Chapter Thirty-Eight

Travis

“Oh my god. Did you hear about Francis? This is just crazy. Completely crazy.”

I looked at Vernon, a fellow professor who was known for his terrible sense of style, and shook my head. It was hard to take him seriously sometimes. Today he was wearing a striped black and white jacket over brown trousers and a bright yellow bowtie. I got the impression that he was desperately trying to look cool, but failing miserably. “What about her? I’ve heard a lot of things about her lately.” I didn’t tell him that Francis had asked me out on a date and that I had turned her down. I hadn’t told anyone that. I was sure that wasn’t something she wanted me spreading around.

“She went on a date with Mack! Mack! How the hell is that even possible? The guy is so old. And she is so…”

“Young?” I offered.

“Beautiful,” he said instead.

I tried to hold back the laughter that was threatening to come out. “Oh, she’s always had a thing for older guys. And anyway, Mack is apparently crazy good in bed. So I’m not at all surprised. I’m more surprised that it took this long to happen if I’m to be honest.”

Vernon’s eyes widened. “Are you serious? Mack? Wow, I would never have guessed. And here I was thinking that I might have a shot with her. There goes that idea. I actually came into work today thinking that I was finally going to ask her out. I even dressed up for her. Never in a million years did I ever think that I would be shot down by an old guy in grey.”

I chuckled. “I guess we should never judge a book by its cover hey.”

“Never,” he agreed. “I guess there’s still hope for me then. Maybe girls only find guys attractive when they’re older. The whole silver fox thing and all that. Although, I would never have thought that anyone would look at Mack as a silver fox. I have a whole new respect for the guy. Good for him I guess.”

Vernon was still shaking his head in amazement as he walked off. I considered running after him and telling him that I was only joking, but I changed my mind. I knew that Francis would find the whole thing funny. Thankfully things hadn’t become awkward between the two of us. We’d spoken briefly the next day and laughed about it, and since then we knew that it wasn’t going to get in the way of us being friends. I still couldn’t believe that I had turned her down, but every time I looked at her, I knew I had made the right decision. She was beautiful, but without a spark, there was no point in a relationship. Now that I had been given a taste of love, I knew there was no going back. I might not be with Harper, but I would not settle for anything less.

Today was the first day of the semester. I was glad because it gave me a good chance to get my mind off everything. It was easy to get distracted while trying to write my book, but giving lectures to students meant I wasn’t able to think of anything else. There was too much to do and too much to plan. I’d spent the last few days compiling my notes and I was looking forward to getting back into it.

I made my way to class and smiled at the students that were already gathered. There were about a hundred of them, and they seemed eager. They always were on the first day of a class, but it usually waned as time on. I was going to do my best as always to make the class as exciting and relatable as possible. I waited until it was time to start in case there were any newcomers, and then made my way to the front. I used to get so nervous speaking in front of so many people. That is, until I realized that they didn’t really care.

“Good afternoon, everyone. I hope you all had a great break.”

“Looking good, Mr. Johns,” someone called out and the entire class burst out laughing.

Thankfully I didn’t think they could see me blushing. “Well, thank you. Bonus points to you. Today is the first day of an intensely paced summer session of Poli Sci 101. I’m not going to lie to you; it’s going to be a busy one. We’re going to be jamming in a whole lot of work into these next four weeks. I want everyone excited and motivated. I know that’s not always easy, but I promise you’ll do a lot better if you enjoy it. If you’re not prepared to give it your all, then this is probably not the right class for you, and it’s not too late to leave. I’m not joking; this is going to be a tough few weeks. So if you weren’t sure about it before, and are even less sure of it now, then you’re welcome to leave. I won’t take offense.”

I looked out into the sea of heads and chuckled as about eight or nine students got up to leave. They mouthed their apologies while the rest of the class snickered. I didn’t mind at all. I would rather have less students who were all willing to learn than more students who didn’t care all that much. It was a trick one of my own professors had used. Only he’d been a little harsher and about thirty people had left the class. In the end, it had been a good thing and we’d become a close-knit group because of it. We’d felt a little smug about staying and it had made us rally together and work harder.

“Well, I’m glad the rest of you stayed. You’re the ones that I want here,” I said and smiled. “Let’s begin.”

