Calliope Torres sat in the back of her Administration course chewing nervously on her hair. It was the first day and although she marched to the beat of her own drum, she wasn't exactly the best at opening up and making new friends. She was a graduate student working on her MBA in Art, but the curriculum required her to take one Social Science, and out of all the possibilities, this was the lowest leveled she was permitted to take and therefore, she assumed, it would be the easiest. Best of all, her roommate, Addison, had assured her that she took the course the previous semester and that the professor, Dr. Dave Coates, was a breeze – two tests, a paper, and small amounts of in class work. A piece of cake.
So it was a shock when a young female walked into the classroom at 2:55pm, 5 minutes before the class began, and sauntered her way to the front desk. She was dressed in a black pencil skirt that lay slightly above her knee and a white button up blouse. Her hair was set in bouncy blonde curls and her bangs were pinned back with two bobby pins. She wore a pair of thick, black rimmed glasses and her lips were painted with a dark red gloss. Callie bit her lower lip. She was most definitely not Dr. Dave Coates.
The room filled with chatter and not very quiet whispers. Callie drew nervous circles in her notebook, averting her gaze from the front of the room. The mysterious teacher cleared her throat, getting the class' attention. "Good afternoon," she began with a wide smile. "My name is Professor Arizona Robbins. I'm taking Dr. Coates' place for the semester. He had an emergency with his family." She opened her briefcase and pulled out a large pile of papers. "Let's get the elephant in the room out of the way," she continued. "I'm young. Less than 2 years ago, I was one of you – a graduate student. But I can assure you I've had plenty of experience in this world to teach you a thing or two about Society. If anyone had any objection to this, you'd best drop the class." Professor Robbins' thick black heels clicked as she walked to the front of each row and worked her way back, passing a syllabus to each student.
Callie nervously watched as Professor Robbins approached her. She kept her gaze down, ignoring the fact that the blonde was now at her desk. It wasn't until she felt the syllabus fall against her hand that she finally looked up. She watched as Arizona made her way around the room, her hips swaying back and forth. "I would hope at this point you can all read a syllabus and that I don't need to go through it line by line," Professor Robbins scoffed, walking back to her desk and putting the remaining syllabi back in her briefcase. "This is going to be a presentation and paper based course. There will be 3 presentations and 3 exams. The dates for each are on the syllabus. I am confident that all of you will do well." She flashed another perfectly white smile.
Callie looked up at her professor in horror. Presentation. As in, speaking in front of people. In front of her. It was one thing to speak in front of a bunch of snotty, half asleep classmates. It was another to speak in front of a beautiful woman who specialized in the area. She bit on the end of her pen nervously.
"My office hours are Monday through Friday 5pm-7pm. I am always willing to help, no questions asked. I know this isn't all of your" – she gestured to the class as a whole – "areas of expertise, but I am confident in your abilities and how hard you will all work." Arizona moved around the desk and closed her briefcase. "I remember being a student and I remember how boring the first day was, so I'm not going to keep you all here to listen to be banter. If you have any questions, feel free to call my office phone or send me an email. The homework assignment for next class is on the syllabus. I look forward to seeing you all on Wednesday." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled. The class quickly packed their bags and dispersed.
Callie watched as Professor Robbins grabbed her briefcase and began to move away from her desk toward the door. Callie bit her bottom lip and gathered her belongings and her bag, keeping her gaze down the whole time. Books in hand, she got up quickly from her desk, not realizing that her professor was right in front of her. She dropped the stack of papers and books to the floor nervously. "Crap," Callie murmured under her breath, dropping to her knees and shuffling her things back together. She could see Arizona leaning down next to her in an attempt to help. "I'm sorry," Callie mumbled, keeping her gaze on the floor. "I didn't see you there."
"It's alright...I'm sorry, I don't know any of your names yet, " Arizona replied, helping Callie up.
"Calliope Torres. B-but I go by Callie," she squeaked, her face growing pink.
"Nice to meet you, Calliope." Arizona smiled, extending her hand out for a handshake. Her nails were short and painted a deep red that matched her lip gloss. "I'm really hoping we have a great semester together."
Callie looked up at Arizona, their eyes meeting for the first time. She could feel her blush change from a light pink to a dark red as her teacher flashed her another one of her gorgeous smiles. She looked down at the blonde's extended hand, then back up to her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it, biting her lower lip. "Thanks," she mumbled as gripped her belongings tightly and turned toward the door. She shuffled out of the room and down three flights of stairs to the front door of the building. 'Fuck,' was all Callie could think as she walked across campus toward her next class. 'Fuck.'
"Is she hot?" Addison asked as she and Callie sat on their living room sofa sharing a pizza.
Callie almost choked on her pizza and looked at her roommate wide-eyed. "Um, I guess." She moved her gaze back to the bad reality show on tv. "I didn't really notice. I wasn't paying attention to her."
"Riiiight," Addison teased, rolling her eyes. "Just like you didn't pay attention to Dr. Coates during your undergrad, or Professor Baines last year. Admit it, Cal. You love ze teacher ladies." She munched on the crust of her pizza and licked some sauce off her fingers.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Callie retorted, sticking her tongue out at her roommate. "And even if I did, they were harmless crushes and nothing happened." 'Hell,' she thought, 'they didn't even know my name by the end of the semester.'
"Nothing happened because you never give it the opportunity to happen."
"Oh, because your relationships with your professors have been nothing but successful," Callie scoffed, picking a piece of pepperoni off the pizza.
Addison shrugged. "Hey, I got all A's last semester, didn't I?" She winked. "I didn't say to go in looking for a long lasting relationship. You just need to loosen up. It's college."
Callie rolled her eyes. "Having fun means sleeping with your teachers?"
Addison grinned. "If you know how to do it right."
Callie shook her head. She grabbed the almost empty box of pizza and placed it in the fridge, then grabbed a water bottle. "I have to study," she lied, shuffling off to her room.
"Loosen up, Torres!" Addison called as Callie walked away. The Latina closed the door to her room and sighed, running her fingers through her short black tresses. She sat down at her desk and grabbed her sketchbook and pencils. She would not allow herself to become distracted by yet another professor. Her artwork was her life – her artwork and it alone. And yet, as her sketch came together, she couldn't help but notice the resemblance to the petite blonde with, what she could only describe as, a super magic smile.