13

Iris waited for me in front of Professor Garcia's classroom, standing out the way so that other students can walk inside.

Iris sent me a cheeky grin as our eyes met. I tried to ignore her, walking straight into the class as she followed behind me, but I failed miserably and tried holding back a smile.

She's been texting me non-stop yesterday, wanting to hear about how it went with professor. I told her I'd tell her when I see her again.

As we walk inside, I furrow my eyebrows, stopping in front of professor's desk.

Right about now, she'd look up from her laptop and paperwork to greet and ask about my day so far.

"Good morning, professor." I said, hesitantly.

She looks up to me for a split second before lowering her head again,

"Morning." She said, her voice cold.

Iris sent me a glance, confusion written over both our faces. I let it slide and continue walking until we found open seats at the middle row.

"I'm guessing it didn't go so well?" Iris asked, sitting down.

"No, it did-- it went really well. We ordered pizza and watched a movie." I sigh, shaking my head, "She's a busy woman, I guess."

"She's not too 'busy' to greet."

I shrug getting out my books. "Maybe something happened after I went home."

"You went home?" She seems surprised, "How'd that go?"

That reminds me. "Oh girl, how I have news for you!" I said, my eyes wide.

"Give it to me."

"So the woman my dad's seeing is Adeline, right? They've been talking for about 4 weeks now, and--"

Before I could continue talking, out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone walking over to us. My eyes land on Elijah, smiling down at me as he slithered his way in between the chairs and desks to sit next to me on my other side.

To be completely honest, I forgot about him.

"Hey there." He smiled, on his way to sit down next to me. He grabbed the chair, pulling it out as he places his bags down.

From up front, we heard heels clicking against the wooden floor. I only sent him a smile before turning to the front of the class where Daniela was now standing. Her eyes were beaming straight at me before she looked at Elijah.

"Mr. Grundling, that's not your seat." She rasped, folding her arms.

Me, Iris and Elijah frown. "But, we can sit anywhere we want, professor?" Elijah scoffed mockingly.

Iris mumbled, leaning into my side, "Since when do we have assigned seats?"

"Since I said so." Professor fired back, causing a shiver down our spines and for the others to look at us. "Would you like to move as well, Miss Woods?"

I frown.

Iris gulped, shaking her head, "No, professor."

My lips parted slightly, a bit taken aback by the way she's snapping randomly.

She looked back at Elijah with flames in her eyes. "Right, Mr. Grundling. Back of the class. Now."

Elijah turned around, grabbing his bags again. Professor and I lock eyes. My eyebrows furrow, not sure how I should feel about this. The way her eyes stared at me was so intimidating; it was just blank and serious.

All I know is that she doesn't have the right to one day take me to her home and next day be bitchy.

Quickly, I reach out to grab on Elijah's jacket before he could walk away.

Intrigued, professor raised her one eyebrow, and I mimicked her look.

"No, you stay." I mutter out the side of my mouth to him.

Daniela, tilting her head, spoke in a low voice as if she was challenging me. "Do you want to get kicked out my class?"

Bitch...

My eyes widen and I let go of him. Before things could escalate, he walks to the back of the class.

"No." I mumble.

"No, who?"

"No, professor." My cheeks turn red.

"Good. Now that that's sorted," She averts her eyes to the rest of the class, "Let's carry on..."

I don't think my cheeks went down to its normal color after that moment. I felt like a kid being scolded by their mother-- I'm a dang grown woman.

It's my third year for fuck sakes, and I've never been called out like that in front of a class.

I've never been so humiliated.

After class, I just ignored professor. And it looked like she tried doing that too. In the hallways I would watch her eyes darting to me, and I would always catch her before she walked away.

Right now, it was shift hours for Iris and me-- the coffee shop looks amazing after the revamp.

"Woah, what did the mop ever do to you?" Iris suddenly spoke up.

I freeze, realizing I've been mopping the floor aggressively.

I take a deep breath in, and lean on the end of the mop with my hands.

"I just can't believe Daniela would talk to me like that, and why did she tell Elijah off? Everyone was sitting where they usually were. Assigned seats my ass."

"Daniela as in, Professor Garcia?"

"Uh, yeah, sorry. Professor Garcia. It's not fair. It's like she tried getting you guys away from me."

She walks towards me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "You know what, fuck her. Fuck what I ever told you about her. Fuck her feelings, and fuck her fucking perfect fucking face... her perfect, perfect...fa--"

"Iris!"

