The sun hasn't yet graced the world with its first rays of light, but the birds did their job to announce the beginning of a new day.
Chirr… Chirr…
Settled by one of the windows of the school, an American Robin began to chirp as soon as it woke up by the cold air of winter.
Its chirping tagged along the winds, following on-board on it shortly for meters.
Laying down peacefully, almost entirely covered from head to toe by a black blanket that did wonders to keep its occupant warm, a young man had his eyelids tremble ever so slightly by the morning calls of the bird.
Slowly, by sheer will and a little curiosity of where the sound came, the young man opened his eyes to welcome the sight of a wall with a window which no light came from, for the sun still needed to rise from the horizon.
Ruffle…
Moving on the bed, John took a look around the room. He took notice of the darkness and the fact he could see distinctively well in it.
My senses have improved slightly… He thought, groggily. Can't think why else I would wake up to a bird singing.
Closing his eyes again, the boy tried to fall asleep once again. Trying to return to that land of dreams. Unfortunately, he found himself incapable of it now.
Shit. John threw his arms open, opening his eyes once again to stare at the ceiling. I want to sleep…
Taking deep breaths, he stared at the roof for some time, a long time in his opinion if even only for a few seconds.
With some strength and effort, the young man sat up on the bed, passing his legs to the side of it. Resting his arms on his tights, he looked forward into the nothingness.
What should I do? John asked himself, leaving the bed.
Walking a few steps, he approached the door of the room and slowly opened it. Putting his head out by the small space between the door and the frame, he looked from one side to the other of the hallway, noticing no presence whatsoever.
Closing it, he retreated back to the room and stood nearby the door, looking around.
Let's hit the shower. He decided.
Once in the bathroom, John noticed that everything he needed for his usual morning routine was here. And none of the daily utensils seemed to have ever been used.
When undressing himself, John took a glimpse of his figure in the mirror and couldn't help but stop for a second to take a better look.
She did say my physique would change, or better said it would grow. My muscles obviously grew and hardened, and I am pretty sure my height increased by a few centimeters. John measured himself in the mirror, his thoughts not going beyond the changes. But I don't seem to have grown old. My physique seems like how I would've been by my 20s, but my face is still almost the same, though a little more clean. Good thing, I think.
Shuffling his clothes and putting them away, John stepped into the shower. And with a twist of his wrist, hot water started to pour down on him.
Perfection… He mumbled internally.
Few minutes passed as John enjoyed a decent bath. With him leaving the shower as some steam scattered around him.
Using one of the towels in the room to dry himself, John took a look at his clothes. By looking at it, he put them down again and decided to take a set of clothes also provided in one of the closets.
Fortunately, whoever prepared this room thought that someone as tall as the young man could occupy it and left clothes big enough for the boy to feel comfortable in them.
The clothes were simple, a sweatpants and a sweater, both with the school logo respectively stamped on the front of the right leg and on the left side of the chest.
Ruffling his not completely dry hair, John took a look at the small watch on the nightstand.
5:56 AM… Let's take a look into the internet. The young man decided, pulling on the chair.
When sat down, John opened the notebook and pressed the power button. He was a little surprised by seeing a familiar blue logo on the screen.
So Windows is a thing here as well. He casually noted, the logo soon passing. Now, a login screen took place, the visitor user profile expecting an answer to continue forward and access the computer.
Briefly, John landed his eyes on a small hard eggshell colored paper shuffled in a triangle without a base by the side, a few words printed with black ink on it.
SalvatoreManor1863. Pft… John internally laughed off at the password, typing it up before pressing the ENTER key. Now, he was on the desktop.
Moving the mouse, the cursor passed over diverse icons/apps across the screen. John took a look at each one of them.
Microsoft Explorer, Opera, Chrome, Windows Store. It seems everything is here. John clicked on the Google Chrome icon, opening it up.
And at the first moment of his contact with the browser now from another universe, his eyes instinctively moved to the first thing that caught his sight. A thing not familiar at all to him in the browse.
