My heart pounding, I approached the professor, feeling stupidly star struck. I felt weird knowing who he was while my other classmates just figured he was a whizz kid who made it big in hedge fund management. Only I knew where he came from and what he had really accomplished in such a short amount of time. I had been following his career ever since I was in high school.

It sounds creepy, but my interest in Alex Rye was personal. He had basically accomplished everything I wanted to do, though I would be thrilled if it took me even triple the time it took him to get to his current place.

“Professor,” I said, tapping him on the back after class had been dismissed.

He whipped around quickly, as if he were surprised to have someone approach him. I instantly felt a little embarrassed and wondered if it was really worth it to introduce myself. He was a big deal in the city. I was not.

“Oh, yes, what can I do for you?” he asked as he jammed a folder into his bag.

“I—I just wanted to introduce myself,” I said. “My name is Rebecca Hunter.”

“Nice to meet you, Ms. Hunter,” he said smoothly. “You can call me Alex. I’m hardly a professor, now.”

I nodded. “I just wanted to say that you’re an inspiration to me. I hope that one day I can do what you’re doing.”

The words came out so quickly, I wasn’t sure that he even registered what I said.

He smiled politely. “Why don’t you check up on me in ten years or so? See if I’m still an inspiration, you know? That’s very nice of you to say. I never knew I had an admirer.”

I blushed, and hoped that he didn’t notice. “I’m from Hazelwood,” I explained quickly. “Actually, we lived just a couple blocks away from your family.”

His eyes lit up a little when I said this. He looked at me as if he were trying to place me. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-two.”

“So we were never in school together?”

I shook my head. “I started high school the year after you graduated. You probably don’t remember me.”

He looked at me harder, straining to figure out who I was. “It’s not a very big town. We probably crossed paths at some point.”

“Actually, I know we did,” I laughed awkwardly. “My brother played on the lacrosse team with you.”

“Really? What’s his name?”

“Max. He’s a few years older than me.”

“Oh, yeah, I remember him.” Alex nodded. “What’s he doing now?”

“He’s in Physical Therapy school,” I replied, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear. “My dad had worked in investments,” I said, trying to steer the conversation back toward the original topic.

“That sounds vaguely familiar,” he said.

Though, I wondered if he was only acting to appease me. I never ran in his circles in our small city. My initial reaction was to feel a little embarrassed that he never noticed me, but then I was truly relieved. I had changed considerably over the years and I didn’t want him to remember the old, geeky girl I used to be.

When I was a kid, my poor mother tried to help me, teaching me how to dress fashionably and style my hair. She even tried to show me a natural way to use makeup, rather than the smears of blue eye shadow I drew on my eyes for special events. While I didn’t listen to her and was often annoyed when she tried to tell me how to groom myself, I realized now that she was doing it out of a place of kindness. Young girls were incredibly mean, and I occasionally suffered the mocking. I was an awkward kid, and no amount of primping would have helped me.

I was a gangly young woman around the time Alex was gearing up to leave our community. I really didn’t grow into my body until I was halfway through high school. My limbs stopped growing at an alarming rate and I gained control over them. I learned to walk without tripping and falling right on my face. I even tried out for sports teams and made a few.

And, eventually, I figured out how to style myself. I swapped too-short jeans for something that showed my new curves a little better, and cut and dyed my hair into an actual style. I began wearing light makeup and took a little more time with my appearance. I still wasn’t spending hours in front of the mirror, but I could apply my foundation and mascara in under five minutes.

My geeky personality went beyond my looks. I had always been a bookworm and spent more time in the library during the summer than the pool. Instead of going to horse camp in the summer with the other girls in my grade, I went to a camp for the gifted and talented and took math classes for fun. Instead of playing soccer and softball on weekends, I wrote weird stories about fantasy lands. When I ask my mom why she allowed me to be such a little weirdo, she said that she just wanted me to be happy, so she supported whatever it was that I wanted to be. I guess I can appreciate that. At least she had my brother to take to his sports events.

