Professor Presley

Chapter One (Revised)

Senior year. I sigh happily as my alarm rouses me from bed, three hours before I had to be to class. Sure, it was early, but I wanted to make sure I looked phenomenal for my first day.

I lived off campus by myself, preferring solitude over noisy roommates. Don't get me wrong, I let friends stay whenever they wanted, which happened more than I would like to admit, but the rest of the time I was free.

After a hot shower, I towel dry my black hair a bit, preferring to let it dry naturally into perfect ringlets. I head to the closet, wrapped in a fluffy towel, and pick out my outfit for the day. I decide on a pair of black skinny jeans, a tight grey top that showed a little cleavage, and a pair of black heels. Most women hated to wear heels all day, but I found they didn't bother my feet that much. I dress and head into the bathroom to fix my makeup.

Once I'm finished, I apply a soft pink lip stain, then make my way downstairs. I head into the kitchen and start a cup of coffee in my personal brewer. The day couldn't truly begin until I've had my coffee. I sink down at the island and sip at the steaming mug of bliss.

I grab my bag and stuff my books for the day into it. I wasn't expecting to learn much today, since I only had one class, but I was excited nonetheless. Conversations in History was going to be a good class, I could feel it. I head out to my car and set my bag in the passenger seat just before hopping in and driving towards the campus. I check my schedule quickly after parking and make my way to the correct lecture hall. I step into the room and make my way down towards the front, preferring to sit there over other seats as it gave me a better advantage to hear the professor over the other students. I could be a real teacher's pet at times.

I smile as Professor Mann walks in and makes his way to his desk. He was in his fifties, but I still thought he was attractive, not to mention the fact that he was a much better teacher than any of the other professors on the campus. Some professors had at least Masters degrees in their respective fields, but most had doctorates. It seemed most, besides Professor Mann, were so intelligent but had no idea how to project that intelligence into teaching. Professor Mann was fortunate enough to be able to translate that intelligence into learnable material.

"Good morning everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic summer break," his deep voice bellows over the lecture hall, silencing everyone as they turn to listen. "If you happen to be standing, please feel free to grab a seat, I promise it won't bite." Once everyone is seated, he makes his way around the room and hands each student a syllabi. He introduces himself to new faces and gives a warm greeting to those he remembers. He makes his way back to the front of the room and leans against his desk. He lifts the blue packet and holds it out in front of him, "Since most of you are seniors, this class will be taken more seriously than most. Grading will be harder, exams and papers will count for more." He smiles at the room, "However, I suspect each of you will do just fine in here."

******

An hour later, I'm leaving class with a smile on my face. After we discussed the syllabus, we simply chatted with Professor Mann and asked any questions we had for him. He assigned us some reading to be done before the next class, then sent us on our way.

I grin from ear to ear when I see my best friend, Sarah, across the quad. I race over and nearly tackle her, "Hey girl! I missed you!" Growing up we always lived right next door to one another, but her parents moved to a completely different town a few years ago. We used to only see one another during school breaks and on summer vacation. Now that we went to the same college, we saw each other every day during the semester. During breaks, Sarah went home to stay with her parents, so we only saw one another over video call then.

"Ris!" Sarah exclaims, hugging back, "How was your first class?"

I smile, "It was great! I have Professor Mann on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays; I couldn't be happier!"