Right under the logo located on the middle of the screen, there was a small square with rounded edges. Within the square, threads of yellow, blue, red and green color intertwined to make a circle which pulsated and moved randomly on its own.
… Curious at what he saw, the time needed for the boy to consider if he should click on it or not was less than two seconds.
When he clicked on it with the cursor, the screen changed. Now, a black screen consumed the monitor, the same circle from earlier now rotating in the middle of it.
Hello. I am Gemini. Your favorite AI Assistant. How can I help you? Were the words written on screen.
Seeing it, John was now in silence. Quietly staring at these words. Just now, he realized something.
Almost half a decade into the future… Just how many things changed? Is the world the same both culturally and geographically? How did it advance the last few years? Did we get rid of some problems at least? He questioned himself, hands resting over the keyboard.
After a long minute of contemplation, John took a deep breath. Rightly after, his fingers flew across the keyboard, pressing keys as he formed his question. A bold question in his opinion. More because he didn't know if it would be fully answered.
Could you create a very detailed timeline of the last decade for me? In the timeline, it must include breakthroughs in scientific fields, geopolitical tensions and agreements, cultural change, and events that had even a minimal impact on the world. He wrote on a small prompt, taking a good look at it to see if the command was good enough.
But as he rested his right index finger over the ENTER key, John blinked in response to a thought surging. Well… just to make things more interesting. He mumbled internally, his fingers flying over the keyboard once again.
…The information you shall relay to me must not have less than 1.000 words. There is no upper limit of words, but the knowledge relayed must not be repetitive. John pressed the last key, not delaying a second more to press ENTER.
His question disappeared from the prompt and appeared at the top of the screen, on the right side of the center section of it, in the middle of a chat box of dark gray color.
Now on the left side, three dots appeared right under his question line, an indication his question was being read and processed. A proceedment which didn't take more than a few seconds before words of reply surfaced on the screen.
Yes, I can. Here is a very detailed timeline of the past decade including all your requirements…
After these words, rows and rows of more words appeared, filling the screen non-stop for seconds, stretching into minutes.
And all the while, the eyes of the young man gradually widened in sheer surprise, almost shock.
Holy shit… The boy internally muttered when seeing the result of his search.
Hundreds, thousands of words were written on the screen. All of them used to describe the progress and changes of the world by the last decade.
Graphics were drawn for better understanding of the improvement and fall of certain circles of culture and fields of studies.
Information was constantly gathered, processed and imprinted on the screen. Images would appear amidst the hundreds of words and immediately disappear as more words and pictures appeared.
Witnessing it, John was a little out of himself. So much so he didn't notice his eyes were slowly starting to follow the appearance of more information. His mind gradually could catch up with the flow of information.
But whilst this little fact escaped his mind, others were grasped by it. Facts, history of this world presented to him.
Revolutionary genetic therapies… Improved implementation of AI in education and transport… Private corporations on a race for the Moon… Spatial exploration taking further steps… Laws of Companionship… Discovery of new deep sea species… The words went on and on, with John's mind grasping the most attention-seeking ones amidst them.
At some point, no more new words were generated, but the young man didn't move. He didn't scroll up the page to read the information from the beginning. There was no need for that. With what he was capable of grasping amidst the thousands of words, and the images available, it was enough to leave him in a quiet contemplation.
As his eyes stared blankly into the void, John's lips parted. Words were about to escape, but as the first syllabus was about to be pronounced, he held it.
Fuck… The world is way more different from mine than I expected. He thought, his eyes gaining focus once again. I didn't expect things to develop so much. Reaching out his hand, John scrolled up the page.
Returning to the start of the answer, he slowly scrolled down to read everything at his own pace. Digesting every little bit of information.
