EPISODE6:- THE LECTURE OF LAUGHTER
542 Words
The morning sun slanted across the campus courtyard, painting the cracked stone paths gold.
Students moved in clusters, laughing, scrolling through their phones, trading the latest gossip.
Leo kept his head down, backpack slung over one shoulder, earbuds in with no music playing—just silence to drown the noise.
He had hoped that the storm from the hotel would die quietly.
But the internet never forgets.
As he stepped into the lecture hall, whispers rippled through the room.
“That’s him— the hotel guy.”
“The janitor-hero who broke the lights!”
“Didn’t he almost burn the place down?”
Leo exhaled through his nose, found an empty seat near the back, and opened his notebook.
He had come here to learn, not to defend himself.
Then heels clicked on the tile behind him—sharp, familiar, deliberate.
He didn’t have to look up to know.
Isabella Monroe.
Her perfume reached him first, the same scent that used to cling to his jacket.
She glided to the center of the room, her designer bag swinging at her side, flanked by her two closest friends—Naomi Cole and Julian Kane.
“Good morning, everyone,” Isabella said brightly. “Guess who our celebrity is today?”
The room chuckled even before she pointed toward him.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” she continued, her smile widening, “give a round of applause for the man who managed to turn an award ceremony into a disaster film. The mop-hero himself—Leo Grayson!”
Laughter burst out. A few students clapped mockingly.
Naomi added, “Maybe next time you can fix the lights with that mop of yours.”
Julian smirked. “Or clean up your reputation first.”
Leo’s pen stopped moving.
He kept his eyes on his notes, jaw tightening, letting their voices echo and fade.
The professor hadn’t arrived yet; no one was stopping them.
Then another voice cut through the noise.
Deep, steady, protective.
“Enough.”
Sebastian Vale, Leo’s roommate and closest friend, rose from his seat.
“Do you three have anything better to do than mock someone who actually works for what he has?”
The laughter faltered. A few students exchanged uneasy looks.
Isabella folded her arms, her confidence cracking just a little.
“Oh please, Sebastian. We’re just joking.”
“Then find a new joke,” he said coldly. “Because this one’s getting old.”
He turned to Leo. “Come on, man. Let’s move.”
Leo stood slowly, closed his notebook, and followed Sebastian out of the lecture hall.
Behind him, the laughter tried to start again but died halfway—swallowed by guilt and awkward silence.
Outside, the campus breeze felt cooler.
Leo shoved his hands into his pockets, his voice quiet.
“Thanks.”
Sebastian shrugged. “You don’t need to thank me. You just need to prove them wrong.”
Leo stopped walking and looked toward the horizon where the city towers glinted in the sun.
He could still hear Isabella’s laughter somewhere behind him, but it didn’t sting the way it used to.
“I will,” he said softly. “One day, they’ll know exactly who they were laughing at.”
- Writer
