By the time the four girls reached Lecture Hall Two, the corridors had become noticeably busier.
Students poured out of one classroom while others hurried in the opposite direction, creating an orderly stream that somehow never seemed to collide.
Amelia glanced down at her timetable.
"After Governance, we all have Mathematics in Lecture Hall Two."
Claire smiled.
"At least we’re together the whole morning."
Eleanor nodded.
"Lunch too."
"What about this afternoon?" Vivienne asked.
Claire checked her timetable.
"I’m in Biology Section B."
"I’m Section A," Eleanor replied.
"So am I," Amelia added.
Vivienne looked at her own timetable.
"Section A as well."
Amelia patted Claire dramatically on the shoulder.
"We’ll reunite at dinner."
Claire laughed.
"Or after Geography."
The four girls entered Lecture Hall Two just before the bell rang.
Compared to Professor Ashcombe’s classroom, this lecture theatre was noticeably larger.
Vivienne glanced around as she took her seat.
Some faces were familiar.
Many were not.
The changing lecture sections reminded her that St. Albion wasn’t simply one classroom of students.
There were hundreds of freshmen scattered across different lecture halls throughout the campus.
It made the university feel even larger.
The bell rang.
A middle-aged professor wearing thin-rimmed glasses strode to the front carrying nothing but a folder and a piece of chalk.
Without introducing himself immediately, he turned toward the blackboard and wrote a single sentence.
Mathematics is the language of logic.
Only then did he face the class.
"Good morning."
"I’m Professor Edwin Hawthorne."
"I’ll be teaching Mathematics throughout your Foundation Year."
His gaze swept calmly across the lecture hall.
"Many students arrive believing mathematics exists merely to produce correct answers."
He smiled faintly.
"It does not."
"It teaches discipline."
"It teaches precision."
"And perhaps most importantly..."
"It teaches you how to think when the answer is not immediately obvious."
Vivienne found herself nodding almost unconsciously.
That...
Actually made sense.
The lecture began immediately.
Professor Hawthorne moved briskly through the foundations of mathematical reasoning, each example naturally leading to the next.
Unlike Professor Ashcombe’s discussion-based teaching, this class followed a clear, methodical structure.
Definitions.
Examples.
Proofs.
Applications.
Everything fit together with almost elegant precision.
Around her, notebooks filled steadily.
Claire wrote quickly but neatly.
Eleanor occasionally paused before continuing, as though carefully checking each step in her mind.
Amelia frowned thoughtfully at one of the examples before quietly working through it herself.
No one appeared lost.
After all...
These students had each been among the finest graduates of their respective academies.
Admission to St. Albion demanded nothing less.
Vivienne looked down at her own notebook.
Fortunately...
Most of today’s lesson felt familiar.
Perhaps surviving one university mathematics course in her previous life hadn’t been entirely in vain.
Professor Hawthorne set down his chalk.
"Miss Beaumont."
Vivienne froze.
"...Yes, Professor?"
"Would you complete the final step?"
For the briefest moment, her heart skipped.
It wasn’t the equation that worried her.
It was the audience.
More than a hundred of the brightest students on the continent sat behind her.
Please...
Don’t let me embarrass myself.
She stood, accepted the chalk, and carefully worked through the final line.
One calculation.
Then another.
She checked it once.
Twice.
Only then did she place the chalk back on the tray.
Professor Hawthorne studied her solution for a quiet moment before giving a single nod.
"Correct."
"You may sit down."
Vivienne returned to her seat as calmly as she could.
Only after sitting did she quietly exhale.
Thank goodness...
I survived.
Claire smiled.
"Nicely done."
Eleanor nodded in agreement.
"It was a clean solution."
Amelia grinned.
"I knew pointing at you would’ve been a good strategy."
Vivienne couldn’t help laughing.
"That’s still not how volunteering works."
The bell rang not long afterward.
Professor Hawthorne closed his folder.
"For Thursday..."
A collective understanding spread across the lecture hall.
Homework.
"Please complete Exercises One through Fifteen."
No one protested.
Most simply noted it down beside the rest of their assignments.
It seemed everyone had already accepted that St. Albion professors considered homework an inseparable part of university life.
The steady stream of students spilled into the corridor as soon as the lecture ended.
Amelia adjusted the books in her arms.
"I’ve decided."
Claire looked at her curiously.
"Decided what?"
"I no longer intend to choose a major involving advanced mathematics."
Eleanor raised an eyebrow.
"You can’t even declare a major until next year."
"I know."
"I’m planning responsibly."
Claire laughed.
"I think Professor Hawthorne would approve of that."
"He’d probably ask me to justify my conclusion mathematically."
The four girls laughed as they crossed the courtyard toward the Science Building.
Unlike yesterday, the campus already felt a little more familiar.
Students moved confidently between buildings.
Upperclassmen crossed the stone walkways carrying stacks of books beneath one arm.
Some sat beneath the old trees reviewing notes before their next lecture.
Others hurried toward laboratories with white coats draped over their shoulders.
Little by little...
St. Albion was beginning to feel less overwhelming.
Biology brought another change of lecture section.
Claire waved from across the room before disappearing toward Section B.
"I’ll see you after Geography!"
"Good luck," Vivienne called back.
"You too!"
Vivienne took a seat beside Eleanor.
Their Biology professor proved just as passionate as Professor Hawthorne had been methodical.
Specimens, diagrams, and detailed explanations quickly filled the lecture.
By the end of the session, Vivienne had learned two things.
First...
She had forgotten far more high school biology than she’d realized.
Second...
Laboratory work would account for nearly half of their final grade.
She silently stared at that line in the syllabus.
Half...?
Well...
I’d better not break any equipment.
Geography passed more quietly.
Their professor outlined the course, introduced the regions they would study over the semester, and, almost as expected, assigned another Chapter to read before Thursday.
By the time the final bell rang, the afternoon sun had already begun casting long shadows across the campus.
Claire was waiting outside the building.
"So?"
Vivienne asked.
"How was Biology?"
Claire smiled.
"I learned that practical examinations are worth forty percent."
Vivienne nodded.
"We had the same reaction."
Amelia and Eleanor joined them moments later.
"Please tell me someone escaped today’s classes without homework."
The other three exchanged a look.
Then quietly shook their heads.
"I thought so."
The four girls laughed together as they began walking back toward the dormitories.
Vivienne shifted the growing stack of books in her arms.
Yesterday, the university had felt enormous.
Today...
It felt a little less intimidating.
There were still lectures to survive.
Assignments to finish.
Readings to complete.
But she no longer felt like an outsider trying to find her place.
Step by step...
She was beginning to belong.