After Hours (𝟏)

1. An Exposé

The sound of hushed whispers echoed throughout the filled theatre room. People from all walks of life seemed to be doing the exact same thing. Talking. Talking about what was going on in the lecture.

It seemed like everyone understood the lecture as per usual.

All except one.

Rainy sighed in defeat, her dark brows furrowing together as she tried to make out the words scribbled messily across the whiteboard. "The fuck?" She muttered in confusion under her breath before turning her head to look at the stranger besides her.

"Hey, uh, can I look at your notes for the current slide?" She asked hesitantly, a warm smile curling onto her plump full lips. There were deep indents that appeared in her rosy cheeks when she smiled.

It didn't take long for the stranger to look over at her. Her soft yet raspy voice was usually enough to catch anyone's attention, so when his eyes found hers, he felt himself choke up on his words. "Sure," Pushing his notebook closer to her, she gave him another grateful smile and started copying his notes down.

She didn't understand how she was the only one struggling to learn Plato's Allegory of the Cave or Aristotle's meaning of life. She wasn't sure if a major in philosophy was even looking likely with the rate she was working at.

And to be honest, she truly didn't care if she passed or failed.

She just wanted philosophy to be out of her life. For good.

"Thanks," whispered Rainy, pushing the book back towards the stranger and leaning back in her seat. The sounds of her professor's voice droning on soon engulfed her ears. Before she knew it, it was time to pack up. Even though she had not managed to process one ounce of information given, she rose to her short stature and began to pack her bag. Putting in her laptop and notepad, she zipped up her bag in haste.

"—I know many of you are excited about spring break but might I remind you all that midterms are coming up. If any of you have questions, come to the front now."

Midterms?

Ah shit, she knew she was forgetting something. Rainy thought to herself.

Consumed in her own world of endless thoughts, she failed to notice that she was one of the last students left to leave the hall. There were the odd few eager ones at the front speaking with the teacher about midterms. With her heavy bag thrown over her shoulder, she fixed her shirt and pushed her long dark curls over to one side.

"Miss Love, got a minute?" A voice calmly asked albeit demanding and rough sounding.

She cringed internally, pulling a face at his words. Rainy sucked in a deep breath turning to look at him and forced out a tight-lipped smile.

"Of course."

To any normal person, his question sounded harmless, but Rainy knew it was anything but.

Professor Rivera was a man of many talents. He was someone that many students respected and not just on college grounds. He was a humanitarian that went above and beyond for his students, and he most certainly wasn't bad on the eyes either. However, from what Rainy knew, Rivera was stern, callous and cold. He was hardheaded. There had been more than a handful of times that the older man had embarrassed her specifically; he was especially hard on the students that paid no particular interest in his lessons.

Students much like herself.

He was a difficult man to sway, never once cracking a smile. And getting him to laugh was a whole other ordeal.

Not that she even wanted to hear the asshole laugh, she mused as she continued to stare at him blankly. Rainy knew she was being melodramatic, but she couldn't help it. It was what she did best.