Being Basterel’s top science student wouldn’t normally drive these professors crazy, but there was one thing that absolutely did. Sharmaine was a legendary Boa Hanks from the tech conference, the genius who’d made the Republic of Wallington’s entire scientific community proud. Now, a completely different story.
The chemistry department professor was probably the happiest of all, since Shermaine had chosen chemistry as her major. He was practically dying to invite her into his lab right away so they could dive into some serious chemistry discussions and tackle some of the field’s toughest problems together.
So when all these students and parents showed up at the dorms, they couldn’t help but stare at this whole crowd of famous professors just standing around downstairs. Everyone was totally curious about what was going on.
It wasn’t just the freshmen either. Even the sophomores, juniors, and seniors were scratching their heads. "What the hell are all their professors doing?" they thought. These guys usually disappeared after class and the students never saw them around campus, but now, they were all gathered together outside the dorms like some kind of convention.
Naturally, a bunch of students and parents went up to say hi and ask what was happening. The professors actually spilled a little. They said they were waiting for someone.
This whole scene was big enough to get Jameson’s attention up in the guys’ dorm. When he heard there were a ton of professors downstairs, including some from the computer science department, he figured he’d head down later and schmooze a bit. Maybe it would help Jason have an easier time in the CS program. Though honestly, with Jason’s skills, he was definitely going to crush it in computer science no matter what.
While Jameson was thinking about all this, some guys in his room started gossiping. “I heard the professors are all waiting for some freshman named Shermaine.”
“Shermaine? Isn’t that the girl who got the top science scores in Basterel?”
“Yeah, that’s her. This girl must be something else if all these professors are down there looking like they're about to fight over her.”
They kept gossiping about Shermaine, and Jameson’s expression shifted. 'Wait, those professors are waiting for Shermaine?' he thought. 'She’s just the science valedictorian. Previous science valedictorians never got this kind of treatment. Why her?'
Then, he had another thought. 'Actually, the professors are probably waiting for Joshua, right? I mean, Joshua’s invested in several projects running out of Basterel University’s labs. There’s no way it could be Shermaine,' he reasoned.
Jason didn’t say anything about it.
Natalie’s mouth twitched with annoyance, but she kept it to herself. 'Whatever, even if Shermaine is amazing, Jameson can’t see it anyway. No big deal,' she thought.
Once Jason finished setting up his bed, they figured they could head out for lunch and all went downstairs together. Jameson knew how to play the game though. He walked over to the trunk and got Jason to come with him to bring the professors some water. With the sun beating down like that, they had to be thirsty.
It was just water, after all. The professors definitely needed it and gladly accepted the drinks when Jameson offered them so enthusiastically.
Just as Jameson was chatting with the professors, Shermaine and Joshua came down from the girls’ dorm building. They were heading out to grab lunch too.
The professors had sharp eyes. The moment they spotted Shermaine, they didn’t care about being thirsty anymore and rushed right over.
“Hello, Shermaine, I’m Professor Yoel Lewis.”
“Nice to meet you, Shermaine, I’m Professor Kenny Gordon.”
“Hello, Shermaine, I’m Professor Sheldon Wendell.”
They went around introducing themselves one by one.
Jameson’s mouth twitched as he watched this bunch of professors fall all over themselves to get in front of Shermaine. His theory just got blown out of the water again.
These brainiacs weren’t here for Joshua at all. They came looking for Shermaine.
Shermaine had no idea these professors would camp out at her dorm building waiting for her. She felt pretty flattered by all the attention.
In fact, Sheldon had some history with Shermaine. The first SSS–level job she’d taken came from Sheldon’s lab, and Joshua happened to be the investor behind that project.
After Sheldon finished his introduction, he shot Joshua a look that was pure accusation. 'You should’ve introduced me to Shermaine ages ago,' his expression seemed to say. 'I’ve been dropping hints forever, and you didn’t throw me a bone.'
Shermaine responded to each professor individually, then said, “Actually, I was just heading to lunch. Would you all like to join me?” Otherwise, standing around chatting here would definitely draw way too much attention.