"Miss Grey, can you please come into my office? I need to speak with you."
Tabitha glanced up from where she was sliding her Calculus book into her bag, a bit startled. "Um, sure Professor Holloway..."
"What about the party, Tabby?" Callie muttered.
It was a gorgeous August Friday; their first week of their first year in college. All the kids were gathering at the park for the first party of the year. The two freshmen were part of the afternoon's wet T-shirt contest.
Tabitha shrugged. "I'm sure it'll only take a second. Just go on and get ready, I'll be there. Gotta pretend like this math crap means something to me."
Callie rolled her eyes. "I know, huh? Okay, see you there. By the way, don't wear a bra; I happen to know Rob wants to get a closer look at you." With a giggle, the tall blonde breezed out of the room.
Sighing inwardly, Tabitha shouldered her book bag and walked to the side door where Mr. Holloway's office was. Of course, at least he wasn't some old geezer with hair like Einstein. Actually, he was pretty damn cute. She guessed he was probably about 28, and his blonde hair and green eyes had already made for some naughty daydreaming by a large portion of his female students. She could be staying after class talking to Mrs. Cole, her fat pissy psych teacher, which would have sucked much worse than this.
"Yes, sir?"
Mr. Holloway looked up from a paper he was grading. His green eyes seemed to pierce right through her skull and she blushed, feeling as though he were reading her thoughts.
"Come in, Miss Grey. And please, shut the door behind you."
A little intimidated, the girl quietly pushed the thick office door shut and then approached her teacher, pressing her hands together in front of her and suddenly feeling like a small child.
She went to sit in the soft leather chair facing his large oak desk, but a sharp No from Mr. H. stopped her halfway down.
"Miss Grey, you may STAND. Right there, in front of the desk, please."
A strange feeling, kind of like adrenaline mixed with dread, filtered from her stomach to the back of her throat. Nervously, the eighteen-year-old swallowed and pushed her long brown hair back over her shoulders.
"Sir?"
He stood and cast a stern look at her. "Miss Grey, do you consider college to be a joke?"
She quickly shook her head. "No, Mr. Holloway... um ...why?"
He picked up a folder and came around the desk. "Miss Grey, this is the in-class paper you wrote on Tuesday, when I asked the class to give me three paragraphs on why math is important in everyday life. Do you remember doing that?"
Barely; I think I was still half stoned from my first brush with X...
"Of course I do." Where the crap was this going?
"Keep your tone polite and call me sir." He came closer, pulling a sheet of paper from the folder and setting it on the desk in front of her. She could see the lacy hearts and clouds drawn in the margins on the essay. Oh boy.
"You are no longer a child and I will not tolerate childish behavior in my COLLEGE class. I saw your previous grades and your entrance exam scores. Miss Grey, you are a very smart young woman. For your own good, I am going to have to set you straight before you get out of hand."
WHAT??? She looked up from the paper to her professor. His tone had been firm and even. There was no smile on his face; he wasn't joking.
Before she could say anything, he turned and went back around the desk. He opened the top left hand drawer and glanced inside. Then he looked her square in the eyes.
"Miss Grey, I want you to bend over and place your elbows firmly on the desk. Get your face right down over your paper and begin reading it please."
"What?"
He didn't blink, merely reached his hand into the open drawer. "You heard me, Miss Grey."
