Back to School Romance

Chapter 1 - August

Stephanie looked around the classroom of her very first college class. At 32 she was going to school for the first time. They called her a non-traditional, first-generation, student in the admissions office, but she wasn't completely sure what that meant. Obviously the "non-trad" was because she wasn't even close to an 18 year old fresh out of high school. That ship had passed a long time ago. She had spend the last decade, plus, living  life. One that she didn't feel like reflecting on today though. Stephanie assumed the first-generation was tied to the fact she was the first in her family to attempt college. Her dad had worked in a factory, while her mom stayed at home. Maybe she did know why she was lumped into a non-traditional, first-generation, category. Look at her, already feeling smarter. 

Steph was enrolled in an extra 1-credit class on how to 'navigate' higher education since she had no clue what she had signed up for.  That was where she was currently sitting, her first year seminar with other first-generation students. She was by far the oldest and looked to be the only one not pissed off about sitting here at 9 in the morning on a Monday. Stephanie had been smart enough while signing up for classes to not get any 8am start times. That extra hour was really important, especially commuting in NYC. She didn't live too far from campus, so the bus was her best bet on getting around town.

"Good morning class and welcome to college. I am your professor for this class, please call be Eva. I love to take on this FYS because I was also a first-generation student when I started my journey years ago in higher education. Obviously I enjoyed it, since I am still here."

Stephanie already liked this class. She had thought professors were going to be lofty individuals that looked down their noses at the likes of her, but at least one wasn't going to be that way.

Their first activity was to look at their schedule, starting with school. Stephanie was taking her general education classes this semester, thinking about what she wanted to major in. She was debating between teacher ed and psychology.

Listing on her paper, she had the FYS, math, Spanish, and her biology lecture on Monday, Wednesday, Friday. On Tuesday and Thursday she had art history and World civ, along with her bio lab on Tuesdays. This added up to 17 credits total. Next, they added in other obligations. Stephanie had quit her old office job last year and had been hopping between temp positions, but had just found a work study/part-time job at an off campus bookstore. She added in her planned work hours to the outline. 

Finally, the professor had them pencil in specific times for studying and relaxing. She stressed the importance of making some time to relax. With that, the class had already finished. Stephanie was surprised when the teacher let them go. They would go over more on Wednesday.

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The rest of Monday had gone pretty smoothly. The classes were really quick, mostly just going over the syllabus and what was going to be expected. By the end of the day, she had felt a bit overwhelmed by the time she arrived at the bookstore for her shift. That was set aside with the onslaught of students looking for course materials. When she got home that night all she could do was reheat some food, watch a show on Netflix, and hop into bed. Hopefully this wasn't how the whole school thing worked.

Now, she sat in her World Civilizations class. It was a really large lecture hall, bigger than any of her other classes, even the bio lecture that she thought was pretty large. Stephanie was the first to arrive in the class. It was another 9am start time and, since she wasn't used to campus, she wanted to make sure she knew where her classes were held. This one had been easy, so she was pretty early. Finding a spot towards the middle, Stephanie had taken the time to drink her coffee and scroll news on her phone.

As students trickled in, she took the time to people watch. Students mostly came solo, some in pairs, some were obvious couples taking the class together. Stephanie didn't know what to expect in this class, what was "World Civ"? But, it counted for one of her general education credits and was recommended by her advisor.

Finally, her eyes wandered to the front of the room. DAAAAAMMMMMNNNNNNN....what looked to be the professor was just turning on the computer and setting down a few papers on the podium. Since there weren't many students in the room yet, and none that braved the front rows, Stephanie had an amazing view. The amazing specimen of a man was maybe in his late 30s, brown hair and hazel eyes. He looked fit, likely of Hispanic ethnicity with the beautifully tanned skin. He was wearing some nicely fitting jeans and a college logo polo shirt unbuttoned at the top. It looked like the shirt had been tucked in nicely, but was already working its way lose. 

Without even thinking about it, Stephanie continued to stare as he gracefully got the room ready for class. As she watched, he grabbed the stack of papers and started passing them to students in the aisle seats.

"Welcome to World Civ. This is a freshman class that explores the history of the world."

Her mind was wandering on her, both fantasizing about the man in front and thinking about her life. Stephanie never expected to be starting over at 32. Just a year ago she was getting over her long-term relationship, working what she thought was her dream job. Now, she found herself sitting in a Freshman history class crushing on her professor.

Looking around, she noticed she wasn't the only one staring dreamily at the gorgeous man in the front of the lecture hall. Most of the females and a chunk of the males were also half drooling and intently watching the man pass out syllabi. Of course, she was definitely the oldest one in the room by probably a decade that was mooning over the teacher.

Well, she could at least pretend she wasn't hot for teacher! All of a sudden, the song "Don't Stand so Close to me" from the Police flashed into her head (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNIZofPB8ZM) and she did a slightly too loud giggle/cackle.

It was too loud. The gorgeous professor quickly glanced her way. As their eyes caught, her giggle turned into a cough as she looked down at the syllabus now in her hand. Shit. His eyes were amazing and he was even hotter closer up. Glancing back up towards where he had been standing, she noticed as he kept handing out syllabi he looked back at her at least once. Or maybe that was just her wishful thinking...humming slightly to herself with another, much quiter giggle,

Young teacher, the subject
Of schoolgirl fantasy
She wants him so badly
Knows what she wants to be

"My name is Professor Sanchez and I will be your instructor for this class." Yup...she was right, he is at lest part Hispanic. From what she could guess, Stephanie considered herself mixed. Her household growing up was not the most stable to say the least, so she had been shipped around to different relations and remembered a mixture. Her mom was mostly white, but her dad was probably some Hispanic and African. This left her with black hair and brown eyes. Her skin tone was fairly white, but she tanned up something amazing in the sun during the summer.

"The most important thing to know is that I am here to help you. Many of you are in your first semester, so please do not be nervous visiting me during office hours. My office location and hours are at the top of the syllabus."

Don't stand, don't stand so
Don't stand so close to me
Don't stand, don't stand so
Don't stand so close to me

Ok...Steph...start paying attention.