An Unexpected Girl

chapter nine

The weekend felt like it lasted ‌a total of two seconds, and before Iris knew it, the new week had started. The semester seemed to fly by, which terrified Iris. The faster her junior year went by, the faster her senior year of undergrad came. When Iris thought of her senior year at college, all she could think about were med school applications. Iris was dreading this, to say the least.

Iris sat in her biology lecture, actively listening to the Professor as he taught the lesson. They had gotten to the Marine Biology section of the course content, and if there was anything that Iris was passionate about. It was this. After all, knowing that marine biology was a significant component of the course ‌led Iris to register for the course in the first place.

"You there," the Professor said, randomly pointing at someone seated in the front row, "name one marine species in which it's the male that carries the offspring."

Iris craned her neck to see who the unfortunate soul was that the Professor had picked on. It was moments like these that she was thankful for her decision to sit in the middle of the lecture hall. Nobody enjoyed being cold-called in a lecture hall of 200+ people, whether they knew the answer.

From the lack of response from the person, it was apparent that they didn't know an answer to the question. Iris felt for them, feeling the second hand embarrassment they were probably feeling right then. All the other students in the lecture hall were expectantly awaiting their answer.

"Come on," the Professor said, running a hand through his thinning hair. "I named a couple earlier on already." He was stood in front of the person, not letting up.

"Ummm..." was the response the Professor got, but Iris perked up slightly in her seat. She recognized that voice. After all, she had been yelled at on two separate occasions by the same voice.

Of course, it was none other than Adi. A strong feeling of irritation overcame Iris,it seemed that Adi was freaking everywhere. Iris couldn't catch a break from her, and dreaded it. It was as if she was being haunted by the orange-haired girl.

What was she even doing here? Had she always been in this class, and why hadn't Iris noticed her before?

The Professor was still stood in front of Adi, awaiting her response. As much as Adi irritated Iris, her irritation towards the professor right then was higher. Clearly, Adi didn't know the answer to the question, and she wasn't going to suddenly know it just because she was being pestered.

"Um, dolphins?" Adi guessed.

"Nope, try again!" the Professor responded, causing Iris to roll her eyes.

Even the other students in the class were shifting in their seats, growing uncomfortable with the situation before them.

Before Iris could adequately think through what she was doing, her hand shot up in the air.

Noticing her, the Professor walked away from the corner of the room where Adi was sitting, walking towards where Iris was. He squinted into the sea of students till his eyes settled on her. "Do you have an answer?"

"Seahorses," Iris answered, "male seahorses have a pouch in their stomach, where they carry the babies as opposed to female seahorses."

The Professor nodded, pleased with the answer, and once again began teaching the lesson as usual. The tension in the class eased up, as all the other students relaxed once they realized they would not be the victims of cold-calling next.

Despite this, Iris' heart was beating hard in her chest. It always did whenever she did any sort of public speaking of any sort. Iris hoped that the nervousness she had been feeling had not been apparent in her voice.