In this fic, the timeline is set 10 years after "The Great Louse Detective". Bob still goes to Italy, but the Simpson family never visit him.

...

"Aaaah! S-"

It was like a reflex. Luckily she was able to stop before she said his full name. Lisa looked around the room to see everyone staring at her as if she was crazy. When her eyes fell back on the professor, he had the same expression. She wrapped her fingers together, and laughed nervously. "I... thought I saw a spider." She quickly sat back down.

She didn't dare look back at the room again. She heard a few inaudible whispers and chairs shuffling (She assumed it was to keep away from the non-existent spider). Meghan, on the other hand, stayed still and acted like nothing happened. Before she could sink into her chair and hopefully turn invisible, Prof. Terwilliger approached the table and looked down at her.

"Young lady, I don't know what your high school taught you, but here we don't interrupt lessons with frivolous outbursts," he said, glaring at her slightly.

"But you haven't started the lesson yet," she corrected.

"Is that so?" he scratched his chin. "Well then, let me start by handing out your lesson plans for the semester." He quickly grabbed a small stack of papers from his suitcase and a red pen. He scribbled something on the top paper and handed it to Lisa.

Lisa read the syllabus and noticed he added an assignment to it: One-thousand word essay about respecting class time and the professors that teach them. And it was due the next class! She looked at her teacher bewildered. "But that's unfair!"

"Do you want the rest of the class to have the same assignment?" he asked threateningly, the red pen hovering over the rest of the syllabuses.

She quickly sucked her lips between her teeth and shook her head.

"That's what I thought." He tucked the pen into his suit jacket and handed the syllabi out to the rest of the room.

Lisa skimmed through the first page, not really reading the words typed in. This all seemed so surreal. Sideshow Bob had terrorized her family for a few years when she and Bart were children. The last time she had seen him, he had helped the police track down the man who tried to murder her dad. After the police ended his sentence, he seemed to have vanished into thin air. Lisa had almost forgotten about him, until now. She wondered if he remembered who she was. If he did, he hid it pretty well.

"Alright class," the professor began, walking back to the front of the room. "My name is Professor Terwilliger, and I welcome you to English 101. As you all have just witnessed, I don't like to waste class time. Any unnecessary interruptions will resort in extra assignments and points taken off your participation grade." He shot a quick disapproving look at Lisa - who slinked further into her chair - then diverted his attention to the chalkboard behind his desk. "Fifty percent of your grade accounts for the essays I assign, and twenty-five percent is for quizzes and class discussions. Of course mid-terms and finals will effect that grade tremendously, but that's a moot point." He wrote the percentages on the board as he talked.

The rest of the class went off without anymore incidents. Most of it was spent going over the syllabus and their first assignment was reading the first chapter in their textbooks. For Lisa, that was two assignments she had to do. Despite the embarrassing moment, she thought the class was good so far. While Professor Terwilliger was strict, Lisa knew he was already a great educator. He proved his intelligence on more than one occasion during their past encounters, so it wasn't a surprise at all.

Once he dismissed the class, Lisa stayed in her seat. "I'll meet you for lunch," she told Meghan just before she left the room. Once everyone in the room had left, Lisa got up from her seat and walked over to the professor's desk where the older man sat, writing notes in his agenda. "Um, Professor Terwilliger..." it felt strange not calling him by his stage name. "I wanted to apologize for earlier."

"An apology will not excuse you from that essay, Miss Simpson," he said flatly, not looking up from his notebook.

"I know, but I felt I should say it anyway," she paused once she realized he had called her by her last name. "Do you remember me?"

"Your hair is no longer spiky, but your voice is still quite girlish," he then looked at her. "And that was the first time anyone's screamed at the sight of me in years."

She gave an embarrassed chuckle. "Well, it was quite unexpected... What are you doing here anyways?"

"I've turned over a new leaf since our last encounter," he said casually. "To make a long story short, I decided instead of acting out revenge and spending life in prison, I would make the world better by influencing impressionable minds."

"But how could you get hired? Didn't the school do a thorough background check?"

"Of course they did," he folded his hands together, a small smile on his face. "Lucky for me, the only trace of my arrest record they found was from being involved with Cecil's embezzlement scheme, which you and I both know I had no involvement in."

Lisa was perplexed. "You mean they couldn't find the rest of it?"

"Don't be so surprised, Lisa. It's the Springfield Police Department after all."

"Touché."

Bob got out of his chair so he was at height level with her. He said sincerely, "Lisa, if you're wondering if I have an ulterior motive, your worries are futile. Seeing you here was as much a shock to me as it was for you. I give you my word that I am a changed man."

Her gut instinct told her to be cautious, but she didn't sense a trace of malice or deceit in his words. Maybe the last few years have helped him change his ways. He didn't have as many worry lines as before, and his eyes looked a little brighter. She sighed. "I guess I have no choice but to take it. But I'm still slightly suspicious."

He shrugged. "As is your right. Although," he held up a finger, "I do ask that you don't tell anyone about my past. I could lose my job if all of that got out."

"It's a promise," she said, "Just as long as you don't tell anyone about my family."

"It's a deal."

They both shook on it just as the big school bell rang outside. "Oh no, I'm late!" Lisa quickly ran out of the room just as Bob's next batch of students came into the room.

...

