The Alchemists

The professor came and Aleksis immediately understood why so few students were present. He was a serious man in his 40's, not attractive at all, and difficult to understand because he talked really fast. 

Fortunately, Aleksis was a very smart girl. She had learned from the best experts in the world and all the things now being taught on campus were things she heard directly from the creators of the theories.

Aleksis flipped through the Information Management System module written by Prof. Hedwig then smiled to herself. She remembered meeting Prof. Hedwig three months ago in London. She even took private classes at his home for three days. Hmm ... She had even memorized the contents of his book by now.

"Hey ... my name is Aleksis, what are your names?" she asked the three nerdy students in front of her. The three students, two male and one female, looked astonished. They just realized that Aleksis was a new student because they had never seen her in class, in the auditorium during the orientation or in any of the examination venues last year. Aleksis hurriedly added to her introduction. "Well ... as you can see, I'm a transfer student."

"Oh... my name is Dave, this is Kris, and she's Mel ..." said the young man wearing a pair of glasses. The guy with curly hair nodded. Mel, the girl with braces did too.

"Oh... I remember you. You were at Nicolae's class just now ..." Mel exclaimed to her. "Why did you suddenly transfer in the middle of the semester?"

"Well ... it's ... a long story." Aleksis was very happy because the three classmates looked friendly, unlike the girls in the auditorium.

They stopped whispering when the lecturer cleared his throat and scolded them. The four students couldn't move around too much because the class was very empty which made chatting difficult. The professor would easily notice every single thing they do.

It turned out that Dave, Kris, and Mel belonged to the type of students who could not learn through long-distance modules. They preferred to attend classes in person in order to understand what was being taught. Aleksis had no difficulty learning through any method, but she preferred to come to class to meet new friends.

After the second class ended, Aleksis immediately said goodbye to her new friends to go to the cafeteria. Dave, Kris, and Mel offered to join her because they also wanted to have lunch.

"Uhmm ... okay then ... let's eat together then..." Aleksis couldn't refuse them because these three people were very friendly to her.

He then sent a message to Takeshi.

[I am having lunch with my classmates. Have you guys arrived at the cafeteria? Can you recognize me?]

[We are already in the cafeteria.]

Hmm ... alright. Aleksis decided to let Takeshi arrange their meeting. As bodyguards, they should let her live like a normal student without attracting attention. Just because they were meeting her doesn't mean that she has to avoid eating with her classmates.

The four students who looked very unattractive entered the cafeteria full of people.

Aleksis was very pleased to see an empty table in the middle of the room and hurriedly placed her bag there. She was surprised though. At such a busy lunch hour, there were still seats available.

As soon as she put her bag on the table, the cafeteria instantly became quiet. Mel looked shocked and frightened for Aleksis. The latter noticed her action and frowned in confusion.

"Gosh ... don't put your bag on that table!! That's Anjali's gang's ... Nobody can take the seats from them..." Mel whispered in fear. "You're new, so you don't know ... But let's hurry and get out of here before anyone reports you to her ..."

Aleksis frowned upon hearing her.

"Anjali? Who's that? Is there a name on this table?" Aleksis asked nonchalantly.

Mel sighed, she pointed at the corner of the table and read the small writing there, "AN-JA-LI ... There is a name on this table. Her father contributed a lot of money to a building at our university. You could say she was like a princess on our campus. "

My father can buy the whole university if I want, thought Aleksis exasperatedly.

She was not at all impressed with this Anjali girl. Stubbornly, she left her bag on the table then queued up in front of the food counter and bought lunch.

Mel could only stand shivering on her spot after seeing Aleksis' behavior. Dave and Kris seemed uneasy, not knowing what to do. The other students in the cafeteria also stood nervously watching the nerd and waiting for something to happen.

Aleksis coolly brought her food tray to the table earlier and sat down there to enjoy her lunch. She acted as if nothing happened.

Gosh... how come most students from public campuses act so corny, she thought resentfully.

She had just eaten a few mouthfuls of her meal when suddenly five beautiful trendy-looking ladies in very expensive branded clothes entered. Amongst them, a beautiful girl with pink highlights on her hair walked like a queen bee.

The five girls looked surprised to see a shabby-looking nerdy sitting casually where they should be while enjoying her lunch.

"Heyyy ...! How dare you sit at my table!" the queen bee exclaimed in an angry tone. She turned to her side and one of her 'ladies-in-waiting' quickly came over to Aleksis and pounded her fist on the table.

"You must be new here. Anjali has been sitting at this table for two years," she said.

"As far as I know, the tables in this cafeteria are owned by the campus, not by individuals. Why can't other people take it for themselves?" Aleksis asked uncompromisingly. "Look, here are a few more chairs. If you are hungry, sit down and eat. I don't mind sharing this table."

The five girls looked at each other, then laughed out loud.

"Hmmm, apparently you don't know who I am ..." Anjali commented sarcastically.

She gave a signal and her four cronies immediately grabbed the nerdy and dragged her off her feet. Anjali took a can of soda from the table and was about to pour it over Aleksis when Mel suddenly came forward and stood in front of her.

"Please forgive my classmate, Sis Anjali... She is a transfer student, she is new here and doesn't know anything ..." Her face looked scared but she tried to be brave. Aleksis felt touched because her new friend, Mel, was defending her.

"Hmm... so she's your friend? No wonder... nerds get along with nerds." Anjali commented with a mocking grin. "I'm in a good mood today. If you two kneel and apologize now, I will forget this incident. If not, both of you will be expelled tomorrow."

Mel looked pale. She hurriedly dropped down and knelt before Anjali. She was a scholarship student and could not afford to get expelled.

Aleksis was astonished at what was happening in front of her. She never expected for people to act this crazy on campus. She was not afraid of Anjali's threat, thinking Caspar could easily buy the whole campus if she asked him to do so. No one would be able to kick Aleksis out of St. Mary.