She snaps back into reality, "Right!"

I sigh, causing Iris to sigh too. Her voice became softer, "You know how she is. Professor Garcia is just another stone-cold ass bitch."

Suddenly, the door opening caught our attention as it made a 'ding' noise. My jaw clenches as I lock eyes with those green ones I always find looking at me during class.

Normally I'd look back, but I quickly averted my eyes to the floor again and start mopping.

"Speaking of the devil." Iris muttered, walking away to go mop at the corner.

I look up to professor again, realizing she's just standing there.

"We're closed." I muttered.

Her jaw was slightly clenched, tensed up, "I'm not here to order coffee."

I stare at her for a little longer before continuing mopping. "Well, then I can't help you with anything else."

"Actually, you can."

"I'm busy, professor."

"We're outside campus. It's Daniela."

I look up to her and scoff, "Oh, so now I get to call you by your name like we're friends?"

Her eyebrows narrow down as she looks at me, folding her arms over her chest.

She snickered, "Is this about me doing my job?" She asked, sounding like she's not in the mood for anything, "If that's the case, I'm sorry for telling you off when you didn't listen to me. What was I supposed to do-- put you and Elijah in front, all alone, so that you can just chit-chat and giggle all lesson? I'm your professor, Victoria, not your goddam friend."

My jaw fell.

How can she be like this?

"Exactly, yes, yes!" I snickered, "You're my fucking professor! There's no reason for you to give me rides around the city; for you to ask me about my day, for me calling you by your name, for you feeling sympathy for me, and for letting me sleep at your house! The one second it feels like you care about me, but the other you go back to being a... a professor!"

I could tell Iris was looking at us from afar.

She rolled her eyes. "Don't you begin with the 'you don't care' bullshit, because as a professor, we care for our students."

I stayed quiet.

"That's what a professor is-- we're strict, and scary, and like it or not, you play by our rules."

I shake my head, "I'm not some child that needs my professor to take care of me."

She scoffed. "Yet, you act like one."

Like she haven't said that too me before.

Tch.

My eyebrows narrow down and I step towards her. "You can't treat me like a fucking ten-year-old in class, but like your own daughter outside university!"

She scoffed, her voice raising, "When did I ever treat you as my kid? You're not my daughter, and I'm not your mom."

I step closer to her again, feeling my blood starting to boil. At the corner of my eye, I spot Iris waving her hands up in the air to grab my attention.

I looked Daniela straight in the eyes, tilting my head up to see her. Though, I also looked at Iris. She was signaling me to stop.

I know what I'm doing is childish, just like professor said I am-- a child. I don't even know if what I've been saying makes sense. I'm just letting everything flow out that I've been holding in. The emotions and pressure that I've been collecting these past few days just all collided at once.

"Then what are we?" I asked.

What the hell did I just say.

She furrowed her eyebrows for a split second, "I'm a professor. You're a student." She said, a bit more strict like I finally found a sensitive spot.

My eyes flick to her right eye to her left, back and forth.

"The thing is, professor... I want your help, and I hate it. I hate the fact that you remind me of my mom... I feel safe around you. And the only place I ever felt truly safe at, was with my mother."

The truth comes out.

Iris stopped waving her hands around and just stood there. Professor on the other hand was in shock-- eyebrows furrowed, lips parted, jaw clenched. The both of them taken aback. The second professor took a deep breath in while looking away, I knew I messed up.

She said nothing, stared at me before walking away.

The air was filled with silence after she walked out. This time, I just stood there and stared at the glass framed walls.

I truly don't know how to feel. I feel like I just got rejected in a million different ways. Not in a 'I want to date you and I'm a lesbian' way, but in a, 'you make me feel safe, let's be friends' way.

Though, there's also a million different reasons why we can't be friends. First of all, it's weird. A student and a teacher. The student have parent issues and the teacher literally gives 'mommy,' like Iris will say.

Why what I said made her run away, I don't know. Why does she one second be all nice, then the other second harsh, I don't know. How does she make me feel? I don't know.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it lightly that made me jump back into reality. I turn around to Iris as she pulls her hand away.

"I have no idea what just happened, but damn." She said quietly, "You really feel that way about her?"

I look at her softly, all of the sudden tears pricked at the corner of my eyes.

"I miss her." My voice break, "I miss my mom."

My mind doesn't know where to be anymore. There's so many things I'm thinking of in the same time, and I just can't keep up with it anymore.