Professor Fischbach

Six

Going to class was a little awkward at first, after Mark and I had...well, you know. I tried to focus in class, but I kept thinking about that evening in his office, and I couldn't concentrate on my notes. Luckily, Katie let me borrow hers so I could be sure I had written down everything.

"You can't let this affect your grades. If that happens, I just know that you'll call it off, and I'm kind of enjoying this soap opera. I don't even have to watch TV to be entertained anymore," Katie laughed.

"It's not going to affect my grades. It's just weird to come to class and to have to actually focus on being completely professional with him. It's fine, though. I can handle it," I promised her.

A few hours after class, Mark texted me.

Professor Fischbach: Hey, Aria. I can't help but kind of feel bad about this whole thing. I feel like I should take you out on an actual date. I want to.

Aria: That's sweet, but here's the problem – we can't be seen out in public together. We can't risk that right now. Or ever, unless it's at a school event.

Professor Fischbach: You're right...how about this – we could have dinner at my place. We could order take out or I could cook for you, whatever you want. Maybe we could watch a movie after dinner?

Aria: That actually sounds like a lot of fun. Are you any good at cooking?

Professor Fischbach: I'm not exactly a master chef, but I can make some decent pasta. And I have a good selection of wine to go with it, as well.

Aria: Alcohol? :O But I'm not quite twenty-one yet! There's still another couple of weeks until my birthday!

Professor Fischbach: Oh, please. If I can keep a secret about our relationship, don't you think I can keep quiet about an almost twenty-one year old college student drinking? As if you don't go out on the weekends anyways!

Aria: I actually don't really go out very often, and I don't drink much when I do, usually. But okay, fine!

Professor Fischbach: How about I pick you up at the back of your dorm building at six on Friday night? Does that sound good?

Aria: Sounds perfect. I'll see you in class on Friday!

I couldn't wait until our night in at his place. I realized that I didn't know at all where he lived, or what his house was like, or if he even lived at a house – it could be an apartment. I didn't ever see him in casual clothes, either, which would be new. My thoughts were swirling around like crazy inside my head. I tried not to get too distracted in class and I actually took good notes, but after class I had a one-track mind.

I showed up behind my dorm building at 6pm and Mark was already there in his car, waiting. There weren't many people around, but I still got into his car quickly before anyone suspected anything.

"You look great," he told me as he began driving. I was wearing dark skinny jeans, a burgundy long-sleeved, scoop neck top with a bow on the back, and flats. I wanted to look nice, but not too nice, and he seemed to have changed into dark jeans and a more casual button-up shirt.

"Thanks. Hey, don't you have a late night class tonight?" I wondered, remembering the night when he saved me from the creepy guy that followed me.

"We're not meeting tonight. I gave them time to work on their projects," he clarified. "And no, I didn't do that just so we could have dinner tonight. I was already planning on giving them time outside of class to work."

"Alright, whatever you say," I grinned.

It wasn't long before we arrived at his house. It was somewhat small, but good-sized considering the fact that he was the only one living there. It was actually really nice inside.

"This is a great house," I commented as I looked around.

"Thanks. You can have a seat, if you'd like. I'll get you a glass of wine," he offered.

"That would be great. Are you sure you don't want help with dinner?"

"No thanks, I can handle it. Red or white?"

"Red." He poured me a glass and I took a seat in the living room. It was an open concept, so I could easily talk to him while he got dinner started in the kitchen. He began boiling the water and then joined me on the couch with his own drink.

"Thanks for agreeing to this," he told me.

"Thanks for treating me to dinner. I really appreciate that you'd do this for me," I assured him.

"Like I said, I wanted to. I don't want you to think that this is just a physical relationship. Not that I don't enjoy that part of it, but I actually like you for more than just your looks," he explained.

"The same goes for you. You're an incredible teacher. Seriously. You're awesome at what you do, and you're so passionate about it. I admire that."

"Thank you. And you're an amazing student. You're such a natural at writing. I mean it when I tell you that your papers always blow me away. You'll be a great writer someday, I'm sure of it."

We continued talking as he worked on dinner and while we ate, as well. The pasta was actually pretty good and so was the wine, of course. We each had another glass as we got cozy on the couch to watch a movie, and I wasn't sure if it was the reason that I was being so cuddly or not. Either way, my head was resting on his shoulder and my hand was in his when he tilted my head to kiss me.

"You seriously do look great tonight," he told me, looking into my eyes.

"So do you. I like seeing you in more casual clothes for once. It's a nice change, even though you look awesome in your professional attire," I admitted.

"Mhm," he answered, his eyes drifting down.

"Is something distracting you?" I asked, pretending I didn't know the answer.

"You know what's distracting me, Aria," he said. "You never wear anything that revealing in class." Alright, yes, so I was showing a little cleavage.

"I could start," I teased.

"Please don't. Everyone would figure out what's going on if you did," he laughed. We looked at each other for a moment before our lips met. After a while, we found ourselves tangled up in sheets, and not much longer after that, I felt myself drifting off to sleep...

************************************************

The loud vibration and ding of my phone rudely woke Mark and I up in the morning. I reluctantly opened my eyes, stretched, and yawned before looking to see who had texted me. It was Katie, wanting to get breakfast. It was almost 10 am already. After sleepily sending a reply back, I noticed that my professor was awake too.

"'Morning," he said. His hair was a mess and I could hear the tiredness in his voice, but for some reason I found that adorable. It was strange to wake up next to him, but I felt like I could get used to it. Not that I would - this wasn't something that we should make a habit of.

"Good morning," I answered, running my hands through my bedhead that I was sure must have been terrible.

"So, who's blowing up your phone?" he wondered, curious.

"Katie. She wanted to get breakfast, so I told her I'd meet her in a couple hours at IHOP," I explained.

"A couple hours...does that mean you're staying for a little while?"

"I'll stay for a bit, yeah. Unless you want me to leave," I smiled.

"Definitely not."

We stayed in bed and cuddled for a while, talking to each other to gradually wake up. After an hour had passed, he took me back to my dorm so I could get ready for my IHOP date with Katie. I, of course, filled her in and as usual, she had plenty of obnoxious and inappropriate comments. Not much had changed in that regard. We tried to keep things as normal and typical as we could. Even though this relationship with my teacher was becoming more normal to me, I still knew that there were consequences and I was still afraid of what could happen. Luckily, I knew I could trust Katie to keep everything a secret. I was so thankful for that, because this whole rebellious, sneaking around crap was oddly satisfying to me. I guess it was about time I finally did something risky with my life, right?