C5 Five

I walked into classroom 219 with my head down and a sense of utter dread rushing through my veins. A week ago I was looking forward to this moment more than anything and now I‘d rather stick my head in mud than be here right now.

I'm early.

I'm always early. That's just my personality but today I hate myself for it more than usual because occupying this room right now is only Dr.crane, some chubby boy Whose asleep on his desk, and myself.

I can feel the side of my head about to catch fire and I'm forced to look up at Thomas whose stare is threatening to burn a hole through my skull.

Our eyes lock and I feel a cold sweat sweep over me. He won't say it out loud but The look on his face is pleading for me to walk over.

I straighten up and sigh. Let's get this over with.

I walk up to Thomas's desk and fidget uncomfortably with the hem of my oversized sweater.

"About Friday night..." I start but Thomas stops me. "If you apologize to me right now I'm docking you 10 points." His interruption makes my head spring up from my distracted fingers to his face that is wearing a single grin.

Did he just make a joke Right now?

"Excuse me?" I ask, bewildered. "It was entirely my fault, Sophia. Don't you dare apologize. I was way out of line. We were both under the influence and I let you down as a professional figure. Please forgive me. It won't happen again"

Never in my life did I imagine I'd be getting apologized to by Thomas Crane for mouth sexing me in a bar. I know the kiss was out of like but to straight up say you regret the entire thing is a bit insensitive.

judging by the way he worded his apology you'd think it was prepared for a court case. Did he think I was going to tell on him?

What is this sour feeling in my heart?

I bite my lip and shrug. "That's fair. If you insist professor then I don't apologize. I liked it so what's there to be sorry for. Furthermore, I'll consider accepting your apology. It might just take some time for me to forget all of the... details." I give Thomas a fake grin then turn and walk to an empty seat in the second row.

I look back over at my sweet professor who looks so dumbfounded I can't help but giggle softly to myself. I'm not usually so vindictive, but there's something about someone saying they regret kissing you that, oh I don't know, pisses you off.

Slowly but surely people start pooling into the classroom, cups of coffee in their hands and bags under their eyes.

Ah, that first day feeling.

I lean down to pull a fresh black notebook from my book bag and on my way back up my head collides with that of another human being.

Ow, gosh!

My hand reaches for my bruised skull as my eyes search for the culprit. They come to rest on an unusually handsome guy with black hair, pale green eyes, and incredibly white teeth who is also gripping a portion of his own injured head

"I am so sorry," he says trying not to laugh. I shake my head and share in a small laugh with the stranger whose taken the seat beside me.

I discover he too was reaching for a notebook when life decided we both deserved a concussion.

"That's okay, I'm sure I've done something to deserve that," I joke in return. "I really doubt that," the guy says in disbelief as he gives his head one more healing rub.

"I'm Michael by the way," he says as he offers me a free hand to shake. I take it and give it a small tug.

"Sophia," I reply then let his hand go. I turn back to face the front of the room only to find that Dr. Crane has been watching this whole ordeal with a peculiar look on his face.

Not only do I notice Thomas's eyes in my direction but I also discover that Michael hasn't taken his eyes off of me yet either.

What is this? Is there some magical Chinese lady that I pissed off that's decided my love life isn't already complex enough?

I turn back to Michael who blushes ever so slightly when I catch him staring. "Is there something wrong with my face?" I ask.

"Quite the opposite actually. You're..."

"Alright class, welcome to your first day of Shakespearean literature.“ Dr. Crane interrupts and I can‘t help but think that he just cockblocked Michael on purpose, or am I imagining things?

With a heavy sigh, Michael turns towards the front of the class to listen to our instructor.

"This is a 400 level English class. You are all here because you value the written word so I expect nothing but the absolute best from you all this semester. I'll pass around some papers now that would beneiit you to hold on to."

Many papers start circulating through the body of students. When they reach me I take one of each and look down at them individually.

No way!

I gawk at one of the papers that is an informative flyer about an upcoming trip to New York to view "A Midsummer Nights Dream" live on Broadway.

I about fall out of my seat in disbelief.

"You should now all have a copy of the syllabus, a special accommodations pamphlet, and a flier for the English department field trip. Since I know it‘s the most exciting piece of information I've given you, I'll go over the field trip iirst. It's in one month in New York and we will be traveling by plane. Usually, a trip such as this would be bank breaking but due to the generosity of the school, it will only cost you three-hundred dollars for everything. That includes the plane ticket, play ticket, and overnight hotel stay."

My heart is racing as I listen to Dr. Crane. I never dreamed I'd get an opportunity like this so there's no way I'm missing it.

"Further more were all adults here. What you do is none of anyone's concern so I will be the only chaperone present. This trip is only offered to 400 level students so I'm anticipating approximately 20-30 students will be in attendance. If you miss the flight back it's on yourself to get back home and if you choose to misbehave at the play or in the hotel it is not the responsibility of the school to bail you out of jail. Any questions?"