And, over time, I became what I would consider ‘normal’. I still wasn’t popular by any means, but at least I wasn’t one of the weird kids. I wasn’t invited to any of the cool kids’ parties, but I also didn’t get busted for alcohol, ruining my chances to get into a good school. In the end, things worked out for me. I’m just glad I could talk to Alex Rye now, and not have him remember me.

“Have you been back recently?” he asked. “It’s been years since I’ve been back there. My mom sold the house a few years ago, so there’s not really any reason for me to go to Hazelwood. I’ve always liked the town, though.”

“I was back just a few months ago,” I replied. “It’s the same as it ever was. I guess I didn’t realize that your parents moved.”

He gave a terse grin. “Well, my parents split up years ago. My dad bought a place up here and a few other places around the country when they split. My mom got remarried a few years ago and sold the place. She didn’t want to live in the same house that her first marriage failed in. I guess I don’t blame her.”

“No, I don’t either,” I said quickly. I guess that piece of gossip hadn’t reached me. I always had memories of riding my little scooter down the street and marveling at their big house. We lived in the same neighborhood, but we were by no means that rich.

“Do you know if kids still hang out at the parking lot beside the baseball fields?” he asked, a fond memory casting a glow over his face.

I blinked. “I didn’t know that was a thing.”

“Yes, you do,” he chuckled. “That was the go-to spot for all sorts of shenanigans. I had my first beer there. I think that’s also where I made out with a girl for the first time.”

“I wouldn’t know,” I said quietly. “I guess I hung out with a different crowd.”

He looked at my face for another moment, a faint smile on his lips. “I haven’t spoken to anyone from Hazelwood in a while. I was just so eager to get out on my own that I never really stopped to look back. Now that I think about it, I had a really good childhood there.”

“Me too,” I replied, though I was only partially sincere. By no means did I have a bad childhood, but I had a feeling that his was much better than mine.

“I really want to talk about home, but I have to go back to work,” he said, checking his watch. He kind of swayed in place, as if he were about to leave, but something was keeping him fixed in place.

“Oh, go ahead,” I said breathlessly. “I didn’t mean to keep you from your work.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “Can we continue this conversation, though?”

“Sure,” I said, completely caught off guard by his interest in speaking with me. “Next class?”

“How about tonight? Can we meet up for a quick drink after work?”

“Really?” I asked.

“Why?” he frowned. “Do you not go out for drinks with your other instructors?”

“I don’t, but I think I can make an exception,” I replied coyly.

“Good. How about eight o’clock at Mercury?”

“Sounds good,” I replied, trying to remain calm and casual. I was completely out of my league, but he didn’t need to know that.

He flashed me a smile then picked up his belongings and left. I remained in the classroom for a few more seconds, completely shocked that our little conversation had gone so well. I was absolutely sure I was going to gush over how much I admired him, only for me to embarrass myself. I mean, I could still totally embarrass myself, but at least he knew my name and wanted to talk to me a little more. Maybe, if I played my cards right, I could use him as a reference when applying for jobs. Maybe, he would allow me to use him as a mentor as I worked through graduate school in the next two years.

I glanced down at my phone. If I wanted to get all of my homework done in time before our meeting, I had to hurry. I practically ran all the way back to my dorm, my mind buzzing. I wasn’t sure how I was going to work on my accounting homework while I couldn’t stop thinking about what I was going to wear. Now that I had an in with Alex Rye, I couldn’t do anything to mess it up. My future was on the line. My classmates would have killed to get some more one-on-one time with the man.

I wasn’t sure how I managed to pull it off, but I was thrilled. The geeky girl from Hazelwood wouldn’t have cared much for getting dolled up and having drinks with a big-shot, but she would have been proud of me for doing whatever I needed to do to follow my dreams. Even then, I one day wanted to make my father proud. While he probably didn’t want to see me with a player like Alex Rye, he was still a respected business man, and he could make or break my future if he really wanted to. I just hoped I could give him a good enough impression that he would decide to help me out. With my brains, and his connections, I would be an unstoppable force.