Professor Fischbach

Three

Going back to class was strange after what happened on Friday. My professor had rescued me and he also had possibly flirted with me afterwards. Of course, as usual, Katie couldn't stop talking about it after I told her. She even brought it up in the middle of Professor Fischbach's class.

"I can't believe that of all people, it was him who was around to help you out," Katie mumbled as he spoke in the front of the class.

"Yeah," I responded idly, jotting down notes.

"He was definitely flirting with you, by the way. 'You can call me Mark.' I've never heard any students call him that ever," she continued.

"Shut up," I muttered, giving her a light shove. I ignored her comments until she got the hint and dropped the subject.

At the end of class, everyone had to sign up for a time to meet with Professor Fischbach outside of class. Class would be cancelled the following Monday and instead we'd have to go to his office and chat with him one-on-one about our latest projects. Thanks to Katie, the two of us were the last ones to sign up. I was the absolute last person, so she waited outside the door as I went up to our professor's desk where the sign up sheet was.

"Hopefully all the good times aren't gone," Mark said as my eyes scanned the paper.

"Nope, I found a good one," I decided, writing my name down.

"Good. So, how are you doing? That guy hasn't bothered you again, has he?"

"No, I haven't seen him since that night. Thank you again for helping me, by the way. I'll never be able to thank you enough," I realized.

"Like I said, it's no problem. I'm just glad I was there to help."

"Alright. Well, I'll see you on Wednesday."

"See you then. Take care of yourself, Aria."

Stopping to chat with him after class turned into a habit. Katie harassed me because of it, but I just shrugged it off. I knew the situation was no longer normal. He complimented me a lot. He usually tried to play it off like it wasn't an attempt to flirt - he would say my outfit was "cool" or he "liked my new hairstyle" or other random things - but Katie promised that was just a subtle way to make comments in front of our classmates. I was flattered, though, and I enjoyed being close with him.

It wasn't until the one-on-one meeting on Monday that I knew a line had definitely been crossed. I got out of bed that day knowing I wanted to look extra cute. I wore a short skater dress with my classic black Converse. I left my hair down in loose waves and I did a smokey eye look for makeup, both of which made me feel really confident. I sprayed my favorite perfume onto my neck and wrists before heading out the door and walking towards the Art and Journalism building where Professor Fischbach's office was.

I had never been to his office before. I was glad I had left my dorm early, because it took a few minutes for me to find it. It was tucked away in the corner of the building at the end of a hall on the fourth floor. I knocked and when I heard "Come in!" I opened the door and walked in.

"Hey Aria, nice to see you. You can close the door and have a seat," Professor Fischbach greeted me. I shut the door behind me an took a seat on the other side of his desk. His office was small but bright and inviting due to the window behind his desk. Because of the fact that we were on the fourth floor, the view of campus was really spectacular.

"Nice view," I commented.

"Yeah, it's a good one, isn't it?" His eyes followed mine out the window. "You look nice. Did you have to dress up for a class?" he wondered once his gaze went back to me.