a huge A+ on it and a score of a 98. Ella was thrilled! She was so happy that she gave a little squeal before she knew what she had done. The other girls looked at the paper in front of her and were both equally as enthusiastic.

"Attention everyone." He used his pencil to tap on her desk, getting everyone's attention. The room grew quiet, and he made his announcement that Ella had made a 98 on her test. Maybe others would have been proud and excited to receive such a recognition, but Ella wanted to crawl under her desk. There were some nice comments made. She heard several "congratulations" and "awesome job" and such coming from the back, but then there were at least two sort of snide comments made that she couldn't quite make out. She was glad that she didn't hear exactly what was said. She couldn't help but notice that the comments definitely came from female voices. She wondered who it was and again, got that sinking sensation in her stomach. She had come to hate that feeling. It filled her with dread and uncertainty. It usually happened when she knew something bad was going to happen, but lately in the past several days, it was happening because she had been the target of some sort of ugly comment or joke. The harassment had always been by male students up until now. She always wondered when people were mean to her, why they were being this way. She didn't personally know any of them and certainly had no disagreements or confrontations with them or anyone.

"Now, now everyone," The professor called out again to settle everyone back down. "Please everyone. I need you all to settle down and get out your books, if you haven't already done so." He went on to teach on the same chapter that the test had been over. She figured this was best for everyone since it seemed as though there had been a lot of confusion over the content. She was fine with covering the same material again because she was having a hard time concentrating today.

Soon the bell had rung, and Ella stood up from her seat. Before she could grab up her bookbag, the professor stopped her and asked her to stay a moment after class. The other girls heard him ask and told her they would wait outside the classroom for her so they could all go to lunch together. She nodded her head to them and waited there for him. She was a little nervous, because in her experience, being asked to stay after class had never been a good thing. She knew she had done nothing wrong though.

Once everyone was gone, he looked up at Ella and a dapper smile came over his face. She stood there, waiting for him to say why she had to stay. She felt a little awkward, because for a moment, he didn't speak, and she didn't know what to say.

"Um, you wanted me to stay after this class, right?" She thought maybe she had misunderstood him.

"Yes Ella, I did. I just wanted you to know how proud I am of you for doing such a wonderful job on your test, dear."

"Thank you. I studied a lot for it. I get really nervous taking tests, so I'm happy I did good too. I was kind of worried."

"Oh, my dear Ella! There is no reason for you to be nervous or worried in this classroom for any reason... not for tests or for any other reason. If you ever need anything, anything at all, please don't hesitate to ask me. I am always here for you. Consider me your knight in shining armor."

Ella was a little thrown off by the way he was speaking. He always had a very characteristic sound to his voice, but his words were too gallant now and he put an emphasis on the word "anything" which she thought was odd. He came walking toward her and stood very close. She took a step back because he was making her feel uncomfortable. She was sure he didn't mean to, but she was in a hurry to get to her friends.

"Thank you, professor. I..I have my friends waiting for me so if we are finished, I should go." As she talked, she had taken a couple more steps backward, away from him. His words had caused her to feel an unpleasant twinge in her gut. She was sure she was being overly sensitive and misinterpreting his kindness, but she didn't like being alone with any man, so she was anxious to leave. He gave her the ok to go and she quickly went out the door before he could change his mind. She hoped she hadn't offended him. He was such a nice man.