Chapter 3

Nina had been waiting outside of Mr. Masters' office, trying to eavesdrop on the conversation, when I stepped out of the office; I found her leaning towards the side of the office door.

"Sexy looking bastard, isn't he?" she asked, her eyes glued to her phone.

"No shit."

"Did you see the look on Dana's face?" Nina snorted, "That bitch gets wet dreams just looking at the professor."

I wasn't one for college gossip, but I wasn't the type to plug my ears either. I was headed towards my English class and yet to figure out why Nina was tailing after me. Uncapping the top of a water bottle, I took a long gulp. I heard heavy footsteps closing in on us, I spun around to find Chez jogging towards us. Judging by his not-so-appealing appearance, I figured he had been running tracks on the field.

Chez had a goofy grin on his face."Hey."

His eyes left mine and halted over Nina. She continued to stare back at him. I watched the silent eye communication between my childhood friend and my new friend. There was something going on here, like they were bound by a fairy-tale spell.

I snapped my fingers in his face and jabbed an accusing finger in his chest. "You can't keep promises."

"I know you're mad, but I'm sorry. I'd set an alarm and I told Sam to wake me." Chez was great with making excuses.

"Let me guess, your alarm didn't ring and Sam never woke you up."

"Exactly." He said.

Chez wiped the beads of sweat off his forehead revealing a red stripped pattern on his right cheek. That had me laughing, "What's that?"

He shrugged, "I tripped in the bathroom and fell."

Yeah. Right. It had to be the floor mat pattern printed on his face, which I was damn sure he fell face flat in the morning while rolling.

"Ahem." Nina cleared her throat as she shifted from one foot to another. "Wondering if you guys thought I was wearing the invisibility cloak."

"Uh..Chez, this is Nina." He nodded at her. I turned to Nina, "And he is Chez Simmons, my childhood friend, also best friend."

She took his hand in hers almost forcefully, "Nice meeting you."

"You too." He said and turned to me, "so, where are you headed next?"

He grabbed for my bottle, took a long swig, emptying the remaining contents, he dropped the bottle in the nearest trash can with a clank.

"English." I told him, "and I need to get going now. I don't want to be late."

"You're in college, not high school." He reminded me.

"I know, but I don't wanna get in trouble if I'm going to attend classes regularly."

"Whatever." He nodded in distaste, "who teaches you Economics?"

"Mr. Rowan Masters."

He frowned at me, "Mr. Eye candy. You're a goner."

"Why?"

What's up with these people? First Nina said the same thing and now Chez too?

"Rumors, y'know." He leaned closer to my ear, "People talk about how he's been taking advantage of his female students in exchange of grades. You should maintain arm's length with him, do you understand?"

Bitch, please!

"Sure, but I thought he was nice, and sexy. Calvin Klein model type."

"Looks can be deceiving, darling." That was Chez's jealously talking. He slow back walked as he continued, "I need to change and catch up with my Anthropology class, so..I'll see you around."

Spinning around he disappeared down the hall.

Nina was still staring at him. "That was hot or what?"

"Hot? I think not."

"Not your boyfriend, is he?" she asked.

"All yours."

She wiggled her fingers back and forth between herself and me. "We are so totally BFF's from today."

****

The classes took almost an eternity to get over; no wonder people start cutting classes and get their names on the black list within a year, Duh! Who likes being tortured when you have a choice?

What was even worse was the fact that I would be sticking around for too long. Every Freaking Day, considering the amount of syllabus they had covered when I was obviously not present. A lot would be putting it mildly. Made me want to go hollow man. I found myself begging at all the professors for an extra copy or at least for an available original copy so I could make mine. Exhausting to the maximum.

Here in Carmel, it was like no one cared, back in my previous college in Ridgewell, the professors would hover above us until we had stuff completed and submitted. This university was a major party where studying was a bash.

By the end of the day I had five extra books in my bag which weren't mine of course. I borrowed them so I could see what I had to keep up with, and then I remembered Mr. Hot shot's afternoon extra classes. I was beyond exhausted but if sitting in his class meant I could check him out for two hours, well, it was worth every damn minute. I could care less if he was reciting nursery rhymes.