At the beginning were scientific and technological breakthroughs, as for example new gene treatment to hereditary conditions and evolving treatments to cancer; development of AI to approach a more human-like thinking, though progress on that was minimal, AI was nowadays intrinsically integrated into humanity, with AI assistants running offline in basically each new portable device to keep the owner privacy and helping them in every task possible, from working as a fluent interpreter of almost every spoken language in the world to organizing their personal life down to the minutes; advancement in solar and hydrogen-based energy programs; on major cities, their systems were changing as public transport were now autonomous, with smart traffic grids helping reducing congestion thanks to AI systems and dynamic lighting poles; agriculture was now expanding as vertical farms were slowly becoming common, with genetic engineering food reducing allergies as well.
Next were the geopolitical changes. Conflicts that intensified in the Middle East, Asia, and Eastern Europe in earlier years. Some were solved by agreement and diplomatic actions, others not so much, and others lasted to this day. It listed the new elected, crowned or chosen new leaders of every nation in the world of the past decade. Meetings to discuss economical and ecological problems happened every year dozens of times, with some thankfully resulting in solutions which improved the world.
Following next was the entertainment department. The timeline showcased which actor, musician and game producer won the greatest trophies of their respective fields, also informing what were the greatest hits of each year in the last decade. On one topic, it detailed how holographic entertainment and VR/AR were surging in recent years. Though still far from being widespread and mainstream, it showed how these technologies slowly were merging into reality.
For a few long minutes, the young man had his eyes glued to the bright screen of the computer. The quiet environment of the morning subtly assisted him in reading and comprehending the relayed information flawlessly.
Social changes… On the last topic, John tilted his head to the side out of curiosity. He wondered how humans changed.
And as eyes trailed over the words, his reactions were not grand. They were very subtle, almost unnoticeable to the changes people experienced the last few years.
Not much different than how my Earth was developing. He thought, his interest not as high as in previous topics. Though the change in relationships sure is a little surprising. John chuckled very lightly at a certain part, proceeding in the text. Though, a back part of his mind couldn't let the topic go away.
Unbeknownst to the young man, as he read the information provided and searched through the internet about topics of his interest, time passed quickly. The sun rose from the horizon, and the sunlight started to peek between the curtains.
When John was half-way through a video detailing the Four Fundamental Forces, his ears twitched slightly.
Soon after, a noise came from his door.
Knock! Knock!
"A moment." John said, pushing himself out of the chair. Just now noticing the rays of light trying to enter the room.
In front of the door, John took hold of the knob and twisted it to open the door, revealing the figure of Jeremy standing on the corridor.
"Good morning." John greeted him.
"Good morning." Jeremy took a look at the young man, noticing the change of clothes. "Dr. Saltzman is asking you if you are okay with seeing him before breakfast. Which would be now."
"No problem, let me turn off the computer." John said, approaching the table just to press the power button of the notebook before returning to the door. "We can go now."
Jeremy nodded, walking away. John closed the door behind him before following the man.
Right about now, John and Jeremy were in a small wing of the school building. A place where guests could stay for the time of their visiting. And as they walked out of this part of the building, approaching the main one, John could hear the bustling from the distance.
"How many students live here?" John asked, two steps behind Jeremy.
"Roughly 150 students." Jeremy replied.
John's mind came to a short halt. 150? Shit, nothing compared to the show. He thought, finding it believable by the sheer rise of the noise around. I should've googled the school. Would help me in comparing what I have here and what I know. I wonder if they present themselves to the world differently as well. As these thoughts wandered the boy's mind, the two stepped into the Main Hall, where students wandered around at different places.
"I never imagined… There were so many." John whispered under his breath.
Despite the low voice, Jeremy listened to it. "And we are still scouting. There are many out there. More than we can handle at the moment." He said, stepping into the hall.
The noise which was permeating the school was taken down a notch at the moment Jeremy set foot into the Main Hall. Unconsciously, most in it were not talking as loud.
"I see…" Then was John's turn to step into the Hall, and the still bustling common room was now silent in certain parts of it, whilst others unconsciously reduced their voices to murmurs and whispers.
A fact the young man was not paying much attention to.
"How do things here work? I mean… the supernatural side." John asked, crossing the room as he still followed Jeremy.
The man thought for a moment before replying. "Better leave this question for Dr. Saltzman to answer you. He has a better grasp of how things are in the world."
