OLD Campus Crush

3

::Alexandria Deberry as Ava Norris::

Preview week flew by very quickly. I hardly ever saw my roommate unless he was coming back to go to bed or waking up in the mornings.

I could tell he'd been going to parties but now school had officially started.

I had a 10 am class this morning that I was looking forward to. It was Psychology; one of my favorite subjects.

"What's your major?" I heard Nash say from across the room. I slowly pushed my blanket off of my body before I answered him.

"Um, Anatomy."

I saw him squint in confusion. "Anatomy?"

"And Physiology. It focuses on the scientific study of organ systems, tissue structures, and whole bodies together with their cellular and structural components and dynamics. I'm going to become a surgeon... hopefully."

"Okay... I did not need to know all that, geek." He got off of his bed, wearing only a pair of boxer briefs.

With a light blush, I turned my face away. "Um, w-what's your major?" I quietly asked.

He huffed out a breath. "Criminal Justice."

"Oh. I thought you were here on an athletic scholarship."

He whirled on me. "Why? Because I'm not smart enough to do something else with my life other than football?"

I shut my mouth, staring at him with wide blue eyes.

"No, be honest," he continued, his eyes narrowing. "You think my brain is empty and useless and all I can do is play football like a machine. Like every other god damned jock. I mean that's what everyone tells me."

"I-I just thought-"

"Oh, you 'thought.' Cool." He glared at me as he pulled on a shirt. He was about to walk out of the room before I forced myself to snap back.

"You assumed I was gay." I swallowed, standing up. "I get to make assumptions too."

"I didn't assume you were gay. I asked; there's a difference," he shot.

"And if I was? That would make you uncomfortable, wouldn't it?"

He glared at me, his lips pressing together tightly.

I folded my arms, finding amusement in his gratuitous rudeness. "I'm asking, aren't I?"

His eyes searched mine for a few seconds before he opened the door and walked out without looking back. I sighed, sitting back on my bed to control my pounding heart. I swear, simple social interaction was enough to send me into cardiac arrest.

::

Thankfully, my class wasn't too far from my dorm. I saw students pouring into it and realized this was going to be a large class. No wonder it was situated in a teaching theater.

"Please swipe your student ID card as you enter!" I heard the professor call out. I was feeling a little anxious since this was my very first college class. I remember my father advised me to sit in the first couple of rows because that would urge me to pay attention. Also, he said a person who sat up front was less likely to cheat during an assessment and more likely to pass.

It was good enough advice, so I decided to take it. I sat at the edge of the second row. A girl rushed in and swung herself into the empty seat next to me. She snapped her head in my direction and tilted it in apology.

"Sorry. I just had to get a close seat!" she sounded out of breath but I could tell she was an eccentric person.

"Why?" I whispered, scared to speak.

"Our professor's hot as hell, didn't you notice?" She flipped her blonde hair as her lips spread into a smile. "So, like, you must be new to this class. You a freshman?"

I slowly nodded.

"Oh. Well, I'm a sophomore here. I failed this class the last two semesters... not that I mind." She laughed and wiggled her eyebrows. "Dr. Larsen is worth it." She let out a sigh and touched her heart, nodding her head. "I'm Ava!"

I was baffled by her. The fact that she'd even want to speak to me or deem me worthy enough to know my name was surprising.

Something was oddly familiar about her, but I quickly took my chance at a friend. "Casper," I introduced myself as well.

"Hi, Casper!" she giggled. "Do you think he'll look at me? OMG!" she leaned in, lowering her voice. "I heard that this girl tried to kiss him. Isn't that insane? It totally wasn't me by the way." She leaned back, a smirk on her face as she pulled out a notebook. Right on the front was a drawing of a heart with Ava + Dr. L inside of it.

I bit my lip and looked away, over to this allegedly hot teacher who was standing at the podium. He was staring down at some papers, his eyes in a partial squint behind suitable glasses. His dark eyebrows were furrowed and he had a well-sculpted jaw line. He was obviously handsome. The kind of handsome that you couldn't stare at too long or else you'd second guess your own beauty. And, like every person I knew, quite tall. Or maybe it was because I was short.

No doubt Ava was taller than me as well; she had the stature of a model, just with a little more meat on her bones.

The bottom line was that he was a gorgeous man. I didn't quite understand what Ava's obsession was with him...until he began to speak.

His deep, smooth voice echoed through the teaching theater and I literally gripped the handle of my seat. Involuntarily, I caught my bottom lip between my teeth as his educated voice resonated within me. Good god.

Ava giggled and looked at me. "Casper?" she whispered. "Have you orgasmed yet?"

"N-no..." was my response, but I spoke too soon,

Our professor's eyes met mine and in that same second, his tongue swept across his pink lip to wet them slightly. I was captivated. Hypnotized.

"Yes..." I changed my answer as he looked away and continued speaking, walking towards the other side of the room as he did so. Even his walk commanded attention.

"No fair, I wanna get eye-fucked!" she whined to me. A guy in front of us seemingly overheard and turned to look at her, a grimace on his face before he slowly faced front again.

It was an hour-long class, and I didn't grasp a single thing he went over. He was authoritative and funny at the same time. Most teachers I knew could never find that balance. I leaned forward just a bit to tuck my chin in my palm, analyzing him some more. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but we seemed to lock eyes quite a lot within the hour.

No, it was definitely wishful thinking. What was wrong with me? I couldn't day dream about my own professor. Had I somehow caught whatever was affecting Ava?

:::::::