Back to chemistry class

"Good-morning ladies!" the charming professor Ferdinand greeted as he entered the class.

As usual, he was wearing fancy clothes. This time he was wearing a blue T-shirt with all sorts of abstract designs on it. The words 'My charm...irresistible' was also printed on the front of the T-shirt. Along with that, he wore a pair of white fashionable trousers. A pair of black shoes completed the look. He was only 24 years old and had just finished his studies. Deeanna's class was the first class that he was teaching. He shook his blond hairs and all the girls blushed and sighed dreamily. All except Deeanna and Salome, who just smiled and exchanged looks.

The boys in the class let out loud coughs to tell him that there weren't only girls in this classroom.

"Oh la la...I am so sorry...good morning gentlemen...I forgot to greet you...hahaha!"

Once again, all the girls sighed dreamily. They giggled as well as they looked at him...or admired him.

"He's so handsome..." Deeanna heard her worst enemy say behind her.

Phyllis Ruskin was a girl slightly shorter than Deeanna with long green hairs. Yes, green hairs. At first, everybody thought she had dyed them, but then they came to know that it was just a DNA modification procedure that went wrong. Her parents wanted their daughter to have green eyes, but things turned out wrong and her brown eyes which were supposed to be green turned brown and her hair which was supposed to be brown turned green. This was the story she told everyone. How far that was true was left to the students' judgement. Phyllis on her side never saw this as an abnormality, but rather something to be proud of. 'I am unique', she always bragged.

"Honestly Phyllis...he is doing that on purpose just to get attention...don't fall for that! Do you think he is that charming?" Salome said absent-mindedly, buttoning her lab coat.

"Of course I do!" the girl replied, giving Salome a disgusted look, "Obviously, you don't have good taste in men! Oh well...what can we expect from a Chinese robot!"

As she finished she gave out a loud ear-breaking laugh.

"FYI, I'm Japanese, second; what you said is utterly rude and shows that you have no respect for people at all... and of course, what can we expect from an alien with a pot of cabbage on her head!" Salome fired, a triumphant smile on her face.

The whole class roared with laughter.

"You shut up, stupid! You look like an android!" Phyllis retorted.

"What the heck does that even mean?" Deeanna whispered to herself, confused.

"Brocolli head! Why don't you go sell your lovely greens in the market?" Salome jeered, ready to give her a hard blow on the face with the beaker she was now holding...a punishment which Salome thought she deserved a long time ago.

"Calm down Salome!" Deeanna pleaded to her friend.

"Oh la la! What is going on girls?" Professor Ferdinand said anxiously as he approached their tables, "Salome, your name means peace then why are you creating a war? Oh la la!"

"What does my name mean professor?" Phyllis asked in a sweet voice.

Professor Ferdinand thought for a second then burst out laughing.

"You don't want to know! Hahaha!" he replied, laughing very loudly with all his heart.

"Why not?" Phyllis asked the teacher curiously.

"Because your name...means...hahahaha! Your name means green bough! Ahahaha!"

As soon as he finished, all the students roared with laughter again. Everybody had to admit that Phyllis' hair fitted her name!

***

25 minutes later the bell rang and everyone started packing and left the class. Phyllis was the first one to get out of the class, red with anger. Never in her life had she been so laughed at.

"Ah! Oh la la...green bough is angry" Professor Ferdinand said as he watched Phyllis storm away, "Why can't everybody be as gentle as you Deeanna?"

Deeanna couldn't help but laugh quietly at that and replied:

"I don't know, Professor. By the way, do you know what my name means?"

"Deeanna..." the man said to himself, deep in thought, "Yes. Deeanna means valley."

"Valley?"Deeanna replied in a surprised tone, "Ah cool...I guess."

"And, what does your name mean professor?" Salome asked him, putting her books in her bag.

"Ah oh la la! My name has a wonderful meaning!" Professor Ferdinand replied, shaking his blond hairs flirtingly...but this gesture was ineffective on the girls.

"Really? And what is that sir?" Deeanna asked.

"Brave...Ferdinand means brave" he replied, looking up at an invisible sky in a dramatic way.

Suddenly his eyes hit the clock and he exclaimed:

"Oh la la! I must get going! I have a staff lunch to attend! See you later my ladies!"

With that, he rushed out of the class (shaking his blond hair flirtingly!).

"So charming!" Salome said sarcastically.

"Indeed. Who can compete with him?" Deeanna added.

Both of them started laughing the next moment.

Even though Professor Ferdinand was somehow a very 'particular' teacher who could be weird sometimes, the girls still found him cool in a way. He was never too strict, like Professor Akhil, their biology teacher, but always happy plus in a good mood too. His talent? Knowing the meanings behind people's names!

***

"Deeanna, I think you must go home alone today, I have to meet my..."

"Boyfriend?" Deeanna interjected with a devilish smile causing Salome to glare at her.

"No!" Salome replied, sounding irritated, "I don't have any boyfriend and you know that! I can't come with you because I have to go to the airport."

"To the airport?"Deeanna questioned.

"Yes, my cousins Haruko and Kitiara are coming to spend some days at my place and since mum is always working, she told me to accompany my dad to welcome them."

"Where are your cousins from?"Deeanna asked, adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder.

"Far from Mauritius and in my parents' homeland, le pays du soleil levant, Japan!" Salome replied, smiling.

"Fabulous! I think you should also go and visit them one day! Japan seems to be such a cool country! You'd have the perfect excuse to go!" Deeanna urged her friend.

"I know right!" Salome replied cheerfully, "I hope I will. Anyway, it's getting pretty late now."

"Yeah! Look at the time. I must get going too."

"Later Deeanna!" Salome beamed as she hugged her friend quickly and made her way out of the corridor. Deeanna smiled as she watched her go.

Good luck Salome. Finally, a day is over!, Deeanna thought as she exited the school and started walking down the street.

It was early April and the weather was hot in Mauritius at that time. It felt so hot and even the birds seem to be uncomfortable and sought refuge on the branches of the mango trees, enjoying the fresh air among the leaves. Deeanna strolled towards a street on her right which gave to a playground and turned in a narrow street. She continued her walk until she reached Kestrel Lane, the place where she lived. It was a very cosy place with a range of houses all along the road, some multi-storeyed and some single storey. Shops and cafes could be seen a little further ahead as well. As she strode on the pavement, she couldn't help noticing the rusty gate on the opposite side of the street. The words It lights the night, up in the sky, bright it shines, the rays of light were carved on a metal plate that was stuck in front of the gate. Deeanna always wondered what these lines meant. They have always been carved there since she was little. Everybody knew these inscriptions, but no one pondered over its meaning, that is, what this "it" was being referred to. The rusty gate was always closed and behind it was a vast meadow, empty though.