Chapter Text
I wake up before my alarm in a sweat, yesterday was the last day of summer but the heat persists into the night. I reach for my phone to check the time. It's 4:30 am and my alarm is set for 6 am, so I put my phone down and close my eyes hoping to get back to sleep.
My mind has other plans, I can't stop thinking. Today is the start of a new term with a newly hired professor, he was instated last minute as the previous professor was fired unexpectedly. I don't know the exact details, but the word on campus is that he had an inappropriate relationship with a student.
*beep*
*beep*
*beep*
The alarm breaks my train of thought, I reach for my phone to turn it off. Since there is no point in me getting sleep now, I quickly check social media. Tara posted a selfie last night, the caption reads 'Missing summer already.' I'm about to comment 'me too' when I hear Caleb's voice outside my door.
"You're up already pipsqueak?" He asks.
"Yea, how'd you know?" I ask as I peel myself out of bed.
"Usually your alarm goes off for 10 minutes before you hit snooze..." Caleb pauses. "Did you sleep okay?"
"No..." I say with a hint of irritation in my voice. "I woke up at 4:30 and couldn't fall back asleep." I start looking in my closet for something to wear. I'm too distracted with my wardrobe to hear Caleb open my door and enter the room.
"Need help?" Caleb asks with a playful tone.
"Caleb!" I furrow my brows at him. "You need to knock before you come in, what if I was naked!" His eyes widen slightly and something intense flickers in his gaze, something I've never seen in his eyes before... I place my hands on his shoulders and push him back towards my door.
"I-I just wanted to let you know breakfast is ready." For a moment, Caleb sounds embarrassed but he regains his composure before I can mention it.
"You didn't have to come into my room to tell me that," I say as I force him into the hallway. "I'm going to shower then I'll come eat." I close the door.
***
Tara and I have been carpooling to campus this term since Caleb's class schedule conflicts with mine, Caleb and I had gone to school together for as long as I've been in school, but this term his classes start later and go longer. He offered to drop me off in the mornings but then Tara offered to drive me since she lives nearby, it also helps that we have the same classes.
I get a text from Tara, it's 7:30 and she's letting me know she's waiting outside.
"Tara's here, I'm leaving now!" I yell out as I awkwardly put my running shoes on with one hand, my heavy bag in the other. Caleb hurries to the foyer to see me off, he grabs my bag out of my hand as I lose my balance.
"At least put your bag down so you don't fall over pipsqueak," Caleb says. He quietly observes me as I shove my foot into my shoe, I catch his gaze as I look up and notice his sulky expression. "Have a good day!" He smiles at me as he hands me my bag, masking his feelings and I smile back.
"Thanks," I open the front door and look back at him, there's something in his eyes again... "I'll be back in time for dinner!" I say cheerfully, hoping to ease Caleb's mind. I close the front door and jog to Tara's car.
"You won't believe what I found out," Tara begins as I hop into the passenger seat.
"What?" I ask excitedly. Tara is a people person, and people love to tell her things they shouldn't.
"The new professor, he's our age." She takes her eyes off the road for a brief moment to see my shocked expression.
"How's that possible? We're only 25... can you even become a professor that young?" I ask.
"Well I don't know for sure..." She hesitates. "Everyone I talked to gave me a different number, he's around 25... which is our age!" Tara says confidently. I look at her, her eyes are focused on the road but she's clearly excited about the new professor.
"Don't get any ideas Tara, we don't want to lose another professor to flirting." I laugh. We continue to joke about the last professor as we near the college.
The car time display's 7:45 now, our first class of the semester starts in 15 minutes. I take a look at our schedule as Tara puts the car in park, my eyes widen.
Tara looks at me raising an eyebrow, "What's up?" She questions.
I look at her knowingly and smile. "Our first class is calculus."