The school bell rang, striking loudly in the hall. For the most part, it was a simple way for the students to know that the time was to get back to class. But for Stephen, Albert, and Vinci, it was the hold button on one of their usual incredible epilogues.
Time travel was once again the theme: about dreams, theories, and other matters their classmates would never understand.
But the class was really something.
The three boys entered the room without saying anything. There was much that was not communicated, yet there was the unspoken consubstantiation of friendship between them. They always entered the room first, always arrived early, always remained serious.
All of a sudden–just like every time-they made a break.
Not out of choice.
Madam Bella made it happen.
She had lost her patience with endless debates and whispered challenges during lessons. She couldn't teach with the three of them sitting together. So now, Vinci had his seat by the window with his sketchpad drawing mad inventions, Einstein stayed nearer to the front scribbling physics equations onto scrap paper, and Stephen Hawking quietly nestling at the back with one thought always lost-in space, or perhaps time.
One by one, seating was commencing for the rest of the class.
A change of energy.
And then Maria walked in.
She walked in like she owned the room. Well, to be fair; she sort of did. Her father was the principal. Besides, she walked with two of her best friends, all dressed smart and loud. Right to her seat in the back-right corner, she dropped her bag with a loud bang. Then she cast a glance towards Einstein and smirked.
"Another day with him?" The voice was loud enough for half the class to hear. "Still wearing those horrible glasses? I swear, they look like they come out of a trash can." Her friends giggled behind her, their mouths covered.
Einstein didn't respond. He simply continued to write.
He heard her, everyone did; but he stayed calm.
Now relaxed in her chair, she spoke even louder."He thinks he is smart. I bet he doesn't even know how to talk to girls. He's so quiet; like a scared little cockroach!"
That was it.
There was no need to keep quiet now. Stephen Hawking raised his head slowly from the back, narrowing his eyes in a sort of calm warning.
And then he stood.
"Maria," he said, loud and clear,"if Einstein is a cockroach, then you must be a lepton."
Maria blinked. "A what now?"
Hawking's face displayed no humor; he held her gaze.
"It's a particle so small, it can barely be seen. Just like your humility." The class replied with muffled laughter, but Hawking went on.
"Anyway, your waist is so tiny it looks like it was measured with a micrometer screw gauge."
That was the death blow.
From somewhere in the middle rows, a guy shouted, "Daaaaaamn!" very much like it was a live diss battle.
There was now an eruption of laughter around the room.
Even Vinci chuckled from across the room.
Maria's mouth dropped open. "Excuse me?"
Stephen simply raised his eyebrows.
"You said he's small," he said calmly. "But your sense of logic is even smaller."
"Ooooh!" someone gasped.
Maria stood up, her anger blazing. "Are you really defending him? He couldn't even say anything. He just let me talk!"
Finally Einstein looked up.
He said calmly, looking straight at her from behind his glasses, "Because people who talk too much don't always deserve answers. Sometimes silence is smarter." More laughter. More eyes on her.
Maria looked like she might explode. "You three think you are always better than everyone!"
"No," siyah commented from where he was seated, "we just don't think you're better than everybody. Big difference." Before she could respond, the classroom door swung open.
Madam Bella walked in clutching a heavy pile of books. She assessed the environment and surveyed the chaos but kept her silence for a moment.
"Take your seats," she stated drily, her regular no-nonsense tone. "Or I'll split all of you into atoms."
One hundred percent silence in a second. Maria sat down hard, still fuming. But her eyes remained glued to the trio, especially Stephen.
It wasn't over. At least, not for her.
She would not forget the humiliation.
But for now, the boys were back to their books. Calm. Unshaken.
Three friends. Three minds. Three legends.. quietly preparing for a future even they couldn't fully predict..
Into The Next Chapter....