"I would still appreciate you sharing what you know." John replied, trying to dig something out of Jeremy.
Not seen by the boy, Jeremy's eyes looked up in thought before deciding. "Okay, I'll let you in on a few things." He turned his head to take a look at the boy.
"Thanks." The boy nodded.
Retreating his sight forward, Jeremy organized his thoughts quickly. "In the simplest terms, this side of the world is more chaotic than orderly."
"My single impression of this side of the world tells me differently."
"The school is a point outside the curve." Jeremy promptly replied. "Mystic Falls as a whole, actually, since we are the resident group. But things are different in most places."
"Most, you say?"
"If everything was chaotic, then chaos would be the order." Jeremy replied, taking a turn to another corridor.
Fair point. John inwardly nodded, taking the same path as the man. "Are there others? Schools, I mean."
"We are the only in the American continent as far as I know. I heard of a few others around the globe. But none which is as encompassing as ours." Jeremy said, his steps gradually slowing down.
"How so?" The boy asked, playing the curious role perfectly.
At this moment, Jeremy realized something. "For how long have you been part of this? How long since you have not been human anymore?"
Shit… I can't say less than a day, right? "Less than a week."
"Then I can guess you don't have much knowledge of the supernatural, do you?"
"Not much…"
"Then I really think you should wait to have this conversation with Dr. Saltzman." Jeremy said, halting in his steps. "Or not much, since we're already here." He pointed at one door.
Stopping before the door, John looked at the horizontal black plaque with golden lines attached to the door. Principal Alaric Saltzman was what was written on the plaque.
And from behind it, both men could hear voices chattering. Or as would be more accurate, shouting.
"Hm… we should wait somewhere else, right?" John asked.
"Let's just sit down and wait. This should be over soon." Jeremy let escape a tired sigh from between his lips, sitting down on one of the chairs lined outside the principal's office.
Following his actions, John took one of the seats as well. Leaving one vacant seat separating him and Jeremy.
As both men silently waited for their time, the conversation taking place within the office escaped to their ears despite the wonderful work of the walls suppressing it.
"It's not my fault if you can't take a break up!"
"You could at least help me by not asking me to set you up with someone while I play the role of third wheel!"
"Girls!"
With an interested expression, John attentively listened to the conversation taking place within the walls behind him. Even though he was eager to explore this world, he patiently waited for the conversation Alaric wished to have with him.
And whilst he waited, John used the time to ponder about certain things the present moment provided to him.
Crossing his left leg over the other, a pensive look took the boy's eyes. High school… not what I had in mind when things changed. I have an entire world to explore, the idea of going back to school now that I am free to go wherever I want is not the most tasteful to me. But even then, would Alaric allow me to spend some time here while I study the books? I really want to learn some magic.
While the young man indulged in his thoughts, the bickering in the office continued.
"Now I can't even say something about Satan herself?!"
"Mind your words, Lizzie."
Holding back his laugh, John continued his stream of thoughts. I hope things go right. If not, I will have to stick to the place for some time. Though I don't want to spend a long time here, I would feel bad by enrolling, studying what I want and then leaving without care. He listened to a stomp from within the office. Let's see, let's see… let things flow naturally for some time. I'm in a rush, but not so much.
As John thought of what he should do, the conversation in the office seemed to be approaching an end.
"Enough." Alaric stated in a severe, steady tone. "We will discuss the behavior, of both of you, later. Now, I have a potential student coming in with Jeremy and the least I wish is for him to see you two arguing while still in your pajamas this early in the morning. Go back to your room and get ready for the day. And no fights, please."
"Urgh!" Without a decent reply, one of the figures in the room stepped heavily on the floor, stomping out of the room as she opened the door with more strength than needed.
Turning his head to the left, John casually observed as a young girl rushed out of the office.
When the girl left the room, she spotted both men sitting next to the door. Her eyes briefly hovering over Jeremy before proceeding to the boy nearby. Immediately, her quick movements ceased. She stood still staring down at the young man, her mouth hanging open slightly.
