either. A guy
like that looks like he belongs behind a podium at Harvard, not here.”
The professor smacked something loud against
the podium, drawing our attention.
“I’m sorry, is your flirtation more important
than my class? If that’s the case, feel free to excuse yourselves,” Doctor
Pritchard airily cut in.
“Apologies, Professor,” I replied with
dignity. “I was merely offering to help a fresh transfer with reading materials
for today.”
“English, hmm?” Doctor Pritchard observed
keenly. He adjusted his glasses against his nose and peered towards me. “What
part of England are you from?”
I was surprised by his sudden interest.
“Uh, South London.”
“I see,” he murmured. “Interesting. I spent a
decade teaching in London. Awful food, too much drinking, but it was, overall,
a pleasant experience.” He turned to Clara, who seemed amused by this
assessment. “Is it true that you joined in the last twenty-four hours?”
“This morning, actually,” she answered.
“Better last minute than a week late,” he
nodded with a tentative smile. “What’s your name? You won’t be on my attendance
sheet unless I pencil you in.”
“Clara Campbell,” she answered.
I smiled privately. Alliterative. I like it. Also, not a far cry from ‘Clara Carlyle’…
With a brief moment of horror, I banished the
thought away. There was no reason to
have thoughts even remotely like that… until I realized that, if our parents
married, that could possibly wind up becoming her name, anyway…
Once he made the corrections, Doctor
Pritchard continued the roll call, leaving me plenty pleased with my thoughts. Well, maybe he’ll be a little easier on me
with the grade.
The rest of the class wound up fairly
straightforward. This professor didn’t employ casual starter days – we were
already reviewing material and assigned homework at the end of the session.
It was hard to stay committed to paying
attention to him with Clara right there. I felt myself enamored by the way she
focused on the material, biting her bottom lip when she was heavily
concentrating or perplexed.
She was so effortlessly beautiful.
That’s when I knew I had to take things
seriously with her… that I had to try. I
could have just written her off, but honestly? All that destiny stuff I had told her?
I believed it.
It was weird to me that I’d seen so much of
her in such a short period of time. We were definitely supposed to be paying attention to each other, and the more that I did so,
and the longer that I watched her out of the corner of my eye, the more I felt
a little something tug inside me for
her.
It was small and easily overlooked, but from
that small flicker in my heart, I could build the foundation of something much
bigger.
I knew my soul could burn for her if I let it.
That’s why, when class was over, I followed
her outside and redirected her towards the nearby overhang. It was a covered
seating area; other students mostly filled the available tables, so I leaned
against a pillar instead.
“Yeah? What did you want?” She asked
impatiently. I could see that she was slightly on edge, nervously looking
around and absent-mindedly sliding her hair behind her ear… something that only
encouraged me further.
“You and I need to talk,” I told her.
“I, uh, we don’t need to talk.”
“We definitely do,” I smiled softly.
“No.” She was trying to put her foot down
here, but her hesitance gave her away. Sure, she knew what I was going to say…
but she wanted me to say it.
“I’m just going to go out and say it,” I
sighed, choosing my words very carefully. “Clara, you’ve had my attention since
the moment that we first met, and I want to see where that goes.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I’ll remind you that when
we first met, you were publicly humiliating
like that looks like he belongs behind a podium at Harvard, not here.”
The professor smacked something loud against
the podium, drawing our attention.
“I’m sorry, is your flirtation more important
than my class? If that’s the case, feel free to excuse yourselves,” Doctor
Pritchard airily cut in.
“Apologies, Professor,” I replied with
dignity. “I was merely offering to help a fresh transfer with reading materials
for today.”
“English, hmm?” Doctor Pritchard observed
keenly. He adjusted his glasses against his nose and peered towards me. “What
part of England are you from?”
I was surprised by his sudden interest.
“Uh, South London.”
“I see,” he murmured. “Interesting. I spent a
decade teaching in London. Awful food, too much drinking, but it was, overall,
a pleasant experience.” He turned to Clara, who seemed amused by this
assessment. “Is it true that you joined in the last twenty-four hours?”
“This morning, actually,” she answered.
“Better last minute than a week late,” he
nodded with a tentative smile. “What’s your name? You won’t be on my attendance
sheet unless I pencil you in.”
“Clara Campbell,” she answered.
I smiled privately. Alliterative. I like it. Also, not a far cry from ‘Clara Carlyle’…
With a brief moment of horror, I banished the
thought away. There was no reason to
have thoughts even remotely like that… until I realized that, if our parents
married, that could possibly wind up becoming her name, anyway…
Once he made the corrections, Doctor
Pritchard continued the roll call, leaving me plenty pleased with my thoughts. Well, maybe he’ll be a little easier on me
with the grade.
The rest of the class wound up fairly
straightforward. This professor didn’t employ casual starter days – we were
already reviewing material and assigned homework at the end of the session.
It was hard to stay committed to paying
attention to him with Clara right there. I felt myself enamored by the way she
focused on the material, biting her bottom lip when she was heavily
concentrating or perplexed.
She was so effortlessly beautiful.
That’s when I knew I had to take things
seriously with her… that I had to try. I
could have just written her off, but honestly? All that destiny stuff I had told her?
I believed it.
It was weird to me that I’d seen so much of
her in such a short period of time. We were definitely supposed to be paying attention to each other, and the more that I did so,
and the longer that I watched her out of the corner of my eye, the more I felt
a little something tug inside me for
her.
It was small and easily overlooked, but from
that small flicker in my heart, I could build the foundation of something much
bigger.
I knew my soul could burn for her if I let it.
That’s why, when class was over, I followed
her outside and redirected her towards the nearby overhang. It was a covered
seating area; other students mostly filled the available tables, so I leaned
against a pillar instead.
“Yeah? What did you want?” She asked
impatiently. I could see that she was slightly on edge, nervously looking
around and absent-mindedly sliding her hair behind her ear… something that only
encouraged me further.
“You and I need to talk,” I told her.
“I, uh, we don’t need to talk.”
“We definitely do,” I smiled softly.
“No.” She was trying to put her foot down
here, but her hesitance gave her away. Sure, she knew what I was going to say…
but she wanted me to say it.
“I’m just going to go out and say it,” I
sighed, choosing my words very carefully. “Clara, you’ve had my attention since
the moment that we first met, and I want to see where that goes.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I’ll remind you that when
we first met, you were publicly humiliating
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