01

The sound of hushed whispers echoed throughout the filled theatre room. People from all walks of life seemed to be doing the exact same thing. Talking. Talking about what was going on in the lecture.

It seemed like everyone understood the lecture as per usual.

All except one.

Rainy sighed in defeat, her dark brows furrowing together as she tried to make out the words scribbled messily across the whiteboard. « The fuck ? » She muttered in confusion under her breath before turning her head to look at the stranger besides her.

« Hey, uh, can I look at your notes for the current slide ? » She asked hesitantly, a warm smile curling onto her plump full lips. There were deep indents that appeared in her rosy cheeks when she smiled.

It didn’t take long for the stranger to look over at her. Her soft yet raspy voice was usually enough to catch anyone’s attention, so when his eyes found hers, he felt himself choke up on his words. « Sure, » Pushing his notebook closer to her, she gave him another grateful smile and started copying his notes down.

She didn’t understand how she was the only one struggling to learn Plato’s Allegory of the Cave or Aristotle’s meaning of life. She wasn’t sure if a major in philosophy was even looking likely with the rate she was working at.

And to be honest, she truly didn’t care if she passed or failed.

She just wanted philosophy to be out of her life. For good.

« Thanks, » whispered Rainy, pushing the book back towards the stranger and leaning back in her seat. The sounds of her professor’s voice droning on soon engulfed her ears. Before she knew it, it was time to pack up. Even though she had not managed to process one ounce of information given, she rose to her short stature and began to pack her bag. Putting in her laptop and notepad, she zipped up her bag in haste.

« —I know many of you are excited about spring break but might I remind you all that midterms are coming up. If any of you have questions, come to the front now. »

Midterms ?

Ah shit, she knew she was forgetting something. Rainy thought to herself.

Consumed in her own world of endless thoughts, she failed to notice that she was one of the last students left to leave the hall. There were the odd few eager ones at the front speaking with the teacher about midterms. With her heavy bag thrown over her shoulder, she fixed her shirt and pushed her long dark curls over to one side.

« Miss Love, got a minute ? » A voice calmly asked albeit demanding and rough sounding.

She cringed internally, pulling a face at his words. Rainy sucked in a deep breath turning to look at him and forced out a tight-lipped smile.

« Of course. »

To any normal person, his question sounded harmless, but Rainy knew it was anything but.

Professor Rivera was a man of many talents. He was someone that many students respected and not just on college grounds. He was a humanitarian that went above and beyond for his students, and he most certainly wasn’t bad on the eyes either. However, from what Rainy knew, Rivera was stern, callous and cold. He was hardheaded. There had been more than a handful of times that the older man had embarrassed her specifically ; he was especially hard on the students that paid no particular interest in his lessons.

Students much like herself.

He was a difficult man to sway, never once cracking a smile. And getting him to laugh was a whole other ordeal.

Not that she even wanted to hear the asshole laugh, she mused as she continued to stare at him blankly. Rainy knew she was being melodramatic, but she couldn’t help it. It was what she did best.

He gestured for her to come to the front with one hand and with all of her might she held her head up high and began to walk down the daunting stairs. He was busy crouched over his desk—gathering up papers to even notice her look of disparity. The last few pupils left brushing past her as they walked out, not without whispering ‘good luck’ to her as they did.

Professor Rivera did not bother to learn the name of his students so calling her name was a pretty big deal. He hadn’t noticed Rainy in the first few weeks of teaching her. He didn’t even question her first essay submission. She had turned it in only seconds before the deadline, her title in all lower case. He got to it last, and in his drowsy, caffeine filled daze, he thought he’d read it wrong. Every word was carefully chosen. She’d grasped the concept almost perfectly, and with a little edge to her images, she could’ve been perfect.

But she wasn’t. She was never perfect.

This pattern continued with every single one of her essays. Every essay was turned in seconds from the deadline. He couldn’t tell if she was deliberately messing with him or if she was just lazy. Her in-class commentary was the bare minimum, he had never heard an accurate analysis from her. He found himself having to explain her references and, on occasion, challenging her on them.

She was what they called a lower achieving student.

Standing in front of the desk, Rainy looking up at her tall professor and faked a smile. She knew he was tall but she had never noticed just how tall. She had a short stature, she liked to believe it was because she was Iranian. Her parents were short, as were her siblings, it was almost comical to see the whole family standing next to each other.

« I have to say Miss Love, your recent essay was remarkable. » He began praising her whilst fixing up his papers in one huge pile. He had on a simple white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. A few buttons undone, and his messy dark hair exhibited that he had suffered through a long work day.

Meaning he would most likely be extra friendly. Full emphasis on the word friendly.

« It was ? » Rainy rose a brow almost impressed at his reaction.

Turns out all of her hard work paid off after all.

Professor Rivera’s low hum rumbled in agreement.

She had decided to pay Freddie Wu extra this month to write her essay, and it seemed like luck was on her side.

His attention was now fully focused on her, his dark eyes were intense, framed by dark eyebrows and high cheekbones. His short hair was messy and curling upwards. His neatly trimmed five o’clock shadow came into view as he rested his hands on the sides of his desk and leaned slightly over it. « It was excellent, so good that I was up all night thinking about it. »

Damn, way to go Freddie !

« Oh wow really ? » She exclaimed tucking her hair behind her ear. He noted the big chunky gold hoops she supported, taking in her overall appearance.

He didn’t stare at her too long before chuckling lowly. However, he stopped laughing as quickly as he started. « You could only imagine my shock when Freddie Wu submitted a very similar piece of work to yours. » He uttered, feigning the look of pure horror and shock. « The whole essay was identical, from start to finish. » Placing a hand to his mouth, he gasped.

There it was.

Busted.

She knew it was too good to be true, she mentally cursed herself knowing that she could’ve easily gotten lunch with the twenty dollars she had given Freddie.

« Now I know yourself and Mr Wu are friends. I see you both exchanging words here and there and to be frankly honest with you I am at a loss of words. » He continued on his tangent. Rainy could slowly feel the colour drain out of her skin, she wanted the ground to swallow her whole. « To think a friend would copy your essay like that. » He tutted.

Rainy cringed at his condescending tone, narrowing her deep brown eyes down on his. « Professor Rivera, I can explain… »

Professor Rivera held a hand up silencing her. « No let me, I’d like a brand new essay emailed to me by tomorrow morning at 9am. On the dot. »

Rainy’s eyes widened at his words, sputtering out a rushed response. « But you can’t do that, that’s not fair ! I’m going away for spring break tomorrow and I won’t be able to write an entire essay in one night. » She complained, unable to help herself from biting back.

« This is me being fair Miss Love, you most definitely do not want to see me being unfair. » He scoffed, rolling his eyes at her. « I can easily go to the Dean about this but I’m letting you off easily. Consider this as an official warning, I do not like cheaters Miss Love. Tomorrow, 9am. Have I made myself clear ? »