I can't believe how amazing this is.

As much as I'd like to stay frustrated at Thomas it's impossible for me when I hear him speak. The passion in his deep voice when he talks about plays, books, and poetry makes me fall for him even more. His mind is so enticing that I Iind myself unable to blink or breathe when I get even a glimpse of how smart he is.

Being smart turns me on so much more than being handsome, or having a huge dick though of course, those aren't a bad thing either.

I wonder if Thomas has a huge...

I spend all class fantasizing about my professor and hardly even notice the looks I keep receiving from Michael.

What's his deal?

"That will conclude today's lesson; I expect your written opinions of sonnet 18 next class period printed and stapled with your names in the upper right corner. "

Thomas's eyes fall on me as he starts packing up his black leather briefcase. Does he want to talk again?

Too bad. I've had enough excitement for one morning.

How can I face him when I've just spent an hour thinking about him naked?

Everyone starts packing up their things to head on to whatever else life has I store for them, but my packing is halted by Michael.

"Hey Sophia, when is your next class?" He asks me as he throws his backpack over one shoulder. "It's in an hour in the foreign language building, why?" I can feel my heartbeat quicken because I'm not an idiot.

I know why.

"Let me buy you a cup of coffee?" Michael asks, his voice full of confidence.

I feel an immediate inclination to say no, regardless of how otherworldly hot he is.

Coffee leads to dinner, and dinner leads to drinks, and drinks lead to sex.

Or at least it usually does. Not in my case so far but whatever.

I'm not bitter, I swear.

All joking aside, I'm just not sure that I'm in the right place emotionally to go on a pre-date with anyone. My heart belongs to Thomas and I can't "cheat" on him. I know he wouldn't do that to me... sober at least.

"I'm sorry Michael, I'm going to have to say no. I've just got a lot of stuff going on right now. Maybe later though," I say as sweetly as possible, collecting the rest of my belongings.

I make a run for the door and leave Michael standing there looking dumbfounded. He‘s not used to rejection, that's obvious.

I make sure not to look back at either him nor Thomas as I run out of the building and into the refreshing cold winter air.

I know Thomas was watching that whole exchange and for some reason, I was too afraid to see the look on his face, so I didn't.

Ugh, I could really use a cup of coffee right about now.

***

I walk into the cozy little coffee shop and am instantly greeted with the mouth-watering smell of mocha and cinnamon.

I walk over to the counter where a lonely dark haired barista is busying herself with restocking cups and other such accessories that go into coffee making.

"Hey, Clara," I say with a warm smile to get her attention. "I'll be right with you.." she starts, turning her head to glance and acknowledge the customer.

Her entire persona changes as soon as she sees that it's me. "Oh, Sophia! Hi!" She responds in a much more chipper tone than before.

Clara puts down what she was doing just to come and talk to me. I can see how much she cares and I can see the longing in her chocolate eyes every time we talk. Honestly, she makes me wish I were at least bisexual because I don't want her to have wasted her time on me.

That would make life so much easier, wouldn't it? If it were a choice. I could kiss Thomas goodbye and date a normally aged person. It's not though and unfortunately for Clara, I can't return her interest.

"Want your usual?" She asks, circling her finger around a small coffee stain on the counter. "That would be lovely, thank you," I reply and hand her cash for the drink. "Keep the change, of course." She bites her bottom lip "Thank you very much."

I go and take a seat at an empty table and pull my laptop out. I have about a million things I could be working on right now and I can't really decide which one to prioritize. I could do my response for Thomas's class, or I could work on one of the trillion stories I have in progress saved to my hard drive.

I run any thin fingers through my hair, brushing off any melted snow still clinging to the strands.

"Hot and delicious, just like you." Clara instantly freaks out and stutters "I mean for you. Just for you.." she almost dies of embarrassment as she sets my drink down in front of me.

"Thanks, Clara. No worries. We all make mistakes." I take a drink of my warm beverage and give Clara some time to recover from her traumatic error.

Her interest in me doesn't bother me one bit, honestly, it's very flattering. I've thought about the "just try it, this is college" thing but I don't want to use her like that.

"So, uhm, can I read that story now?" She asks me in a shy sort of whisper. "Oh yeah! I'd almost forgotten."

I pull up the save file for the storyI started a few days ago at this cafe and turn the screen to face Clara.

She sits opposite me and I can see her eyes as they travel across the page. "Oh, this is steamy!" She says, shocked.

"Yeah, a bit. I thought I'd try my hand at a bit of smut. I'm sorry if that bothers you since the girl is based on you."

"No no no, I like it. Use me however you want!" At that last outburst, I see Clara almost gi pale. "You know what?" She says, using her hands to lift herself off the chair "I'm going to go eat a peanut butter cookie."

"Okaaay, have fun?" I reply, confused. She's halfway back to the register when she turns back towards me.

"I'm allergic to peanut butter."