Battle

Magnetic force

Ayana was up pretty early to talk to her parents one last time before they took off. After that she decided to work on her assignments and catch up on some readings as she didn't have any classes in the morning. She had cereal and a banana for breakfast and started getting ready for the day.

She threw on a black jeans and a mustard blouse. She decided to keep her waist length wavy dark hair down. She wanted to look good knowing she had a session with Professor Barnes later in the day. She felt like she had his attention although a small part of her knew it was wishful thinking. Did she have a chance with him? Nope. But was it exhilarating pretending that she did? Hell yes. Feeling pretty bold, she applied some mascara and lip gloss. She was no Ms Amanda but she radiated 'good-girl faith' energy that would grab the attention of those who actually took the time to see her. She then grabbed her backpack and headed out the door.

She decided to not use her earphones on her walk to the campus which was rare for her. Usually she would just blast some One Direction songs and try to camouflage with the crowd.

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After her classes she met up with Ed at the cafe and they walked to the computer room together for their training session. When they arrived Professor Barnes was already there seated in his table. His eyes were fixed on his laptop screen paying no mind to Ayana walking into the room. She couldn't help but feel a little let down. What was she expecting? For him to run to her and embrace her with a kiss? This wasn't a Hallmark movie.

Pushing those thoughts to a side, she decided to focus on the purpose she applied for this class in the first place. She needed everything she could get to make her resume look good. After all, Professor Barnes was the best in campus for this class and Ayana considered herself lucky to have gotten a spot in his session. She settled on her usual spot at the front row with Ed and waited for the session to commence.

A few minutes later Professor Barnes stood up from his seat finally looking up from his laptop screen and made his way to the front of the class. "Good afternoon all, before we start our session for today, I have an announcement to make. You guys will be given an individual designing assignment due on Monday. One of you will be selected to join me in designing a wastewater treatment plant for a very well known company in New York. So make sure to give it your all".

This was it. Ayana needed to grab this opportunity. This would be a great experience for her. The only problem was that she didn't have the software to actually do the assignment.

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The class ended and everyone was busy packing up their things leaving the room while Ayana nervously shifted in her seat biting hard on her lower lip. After a few minutes she was the only student left in the room with Professor Barnes at his desk. He looked up at her with an eyebrow raised putting his laptop away.

"Did you need something Ayana?"

"Uhm.. actually I...I wanted to...erm... ask for your permission to use...the com....computer room during the weekend". The stuttering was back. "Why? Don't you own a laptop?" Professor Barnes asked. " My..uh my laptop is pretty old and couldn't run the software..". Ayana answered, legs bouncing under her desk.

"Alright, you can use the computer room but make sure to fill up the booking form. I have an extra key in my room" Professor Barnes replied gesturing for her to follow him. Ayana quietly followed behind the man to his room. She had to practically jog to catch up with his pace and by the time they arrived she was gasping for air but played it cool.

Arriving at his room, he held the door open for Ayana to enter. He gestured her to take a seat while he rummaged through his desk drawers. Ayana obliged and took a seat in front of his desk. She took this opportunity to take in her surrounding. There wasn't much to see except for the piles of files and documents on his table.

Her eyes then fell on the picture frame hanging on the wall behind his desk. Professor Barnes had his arms around an elderly woman smiling brightly at the camera. Professor Barnes caught her staring "That's my mom. It's the last picture I took with her before she lost her battle to cancer last year" he explained with an unreadable expression.

Ayana quickly turned her attention towards him trying to read his expression and failing miserably. After a few seconds of just staring at his captivating blue eyes, Ayana cleared her throat "She look beautiful. I'm sorry for your loss, Professor Barnes". Professor Barnes just shrugged. He handed her the key.

Standing up from her seat, Ayana reached out to take the key and his fingers lightly brushed hers. Ayana could quite literally feel an electrical surge flowing through her veins. Both of them froze for a moment eyes fixed on the slight physical contact. Ayana quickly grabbed the key from his grasp and put it in her jeans pocket not wanting to look stupid.

Little did she know that he felt it too...