I'm late.
I think as I scurry through halls. I need to get these papers to Mr. Lockwood and still get to class. My dumb alarm didn't ring this morning, now I'm going to be late for class.
Oof. I run into a something hard and almost fall backwards, I rub my nose as I slowly look up to an irritated scowling face. Oookay so not a thing but a person - a very tall handsome person. He looks really upset and I instantly feel bad but I really need to get going, I mutter a quick apology and hurry away, hopefully he isn't too upset.
I manage to get to Mr. Lockwood's office in record time and drop the papers on his desk, he smiles and thanks me but I'm in too much of a hurry so I can't stay long.
"You're welcome, have a good day!" I reply and leave quickly. I check my phone. Whew. I have five minutes, I heave a relieved sigh and slow down so I don't get to class all sweaty and gross.
I walk into the lecture hall and smile gratefully, the professor isn't here yet. That's good, I didn't want to leave a bad impression about me on our new professor. Mrs. Smith is on an emergency leave and her replacement is joining us mid semester, I don't know much about him besides that he is really envied and respected by the rest of the staff and he is really strict.
I go to my usual seat in the middle of the class, close enough to hear, far enough to ward off unnecessary attention. I yawn and rub my eyes, I was up all night and only got two hours of sleep. None of my friends take this class so there will be no one to watch out for me in case I start falling asleep. I mentally face-palm at my self-inflicted predicament, hopefully I get through this two hour class without falling asleep and embarrassing myself.
The hall suddenly goes quiet, all the chattering has stopped and there are a few gasps, murmurs and scoffs? I look up and my eyes widen, it's him. Talk about making a bad impression, I wince. I almost throttled my professor and ran away. I actually look at him this time and I see why there are gasps, he really is handsome, dark blonde hair styled to perfection, with a pair of… blue-green eyes? I can't tell. They looked blue in the hall but kinda look green now. He is dressed professionally in pressed black slacks, a white button down with rolled sleeves and a vest on top. He looks good and… young, like he's in his late twenties or early thirties.
He scans the hall for a brief moment and I don't know how but his eyes find mine and I freeze. His left eyebrow raises elegantly, then he scowls at me again and goes straight to his desk. He turns back to the class after dropping his things and clears his throat to get our attention – not that he doesn't already have it – and we all stare at him.
"Good morning class, I'm Professor Adrian Blackwell and I will be taking you on Business Management for the rest of the semester. From what I know, you are two weeks behind so we will waste no more time. Before we begin, my rules are simple; I will not tolerate laziness, late coming and chatter. I also will not tolerate any form of disrespect or inappropriate comments or behavior".
He says pointedly like he knows what more than half the girls here are thinking.
"You will address me as Professor Blackwell and nothing else". Oookay.
"Feel free to come to my office on office hours only, and do not hesitate to ask questions as we will always have an interactive class."
He claps, "Alright, now that that's out of the way, please bring out your textbooks and remind me where you stopped with Mrs. Smith"
Well, they weren't kidding when they said he's really strict. Hopefully that scowl is his signature look and doesn't mean I'm already on his blacklist.
The class starts and I kind of zone out, I'm almost done with the entire textbook anyway and I really need a nap. I try to fight it by looking really hard at the textbook and at the professor as he explains why human resources department is really crucial to any business.
Unfortunately I start to lose the battle with sleep and am already laying on my desk and yawning for the umpteenth time this morning.
Huh? Who's tapping my pillow?
I wonder as I gradually look up, then freeze. Oh crap.
First of all, I'm not in my room and Professor Blackwell is frowning severely at me. I rub my eyes and look around and I just want to disappear. Second of all, the entire class is staring at me like I'm about to be sentenced to death. And I realize with horror, I fell asleep.
I internally wince and look back up at my scowling professor who probably already hates me at this point and swallow nervously.
"Are we interrupting your nap?" he asks, sarcasm dripping from his every word. I stare at him dumbfounded and he just sighs, exasperated and clearly irritated.
"Well?" he prompts, so apparently it wasn't a rhetorical question, right.
"N-no sir"
"Professor Blackwell", he corrects.
"No Professor Blackwell", I amend, staring at my lap and feeling ashamed. I'm not usually like this, I don't sleep in class. It's just been a rough semester. But of course I can't tell him that, he'll think I'm making excuses and something tells me Professor Blackwell hates excuses.
Fingers snap in front of my face and I startle.
"Absentminded also, wonderful." He says, scowling.
"Stand up." I stand quickly because I don't want to annoy him further.
"What is your name?"
"Aria Lee sir- P-professor Blackwell"
"Alright miss Lee, it seems my class is either too boring for you or you already know everything there is to know about this course. Which is it?" he asks folding his arms and my heart beat speeds up. I hate being put in the spotlight, my palms are all sweaty and I'm struggling to keep breathing normally.
He's staring at me pointedly which means he probably expects an answer.
"You're not boring Professor", I murmur, already hating him for making me speak in front of the whole class.
"I see, so it's the latter then, you know everything about this course." My eyes widen at my omission and I start to explain,
"N-n-no" I stutter but he cuts me off and continues speaking;
"I'll ask you a simple question, something I already taught today. If you get it wrong, you will either leave or stand for the rest of the class, understood?" he stares at me with an eyebrow raised and I swallow. Not because I'm scared of the question but because I don't think I trust myself to speak or even comprehend much right now.
"When does efficiency become a liability in management?"
I know this but I blank out, I'm wringing my sweaty hands and staring at my sneakers. I beg my brain and my mouth to cooperate but they don't and all I can think about is how I want to crawl into my bed and hide under my blanket forever.
A minute or so passes and he sighs, I risk a peek up and he is staring at me with poorly concealed disdain and I wonder why I even woke up this morning.
"Keep standing or leave" he says, and walks away to continue the class. No one says a word and they just carry on like I didn't just face the biggest embarrassment of my life just now.
I keep standing for the remaining thirty minutes of the class. By then my sleep is long gone but so is my self-esteem. Professor Blackwell keeps staring at me, I don't know if it's because I'm still here or if he just can't believe how stupid I must be to not have answered that easy question.
I avoid eye contact with him and try not to zone out till his deep voice booms in the hall,
"Class dismissed" and I heave a relieved sigh. I start to pack my things, eager to get back to my room. Thank goodness this is the only class I have today. I start to walk towards the exit, blending in with the crowd of students filing out. Apparently I didn't blend in enough and soon hear;
"Miss Lee please see me in my office in five minutes", Professor Blackwell says coldly and almost disinterested as he only spares me a brief glance and continues packing up his stuff.
My shoulders slump as I sigh and walk out.
Oh no.