The Initiation

Chapter Seven

Professor White stared at the guy standing in the doorway to his classroom for a moment before asking, “Can I help you?”

 The guy stood up from the doorway he’d been leaning against and said, “Only if you’re Professor White, and this is the Myth and Folklore class.”

“It is,” Professor White said, his eyes narrowed.

 “Then, I’m in the right place,” the guy said, walking to the room and looking around at the students sitting in the seats. 

 His eyes met mine, and a slow grin spread across his face. He walked toward the empty seat next to me, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of him.

 His light green eyes sparkled as he walked closer, and the grin never left his face.

 “Is this seat taken?” he asked me, pointing to the empty chair.

 I shook my head and tried to talk.

 “N-no,” I stammered, shaking my head. 

 Then I felt my face heat as I flushed from embarrassment and tore my gaze away from him to look at Professor White. 

 I was taken aback by the look of hatred on the professor’s face as he looked at the new guy. What was that about? 

 “What did I miss?” the new guy asked, leaning toward me. 

 “We’ve already been assigned a paper,” I told him, then glanced again at the professor. “You’ll want to ask for the rest.”

 “But I’d rather talk to you than to him,” he said, leaning back and stretching his legs out in front of him.

 My gaze was drawn to his denim-clad legs. His jeans clung to his muscular thighs, and I swallowed hard before I dragged my eyes away.

 He grinned again as he watched me. 

Turning my gaze back to Professor White, I tried to ignore the guy sitting next to me. I could feel the guy staring at me and squirmed in my seat. 

 “Excuse me,” Professor White said, walking over to the guy. “Who are you, and are you sure you’re in the right class?”

 I turned to look at him. 

 “Oh, I’m sure,” he said, grinning at me. 

 Feeling my face heat, I turned away.

 “And your name?” 

 “It’s Gavin,” he said, and I could see he was still looking at me. “Gavin Montrose.”

 Professor White stared at him for a moment longer before he went back to his desk to check his papers.

 Looking up at Gavin again, he nodded and said, “I see you just registered for this class. Word of warning, though, I don’t tolerate tardiness. Be on time tomorrow.”

 Gavin saluted him with a cocky grin.

 Professor White cleared his throat and said, “Now, where were we before we were interrupted? Oh, yes, myths from around the globe.”

 For the rest of the class, I was acutely aware of Gavin’s presence beside me. I tried to pay attention to Professor White, but I couldn’t focus on him. 

 After class, Gavin was the first one out of his seat, and he headed for the door. 

 I had bent over to pick up my backpack when the class ended, and when I sat back up, I noticed a folded piece of paper on my desk. 

 Looking around to see if I could tell who had left it on my desk, I saw no one acting strange and avoiding my eyes. Frowning, I looked back down at the note. 

 I picked it up and shoved it into my book without opening it. Then, putting the book into my backpack, I stood up. 

 “Suzie? Do you have a minute?” 

 I turned to see Professor White looking at me, a questioning look on his face. I walked over to his desk. 

 “What’s up, Professor White?” I asked, curious as to why he’d held me after class.

 “I just wanted to make sure Gavin Montrose hadn’t disturbed you during class today,” he said, concern on his face.

 I shook my head and said, “He didn’t bother me at all. In fact, I barely noticed he was there.”

 I hoped he couldn’t tell I was lying to him. 

 Professor White threw his head back and laughed. 

 “What’s so funny?” I asked, frowning. 

 “I’m sorry, Suzie,” he said, sobering. “Just the thought of a woman, any woman, ignoring a man like Gavin Montrose made me chuckle.”

 I must have looked upset because he hurried to add, “Unless you don’t like men, that is.”

 “Professor White, while I appreciate your concern, whether or not I like men isn’t any of your business,” I told him, a frosty tone to my voice. 

 He stood so fast that his chair hit the wall behind his desk. 

 Holding out his hands in front of him, he said, “I truly do apologize. I stepped out of line. I was just concerned that he was interrupting your studies as you looked uncomfortable during class.”

 I stared at him for a moment before sighing and said, “I appreciate your concern, Professor White, but I was fine during class.”

 He looked relieved, then looked at me and asked, “How is your essay coming along? Did you need any help with it?”

 I shook my head and said, “It’s coming along great. I’m learning more than I thought possible on the subject of werewolves.”

 He smiled at me and nodded, saying, “I bet your research has been eye-opening.”

 “That it has,” I told him, then asked, “Is there anything else?”

 He shook his head and said, “Again, I’m sorry for the intrusion on your personal life. That won’t happen again.”

 I nodded but said nothing. 

 Turning, I left the room but felt his eyes on me the entire way out. 

 I made my way to my next class, feeling uncomfortable with what had just occurred. It stayed with me throughout the day, which made it harder to pay attention to my classes. 

 I was never so glad to see the end of the day come and rushed to my room to fling myself on my bed. 

 Veronica found me spread-eagle on the bed a few minutes later when she came into the room. 

