Today, Kayla promised herself, she would be the earliest to class. However, Louisa wondered if her friend had a screw loose or if she desperately thinks that she can crack the saying: "Early to bed, Early to Rise."
"What part of you have to wake up early didn't you get? Is it the wake-up? Or early?" Louisa queried, as she passed by Kayla munching on popcorn, sprawled on the couch watching the 6th Harry Potter, for the hundredth time she had known Kayla.
"I'll go to bed when I reach the seventy percent mark." She told her friend who just shook her head. "That's what you said an hour ago and you passed that mark a long time ago and just so you know Snape is the Half-Blood Prince."
It seemed like Kayla spasmed on the couch before throwing popcorn at Louisa, "Boo! Tomatoes, tomatoes!"
Louisa rolled her eyes. "Go to sleep, Kay, or your will professor punish you again."
Kayla scoffed before turning back to her movie. By the time she finished the seventh movie to compare it to the last book and went to sleep, it was already three in the morning.
Which was the reason, she was pushing people that wanted to enter the shuttle back so she could get in. She could practically feel Louisa's distasteful glare on her even when the latter was not on campus this morning.
"Stressful morning?" The student sitting beside Kay asked, glancing at her sweatshirt, pajama pants, and messy bun.
"You could say that," she yawned covering her mouth but not her eye bags before drinking her boba tea.
Maybe the liquid luck she prayed for Harry to leave for her worked because she got in class at 10 am this time, but she had to sit in the back row. This was a special class that wasn't only for seniors but anyone smart enough to pass the exam set by Lilac himself, which she did.
Oliver was on the podium wearing brown framed circular glasses with a brown long sleeved top he rolled to his elbow.
"It seems your alarm went off this time." He said addressing Kayla which made the tip of her ears turn red. She wasn't dressed well and now she was singled out in front of the whole class, so she sunk into her seat.
"By the end of the semester you all will have a showcase in front of other technological companies including mine and if you're lucky whatever you developed might be invested in." He informed them.
A student raised their hand.
"Yes?"
"Are we to fully develop the system, sir?"
"No. If you can, then yes but if you can't you can have a prototype but you must detail how it would work after being fully assembled. Any more questions?"
The class began and they all brought out their laptops with Oliver instructing them to build a security system for the one hour thirty minutes which the student saw as a way to impress him.
Kayla buried her head into her computer, brows furrowed as she typed rapidly. Oliver went around checking their work, pointing out their mistakes, brutally.
"Are you sure you are fit to be in this class? Any first-level hacker knows your code can be easily penetrated by even AI."
Kayla didn't even look up from her work or notice when Oliver stood beside her. The man raised his perfectly carved brow at her code. The code she used was a mix of two different codes but she effortlessly combined them well. He couldn't help but nod at her resourcefulness. To build a security system during that time that could not be dismantled easily was difficult so this was extremely smart. 'Not bad,' he thought to himself. Of course, he would never tell her that.
"Professor, I'm curious—what's the most efficient way to bypass a multi-layered firewall without tripping any alerts?" Most of them, including Kayla were done. Only three people were left, so the student inquired.
Kayla without waiting for Oliver answered, confidently, "That's easy. Use a Cloaked Packet Injection. It's an advanced technique where you inject manipulated packets through encrypted channels, slipping past detection like a ghost."
Oliver shot her a dissatisfied look. "She asked me the question, not you, and your answer is half wrong. A ghost? More like a reckless intruder with a flashlight. Cloaked Packet Injection is flashy, but it's far from undetectable. But you would have known that if you were a professional."
Her face dimmed at the comment. Oliver did a background check on her just because he wanted to know all the students who were worthy of his mentor's attention. That's what he told himself when he stayed up at night reading up on her.
His eyes scanned the class, admonishing, "I know you all want to impress me but I'm impressed by facts, not know-it-alls." The students sniggered at her. Some felt sorry for the harshness.
Impress him her ass. Hogwash. His arrogance was even greater than she thought.
Another student wanted to say something else, but Kayla leaned forward, challenging sharply, "Flashy? Only if you don't know what you're doing. When executed properly, it's seamless. The encryption masks the packet, and with precise timing, the system thinks it's legitimate traffic."
