Tinder | tayley ✓

Chivalry

From that day on, Hayley was a much happier person. Sure, she was a bit bummed that her night with Taylor had been nothing more than a one-night stand. But she knew that she was not ready for commitment.

The first (and really only) obvious change was her new hair color. She changed it from the fading orange color to a vibrant yellow.

It was a good way to start her final year of college at Vanderbilt University.

Her very first class of the first semester was the creative writing course that she had worked her ass off to get into. She wasn't going to miss it for the world, especially considering how difficult it was to be accepted into the class.

Hayley hurriedly entered the room. She had no time to look around, considering she had barely made it to class on time. All she was able to do was search for a seat and take it before someone else managed to steal it.

Hayley had no worries until she heard her professor's voice echo through the room. As soon as he spoke, she realized that the class would not be a fun one.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I know, it's still pretty early, none of you want to be awake. I understand that. But you knew what you were getting into when you signed up for this course," he said with a chuckle.

It wasn't about what the professor said, but rather who the professor was.

"I'm now going to pass around post-it notes, all of you will take one, write your name on it, stick it to your chest. Not too difficult to do, right?"

The professor wrote out his last name, sticking the small piece of yellow paper to his black tie. Even from her spot towards the back of the room, Hayley could read that his name-tag contained 'MR. YORK' in sloppy handwriting.

"Today will be an easy day. Do not expect it to be this way for the remainder of the semester. We're most likely going to start writing next class. But first, we're going to get comfortable with an icebreaker activity. We'll be playing two truths and a lie. I know it's cliché and you've all probably done this before, but it's a good way to learn about your classmates and a good way for me to learn about my students. I'll go first."

Taylor cleared his throat and paused momentarily. Once he came up with the truths and the lie he went on to say, "I was once pulled over for playing a Kelly Clarkson song too loud and received a ticket for it, I'm the middle child of my family, and I know how to play several different instruments."

After a short show of hands from the students on what they assumed the lie was, he revealed that the only lie was him being the middle child. He knew it was boring but he didn't know what else to do on the first day. And he wanted to be nice. He was not going to be an asshole and give them work on the very first day.

The students did the same as he did, telling the class some very odd things about themselves. When all the attention was directed towards a girl with bright hair that sat towards the back of the class, Taylor's eyes widened. He lowered his gaze to stare at his shoes. "Don't stare, don't stare," he told himself, even though it was more suspicious of him to look away from her.

She didn't want her facts and her lie to be elaborate or anything, she didn't want to put much thought into them. With very little emotion, she said, "I don't have any siblings, I used to love NSync, and I'm a Capricorn."

Hayley just wanted to get the hell out of there. She couldn't believe she was spending money (and a lot of it) on a class that they were playing a game in. This was the only class she had been looking forward to and it was already being ruined by several factors.

Throughout the remainder of what was left of the day's class, there was an awkward tension between the professor and the student. He was repeatedly caught staring at her. Most of the time, he would look away after being spotted, but there was the occasional eye contact that was not broken instantly. Instead, Taylor kept his eyes locked on Hayley's until remembering he had an entire class filled with students and that she was not the only one in the room with him.

Taylor was happy to dismiss his new students as soon as the time to do so rolled around.

"If anyone has any questions about the class, don't be afraid to speak to me before leaving. Everyone else, have an excellent day," Taylor said to the students.

Of course, the one person he didn't want to speak to was the only person that stood across from his desk after the rest of the students had left.

Taylor let out a sigh and ran a hand through his curls as he approached Hayley.

"Good seeing you again," he lied. Good? That would be quite a stretch.

"Yeah, I'm sure you're so glad to see me. Is that why you didn't text me after our date?"

Taylor's eyes widened. He walked to the door and shut it. He did not want their conversation to be heard by any students nor any co-workers.

"It's not like you reached out to me," he whispered in response. "So don't put all of the blame on me," he added.

"Chivalry at its finest," Hayley spoke with a laugh, her sarcasm obvious.

The older male let out one more sigh and finished their conversation by commenting, "Hayley, we're going to need to put this aside. I did not know you went here, nor did I assume I'd be teaching you. It felt apparent that there was nothing more in the night we shared than just one date. This was not how I envisioned any of this would go down, but please. This isn't worth holding a grudge over. I don't plan on being biased towards you due to the one night between you and I. Can we please just keep this professional?"

Being fired was not exactly on Taylor's agenda. He was fully aware of the policies of the professors of Vanderbilt dating their students — prohibited by all means.

"Fine," Hayley spoke angrily. Without another word, she stomped out of the room.

This would be an interesting semester.