I texted Nina and she texted back that we were supposed to go to the mini library and Viola! I found a college campus map, pretty confusing, but neat. Fortunately it was in the same building, I let out a sigh of relief.

I remembered whining back in Ridgewell about how my previous college was so tiny and wasn't any fun when it came to taking a stroll during breaks.

Boy was I tired now? I totally missed my good ol' school with those good ol' really Old teachers. Well, I stopped being all emotional the minute my eyes zeroed on Mr. Hot-shot-demon-professor with a good heart. He was patiently waiting for the students to take their seats, his lips curled in an irritated pout. I didn't regret getting transferred here one bit.

Mr. Masters remained seated in the middle of a large rectangle wooden table, the numerous chairs beside him were empty, and every chair in the corner was taken. Two of them were sleeping right under his nose. Why even bother attending extra classes when you weren't serious about it, let alone study during the time. I guessed it was all about earning extra brownie points for attending this extra class, so Mr. Sexy wouldn't be able to rub it in their faces for not being serious when actually they were attending by sleeping through the hours. Smart move but not a wise one.

Nina broke my trance by waving a hand in my face. Mr. Masters had his nose buried in a large paperback book, swirling the pen on the table, trying to get something to start on the mini projector. He hadn't acknowledged my existence so far.

The session started, so did the epic competition of lusty stare down. Being the desperate bitch that I was I sat right in front of him, if he so much as stretched his hand, there was a likely possibility I'd want to hold it. He was that close. I loved the way he would explain things and elaborate it slowly, making sure everyone understood his point and, like Nina had mentioned earlier, it was clear he didn't take shit from anybody in particular. I wasn't surprised when he hadn't earned a single paper plane during economics class, because apparently, he had earned a bizarre Oscar award for being the best chalk dart thrower.

What's even worse, he never missed a single target.

I jotted down the important points, Nina would point out certain things to me that I hadn't written down, earning a few death glares that had her wither back in her seat, tape-lipped, that's when someone decided to make a grand entry, the door to the library opened.

I squinted my eyes at first for a better vision and I almost bit my tongue when I saw who it was. What did he think he was doing, barging in on a teacher?

Mr. Masters turned to face the intruder, "Yes, Mr. Simmons, Is there anything I can help you with?"

The professor knew Chez. Another Shocker.

Chez didn't take his eyes off me, "Mr. Masters, I'm here to take my friend back to the dorm."

"Well, Chez, are you aware of the fact that barging on a study session is not appropriate behavior?"

"Appropriate behaviors? You're one to talk, Mr. Masters."

Wow Chez was sure talking wrong to worse turns, what's with the guy's attitude? What did he eat for breakfast?

He went on, "She is my responsibility and we go together."

"She? Who?" Mr. Masters scanned his students.

"Alana."

I detached my butt from the seat reluctantly, "I thought we went through this an hour ago. I need to catch up on things that I have missed for the past six months, Chez. I intend to pass this semester."

"I'll help you with whatever you need to know, now let's go."

"I'll come in an hour when I'm done here, you go first. I'll be fine."

"Seriously?" Chez grimaced, "weren't you the one who kept whining this morning for not accompanying you to your class, what's with the change of attitude?"

Trust me, I know it sounded like a boyfriend—girlfriend conversation, and I'm sure Mr. Masters was getting the wrong idea too, because he seemed mad as a bulldog with a caps lock on.

"Both of you," Mr. Masters used that cold-student-threatening tone with us, I flinched. "Take it outside, misbehavior will not be tolerated in my classroom and next time you repeat it, there will be severe consequences."

If that didn't kill me, I don't know what will.

He turned his hot penetrating gaze at me, "Out. This instant."

I wanted to practically sucker punch Chez for ruining the moment for me, I wanted to stay on the teacher's good side, but I sure as hell knew I already topped his shit list of students. Ranking first.