The class was shocked by her audacity with a female student, Reigna glaring at Kayla, "Better shut up before you embarrass yourself further, Kayla." 'She better not offend him.'
But her defiance made him excited for some reason, so he responded. "Until it doesn't. You're ignoring the latency loophole. The injected packets might be cloaked, but any system with a half-decent monitoring tool will pick up on timing inconsistencies. You're essentially screaming 'intrusion' if the admin's awake."
Kayla beamed at him, "Timing inconsistencies? Please. You're assuming I don't know how to stagger the packet flow. It's all about control, right? Unless you're suggesting that even you couldn't pull it off?"
Oliver narrowed his eyes, smirking, "Control? Sure, if you're into micromanaging every little step. But one missed variable, and boom—your 'ghost' is setting off alarms. Not to mention the decryption anomaly logs—those stay hidden for long?"
Kayla became smug, "Oh, I don't miss. I've perfected it. Maybe you just need a refresher… on how to keep up."
Oliver said walking up to her seat.
"Keep up? My job is to stay ten steps ahead. While you're busy playing hacker extraordinaire, I'd be writing the patch to fix the very loophole you're exploiting."
Kayla's grin became wider. "You're patching the wrong thing. The real flaw isn't the packets—it's the human element. Admins don't check the logs unless something really big happens. It's all psychological, Professor. Get inside their heads, and they'll never even look twice."
"Ah, so now you're a mind reader? I prefer to stick with methods that don't rely on the admin taking a nap. But hey, if you want to play with fire, just don't cry when it burns you."
She teased, "Playing with fire keeps things… exciting. But don't worry, Professor. I can handle the heat."
He bent down, his mouth brushing against her ear as he replied lowly, "Dealing with the pressure is one thing. But when things get tougher, that's when the real challenge begins."
Kayla inhaled sharply, caught off guard by his words while he just walked away unaffected with his hands in his pocket like he didn't just utter those inappropriate words.
A smile played on Oliver's lips for the remaining twenty minutes because Kayla was out of it. His words kept ringing in her mind.
"Hastings." He called out, seriously when she was about to leave.
'Fuck. What did he want now?' Clearing her throat she turned around and met with his gaze with a charming smile. Her smile was bright and something tugged in his heart.
"You need to think before you answer questions next time, Hastings."
"Why? If I don't, won't that give you more reason to humiliate me in front of everyone, given that might be your new favorite hobby?"
"I am not humiliating you," he shook his head, "If you don't reconcile your confidence with self-assessment your potential would be wasted."
She scoffed internally. The pot calling the kettle black. Oliver was serious about his words. She needed to be less impulsive.
"It looks like you weren't paying much attention for the remainder of the class, which shows a lack of discipline because hundreds of students were dismissed to give you an opportunity."
Kayla was absolutely speechless. Was he being serious? "I was paying attention but maybe it's you that needs a lesson on appropriate behaviors in the classroom after what you said."
"What I said? Are you sure it wasn't your filthy mind that wandered elsewhere?" He gave a tight-lipped smile.
"How do you know my mind wandered elsewhere?" She demanded, however, Oliver closed the gap between them making her take a step back.
"Because I have a feeling that under this cool girl exterior is a mind only rivaled by the pits of hell."
"Saying it like that makes me think that you find that impressive, professor." She said cheekily.
"Thoughts and actions are different, Hastings, and I am only moved by the latter." His gaze flickered to her voluminous lips, involuntarily.
"Is that an invitation, professor?" Her breath hitched and for a second she thought he was going to kiss her with the ways his lips hovered above her face, but instead, he backed away before reminding her officially, "Pay attention next time, Hastings."
She walked away, curling her fists at her side before closing her eyes to steady her emotions. He said suggestive things but pulled away at the last moment. What was he playing at? Did she want to find out? Maybe. Could she find out? Absolutely not.
'Control yourself, Kay. He is an asshole, remember that.' People would get suspicious if something like that occurred again and she could get expelled, worse her reputation would be ruined which she needed for her acting career. But why was she thinking that far ahead? Nothing was going on between them.
Oliver stared at her retreating with an indescribable gaze. He had never flirted with any woman before, let alone stand in such proximity with them. But her lavender milky scent made his judgment clouded which would never happen again.