Wednesday.
8:58 A.M.
Room 302 was unusually lively.
Students did not talk about the assignments and tests as they did every other day.
They were discussing Sam and Mehjabeen.
“…Did you hear?”
“They were the only team that got full marks.”
“I heard their subject was fake.”
“No, apparently they followed him across half of London.”
“That’s a bit creepy.”
“Psychology usually is.”
Sam paid no mind to the whispers as he walked into the classroom.
He took his usual seat by the window.
Seconds later, Mehjabeen walked in.
“You’ve become popular.”
Sam gazed out the window.
“I was hoping to avoid that.”
“You don’t enjoy the attention?”
“It usually comes with expectations.”
Before she could say anything else…
Ollie burst through the classroom door.
“I’m alive!”
Everyone turned to look at him.
Professor Holloway peered at him over his glasses.
“Barely on time.”
Ollie grinned.
“Still counts.”
“It does.”
The class laughed.
It was exactly nine o’clock when…
Professor Holloway placed his leather notebook on the desk.
No projector.
No slides.
No notes.
Just the notebook itself.
__
“I have a question.”
He looked up at the class.
“How many of you believe you’re observant?”
Almost everyone raised their hands.
Including Ollie.
Professor Holloway nodded approvingly.
“Excellent.
“Today…
“…we’ll test that belief.”
He walked to the classroom door.
Without another word…
He opened it.
A young woman walked in.
She was probably around twenty-two.
Her brown hair was tied up in a ponytail.
She wore a navy-blue sweater and black jeans.
Over her shoulder was a canvas bag.
Without a word…
She walked across the room.
She placed a folder on the professor’s desk.
She signed a document.
Then she left as quietly as she came.
The entire charade took under thirty seconds.
The door shut behind her.
Silence.
Professor Holloway turned to the class.
“Take out a sheet of paper.”
Pens clicked.
Notebooks opened.
“I want you to describe everything you saw.”
“You have five minutes.”
The class erupted in frantic scribbling.
Sam didn’t write a thing.
He simply closed his eyes and replayed the event in his head.
Every detail.
Every movement.
Every pause.
Across the room…
Mehjabeen was already writing.
Claire’s page was nearly full.
Ollie…
“…Does ‘she looked normal’ count?”
Ethan muttered,
“No.”
“…Right.”
Five minutes later…
Professor Holloway collected all the papers.
Without looking at the names…
He began reading the observations out loud.
“Female.
“Approximately twenty years old.
“Brown hair.
“Blue sweater.
“Carrying a canvas bag.
“Wearing trainers.
“Signed with her right hand.”
He put the papers down.
“Good.
“Reasonably accurate.”
He paused to smile at the class.
“What color were her eyes?”
Silence.
Nobody gave an answer.
“Brown?”
Another tried,
“Green?”
Professor Holloway shook his head.
“Blue.
“Did anyone look at her eyes?”
Several students looked surprised.
“You all looked at her face…
“But almost none of you looked at her eyes.”
He continued,
“What was written on the folder she delivered?”
Silence.
Nobody had an answer.
“What logo was on her canvas bag?”
Nothing.
“What time did she enter the room?”
No one knew.
Professor Holloway nodded in approval.
“Interesting.”
He turned to the board and wrote two words on it.
Selective Attention
“Your brain…
“…is constantly filtering information.
“If it didn’t…
__
“You’d go insane.”
He drew a small circle in the center of the board.
“This circle…
“…is your attention.
Everything outside it…
He shaded the rest of the board with chalk.
“…still exists.
You simply don’t notice it.”
Ollie raised his hand.
“So…
“We’re basically blind?”
The professor smiled.
“No.
“Worse.
“You believe you can see everything.”
The class laughed.
Even Ollie chuckled.
“…Fair enough.”
Professor Holloway turned to Sam.
“Mr.
Valecroft.
“What stood out to you?”
The room fell silent.
Sam thought about his answer.
“…Nothing.”
Several students looked at him in confusion.
Professor Holloway raised an eyebrow.
“Explain.
“You noticed details…
“But you don’t know…
“…which of them matter.”
The professor smiled.
“A dangerous answer.”
Sam gave him a small smile in return.
