Teacher Student Story 1

Part 1

"Shit."

Isabella sat up straight in her bed, her dorm room dimly lit by a thin slit of light shining through her curtains. Isabella glanced at her alarm clock.

8:22

"I'm so late. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck..." Isabella jumped about of bed, quickly sliding on her pants that were still sitting in a pile from the night before.

With a quick sniff of her bra, and a brief rub of deodorant on each armpit, Isabella grabbed her backpack and raced out the door.

As she approached the classroom door, Isabella popped a piece of gum in her mouth, realizing she had left in such a hurry that she forgot to brush her teeth!

As she opened the door, she braced herself for ridicule, laughter, or any other cruelties that could lie behind this door.

Silence

Isabella briskly walked to her seat, realizing she had interrupted quiet reading time. She sat down with a sigh, and quietly retrieved her books from her backpack.

"Well Isabella, I'm happy you decided to join us today. Trouble sleeping? You sleep enough in my class that I would expect you to not need any at night time."

Isabella slowly looked up and made eye contact with the teacher. Professor Christian Daniels was a tall man, around 6'2 with a stocky build, clearly hiding plenty of strength under his button down and cardigan.

He had a wry, sarcastic smile, and laughed to himself. "I'm just teasing you. You didn't miss anything important, Miss Evans."

"Th- th- thank you, sir," Isabella stuttered.

After hearing "sir," Professor Daniels smiled again, this time with pleasure, but he quickly wiped any emotion off of his face and glanced back down at his book.

After what seemed like an eternity, class finally ended. As Isabella walked towards the door, Professor Daniels called for her.

"Miss Evans, would you come here for a sec?" Isabella nervously walked to his desk.

"I know I joked about it when you came in, but in all seriousness, are you sleeping well?" Isabella found herself frozen, only now realizing just how crystal blue his eyes were.

"Yes sir, I've had a lot going on with classes and I just.... haven't been able to sleep." The professor sat back in his chair and stroked his beard. The grey hairs standing out in his seat of dark curls.

"I understand. I often have insomnia as well and find myself up late at night. I don't mean to overstep, but if you ever find yourself unable to sleep and are in need of someone to talk to, I've found it helps me to talk to someone on the phone and put into words all the thoughts racing through my head. If you'd like I can give you my cellphone number." Professor Daniels smiled calmly, with a tinge of nervousness, clearly hoping he hadn't overstepped.

"Oh yes, that... that'd be wonderful," Isabella stammered, unsure of what was happening.

"Alright, here. I'll write down my cell for you to call if you ever need to just talk."

Isabella grabbed the paper out of the professor's hand and thanked him again, before exiting the room. She let out a shrill squeak, clinging to the scrap of paper in her hand. Isabella had a massive crush on her professor since the first day of class, but was convinced he barely knew her name, let alone would ever speak to her.

"Should I call him tonight?" Isabella wondered to herself.

With another squeal, Isabella rushed off to her next class.