Vanilla & Smoke || A.I.

Waning

 Thora had spent the past ten minutes, maybe more, staring at her teacher. Mr.Irwin was sitting behind his desk, listening to something with one earbud in his ear, the other dangling to the side. His jaw was set in concentration, his black glasses falling partway down his nose.

If only Thora paid so much attention when she was actually in class, then perhaps she wouldn't be failing so badly. Well, actually, with some help from a certain teacher, Thora had managed to get almost all of her grades up to at least a C-. She just had to ride it out to the end of the semester, and she wouldn't have to repeat.

Mr.Irwin coughed lightly, shoving his glasses up on his nose. Thora watched in silence. She'd done something slightly morally gray- that is, taken advantage of her disabled teacher. She'd already been in the room when he came in, and for whatever reason, she'd chosen to stay still and quiet, and he still hadn't noticed her presence. It made watching him creepily significantly easier.

He was attractive, Thora decided, maybe a little too much for his own. He probably had lots of girlfriends in college, back when he could see. Apparently, he didn't date anymore because the glaucoma that caused his blindness also made his penis fall off.

Thora was pretty sure that wasn't true. But it might as well have been. Ash- Mr.Irwin- acted as though his blindness also made him completely unattractive, like it was a dealbreaker for every possible mate. And that just wasn't true. Thora saw the way some of the other students looked at him. Heck, Calum had shared his unfiltered, uneditted opinion of exactly what they'd do if they got the chance- something that had to do with turning all the lights out in Mr.Irwin's flat and a 12 pack of rubbers- but Thora chose to repress that memory.

She'd let her mind wander so much that when the sneeze came on, she didn't even try to stop it. "Ach-oo!"

Mr.Irwin jolted so much his legs hit the underneath of his desk, shaking his monitor.

"Sorry!" Thora apologized quickly, through her giggles.

Mr.Irwin held a hand over his heart. "How long have you been there?"

"Not that long," Thora said, almost convincingly. "Two minutes."

"As per usual, Miss Faye, you are full of shit." He paled when he realized what he'd said. "Wait, is anyone else in here that I didn't hear come in?"

"Nope, just me." Thora took a quick glance around the room, double checking. It was just the two of them. The door was closed, and based on the way it was positioned, no one could see far enough in the room to see them.

A few thoughts ran through Thora's head of ways they could exploit that, most of them just proving how she spent far too much time with Calum. "What are you listening to?"

"It's a lecture on cognitive thought processes. It's very interesting, it discusses different ways teaching can be more psychology driven than it is today."

"Sounds fascinating," Thora said without trying to hide the lack of enthusiasm in her voice.

Mr.Irwin stood up, making his way slowly around his desk. "Where are you?"

"I'm over here," Thora said, splaying her hands out over her skirt. Mr.Irwin slowly walked over to her, touching along the desks until her felt her skirt, then quickly retreating.

"Have you thought about what I told you?" His voice was quieter and more intimate, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. If he weren't leaning in the way he was, the way he had a bad tendency too. Depth perceptuion is severely impaired when you have no depth to see.

Thora shrugged. "Maybe. I looked at the brochure."

"You could go into teaching. Come back, student teach for me."

"I don't have the grades."

"Coding classes are pretty common, and they're so desperate for new employees that they won't be picky about your grades, especially if this last year you turned them around. And the job oppertunities are abundant."

"I don't want to code."

"Well, what do you want to do?"

Thora looked up at him, noting the way his lips stayed slightly apart when he wasn't talking, the way his glasses kept on sliding down his nose slightly. He was close enough that Thora could smell his cologne, which was odd, as he usually never wore cologne.

"I don't know. And if you ask me again, I still won't know."

He nodded. "Let me know if anything sounds good to you. And you don't have to wait until you see me in class, you can always call me." He cracked a smile. "Just don't text me. Please."

Thora giggled, and his smile just grew. He moved his hand, and it landed on hers.

She stared at it. He couldn't have intended it... could he?

A/N:

3 chapters left!

If you've been waiting for an update for forever, then you can thank @JohannaLiu for getting me to finish this book. I am not currently writing much on wattpad, but to see more of my writing, check out my Ao3 (at DumpsterDiving101) or my Tumblr (at DansPHLevels) where I upload my current writing. However, if you're a sucker for Wattpad, I am writing a story that I publish on Wattpad as well as my other sites, called "But Love Is Overrated Anyways". It's a chaptered phanfic where Dan and Phil have ice and fire powers that has left them and a group of other mutants outcast from society and unable to control their powers. Give it a read!