The smell of burnt beef patty greeted the trio as they entered the professor quarters at the northern side of campus.

Unlike the students' minimalist apartments, the professors quarters looked just like upcycled container cabins. Each unit designed to offer a room, an office and a TV room. The units were facing a man made lake so Mrs Jogh had the bonfire burning very close to the water's edge.

Next to the bonfire bunch of lab folks are already on hand grilling, or attempting to, some patties.

Mrs Jogh greeted Agamemnon, Ballqis and Iqball then quickly pulled them towards a smaller grill, the kosher side of the fire, she quipped.

"Help me grill a couple of fish, while you're at it," she requested.

Already on the flaming hot iron were a line of salmon fillet while a few more packs of the same fish were placed nearby the bowl of lemon and seasoning, waiting to be cooked. Iqball and Ballqis surpressed their relief when they saw the orange meat.

Agamemnon accepted the bottle of olive oil while Iqball was handed a set tongs and cutleries. Ballqis had to follow Mrs Jogh to the middle of the party for some plates, potato salad and bottled drinks. When Micah saw her, he broke away from his gang to join the trio, bringing with him another student in tow.

"She's from Southern Thailand and she brought halal roo sausages!" he told them. At campus, anyone with extra food is everyone's friend. They welcomed her with offerings of salmon and bottled water.

The music was not loud enough to disturb the other professors within the vicinity. Yet many of the lab people were dancing.

Mrs Jogh played the ideal host, making sure everyone had some food, drink and company.

Then she went to the bonfire and whistled loudly.

"Thank you all for coming but most importantly, thank you for all the good work you've been doing for the fish. As most of you have heard, I'm raising your allowances starting next month!" she jumped straight to the big news.

Aga and Micah, along with a bunch of clueless others, whooped enthusiastically.

"But I need you all to see this. Hold on, let me just call Mr Evil so that he'll bring in the surprise," she said while typing furiously on her phone screen.

About two minutes later, a massive RV wheeled towards the lawn. The students and lab personnel cheered the moment Mr Evans came out from the driver's seat.

"Speak of the Evil," Mrs Jogh nudged Micah as she made her way towards the RV.

Mr Evans didn't look as excited. Mrs Jogh ignored the wet blanket.

"I made this purchase as we will soon set up a teams to do promotional activities from campus to multiple exhibitions across the country. We will be marketing our tilapias to commercial farmers by second quarter next year. We're gonna be rich!" Mrs Jogh exclaimed.

Her guests cheered and began to take turns to check out the tour bus-sized RV.

While waiting for their turn, Mrs Jogh approached Agamemnon.

"I heard from Evans you managed to improve your standing grade for his class, Aga. I shouldn't feel guilty for depriving you a few weekends that could have been used for studying, should I?" she checked.

Aga could only stare at the professor excitedly.

"So would you be part of my troupe for our next outing? We're heading to Sydney again, for a couple of nights, you in?" she invited.

Aga nodded. And nodded some more.

"Ah, The Balls were right, Evans. Aga would be delighted to join me. His silence exuded so much joy," Mrs Jogh joked before leaving the gang, all laughing.

Mr Evans thought it was a good time to remind them about their class trip.

"Now that Jogh has bought this wonderful travelling machine and made me take a driver's licence, I plan to take the CTC scorers to a theatre outing outside the city. Let's plan something good, shall we?" he told the group.

Ballqis and Iqball quickly dove in with ideas.

All Aga could think of was how excited Molly would be when he shares this news.

The RV was equipped with six folding and hanging beds. At the back of the bus, a kitchenette and six small tanks. All of the tanks could be fitted to the wall and dismantled if not in use, after which the spot would become racks for storing food or books. The row of electrical sockets also came with sockets, ports and solar battery adapters while two of the beds could be converted into a dining setup for six people.

The kitchenette was the coolest part for Ballqis as it was bigger than what each student gets at their tiny apartment unit. It came with a tap that delivers water from a tub fitted outside the vehicle.

Iqball discovered the folding steps that led to an opening on the rood. As he climbed, he saw that one could access the paraphernalia on the rooftop easily. The roof came fitted with solar panels, sky window and even hooks for tents or awning. His muscles were already thanking Mrs Jogh, no more hauling heavy solar panels from the lab to the van!

Aga wanted to try the bathroom but his mates would not let him.

"I just want to see if the flush works!"

"Let's finish our food and get back to Molly. She'd be thrilled to hear about what Mr Evans just said," Ballqis said before Aga could get into the bathroom.

Her friend quickly dialed Molly's number.

***

"Why won't Mrs Jogh or Mr Evans let students call them professor?" Micah rambled as he walked home with them.

"Mr Yusef didn't wanna be called a professor either. But I heard one of the lecturers said only those with notable research projects like Mrs Jogh deserves to be called professor," Aga said.

"Well the research was started by her husband Professor Jogh, maybe she didn't want to confuse people or take full credit," said Ballqis."

"I support that theory. I heard she loved him so much  that she could not teach for a whole semester after he died," Iqball said. "Remember during our first outing, someone remembered Professor Jogh's early works, and talked to her about it? She was elated the whole day."

"She does come across as the romantic type," Ballqis blurted.

"Like me," Aga sighed.

"Yo, Aga, man... you're not still hung up on your ex, right? I mean, you have Molly now," Micah chimed in.

"What? Molly? She's a friend," Aga said, surprised.

"Really? Oh she'd be disappointed to hear that," Micah egged as he bump his fist on Aga's chest. Then the senior took off with a wave, for they have reached his apartment block.

The seniors have the advantage of getting units that were closer to the centre of the campus. The juniors have about another kilometre of walk to suffer.

As the trio drag their feet across another man-made lake, Aga broke the silence.

"Molly doesn't like me like that, does she?" he asked, his tone full of disbelief.

Ballqis mulled for a tad before answering, "I don't get that I'm-crushing-on-Agamemnon vibe from her, and she has always been a very straightforward girl."

"I don't know for sure. You know these geniuses... they tend to hide their feelings quite well," Iqball threw a wrench into the works.

"She's a genius, she's so pretty, and she smells so good, of course she's fierce whenever it's near CTC but ... she would never feel anything like that, for me, would she?" Aga mulled incoherently.

"But Aga, you're not bad looking! You may not have the best choice in perfume, but you're nice and kind and generous. Why wouldn't anyone consider you attractive?" Iqball said.

"Great body odor and stellar personality are not the only factors girls look for, Iqball. It's a matter of attraction, chemistry, you know?" Ballqis interjected.

"All I'm saying is that the probability of Molly liking Aga 'like that' is not zero, ok?" Iqball summed his argument.

"I can't argue with that but based on evidence and general couples theory I believe Aga should not get ahead of himself. Micah was probably just messing with him ..." Ballqis cautioned.

"Will you two quit mathematics already? I'm going to lie down on my bed and think about this slowly. Without probability or theories!" Aga said as he slug his arm around each of them.

"Goodnight, Balls!" he hollared before climbing the stairs up his block. 

"Micah could be on to something," Iqball said.

"We should not encourage Micah nor Aga. Why should they mess things?" Ballqis spoke without thinking.

"I supposed you're opposed to this whole being in a relationship thing ..." Iqball tested.

Ballqis vehemently denied. "What I meant was, Aga just broke up. His grades nearly took a dive so the timing isn't right for him. But that's him."

"What about you?" Iqball asked suddenly.

"What about me?" Ballqis bounced the question back to him.