"Silence," the Operating Systems professor said to the class, adjusting his glasses so that he could better see the abysmal grades for the first exam. He was disappointed at some of the grades, but it was nothing he wasn't already expecting. "These little s don't even pay attention in lecture," the professor muttered under his breath. "Of course they did bad."

     "Why did he say 'silence'?" Carla asked, turning to her friend Valerie on the right. "He probably can't even hear us in the first place." Nevertheless, Carla hit pause on her Kardashians' video and looked up.  

     "Oh my gosh," Valerie whispered, grabbing onto Carla's arm with a painful grip. "I think he's about to pass back the test." 

     "Damn it," Carla said, looking worried. "I was having a good day too." She waited impatiently as the professor passed back the tests, tapping her nails on the desk. Finally, after what seemed like ages, she heard her name. With a pounding heart, she got up from her chair and climbed down the steps. With a shaking hand, she grabbed a hold of her test, glanced at the grade, and nearly fainted. "," she muttered, making her way up to her seat again.

     "How'd you do?" Nikita asked, her glasses reflecting the light. Her face had a light sheen of oil. Carla made a mental note to give her some of her blotting paper after class.

     "Uhh," Carla said, and walked by with a shrug. "Well," she said, sitting down and pulling open her laptop. "Time to take a Buzzfeed test to see if I can spend $1000 in Sephora!"

---

     "And this is the Computer Science building," Joonmyeon said, pointing to the building on their right. "You said you were taking a few computer science electives, right? You'll have some classes in there."

     "Awesome, thanks," Baekhyun said. "I'm going to go head into the lab and get a head start on my coding project."

     "Let me know if you need anything," Joonmyeon replied with a cheerful wave. "And don't hesitate to call!"

     With a final wave, Baekhyun turned to head into the Computer Science building, plugging in his earphones. It was his first day in Stanford, being an exchange student from Korea. He was beyond ecstatic to be able to attend such a reputed school and get away from his parents. Even though his dream was to be a singer and songwriter, his parents had pushed him to study business at Seoul National University. When he saw the opportunity to study abroad at Stanford, he applied immediately and was pleasantly surprised to find out a month later that he was accepted.

     Pushing open the door to the building, Baekhyun glanced around, trying to find where the lab was. He walked around for ten minutes, but his efforts were futile. Finally, he gave up and approached a pretty girl with brown hair who was intently staring at her phone. "Um, excuse me," he said as he got closer. The girl suddenly burst out laughing, startling him.

     "Oh, sorry," the girl apologized when she saw that she had startled him. "Kourtney is such a ."

     Baekhyun nodded uncertainly. Who was Kourtney? "No problem. Do you know where the computer science lab is?"

     "Yeah, I can walk you there," the girl said. "Are you new here?" she asked with a friendly smile.

     "Yes, I just came here from Korea. I'm part of their student exchange program. I'm only here for a semester." Baekhyun tended to ramble when he was nervous, and the fact that he was in the presence of a pretty girl didn't ease his nerves. "I'm actually studying English here, but I wanted to take a few computer science classes because I think it's pretty cool."

     "I'm a computer science major," the girl said brightly, "If you need any help, feel free to ask me!"

     "Oh wow, thanks," he said gratefully. "I'm Baekhyun."

     "I'm Carla," she replied with a grin. Baekhyun walked a few more steps in a comfortable silence while Carla waved goodbye to her friends. "If you go down this hallway and take a right, you'll see the lab. It was nice meeting you."

     "Yeah," Baekhyun said with a soft smile. "Hey, if you don't mind, could I have your number? I'd like to see you again."

     Carla attributed the fluttery feeling in her stomach to indigestion.