It Started With a Whisper

"Hey babe." Brandon walked through the front door of my apartment and kissed the top of my head. I smiled lightly, greeting him before turning back to the paper I was typing for Psychology that was due next week. I wasn't the type of person that liked to do things last minute.

"What are you up to?"

"Psychology paper." I mumbled, my fingers flying furiously over the keys. Brandon turned the TV on, and I wanted to say something to him, but I didn't want to start an argument. I just tried my best to concentrate on my homework. I had to leave in an hour to go meet Mr. Franco so we could head over to the medical center, and I wanted to get as much homework done as I possibly could.

"Who's your professor?" Brandon asked, flipping through the channels. The click of the remote was starting to annoy me, and I bit my bottom lip to keep from cursing.

"Mr. Franco," I said, finishing off my fifth page.

"Really? He any good?" I rolled my eyes. It's not like Brandon actually cared about if my professor was good or not, so I didn't understand why he was asking questions.

"Yeah. He's pretty cool," I muttered, trying to figure out an introduction to my next paragraph.

"The girls around campus talk about him a lot. Say he's really attractive." I tensed a little, though I wasn't sure why. Anyone that looked at Mr. Franco could tell that he was attractive. There was no denying it or lying about it.

"That's wonderful." My fingers were moving over the keys once again as the words flowed from my head onto my MacBook.

"Do you think he's attractive?" One of the things I hated about Brandon was that he was insecure. He wasn't my boyfriend by any means. We were hanging out, but he always got defensive if he saw me talking to another guy or he caught a guy staring at me.

"I'm not here to see if my professors are attractive, Brandon. I'm here to get my degree and hopefully become an established doctor. My main concern is getting through school so I can save lives, not some professor that I'm only going to have for a semester." I could feel him looking at me, and I tensed again. Of course, I just lied through my teeth. I had noticed that Mr. Franco was good looking. Did I want to tell Brandon that? No because he'd make a big deal out of it, and his drama was something I didn't need right now. I had better things to worry about than stroking his ego.

"I'm sorry," He mumbled, pressing his lips to my shoulder. I really didn't know what was wrong with him. I had never done anything to make him believe that I was sleeping with other people, but he always seemed to doubt me. It was one of the most frustrating things in the world, but every time I try to break things off, he does some wildly amazing gesture that makes me remember why I liked him in the first place. When he wasn't being a whiny brat, he was actually a lot of fun.

"Don't worry about it." I kissed his lips quickly, finishing off my sentence before closing my laptop. I stood from the couch, leaving my MacBook on the coffee table.

"Where are you going?" He asked, following me into my room. I pulled out the outfit I had picked last night and set it on my bed, grabbing my towel.

"I have to go see Mr. Franco about possibly volunteering in the medical center," I said, walking into the bathroom.

"How long are you going to be gone?" I shrugged because I didn't know the answer to that question. I didn't know if Mr. Franco's friend would be busy when we got there or if the visit would fly by. I was pretty sure I would be interviewed, and that would probably take a bit of time.

"I'm not sure." I turned on the shower and pulled the rubber band out of my hair. I stepped under the warm spray, washing my body and hair quickly. I blow dried my hair and plugged in my flat iron. I got dressed while waiting for the straightener to heat up. I ran the metal plate over my hair until it was completely straight and swiped on some mascara and chapstick.

"Can we do something when you get back?" Brandon asked as I moved around my room, grabbing things I needed and shoving them into my purse. I knew exactly what he was talking about, and I wasn't really in the mood.

"We'll see," I mumbled, kissing his cheek before walking down to my car. I drove to school and parked, making my way towards Mr. Franco's classroom. For some reason, I was nervous. My hands were shaking, and I could feel my palms sweating. I entered the classroom, finding it empty. I was about to go back home when I remembered his office. I made my way across the room, knocking on the closed door.

"Come in." I heard his voice from the other side, and my heart started beating faster. I wiped my hands on my pants before I grabbed the brass doorknob. I opened it and poked my head inside. Mr. Franco was sitting at his desk, grading what I assumed were quizzes from the other classes.

"Hi, Mr. Franco," I said. He looked up, smiling brightly at me. I sucked in a breath and smiled back, fully stepping into the office.

"Hey Aria. I told you. When we're alone, you can call me Dave. You're here early. Is something wrong?" I pulled my phone out of my purse, looking at the time. Instead of it being three like I thought it was, it was two. I cursed to myself.

"The clocks in my apartment must be wrong. I'm sorry. I can come back in an hour if you want." I said, stepping back towards the door.

"No, it's fine. You're welcome to stay." He motioned to the chair across from him, and I walked over hesitantly. I sat down, crossing my ankles and placing my purse in my lap. I played with the ends of my hair, watching as he continued to grade the quizzes.

"How have the rest of your classes been?" he asked.

"They're fine. Calculus is a little stressful, only because there's a lot of homework, but other than that everything is good. It's definitely not what I was expecting though." I said, biting my thumbnail.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I thought the work load would be a lot heavier. I'm definitely not complaining. I just heard a lot of stories of homework and reading taking up your time. Except for math, I find myself with a lot of free time that I'm not sure what to do with, but I guess if I get to volunteer at the hospital, I'll have my work cut out for me." I smiled lightly, shrugging my shoulder. It was exciting, the thought of getting to work with sick children, possibly making their day...even their week.

