Bridge Of Solitude

"What?" The 'Buzz cut' was shocked. Although he realized they weren't from first year, he never thought they would be from third and fourth years. The fear he had towards Mrs. Abernathy turned two shades darker. She didn't even want to give that girl any chance at all.

"The first equation is from third year while the second and third are from final year." The 'Senior' explained with a grim expression. "But the last equation, even I – a Senior year Bio chem student, am not sure I can solve it. And definitely not in ten minutes."

"So, that girl never had any chance to win from the beginning." The 'Cousin' asked. But the question came out like a statement instead.

The 'Friend' beside him sighed and replied. "Isn't that a given? As if Mrs. Abernathy would let some fresher mock her and go on without any repercussions. No matter how much of a genius that girl was, her science dreams ended the moment she decided to stand against Mrs. Abernathy."

Nobody said anything else. There was no way that girl could continue to attend that class after she picked a fight with Mrs. Abernathy. And as a send-off, she would be humiliated and shamed in front of everyone. In the end, the only reward she will receive be mockery.

But considering Mrs. Abernathy's personality, things won't just end there.

The three of them let out a mournful sigh at the realization and turned their attention to the front, trying to look past the wall of students blocking their view.

Past the densely gathered students and past the desks and chairs lying around, inside the circle, at the very front of the classroom – stood the girl who was the topic of everyone's interest.

At a glance, she looked like a spunky middle-schooler, with her petite build and the average height of 5 feet 5 inches. She was standing there leisurely, with her back facing the crowd – wearing a denim jacket over a grey shirt with denim short skirt and black tights.

She had chin-length brown hair which was roughly parted to left, partially hiding that side of her face. Her honey brown eyes were gazing ahead through the black thick rimmed glasses that rested on the bridge of her nose.

She assumed a thinking pose with her chin resting on one hand while her dark pink Chuck-Taylor converse sneakers tapped the floor in regular intervals. The sleeves of her jacket were pulled up to her elbows which revealed a white digital watch on her left wrist and a pair of leather bracelets wrapped around her right.

There were three large whiteboards hung on the wall, arranged side by side. The first board was completely covered with the combination of alphabets, numbers, and small hexagons – forming molecular equations.

The second board was half filled with similar terms while the girl stood in front of it, scratching her head with the back of the marker in her hand.

To her right, there was a middle aged woman seated in a chair. She was in a formal, half sleeved knee length black dress with a pencil skirt. Her fair complexion and the perfectly trimmed shoulder length blonde hair made her appear younger than her actual age. She wore a thin white pearl necklace around her neck as the only accessory and carried an elegant demeanor.

She leaned back into the chair with her legs crossed and arms folded in front. Her dark red lips were arced into an arrogant smirk as she watched the girl standing in front of her with contempt filled in her eyes.

She was the infamous Mrs. Brenda Abernathy, the professor for Bio- chemistry, and the Administrator of the entire Science department.

"Five minutes." Mrs. Abernathy announced loudly, as she looked at the watch on the back of her wrist.

The time limit for the challenge was halfway through and she was only waiting for the remainder of the time to pass so she could throw the arrogant smartass out of her class, forever. And then she would make it so that girl could not get into any other science class either.

How dare she claim her teaching methods to be outdated and challenge her in front of everyone. A mere fresher and she dare act wise in front of her? She has been teaching even before that girl could crawl and yet she wanted to teach her? Now, she would make an example out of this insolent punk, and let everyone realize the consequences of questioning her authority.

So what if she was a genius? She will only be a blabber mouth if she cannot prove herself. But Mrs. Abernathy would never give her that chance. She wanted to destroy her confidence and crush her spirit completely.

Mrs. Abernathy observed the brown haired girl standing a few feet away from her, ridicule and mockery dancing in her eyes. The girl was staring at the two white boards in front of her as the earlier confident expression was now replaced with a frown.

Mrs. Abernathy once again glanced at her watch and the curve of her smile went up a notch.

Four minutes. This farce will come to an end in four minutes. She could not wait to savor the look of dejection and defeat on her pretty little face.

No matter how much of a genius that girl might be, this was the end of the road for her. Not even a fourth year student could say they could deduce those complex equations within ten minutes. That girl's fate was sealed the moment she objected her methods. This so called challenge was just a stage to warn and remind others of the consequences for defying her.

The clock continued to tick away and the surrounding students were watching on with various expectations. Some were anxious, some were hopeful, some were cheering for her, some were ridiculing her. But most of them were just enjoying the show – they couldn't care less whatever the result might be.

After another long, boring minute, the girl suddenly raised her head as her eyes sparkled with excitement. The next moment she scrambled for the nearby board eraser and quickly erased the last three steps on the board before she started scribbling down with double speed.

It awakened the dull, dead crowd to spring into excited chatter and they got much louder when the girl went to the third board and started to deduce the final equation.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Abernathy lost her smirk and her brows descended into a tight frown. She slowly sat up, frowning at the girl before she shifted her gaze down to her watch and then regained her smile.

"One minute." She stood up and announced loudly as she casually walked around the girl. She then suddenly froze on spot as her eyes intently studied the solution to the second equation. She was completely taken aback as she could never think such a complex equation could be solved so effortlessly. The steps were simple and direct, and the method she used would make it easy to disassemble and check for errors quickly.

Mrs. Abernathy was feeling extremely frustrated and annoyed, but she quickly retained her composed demeanor. This was not over yet. Not until she could solve the final equation. And that will be her Achilles heel.

For a first year student to solve two 3rd year equations in less than ten minutes – that girl already proved her point loud and clear. But it would indeed not be considered her win until she could deduce the third equation.

The final equation was the most complex one of all. It needed to be solved in separate parts first and then gather them together to solve it once again to get the final result. Any small mistake along the way will make it impossible to reach the end. And even if she could eventually solve the equation, there wasn't any time left now. So her defeat was inevitable.