Chapter 1: Upon Arrival

"Watch it!" A girl yelled as I accidentally brushed past her. "I-I'm sorry," I mumbled. When I heard of Gressenheller University for the first time, it sounded like a nice place. I guess all schools have their perks. Not to mention I'm not even from London. Or the UK. My mom signed me up for a raffle-exchange student program, and I got picked to swap places with a British kid. I hope he likes the US... At least it wasn't Zimbabwe.

"Miss Vera?" A man's voice came from not far behind me. It sounded deep and inviting. I turned to greet the man who had called me. I gave a slight nod. "Professor."

Professor Albert Bridge. He was new to the school, too, from what I heard. He's an-arithmetic professor? No, no, that's not it. Well, whatever. He ran his fingers through his silver hair and pushed up his glasses. "Shouldn't you be in class?" He took the small white paper which was my schedule out of my hand. "Hmph. Figures." He gave it back to me. "Layton's room is down the hall, just there." I nodded, thanked him, and half-sped toward the room. It seems Professor Layton is the only person at this school who doesn't have an attitude toward me.


"Miss Vera. So glad you could join us." Layton remarked. I was only a few minutes late, so I wasn't too late for class. My ears turned a faint pomegranate, and I practically flew to my seat in the back of the room, the sound of snickering following me up.

"Miss Vera, can I see you for a minute?" I hid my face on the way down. My eyes were starting to get puffy again. There's always some incident in class. The period has always ended with me speeding off to the graffitied bathroom, stained with tears. Layton put a soft, comforting hand on my shoulder. Today had been the worst since I started a week ago, and I couldn't take it. I didn't care how embarrassing it must've been, especially doing it to a teacher, but I just broke down. I hugged him and just cried. He slowly backed into his chair behind his desk, careful to see I didn't trip, and sat me down with him. His arm reached around my shoulders, and he comforted me. I'm already starting to think of him as someone who might well be a perfect father. His kids-if he has any-should feel extremely lucky. I didn't need to blubber to him what had happened; it was during his class, after all. "They're just not used to you yet, Jade," he had been telling me after class every day. Something about him-no, everything - comforted me. I almost immediately stopped crying. "There, there..." He soothed. Thank god it was the last class of the day; no one came in to interrupt us. THAT would've been awkward. "Hmm..." He hummed. I closed my eyes at the deeper sound it made, my ear being against his chest. "You own a small café near here now, don't you? Didn't you just start it?" I looked up. So it's been getting word, huh? I thought. I nodded silently, my face not parting from the soft cloth of his now-damp shirt.. "You wouldn't mind if I stopped in, would you? I might be staying up late again tonight, anything to keep me awake would help me immensely..." He chuckled. I smiled at the deep sound it made again. He patted my back a couple times, and I stood up. He picked up a trunk and a laptop case and followed me out the door of the school, my book bag on my shoulder, and we walked a few blocks down, to where my new little café was.