"So you really want to be a doctor?" He was looking at me, a small smile on his face.

"Yes." I wasn't offended, but I thought we had gone over this already.

"I know we've talked about it, and you definitely seemed determined. I just see a lot of students giving up on being a doctor because of all the time it takes." I quickly shook my head.

"I don't like to give up on anything. Once I set my mind to it, it gets done. I don't care about all the years I'm going to be in school. I care that once I'm finished, I can save someone's life." I stared him directly in the eyes. My body felt weird. I was hot, and I didn't know why. The air conditioning was on.

"You have a good head on your shoulders, Aria. If we had more people like you, the world would be a better place." I took that as a compliment and smiled widely.

"Thanks Mr. Franco." He gave me a knowing look, and I raised an eyebrow, confused, but then it clicked.

"Oh. Sorry, Dave." He chuckled lightly, going back to grading the quizzes. I took the time to stare at him, taking in his strong jaw line, how his hair was slightly wavy and a few different colors. I watched the look of concentration on his face, noticing that he was biting the corner of his lip. I watched his shoulders tense as he wrote something on the top of the paper before grabbing for the next one.

"Would you like to know your grade?" His voice startled me, and I sucked in a breath, my hand coming up to my heart.

"Sure." He opened a drawer, pulling out a folder which I assumed held my quiz. He handed the paper over. I saw a bright red A at the top, and I grinned. Perfect grade on my first quiz. That felt amazing.

"You know I'm going to expect a lot from you now, right? I know you're intelligent, and I know what you're capable of." That put a lot of pressure on me, but I knew I could give him what he expected of me if I worked extremely hard.

"That's fair." I handed the paper to him, and he put it back in the drawer.

"You were wrong." I raised an eyebrow at him. I hadn't said anything that would have been a right or wrong answer, so what was he talking about.

"Excuse me?"

"Amelia came in to make up her quiz today." I laughed lightly.

"That's surprising. She was still sleep when I called her this morning."

"She left just before you came in. She said some interesting things too." My eyes widened. When it came to Amelia, you never knew what was going to come out of her mouth next. It could have been a number of things, and I was very afraid to find out what it was that she said.

"Oh really?" I said nervously, tugging at the ends of my hair. I bit my bottom lip, hoping she hadn't said anything that involved me, but knowing Amelia, that's exactly what came out of her mouth.

"Yeah. She's funny." He chuckled to himself, and my cheeks flushed. I just knew she said something embarrassing.

"I wouldn't exactly call her funny. She's crude," I mumbled, playing with the hem of my shirt.

"Yes. She's definitely crude, but she loves you." Okay, I was extremely curious about what she said now.

"Uhm...what exactly did she say?"

"She said a few things. She talks a lot, but she mentioned something about a guy named Brandon and how you guys fight often." I sighed and rubbed between my eyes. Why would she mention that to our professor?

"Did she now?" I was angry, and I'd definitely be mentioning this conversation to her later.

"Yeah. He doesn't get violent with you, does he?" I noticed that the grip on his pen had tightened, and he was looking directly at me. I bit my lip and shook my head.

"No. We've never been violent. He's pretty nasty with his words, but he's never put his hands on me." He nodded once, going back to the quiz he was grading. I was definitely killing Amelia later.

"Did she say anything else?" I asked.

"She mentioned that you're very independent and stubborn, and that you don't like asking for help. I want you to know that if you need anything, don't be afraid to come by my office, even if it's for something stupid. Except feminine products. Don't come here if you need those." I laughed and shook my head. He smiled at me, the mood suddenly lighter. I still had every intention of killing Amelia. She was trying to set me up for failure.

"Thanks, but I won't be coming to you for feminine products, Dave." His name felt weird but good rolling off my tongue. I had never addressed a teacher by their first name, but I guessed I would have to get used to it,

"Good to know. Just let me finish this last quiz and then we can leave." I nodded and waited patiently, messing around with the things in my purse.

"Ready?" He was standing in front of me, and I jumped a little.

"Yes." I cleared my throat and stood up. He placed his hand on the small of my back, leading me out of the room.

"Do you mind if we walk?" I shook my head. I liked walking, unlike most people on campus. I'd lost count of the amount of times I had nearly gotten ran over by people on bikes, and it was only the first week of school.

"How are you liking USC overall?" he asked, placing his hands in the pockets of his slacks.

"I love it. Some of the people are a little stuck up, but there's good food. The professors are pretty cool, and this is my dream school. I'm happy where I am." I smiled lightly, looking at the buildings that were surrounding us.

"I felt the same way when I came here."

"What made you want to be a teacher?" I asked, looking over at him.

"Everyone in my family is in to the arts. You know, James is an actor, Tom is an artist up north. My mom is taking acting classes at Stanford, so the arts runs in my family, but I wanted to do something different. I wasn't sure I wanted to be a teacher at first. I actually wanted to be a doctor for a while, but during my Master's program, I was tutoring people for extra credit. I realized that I loved helping people learn." I could see in his eyes that he genuinely liked teaching. His smile gave everything away.

