Everything We Would've Been

Chapter Ten: Rainer

I don't know how they could pull it off but these kids turned teaching, something I've always loved into the bane of my existence. It took them an hour to let the entire campus know that I was a tall thirty-something-year-old British guy with dirty blond hair and blue eyes. I don't know what caught their attention but I wasn't going to let them make a mockery of me. I was here longer than any one of these kids.

So, I went hard and I went cold the first day I started. I thought I'd go easier on them because they seemed like they were smart kids but no. Apparently being smart and talented doesn't necessarily mean you're going to respect your professor.

I just hoped today would be better. The first thing that gave me hope was the fact I had a design studio with my seniors and I would finally meet the great Emilia Davis and the rest of her gang. According to my old professor, five of those amazing seven students were close friends and one of them was Emilia.

"Okay, on a scale of one to ten, how horrible is it to hear them?" A girl asked as she walked into the café.

"Could you please for the love of God let it go?" Another girl said, her voice tired and unmistakably familiar.

"Girl, you need to talk to him."

"And say what? Leave you hot-ass Australian boyfriend because I'm in love with you?" Her voice dropped but I could still hear her.

I couldn't shake the feeling that I knew the owner of that voice. But as much as I wanted to turn around and see who it was, I knew I couldn't, I shouldn't.

"Not like that. That's just desperate. But you have to talk to him sooner rather than later."

She sighed and I took a step forward in the line. They followed.

"Candace, I'm not gonna tell Connor anything or give him a single hint that I caught feelings for him after all these years, especially after what happened at the party. He's happy and I'm happy for him. End of discussion," she said with an air of authority that wasn't there a minute ago.

The line moved forward again and they moved after me.

"Ugh, fine! You win," she said and paused. "Hey did you hear the rumors about the new professor?"

I felt the air catch in my throat. I didn't need them to say my name. There were only two new professors this semester and the other one was a forty-five-year-old married man whom no one cared enough to talk about.

"You know how I feel about rumors."

"Yeah, yeah! But the tea's hot. He's been the talk of the campus for the past few days."

"Who? That guy Harris, the one we have a class with this morning?" She asked with no interest whatsoever.

So, they were my students. And from what I already know about my class, the chatty one is none other than Candace Foster, a good student and a friend of Emilia's. Apparently, she likes to gossip too.

"Why are you doing that thing?"

"What thing?" Candace asked.

"The thing you do when you're about to do something evil and terrifying."

"Hey! Anyway. There's talk around campus that he's a hot piece of ass and pretty young, too."

"Ew! Why would you tell me that?"

The guy in front of me finally got his coffee and moved out of the way.

"A large black coffee, please," I said to the barista and she nodded.