Noticing the stare, John warmly smiled at the girl. Blond, blue eyes, high cheekbones, she is very lean and tall as well if I am guessing right her age. She really looks like my Earth's actress of her, though seemingly more young.
Right after the blond girl left, a brunette one of similar height as well left the room. "What are you doing, Lizzie? Keep wal…" And as soon as her eyes traced to where the other girl was looking at, her voice died as well.
Yeah, she is just as cute. Long brown hair, dark brown eyes, tall like her sister, lean and a face with cheeks I want to squeeze. John continued smiling.
As the two girls stared at the boy, the one to speak up first was the brunette.
"Hi…"
"Hello." John waved at her.
Noticing her lack of action, Lizzie repeated after her sister. "H-hi…" After stuttering, the tip of her ears got slightly red.
Looking at her, John greeted her the same way. "Hello."
Completely silent, Jeremy appreciated the scene. This is interesting. He thought, trying to perfectly blend into the ambience.
Inside the office, Alaric noticed the two girls standing by the door. And from where he was sitting, he saw Jeremy's leg while the rest of the man was hidden by the wall.
"Jeremy, is John with you there?" He asked out loud.
Tsk. Pushing himself up from the chair, Jeremy gestured for the young man nearby to get up. "Come on." He said before getting into the room.
"Okay." John rose to his feet as well. "Nice pajamas." He said to both girls before getting into the room and closing the door behind him.
When the two sisters were now alone in the corridor, both remained still for a few moments. Her eyes froze on the door the boy just closed.
At the end of this silence, the blond girl, Lizzie, was the first to speak up. "Josie."
"Hm?" Her sister blankly replied.
"Why didn't I wear my fancy pajamas today?"
…
Accompanying the entrance of the young man with his eyes, Alaric stood up from behind his table, "It's good to see you, John." He reached his hand out towards the young man. "I hope your stay in my school has been good for you."
"Taking out the fact I woke up as soon as the birds by my windows started to chipper, I'm good." He shook the principal's hand.
Alaric's expression took a subtle change. "Quite the keen hearing you have."
"And just worsening." John smirked.
Alaric chuckled at the words. "Please, have a seat." He gestured for the young man. "Jeremy, you may go."
"Okay." The man nodded. "See you later, boy." He added, walking out of the office.
As the two were now alone in the room, Alaric opened a shelf from his desk, taking out a few papers.
"So, John… May I assume you already know why I asked you to take this conversation and want an explanation?"
The boy nodded. "Yeah, Jeremy told me. And I also heard… a few words of your conversation with those girls. Student, right?"
Resisting the urge to scratch his beard in embarrassment, Alaric nodded in confirmation. "Correct. As a Principal, one for a school of supernatural, I can't help but wish to enroll you here. That is," He accented. "if you haven't fulfilled your studies and wish to study here."
"I didn't." John replied. "Though with all honesty, returning to school is not in my list of things-to-do after what happened to me."
Alaric's gaze changed slightly under the young man's words. "And what exactly happened to you?" He questioned, not so subtly changing the topic of the conversation.
The bluntness of the question had John narrow his eyes a little when staring back at Alaric.
But as he thought about the question, John threw his head backwards, his eyes landing at the ceiling. "Let's see… I was sleeping, and before falling asleep I knew when I'd wake up I would be 16. My surprise was when I woke up. How do I say that…? Basically, my parents left me the message: Hey, son. You have superpowers and are immortal. Go have fun while we travel around." The boy explained, very casually. His answer relayed the minimal of his situation, just enough to give an idea of what happened.
Listening to it, Alaric frowned a little. His eyes went beyond the young man's figure for a very short moment. I have so many questions regarding what he said. Thought the man. However, the principal didn't pronounce his thoughts. "How long have you been aware of this news your parents told you about?"
"Less than a week."
"I see. Then, I may assume you are new to this side of the world, aren't you? I can also assume you didn't finish your studies."
