Sunlight

Chapter 9

Ariana's P.O.V.

It's Monday, a week has passed since my Dave and Busters date with Justin. Ever since that night, Justin has been hanging out with Angela a lot less than before.

Tonight is the last night that they will be working on their class project together, it being due tomorrow. Hopefully they both get a good grade on it. If not, all this time working on it would have been a total waste.

Speaking of grades, mine haven't been that good lately. For the past week, all my assignments in Professor Collins class have been given back to me with terrible scores.

I'm currently in his class now.

"I was very pleased with some of the quizzes I graded yesterday. Others, not so much"Professor Collins tells the whole auditorium. He grabs a folder from his desk and takes out a stack of graded quizzes. He begins to place them into different piles along his desk.

"Each pile is sorted into alphabet order by your last name. You can come on down and get your quiz on the way out. I hope you all have a wonderful day"He dismisses class. Students begin to pack up and head down to get their quiz.

I shove my class book into my bag and hurry down to his desk, not wanting to be the last one in the auditorium. I file through the pile with last names starting with G. I find my quiz and quickly leave the class.

Once I'm outside, my phone beeps in my pocket.

Justin: Will be there in five minutes

I decide to sit on a campus bench and wait for Justin to arrive and pick me up. I look down at my quiz to see what grade I've received.

"C minus?"I ask out loud, confused. I studied two hours for this quiz, I felt really confident taking it yesterday.

I review my paper and realize that everything Professor Collins marked off as wrong is actually correct. I let out a sigh of frustration and stress my fingers through my hair.

This is ridiculous. I've been receiving terrible grades that I don't deserve. I have to talk to Professor Collins about this. As much as I don't want to, I need to.

I notice him walk out of the civil litigation auditorium, in a hurry and with a briefcase in hand. I stand up and begin to shout his name.

I've managed to avoid him for the last three weeks but I can't continue on without knowing why I'm failing.

"Professor Collins!"I shout his name again, catching his attention this time. He slowly comes to a stop, and looks at me with an uneasy look as I approach him.

"Can I talk to you? I have a question about the grades I've been receiving lately"I ask him. "I'm actually running late for something"He says and begins to turn around. I step in front of him and block him from walking away.

"This is really important"I tell him. "Where I have to be is really important too"He says and tries to walk away again but I stop him.

"Why are you failing me on purpose? Is this because I slapped you when you tried kissing me?"I ask and he widens his eyes. His eyes search around him, making sure no one passing by just heard me.

"You need to get out of my way, now"He says, beginning to get upset. "No, I know your failing me because I rejected you. I have a boyfriend and your my professor. I was hoping you would be professional about things and maybe apologize for what you did but you haven't done either one"I tell him.

"I don't have to apologize for anything"He spits. "What you did was wrong and inappropriate Professor Collins. You have no right to fail me because I don't feel the same way you do"I cross my arms in front of my chest.