I spent the rest of the session going through my notes and explaining to them what the class was going to entail. I didn’t want to bombard them with too much on their first day, but I also wanted them to be aware of how much work was in store. It was a very intense class, but I knew that most of them could handle it. I told them so just to bolster their enthusiasm, and they seemed pleased that I had so much faith in them. I remembered a professor that I had once had in class. He had so much faith in me that I was always nervous to let him down. In a way, it was a lot of pressure, but at the same time, it also made me work harder than I probably would’ve without him. As we neared the end of the class, I told them all about the extended reading that they would have to do, but how they would only have two exams at the end. I smiled as I saw everyone scribbling down details on their notebooks.

I saw someone raise their hand in the back row, but from where I was standing, I couldn’t quite make out who it was. Although it wouldn’t really matter. I only knew a handful of my students by name. The really good ones and the really bad ones were always the ones that stood out to me.

“Yes, you at the back. Do you have a question?”

“Yes. I was just wondering if you will be highlighting the material we should be studying for the test. You know, just a little heads up so that we can all do well.”

A small laugh went through the class. I frowned. The voice was familiar. Very familiar. But I couldn’t quite figure out why. I walked a little close and peered out. I let out a small barely audible gasp as I realized who it was. It was Harper. Harper was sitting in the back row. Harper was asking me questions. Harper had been listening to my entire lecture today. If I had known that, I would never have been so calm and so confident. I realized I was staring and that the rest of the class was staring at me. I blinked a few times and gulped. I suddenly had a desperate need for a glass of water.

“Well, if you listen in class and you study well, then, you’ll be fine. Anyway, that’s just taking the easy way out, don’t you think?” I finally said.

“Oh, if there’s one thing I know for certain, it’s that you always make things way more difficult than they have to be.”

I chuckled. I could hear how shocked the other students were. As far as they were concerned, Harper was just another student who had now dared to backtalk her own professor. They seemed to be moving between horrified and amused.

“You’re right about that. I guess you should never just make assumptions about someone though,” I said.

“No. I suppose not.”

“Thankfully, I’m a very forgiving professor.”

“Although, it’s sometimes nice to be told things outright rather than making us all try and figure out ourselves. Assumption is just human nature, especially when you’re led astray. Thankfully for you, I happen to be a very forgiving student.”

I saw a student waving his hand near the front. I forced myself to look away from Harper and turned to look at him instead. I recognized Billy immediately. He was one of the good students. He’d been in one of my other classes and always made more effort than anyone else.

“Yes, Billy?”

“Uh, sir, what’s going on? I feel like we’ve missed something.”

I laughed. “Nothing is going on. Anyway, it’s the end of class. Thank you all for being here today for the first lesson. It’s going to be a great semester and I have a lot of faith in all of you. I hope you enjoyed the lesson today, despite the confusing ending. Please, can everyone read the first chapter of the book tonight and come prepared to discuss it in class tomorrow. Also, I’d like Miss Smith from the back row to please meet me in my office.”

This time I didn’t wait for the students to walk out first. I hurried out in front of all them before any of them could stop to ask me questions. Then I made my way to the office, closed the door, and tried to breathe. Had that really happened? Was Harper really talking to me from the back row or had I completely lost my mind?

I wished I had a mirror. I tried to look at myself on the computer screen, but it wasn’t like I could do anything about my appearance. If I had known Harper was coming, perhaps I would’ve made more of an effort with my looks.

I laughed at how ridiculous I was being. I’d spent the entire time at the ranch talking about how outward appearances and material goods didn’t matter. Now I was scared that I wasn’t wearing the right jacket. It was crazy. But Harper being here was crazy too. I sat down, but I immediately stood up again and paced the room. Then I sat back down and did it all over again. I wondered if she was going to come to the office. But I was sure she would. Why would she have come all this way to see me if she wasn’t going to talk to me? I thought back to the conversation we’d had in class. She didn’t seem too angry at me. The banter had been fun, almost like how it had been with us at the ranch. I leaned against my desk, waiting for her to arrive. I would not be able to get any other work done until I spoke to her. I heard footsteps, and then held my breath as I saw the door handle move.