Sticking to that, hum? "Yeah, I'm new to this. And yes, I didn't finish my studies."
"Then let me ask you formally. Would you be interested in enrolling in my school?"
"No." John replied casually.
"I see…" Alaric nodded, not the least bothered by the denial. "Would you mind telling me your reasons?"
The young man shook his head. "Attending a school, this one in particular, means I have to stick around. I just learned I have the capacity to go wherever I want in the world. My reason is simply that the appeal of one thing is higher than the other." John explained.
Although a little out of knowledge in certain things the boy said, Alaric slowly nodded in understanding. "Then why did you stay? If you can go wherever you want, it seems you don't have any reason to go away. Don't tell me it is because I threatened you to alert the authorities. Hardly your face would be in any News by invading a single school."
"Courtesy." John pursued his lips. "And I was- am curious, mostly. It's not everyday I stumble by a magical school." With slow muttered words, the boy calmly explained his reason. "I was expecting you would grant me permission to read the school's books. I saw magic coursing through some of them, so I thought they were, you know, magical."
"I see." Alaric's lips curled slightly. "Unfortunately, the school's items, including the books found in our library, can only be used by school's members, which are the staff and students. And since you don't want to be a student…"
"We reach a stalemate, I see." John muttered.
"Correct."
…
A silence took the room, stretching as the two individuals in it stared at each other without saying a thing.
The moments passed, and none still spoke up.
When almost a minute of silence was achieved, one of them decided to say something.
"I don't want to let go of my freedom." John said.
"This is no jail, John. As long as you attend the school and don't break its rules, you can do whatever you want. And it's not like you would be here forever. You would complete your studies in what? 1 and half years?" Alaric said.
"Sorry, but the chances of me waiting more than a year to do my backpack through the world are close to 0."
"We can shorten it to half a year." Alaric quickly replied. "As long as you show enough knowledge, I don't see why we can't skip one year."
Listening to the man's attempt to convince him, John pursued his lips. "Still not convinced."
Of course you aren't. Alaric smiled at this. "I can help with that. Would you mind waiting here for a few minutes?"
John shook his head. "Not at all."
"Excuse me, then." Alaric said, getting up to his feet. Walking away from behind his desk, he approached the door to his office, putting the hand on the knob. "I will be back soon." He opened the door, leaving the room with the boy alone in it.
A few minutes passed, and John patiently waited for the steps to go away before he pushed himself off the chair.
Taking a few steps towards the wall his back faced when sat on the chair, he took a casual look at the shelves filled with books and items.
And just as casually, he grabbed a small matte crystal sphere, not bigger than his fist, out of one of the shelves.
"My name is John." He blurted out, accompanying it with his eyes as the sphere shone with a dim blue light.
A smirk bloomed in John's lips. "Hehe… Very smart, Alaric. Very smart." He put the sphere back on the shelf.
…
As he walked steadily through the corridors of his school, Alaric conversed with the man by his side.
"So the sphere glowed?" Jeremy asked, following the man's steps.
"Yes." Alaric nodded. "Which either it means he is truly immortal or not but he thinks he is."
"The Mark remained unresponsive in his presence, not once did it pulse or react. The chances of him having some kind of immortality is extremely low."
"But not nonexistent." Alaric added. "We both know how the Mark works." He started climbing up the stairs in the main hall. "It only reacts when in the presence of beings which possess immortality derived from the Immortality Spell. If he really is what claims to be, then the chances are there is a way for someone to be immortal without our known ways."
"Did you question him about it?" Jeremy asked.
Alaric's response was a short shake from his head. "I didn't want to be forceful. It would backfire on the slight opening I got to get him to enroll."
"He agreed to attend the school?"
"Not yet." Alaric shook his head. "For now, he is only open to the idea because of his interest in our library. It seems he noticed some of them were of magical origins before we stopped him yesterday."
"I see. Then, why are we going to the students' dorms instead of bringing a few of those books to him?" Jeremy asked.
