The first week was a breeze for the most part. Not too much work to be taken home, and you hadn't delved into too much subject matter as of yet.
Except, of course, for your class with Professor McLoughlin. He wasted no time in teaching everyone sexual anatomy, and what parts worked how and the lot of it. The students, yourself included, mostly kept to a serious tone.
There were plenty of rumors going around about the class, and about the professor in general. One of them- the one that intrigued you the most- had to do with the ring he wore on his right hand. It was not on his left, so he wasn't married, but there were people who insisted that the ring nonetheless stood for something.
But what? What could it be?
Within a week and a half of his class, you were already being given a quiz on anatomy. The problem was, the quiz itself proved to be insanely difficult. Not even two weeks had gone by and you were already struggling!
You sighed and tried to keep your mind on the paper before you, but your brain evidently had other intentions, as you found yourself looking around the classroom at everybody else. Stephanie was sitting back in her chair, eyeing the quiz with an expression of disbelief. She probably found it incredibly difficult, as well.
A hand shot out from nowhere and brought your face towards the front. It was the teacher. His baby blue eyes were narrowed behind his glasses as he withdrew his hand before you could comprehend being touched at all. "Eyes on your paper, please," he demanded in a soft voice. The sheer power of his demand sent a chill down your back for reasons you could not place.
Swallowing hard you looked back down at your test for a few moments before realizing that the professor hadn't moved away. He was watching you, very obviously so. "I'm sorry," you murmured to him, "I wasn't trying to cheat or anything, I swear."
"Oh, I know you weren't. No one cheats in my class and gets away with it." Professor McLoughlin grinned down at you. He still did not move.
His presence was putting you ill at ease. Why couldn't he just leave? You couldn't focus on the fucking quiz! Before you knew it you sighed and tipped your head back, staring at the ceiling. You gave up and set the pen down in defeat.
"Finished already? Very well," he purred, taking your quiz away before you had the chance to stop him.
Well this fucking sucks. I don't think I did so well...
~●~
The next day you were dreading. You knew you had failed the quiz. Sure, it was only a quiz, and not a serious test, but if you couldn't handle a quiz of his, how would you be able to manage an exam?!
You couldn't. It was that simple.
Stephanie looked altogether an anxious mess as the two of you walked together to the classroom. "I didn't do so well on that damn quiz. It was so fucking hard!" she wailed, shifting all the art supplies in her hands to better balance them. "I think I'll be lucky if I pass..."
"At least you'll probably pass. I didn't even get the chance to finish mine," you complained, clenching your teeth. The fact that the teacher had been hovering around you and making you nervous was starting to piss you off. How dare he do such a thing, wasn't it obvious that you were uncomfortable? You had clearly given up on his fucking quiz, he should have taken responsibility!
As the class filed in, Professor McLoughlin was already at the front of the class, smiling gently. It was a disarming sort of smile, and you almost fell for it. Almost. Once everyone had arrived he clapped his hands once to get everyone's attention. "Well! I have some good news and some better news," he began, his smile never faltering. "The good news is, I know how you all felt about that quiz yesterday. Yes, I know it was hard, but that was the point. I always make my first quiz hard, it really gets your blood boiling. Lets you know how tough my exam will be."
There was general dissent throughout the students, but he continued to smile nonetheless. "So what's the better news?" Steph piped up, her hands clenched into her lap.
He glanced at her for a few moments and she seemed to relax. "The better news is that nearly all of you passed. Some with flying colors."
He started to hand back the quizzes from yesterday quietly, seemingly at random. By the time he approached you, your heart was in your throat. He set your quiz face down on the desk so that no one could glance at it from nearby.
You took a peek and your stomach dropped. You had failed it. Miserably.
Still, you shouldn't have been surprised all that much, considering what he had done. You didn't just fail, you skipped about half the quiz altogether! But it wasn't your fault!
Written at the top of the paper, in bold red letters, was: See me in my office after your last class.
Your blood really did begin to boil, but in a bad way. How dare he do what he did! It seriously pissed you off! In a fit of bad humor you crumpled up the paper and shoved it into your purse.
Professor McLoughlin was watching you, not missing a beat while he spoke to the class. He rubbed his beard a little, the iron ring on his hand glinting in the overhead lights.
Dully, you frowned a bit, feeling out of sorts and altogether upset. It just wasn't fair.