“Dangerous questions usually deserve them.”
Professor Holloway looked genuinely pleased.
“Exactly.
“The purpose of observation…
__
“…isn’t collecting details.”It’s identifying meaningful ones.”
He turned to the windows.
“You may remember a thousand facts…
“…and still understand nothing.”
Just then…
There was a knock on the classroom door.
Professor Holloway looked up.
“Come in.”
The department secretary walked in, holding a small clipboard.
“Apologies for the interruption, Professor.
“There is a visitor asking for Mr.
Sam Valecroft.”
A few students looked towards Sam.
Professor Holloway raised an eyebrow.
“A visitor?
“Yes.
“The reception staff said it’s a family matter.”
Sam stood up.
“My apologies, Professor.
“Sam left the room.
Holloway simply nodded.
“If it’s important, family comes first.”
Sam walked out the classroom door.
The corridor was almost empty.
He walked down the stairs towards the reception hall.
Standing by the front desk…
With both hands in the pockets of his black hoodie…
Was Leon.
The moment he saw Sam, he grinned.
“Took you long enough.”
Sam stopped a few feet away from him.
“…Why are you here?”
Leon shrugged.
“Dad sent me.”
Sam frowned.
“…Dad?”
“He said you’d understand.”
Sam took the envelope from him.
Without opening it, he asked,
“Couldn’t this have waited until I got home?”
Leon smirked.
“I asked the same question.”
“And?”
“He told me…
“If it could wait, I wouldn’t have sent your brother.”
Sam looked at the envelope for a moment.
That sounded exactly like something Edward Valecroft would say.
The receptionist gave a polite smile.
“Your brother has been waiting for nearly twenty minutes.”
Leon groaned dramatically.
“She wouldn’t let me leave the reception area.”
“I tried.”
“You did.
“Twice.”
The receptionist said.
Leon cleared his throat.
“…Three times.”
Sam couldn’t help but smile.
“You haven’t changed.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.
“It wasn’t.”
Just then…
The classroom door opened as students began to file out.
Ollie spotted Sam downstairs.
“There he is!”
He jogged down the staircase with Ethan, Claire and Mehjabeen following behind.
Ollie looked at Leon.
“…Who’s this?”
Leon held out his hand at once.
“Leon Valecroft.
“You must be the famous university friends.”
Ollie shook his hand enthusiastically.
“Ollie.”
Before anyone else could say anything…
Leon gestured towards Sam.
“So…
“Has he smiled around you guys yet?”
Everyone looked at Sam.
Claire was the first to answer.
“…Twice.”
Ethan nodded.
“I’ve seen it.”
Mehjabeen added calmly,
“Very briefly.”
Leon placed a hand over his heart.
“That’s incredible.
“I only get one every two weeks.”
Even Sam let out a quiet laugh.
Ollie’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull.
“HE CAN LAUGH!”
“I told you.
“Leon said proudly.
“He’s factory defective, not broken.”
Claire covered her mouth to stifle a laugh.
Ethan failed miserably.
Even Mehjabeen looked away, smiling to herself.
Sam sighed.
“I’ve changed my mind.
“I’m leaving without him.”
Leon grinned.
“You can’t.
“Dad’s car is waiting.”
Sam looked up towards the university gates.
Sure enough…
A black Valecroft Rolls-Royce was waiting.
Its driver patiently watching the front doors.
Sam turned back to Leon.
“What did Dad do this time?”
Leon smiled.
“I wasn’t told.
“He just said…
“Bring Sam home.”
“And don’t lose the envelope.”
Sam looked down at the silver seal once more.
For the first time that morning…
A feeling of unease crawled up his spine.
Edward Valecroft never interfered with his children’s university lives.
If he had sent Leon personally…
Something must have happened.
“Looks like I’ll see you all tomorrow,”
Sam said to the group.
Ollie waved.
“Don’t disappear!”
Leon smirked.
“No promises.”
As the two brothers walked towards the waiting car…
Mehjabeen watched them go.
Then she quietly said,
“…They’re nothing alike.”
Claire shook her head.
“No.
“They’re exactly alike.
“The difference…
“…is that one hides it better.”
TO BE CONTINUED…..