 “Are you okay?” she asked, hesitating in the doorway.

 I lifted my head from the bed to look at her, then put it back down without a word.

 She came over and sat down beside me. 

 “What happened?” she asked. 

 “There’s a new guy in my Folklore class,” I told her, covering my eyes with my arm. 

 “And?” Veronica asked when I didn’t elaborate.

 “And he’s hot!” I moaned. “I could barely concentrate on class, and you know how much of a distraction Professor White is! This guy plus Professor White is just too much!”

 “Oh, man!” Veronica said. “I can only imagine what you’re going through.”

 I lifted my arm from my eyes enough so I could peer up at her.

 “Is that sarcasm I hear in your voice?”

 Veronica smiled at me and said, “You’ve got this. I know this new guy is overwhelming, but you can ignore him in class. Maybe after, you can get to know him, and he won’t be so distracting.”

 I sat up and said, “You know, that’s not such a bad idea.”

 “Don’t sound so surprised,” she said, pretending to be insulted. “I do get them sometimes.”

 I thought for a moment, then added, “Professor White was acting really strange today, too.”

 “How so?” Veronica asked. 

 “He kept me after class to ask if Gavin, the new guy, was bothering me,” I told her, my forehead wrinkled in confusion. 

 Veronica’s face lit up, and she said, “Ooh! Maybe he wanted to protect you. You know, because he likes you.” 

 I shook my head while I chuckled at Veronica. 

 “Yeah, because a hot teacher isn’t already taken,” I said.

 “Have you ever seen him with a date around town?” Veronica asked. “I know I haven’t.”

 I shook my head and said, “Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen him out with anyone. As far as I know, he stays in his house all weekend.”

 She rubbed her hand over her chin and narrowed her eyes. 

 “Very mysterious, don’t you think?” she asked. “A hot and, as far as we know, single young professor staying home every weekend? I don’t think he has that many papers to grade.”

 Grinning at her, I said, “Detective Veronica, on the case.”

 She grinned back at me and said, “Hey, inquiring minds want to know. Plus, if he’s single, you can make a move on him.”

 Sitting straight up, I said, “I can’t make a move on my professor! He’s my professor, for goodness’ sake! That goes against school policy!”

 Veronica waved her hand as if she was waving away my protests.

 “That only matters if you get caught,” she said. 

 I stared at her with wide eyes for a moment before asking, “Who are you, and what have you done with my friend?”

 “You’re going to let a few school rules dictate how your heart feels?” she asked.

 “Well, if I want to stay in school and get an education, I don’t really have a choice, now do I?” 

 She sighed and shook her head. 

 “Some romantic you are,” she muttered. 

 Laughing, I got off of the bed and wrapped her in a hug.

 “More like a realist,” I told her. 

 She hugged me back. 

 Just then, my stomach growled. She pulled back and looked down. 

 “Seems like someone’s hungry,” she said, grinning at me.

 I nodded and said, “I haven’t had dinner yet. Are you hungry?”

 Shaking her head, she told me, “Not yet. I grabbed a bite to eat before I came up since I’ve to study for that big Econ test tomorrow.”

 Frowning, I said, “Then it looks like I eat alone tonight.”

 “Be careful,” she said, frowning back. “There haven’t been any attacks since Debbie, but you can’t be too careful these days.”

 Nodding, I grabbed my jacket, purse, and a book to read while eating and headed out of the dorm. 

 I walked toward the cafeteria, then changed my mind. I didn’t feel like being around a bunch of rowdy college students right then, so I headed off campus toward a small cafe down the road. 

 The walk was uneventful, and I opened the door to the smells of fried food and coffee. My stomach clenched at the smell, causing what felt like a cramp. I almost doubled over in pain but managed to stay upright and walked inside. 

 Sitting at a booth by the window, I looked at the menu, my mouth salivating over the choices.

 When the server came by, I almost jumped at his sudden appearance.

 “I’m so sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to startle you! I thought you had seen me coming up to you.”

 Laughing, I shook my head as I closed the menu and said, “I was just so engrossed in the options that I wasn’t paying attention to anything else.” 

 He chuckled and said, “Believe me, the food here is so good, I sometimes forget what I’m doing when I see it.”

 Grinning up at him, I ordered my food. 

 “I’ll take the French dip, rare, with fries on the side, and to drink, I’ll take a diet soda.”

 He wrote my order on his notepad, then nodded and said, “I’ll be back with that asap.”

 “Thanks,” I told him. 

 After he left, I took out my book and started reading. The smells coming from around me were too distracting, and my stomach wouldn’t stop growling. This caused me to have problems concentrating since all I could think about was food. I was starving!

 When the server finally brought me my food, I could only stare at the plate as he set it down in front of me. My mouth was watering so much that I could barely thank him without drooling. 

 I was never so thankful as when he walked away so I could tear into my sandwich. I closed my eyes as the taste of the beef hit my tongue. I’d never tasted anything so good!

 “Looks like you’re enjoying that sandwich.”