Rules are to be broken, rules are to be abridged, rules are to be changed; but for Heather, there were no rules.
My spring semester had finally come to a conclusion, and the process of totaling up points, sorting grades, and amassing papers was heavy on my shoulders in the final days. My desk was a rubbish heap, knee deep in graded and un-graded research papers.
She quietly tapped on my open door. "Dr. Browne."
My concentration broke; I looked up at the young woman standing in my doorway. "Yes."
"Dr. Browne, I'm Heather from your ten o'clock class." She stepped into the office and put her books on a side chair.
"Oh, yes, Heather, sorry my eyes are blurry from looking at this computer screen."
Cute girl, wonder why I haven't noticed her before.
"Let's see, you sit on the left side near the back."
She nodded. "Near the window so I can get some air."
"Yeah, it gets a little stuffy in there alright, and not all if from my lectures." I chuckled but noted that the young coed had a serious look.
Heather put her hand on my desk. "I'm real concerned about my grade this semester." A long lock of her hair fell across her face.
I motioned for her to sit. "Have you been following your scores?"
She pushed the lock of her long brown hair back. "Yes sir, I haven't seen my final research paper grade as yet. I'm hoping it will pull up my average."
"Let me check the grade book." Our grade accounting was kept in an electronic file, so I spun my chair around to the computer. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed her unbuttoning the top button of her blouse. All of her mediocre grades were recorded except the research paper. "Okay Heather," I said, spinning my chair back around. "Everything is in except the final paper; I think I have it on the desk here. However, you're barely holding on so I hope the research paper is well done."
She leaned toward the desk. "Can we look at it? I mean, would you mind?"