"It would make us look desperate for him. First, I want to try another approach. Take him around the school so he can see how things are here." The man explained. "Second… I want to see if I can take down two birds with one stone." Alaric set foot into the last floor of the building when saying these words.
"… I see." Jeremy said. "And if he still does not agree?"
"Good morning, Dr. Saltzman."
"Good morning." Alaric greeted the passing students. "We try something else." He said to Jeremey. "We must recruit him, Jeremy. He revealed little about him, but what he revealed and we can confirm to be true is huge."
"I know, I know. We must do our best to enroll him here." Jeremy said. "Hopefully, they will get along."
"Strangely, I have the faintest gut feeling they will." Alaric said, stopping in front of one door along the corridor. "I have hope, at least." He raised his right hand over the door.
Knock! Knock!
"I need your help." He said towards the door.
…
"Of course this one is in Latin." John scoffed, holding a book in his hands before putting it back to the bookshelf in Alaric's office. "I guess I'll have to learn a new language or pray I find some book translated to some language I know."
As the young man spoke his thoughts outloud, his ears perked at approaching sounds. Two pairs of steps, one heavy and another light.
Alaric and… someone who is definitely not Jeremy. John thought, walking back to the chair but not sitting on it. Just casually waiting for the arrival of the two individuals.
In a few moments, the boy saw the door's knob turning. The door opened slowly to first reveal the figure of Alaric, but anyone in the young man's location could see someone was behind the Principal.
Stepping into the room, Alaric took a step to the side, slowly revealing the figure behind him.
"John, I want you to meet Hope Mikaelson. She will…" At a certain point, Alaric's words stopped echoing in the young man's ears.
Sound stopped, the world around him had almost slowed to a stale. Almost like the young man had paused the world. All so he could appreciate the young woman gracing his sight.
Beautiful…
Before, a goddess had stood before the young man, and not even at the time had he been struck like at this moment. His eyes couldn't do anything now but marvel at her.
How quietly she moved, as if she did not wish to gather any attention, but far was the idea she was someone who could go unnoticed. Her beauty and hidden natural confidence didn't permit that.
A school uniform adorned her curves, with her slim body hidden in a white shirt perfectly tied under a deep blue sweater of long sleeves, the left side of her chest had an 'S' pin over it. A skirt circle around her waist, stopping just above her knees while black long leggings attempted to hide her toned legs.
Light blue eyes framed her beautiful, maturing oval face; it was obvious she was young and approaching adulthood. Her cheekbones were noticeably high, she had a defined elegant jawline and a smooth forehead graced her expression, each feature perfectly aligning with the other – a perfect blend of both her parents' features along her full lips and small but not so delicate nose.
Her auburn hair was rich, slightly wave, falling beyond her shoulders, some threads resting over her chest.
Sunlight passing through the windows hit her fair, healthy, exposed skin. Under it, the young woman's white skin gave off a weak impression it was glowing. Even from afar, the young man thought it was smooth to the touch.
Standing up, the height difference makes the young man glance down to stare at the girl, whilst she needs to lift her chin slightly to look at him despite the few steps separating them.
And when observing the young woman slowly entering the room, John just instinctively felt… at ease. He seemed to carry no worry with him.
His eyes, which were a rich honey color till this moment, dispersed to reveal a ring of gold around his pupils.
As for the young woman, who slowly diverted her attention from her professor stepping aside, revealing to her the other individual in his office, the world didn't stop for her or anything. But when her eyes slowly lifted to look at him, and his face was graced to her, she just unconsciously set on staring at what captured her interest, deeply – his pair of eyes, bathed in golden light staring equally back to her, at her blue eyes carefully ceiling her surging curiosity and intrigue.
And similar to him, there was one thought that crossed her mind.
Beautiful…
Approaching her one step, the young man slowly parted his lips. "Hello…" He greeted her, his eyes unwavering, like they were strangely scared to look away and lose sight of her figure.
"Hi." She replied, similarly to him, in both words and manners. Hope, as she was named, was unwilling to look away.
Through this moment, none had enough attention to share it with anything else in the world.