Professor

Ch. 3 - It all went wrong ...

Does he even remember my name ?

Alice hoped he didn't.

Although she was making great efforts, she arrived late to class that day, as usual.

Hugging the walls to go unnoticed as she walked into the auditorium, Alice had almost reached her seat when she stumbled on a bag. Shit.

A few students glanced at her and her heart stopped beating for a second. Alright, keep going, you can do this.

Alice silently sat, making herself comfortable and pulling her notebook out of her bag. She'd managed to hide her presence for a good three weeks now and everything had been rather fine.

The wave of anxiety gone, she noticed Jane was shooting her troubled glances. Alice's eyes laid on the front and she froze. The class was quiet, but Professor Laufeyson wasn't instructing or reading a text as he always did. The weight of the world fell on her shoulders. He was nowhere to be seen. The front of the auditorium was absolutely empty.

Jane beckoned her to look behind and Alice took a deep breath before turning around. Oh god.

Loki Laufeyson was standing in the back, peering at the crowd of students, his eyes scanning every single person they could catch. Alice sank into her seat. Don't be paranoid.

Slowly, Professor Laufeyson made his way down the stairs, eyes still prowling around. Alice focused on her pencil case, making herself busy. She lowered her head as much as she could, avoiding the terrible glares that threatened to uncover her presence. Deep inside, she knew his attitude had something to do with her and the essay the fact he'd certainly read her name on the paper, but she still hoped he was just being moody.

Eventually, Loki Laufeyson leaned against his desk and started the lesson. ''Good morning everyone, I expect that you've finished Beckett's Endgame and the supplemental readings I provided last week.'' He absently declared before continuing in a sarcastic tone, ''If not, I suggest that you leave this class right now.''

Jane rolled her eyes in an extremely funny gesture, ''Is he like this in real life too ?'' She hissed, and Alice shrugged, ''Well...''

''Miss Parker,'' a loud voice interrupted their conversation, ''Would you care to share the discussion you're having with your classmate, since it seems more interesting than my lesson.''

Shit.

Wait. Did he just say my name ?

A kind of stoicism was writ on his features, but Professor Laufeyson's green emeralds were glaring at her.

He was already a bit of a terror on campus. Although most of his students found him fascinating, there were crazy stories about his classes and how he enjoyed making them terribly uncomfortable. His legendary intolerance for chattering was known to have precipitated the fall of a few unfortunate souls. However, the simple sound of his voice caused Alice's stomach to clench.

It was the weirdest situation she'd ever experienced. Now she was supposed to act like she didn't know him while he took advantage of his unlimited power to humiliate her in front of her peers. Great.

''I... I'm sorry sir...'' the young girl stuttered, soon cut off by her professor, ''Your late entrance didn't go unnoticed Miss Parker. The least you can do is to pay attention to the lesson.''

Damn it. Cowering in her seat, Alice slowly nodded, slightly intimidated. Professor Laufeyson had finally recognized her face. Besides, he associated it with two interruptions in his class. Heart pounding in her chest, Alice leaned back in her chair.