2 A Student or a Professor

Emily Chavez, a nursing college student (that's who she thinks she is) is not known by many. She has always been quiet in class and doesn't have many friends. There are only two places she usually hangs out in: the library and the school park. She usually goes to these places to relax and many times, she sleeps there. No one really pays attention to her. She sometimes thinks that when she disappears or when she is absent from her class, no one including the professors would notice it. She spent the past two weeks preparing for her midterm exams. She has always been studious. She thinks that if she can have excellent marks in class, somehow she can be relevant for her classmates and her teachers.

"Don't you think you're wasting our time?" Michelle's voice made her come back to her senses. She sounds irritated and impatient waiting for the test to start.

Emily pulled the test papers and gave them to the person in front of the class. "Please get one and pass." She tried to keep herself calm by thinking that maybe the other professors wanted her to distribute the test papers in her class. "I wonder where Professor Blakely is." She said loudly for the students to hear. Professor Blakely is one of the biology teachers in Denver University.

The students took papers then passed the others to the person behind them. Emily moved to the back where her seat was and sat down quietly. Some students look at her with suspicion.

"Aren't you supposed to stay in front to check no one cheats?" It's Michelle again. She is known to be so strict and competitive. She always aims to be the top in class.

"Should I?" Emily answered. A murmur could be heard from the class. Everyone looks puzzled at what's happening to Emily.

"Professor, are you okay?" Jake, one of the few male nursing students asked her. He is the comedian in class.

"You're talking to me, right?" Emily wants to be sure before she replies.

"Yes, of course, Professor. You're the only professor in this room right now."

"I'm okay. I guess."

"Please be quiet! Can't you see, we're all trying to concentrate here?" It's Michelle again. Other students are also finding the situation weird while some are enjoying the break. Having a situation like this in class would give them a chance to ask their friends about the answers to some questions in the test.

Emily felt embarrassed and went in front. She approached the teacher's desk and checked it. She remembers seeing Professor Blakely in here. This was his throne. While examining the things on the desk, she sat down quietly, still unsure on what she had to do. She checked the book she saw a while ago. 'Emily Chavez' was written on the left lower corner of the book. She opened some pages and it has so many notes on most of them. Many words were highlighted showing how hardworking the owner is. (She is actually the owner.) One chapter has the title 'Heredity'. Professor Blakely didn't explain this part yet. It may be part of their final exams. While checking the notes on the chapter, she could clearly remember the meaning of the highlighted words such as 'probability', 'Law of Dominance' and 'Law of Assortment'. She closed the book immediately. She was starting to question whether what she believed was the truth or not.

"How many more minutes, Miss Chavez?" One student asked. It was Jessica. She's the prettiest in class and always pretends to be focusing on the lesson. She always has a full make up and checks her appearance in her small mirror located under her table.

Emily wasn't checking the time. "50 minutes!" She said loudly. She doesn't know where she got that time. She took her phone from her bag and opened her clock app. She set her timer for 50 minutes.

Emily browsed the questions from the extra papers on the desk. She is familiar with all the questions here. She has reviewed them many times. She has spent many days reading her biology book. She didn't do well in her minor assessments in this subject, so she wants to get a high score in the midterm exams. What was surprising to her was she's not only familiar with the topics but the questions themselves. It seems like she has read these questions before.

"Am I getting crazy?" She wrote on one of the pages of the test paper. She still can't figure out what's happening to her. She tried to recall what she was doing in the morning before she woke up on the bench in the park but no matter how hard she tried to remember, nothing came out of her brain that can be useful to her situation now.

She was surprised to hear the alarm from her phone. The students stood up from their desks and came forward with their test papers. They handed them to her without saying any word. Michelle gave her a calculating look while handing her the paper.

She fixed the test papers in front of her and immediately left the room. She wants to go back to the bench in the park where everything started. She dropped by the faculty room and put the test papers in the drawer of her desk in her station. She didn't have a hard time finding her area in the room since she saw her name next to Professor Jennings' table in the morning. She immediately left the faculty room and headed to the park.

Some students were hanging out in there. Most of them have a book on their hands. They are reviewing for the test. The park is usually quiet in exam periods so many students choose this place for studying. She was happy to see that the bench where she took a nap this morning was empty. She lied down there immediately and tried to sleep. She closed her eyes hoping she could sleep and come back to being a student again. Her concentration in sleeping was disturbed when someone tapped her.

"Excuse me, professor. I have a question." It was Peter. The most handsome nursing student in her class. "There's something I want to ask about Meiosis. I can't understand the differences in each phase. Could you help me?" He continued.