"Did you start off teaching college immediately?"

"No. I started with high school."

"Did you like it?" He laughed and shook his head.

"Not at all. Don't get me wrong, some of them were good kids, but there's a certain maturity level that I like, and they just didn't have it. College is a lot more fun for me." I nodded once, and we were silent. I didn't really know what to say after that, but there wasn't much I could say. We were standing in front of the medical center.

"You ready?" He asked, smiling lightly at me.

"Yep." I followed him inside, but stayed behind as he walked up to the desk. He had a brief conversation with the nurse before leading me over to the elevators. The ride was silent, but I could feel his eyes on me. I stepped out once we were on the correct floor and followed him down the hall to someone office. He knocked on the door.

"Come in." A deep voice said from the other side. My nervousness kicked in all over again, and I bit my lip, following Mr. Franco in.

"Dave, it's great to see you again." They shook hands, and the doctor looked over to me, smiling brightly.

"You must be Aria. I've heard nothing but good things about you. Let's take a walk, shall we?" I looked over at Mr. Franco. He smiled and nodded encouragingly. I followed the doctor out of the room and around the hallways.

"I'm Dr. Nelson. I heard you might want to be a children's doctor." He said.

"Yes. I was thinking about being a radiation oncologist for children. I'm going back and forth between that and being a cardiovascular surgeon." I said as we turned a corner. I noticed that Mr. Franco wasn't behind us, and I assumed that he was back at the office or he left.

"Wow. You know what you want. That's good when it comes to being a doctor. I can see that you're very determined. Are your parents in the field?" I nodded once, explaining about my parents and my sister. The whole time I spoke, Dr. Nelson payed very close attention to me. It seemed as if he was hanging on to my every word, making me feel like what I said really mattered to him. He led me into one of the rooms, and I realized that we were in the children's ward of the hospital. How had I not noticed that earlier?

"Cameron?" The little boy in the bed perked up, pushing himself into a sitting position. He couldn't have been more than six.

"Dr. Nelson!" he shouted happily, his small body bouncing in the bed.

"Calm down, tiger. I have a surprise for you." I stepped from behind Dr. Nelson, smiling brightly at the little boy.

"Who is she? She's pretty!" He smiled at me.

"Hi. I'm Aria. What's your name?" I asked, sitting down next to his bed.

"I'm Cameron. You wanna see my Avengers action figures?" I nodded and watched him lean over the other side of his bed. He grabbed his toys and proceeded to explain to me each super hero and what their powers were. He seemed so happy and carefree. I had to wonder why he was in here, but I didn't want to ask.

"Alright, Cameron. It's time for Aria to go." I watched Cameron pout.

"Awww, but we were having fun!" I stood, ruffling his hair a little bit.

"Don't worry. She'll be back tomorrow." My head snapped over to Dr. Nelson. I raised an eyebrow at him. He smiled and nodded. I wanted to squeal, but I knew better. I would do that once I got home.

"You promise you'll be back tomorrow?" Cameron asked, tugging on my hand.

"I promise," I said, giving him a small hug. He nodded and let me go. I followed Dr. Nelson out of the room, a wide smile on my face. This was better than the day I found out I got into USC.

"Thank you so much, Dr. Nelson," I said, wanting to wrap my arms around him in a huge hug. I knew that wasn't appropriate though.

"You're welcome. I don't doubt your abilities. I can tell you're going to bring light to this hospital. Dave speaks very highly of you, and you didn't disappoint." He smiled down at me as we continued to walk back towards his office. I bit my lip, bouncing in excitement.

"I want you back here at 10:30 tomorrow, okay?" I nodded once, straightening out my shirt.

"Is there a dress code?" I asked, wondering if I was going to have to by scrubs.

"No. Just report to my office when you get here. I'll have a badge for you." I nodded and thanked him again. Mr. Franco was waiting outside Dr. Nelson's office. He looked nervous, though I couldn't imagine why. Dr. Nelson and Mr. Franco exchanged a few words before Dr. Nelson disappeared down the hall, bidding me goodbye once more.

"How'd it go?" Mr. Franco asked, walking back towards the elevator with me.

"I have to be here tomorrow at 10:30." I grinned widely, squealing. We were in the safety of the elevator. He chuckled at me, shaking his head. I threw my arms around his neck and squeezed. I had this opportunity because of him. My body felt nice against his. It was like I fit perfectly. Like that was where I was supposed to be.

"Thank you so much, Dave," I said, releasing him and taking a few steps back. I felt weird without his arms around me, but I knew better. I shouldn't have hugged him the first time. A second time would be completely uncalled for.

"There's nothing to thank me for. You deserve this." He smiled, and my heart stuttered. We exited the hospital, and I needed to head home. I had a lot of homework that was waiting for me.

"You heading home?" He asked.

"Yeah. Math is calling my name." I pretending to shoot myself in the head.

"Alright. I'll see you Monday, Aria." He smiled down at me.

"See you Monday."