Hello,

Before I submit this most recent chapter I wanted to thank everyone who left reviews all those years ago. Positive, negative, constructive, etc., each and every one of them was heard. Without going too far into detail, I wrote this story initially when I was very young, and stopped posting (and essentially lost the account for a long time) when i enlisted in the military. Now that i have recovered the account, I've gone back and made very necessary changes to the previous chapters, as well as written knew ones in hopes the story will pick up again, and be more enjoyable for whoever decides to give it a read. I apologize for the long delay, and look forward to continuing this series with more frequent updates from here on out. That being said, I hope you enjoy. 3

Chapter 12

The only sleep I got was restless. I woke up more than an hour early, so I took the chance to have as relaxed of a morning as I could. Ensuring I had all of my equipment, I made my way out the door, still early.

This was my first time in the science building. The Starfleet uniforms were comfortable enough, but it was odd wearing the same thing as everyone else. Even in the schools I had gone to as a child, we never wore a uniform. It was something to get used to.

Rounding the corner of the hallway I was walking through, I came to a row of lecture halls, distantly spaced to allow access hallways on either side of each lecture hall. I came to the door of my lecture hall, and looked through the door's window, to see no one inside, not even my Vulcan Professor. His name was displayed in small golden letters on the front of the door, along with the I decided to wait, do some reading on my PADD in the hallway and, perhaps, catch him on his way in.

No such luck, however, as the hour drew closer. To ensure I wasn't the first into the lecture hall, I let some of my peers enter first. I didn't want to appear too eager, though I very much was. Upon entering, my professor sat at his desk in the front of the class. He must have come in through one of the side doors off the hallways between the lecture halls. He sat rigidly in his chair, making notes on what looked like an upgraded version of my own PADD. I guess teachers got their own.

I watched the time tick to the beginning of class, and as the minute turned, the Vulcan stood, introducing himself.

"I am Professor Spock. You all are sitting in Advanced Phonology. You are either taking it as an elective, in which I must suggest you transfer to a different one, or you're here studying language. Perhaps as interpreters, translators, or ambassadors. Either way, I believe that every one of you will find that this class will challenge you to understand and interpret even the most subtle inflection. If you are in the wrong class, or have changed your mind on which courses you would like to take, I would encourage you to leave immediately." He stood at the center of the class, looking directly down the center of the lecture hall, and at no one in particular. I sat in the back left side of the classroom, closest to the door in which I had entered. For a moment, I thought I saw his eyes flick in my direction, but I could have been imagining it. "Wishful thinking" my brain told me.

As the class went on (2 hours, believe it or not), we went over the basics of the course and what to expect. It was clear that he was incredibly strict, and as the class went on, about 20% of the students had left. The classroom looked a little sparse, but I understood how people could be intimidated by their professor. I, however, grew more and more excited at the idea of competition. It was a challenge, and right up my alley too. Truth is, I loaded my first semester with language I was already familiar with. This class was the only one I would have any sort of struggle with.

As the class came to a close, the Professor looked around the classroom, which he had ignored for most of the class. He looked almost pleased with himself, pleased that he had scared away a good portion of the students.

So, the Vulcan professor enjoys being feared.

Maybe I can be a challenge to him, then.

I gathered my things as Professor Spock made his closing statements. "I hope that all of you have made peace with the fact that I will not make this class easy for any of you. My students graduate with a deeper understanding of language and culture, and if you're unable to pass, it will be only yourself to blame. Dismissed."

With that, I stood, pulling my books into my hand, and pausing only for a moment to look back at my professor, who had retaken his place at his desk in the corner. For a moment, I could swear I saw his eyes flicker towards me again.

But, knowing my imagination, and my wishful thinking, I brushed it off, and left the classroom.

On my way out of the science building, I noticed the Ferengi from yesterday. He approached me, a skeeving smile on his face, "So, what did you think?" He was almost chuckling.

"Intriguing, I'll admit. Does he give those speeches at the beginning of all his classes?"

"He does. Not a word changed from last year," he began walking beside me.

"I was thinking of your proposition yesterday, and realized that, when you didn't leave the lecture, you were serious. Or just very smart. Either way, it would be good if we could continue to study in any other classes. What else do you have this semester?"

After going over our courses, we found only one other class together, Ferengi.

"Why do you need to take a class in your own language?" I was worried he'd have a leg up on me and wouldn't find it "lucrative" to study with me.

"Why do you have a class in yours?" He responded, obviously throwing my words back at me.

"Touche," I replied, "Well, are you going to go study now?"

"No, I'm fine with the first few weeks of Phonology. After that it gets… bumpy," the Ferengi simply trailed off his sentence as he made his exit. I realized I still didn't have his name. However, I feel like we'll have plenty of time for introductions when we've got our noses in books.

I made my way back to my building, having a few hours of downtime before my course in Vulcan. Although, I would very much like to learn the language with a native speaker, and not a human. I don't have much say in it, however, so I'll just have to suck it up. My next class is at 2PM, so I've got approximately 3 hours until I have to be back at the science building. Lang doesn't have its own building, and the cultural hall is more for the study of other cultures, not just their languages, so science is apparently where it all fits.

Didn't make much sense to me, but then again, I don't wear a rank high enough to make those decisions.

As I entered my building, I noticed James' car sitting in the parking lot. Maybe I should pay my new friend a visit and see what he knows about my new professor. After all, he's in the linguistics building as well.