The Freshman

I took my first steps onto the school grounds as an official College student. To be expected I was extremely nervous, but then who could blame me? I did however, come from a family of fuck-ups.

My mom got knocked up with my sister when she was sixteen and made the same mistake of ‘forgetting’ to use a condom twice. She was then blessed with me. So she was clearly a fuck-up by having children and dropping out of high school. Instead she’d rather be on her drunk ass all day, continuing to be a waste of space. Phht, I never even met my father. Great, now I felt like I was referring to Star Wars… I hated Star Wars.

Dianne, my sister, was a fuck-up because she died of a drug overdose. One night while I was out with the ex-boyfriend, she decided to leave a suicide note explaining just how tired she was. So she took all twenty of my mom’s sleeping pills. I understood though. She was tired of being run down by good old mom, tired of being cut up for being ugly at school; just tired of being alone. I was all that she had and I too let her down on the night that she needed me the most.

Don’t get me wrong. My sister fucked up, but I loved her and would always keep her close to my heart. She was always beautiful to me.

I shook off the jitters and bravely continued through campus to room A403.

* * *

The room was larger than I imagined. It was nothing like a high school classroom with the white walls, a black board and chairs that made your ass go numb. This was simply nice. The walls were painted a rain forest green and there was a fantastic view of the campus through the windows.

I took a seat on a computer chair and spun myself once before placing my items onto the desk. I glanced at the clock and realized I was an hour early. That was when the professor walked in with a hand full of papers. In a hurry, he stumbled and dropped the papers onto the floor.

“Shit,” he said under his breath.

“Let me help you with that.” I rushed over, knelt down and began gathering up papers.

“Thanks.”

“Not a problem,” I replied and we both awkwardly glanced at one another at the same time. He was handsome and certainly looked too young to be a College Professor. His eyes were deep blue and his skin looked so smooth. Talk about a perfect complexion. He had stubble; maybe hadn’t shaved in a few days.

My heart sank and I could feel my cheeks heating up, “Sorry.”

He smirked and put a hand out, “Aaron Pope, and you are?”

“Genevieve Stone.” When I shook his hand it was like an electrical shock shot through my arm. It was almost crazy how attracted I was to this man. “How old are you anyway? You look like you should be a student.”

“Yeah I get that a lot. I’m twenty-six. Graduated early.” He went to his desk and tossed the piled mess of papers into a drawer.

“Impressive.” I was officially embarrassed. An attractive, off limits man comes into the room and I was suddenly at a loss of words. Pathetic.

I took the walk of shame to my seat and waited the forty-five minutes until class started. To my relief, Aaron Pope didn’t say another word and fellow classmates came charging into the room.

The class he taught was Mythology and damn did he teach it well. There was a passion in his voice as he spoke of the Gods in Greek mythology. His movements and his gestures were graceful, but when he stared into the eyes of his audience, I could see a tinge of disappointment. Disappointment that not everyone shared his passion.

* * * *

“Wow Genevieve, isn’t Professor Pope dreamy?” Clarissa, a girl I had met in his class said with a wide smile.

“He’s alright,” I didn’t want to admit a thing to someone I hardly knew.

“Oh common Gen! He’s absolutely gorgeous,” she said as we continued through the halls, passing other students, “Definitely my favourite class. Do you think he’d date a student?”

“Clarissa! No he would not!” I was baffled, “That could jeopardize his career and from what I can see he likes what he does. I’m sure he even worked hard to become a College teacher.”

“Yeah you’re right. But common, he’s must be what? Twenty-one?”

“Twenty-six actually.”

Her eyes lit up, “Is there something you’re no telling me.” She nudged at my arm.

“No Clarissa…we just talked for a bit before class. It was nothing more than a few sentences.”

“Genevieve, you sly dog. You want him,” she giggled.

Clarissa was a very nice girl with an extremely bubbly personality. I didn’t mind her. If she had the chance, she would have talked to me the entire class, hadn’t it been for trying to impress Aaron. She had beautiful blond curls and large green eyes. By her taste in frilled clothing, I could guess she was an anime fan.

“So where are you living anyway? Are you on campus? I’m on campus, but I already can’t stand my roommate!” Clarissa was definitely a talker.

“I actually live off campus. In an apartment a few blocks down.”

“That sounds great! Hey! Do you think we could be friends? We can have a slumber party,” she smiled wide.

I could only sigh, “Actually, it would be great to have a friend.”

She giggled and bounced up and down, “Oh I’m so glad! Do you want to come out with me and a few people for a beer tonight?”

I tried to think better of it. I didn’t drink due to my poor family history of alcoholism. I did really want to meet a few friends though. I didn’t have many in my hometown. Hell, I had a horrible reputation back at home due to the death of my sister. Everyone in town knew I was fucking my ex while Dianne was committing suicide. Shit.

“Yeah I’ll come out. But just so you know, I don’t drink.” I explained.

“Oh don’t you worry. I understand. A few of my buddies that you’ll meet tonight don’t drink either. They just hang out at the bar for the pool tables and dollar coke nights,” She wrapped her arm around my shoulders and said, “We’ll have great fun!”