Once all of his classes were over with, Bob took the short walk back to his apartment. Overall it was a successful first day. Not as many troublemakers as he expected, and he was able to put the fear of God into a few of them. But despite it all, he couldn't help but think about his newest student.

He had recognized Lisa the instant he saw her. Her face resembled her mother's almost exactly. The way she reacted to seeing him only confirmed who she was, and that she recognized him too. He shouldn't have been surprised she was here. He always knew Lisa was the smartest Simpson of the whole bunch. Hell, she was one of the few intelligent people in Springfield. But part of him wondered what her being here would mean for him.

He was reminded of the nightmare he had that previous night. He always thought the theory of dreams alluding to the future were ludicrous, and he didn't want to think he should have seen his past catching up with him. He was right when he told Lisa he was a changed man. He didn't have any desire to go back to Springfield and murder Bart or anyone else. So why was he still killing him in his dreams? He had considered going to therapy for it, but was too fearful of being thrown in a mental ward.

He unlocked the door to his apartment. Once inside, he leaned against the door for a moment, looking at his surroundings. The white walls were a little too bright for his taste, so he had bought poster copies of some famous artworks and hung them in poster frames. It wasn't the fanciest apartment, but it was good enough for him. Then again, any place that wasn't the Springfield Prison was better than nothing.

After cooking himself a small bowl of ham and potato soup, he settled onto the couch and watched PBS programming. It was lonely moments like these that he missed his life in Italy, where he spent most of the last decade after leaving Springfield. He had a very good life in Salsiccia, and a loving family. If things had worked out better, Francesca would be curled up with him on the couch as they watched Masterpiece Classics, and Gino either playing with his toys or fast asleep next to them. As usual, life didn't work that way.

His job as a professor was the only good thing that had happened to him since his son was born. Maybe if this job went well enough, he could go back to Italy and win his family back. He hoped more than anything for that to happen, just as long as the Simpson girl kept her mouth shut.

"This is going to be a long semester."

...

Lisa was stuck staring at the screen of her laptop. With a little luck, she was able to churn out 850 words about respect for others and educators. She typed out benefits of respect and even provided examples in history on where respect was neglected. She had just run out of juice and couldn't think of anything else to add.

"You could try putting the lyrics to that Aretha Franklin song in there," Meghan joked as she flipped to the next page of her book.

"I think that counts as plagiarism." Lisa had already finished the reading assignment, as well as some of the short assignments from her other classes of the day. She intentionally saved Bob's extra assignment for last since she figured it would be the hardest.

Meghan finished reading her book and sat up on her bed. "How about you take a short break and let your brain rest. The essay isn't due until Wednesday and you're almost done with it anyways."

She sighed, and got up to collapse on her bed. "Lousy arrogant jerk," she muttered.

"He's not that bad," her roommate said. "I mean, sure the penalty assignment was pretty harsh, but it could've been worse... Where did you see that spider anyway?"

Quickly she said, "Under the chalkboard. It was kind of small."

Meghan's eyes widened a little. "You must have some killer eyesight because I couldn't see it anywhere."

"Heh heh, yeah... Good eyesight," Lisa forced a smile.

Meghan stood up from the bed. "You still wanna come to the coffee house to meet a couple of guys from my French class?"

Lisa shook her head. "I'm starting to get a headache from this essay."

The other girl sighed. "You're not gonna spend the rest of your college career in classes and studying are you?"

"That's how I've always spent my time, except when I was in band."

"Well you should at least keep your Fridays and Saturdays open to party," she then handed her a piece of paper on her desk. "There's also a lot of clubs here. I think you might like some of them." She bid her roommate farewell just before leaving.

Reluctantly, Lisa glanced over the list of clubs she was handed. There were quite a few, and some of them piqued her interest. Jazz band, Literature club, Future Environmentalists of America (which would go well with her major), and drama club. Before Lisa could think it over, a ringing noise came from her laptop.

She sat up and saw she was receiving a video call. She hit the green button and her mother's face popped up. "Hi honey!"

"Hi mom!" Lisa quickly got up and sat in her desk chair. "It's so good to see you!"

"Same here, sweetie," Marge smiled sweetly. Lisa had only been gone a couple of days, and she already missed her mother's smiles. Even though she had a few wrinkles around her eyes and mouth, Lisa still thought she was the prettiest woman ever. "How is my little college girl doing?"

"Oh mom, it's the most wonderful thing ever!" she exclaimed. "It's so different from grade school. Everyone here is just as smart as I am, the professors challenge me intellectually, and all the covers on my textbooks are still intact."

"Oh that's so wonderful! I am so proud of you! I bet those professors love having such a smart girl in their classes."

"I don't know about all of them," a small frown formed as she thought of Sideshow Bob. She quickly put her smile back on remembering she was on a video phone.

Of course, Marge's mothering super power didn't miss it. "Did something happen?" she asked concern.

Lisa wanted to tell her mother about Bob, but she had promised him she wouldn't. If she did, Marge would most likely call the school and tell them about Bob's history with her family. He would get fired for sure. Still, she couldn't lie to her mother.

"It's just... I kind of interrupted a teacher today and he gave me an extra assignment as punishment." Not lying at all, she told herself.

"Oh, I see," her mother nodded. "What's the assignment?"

"One-thousand words on respect. I have most of it done."

"Oh, I know," Marge grinned. "What if you referred to the song by Aretha Franklin?" She added a chuckle. "I'm sure he would find that very clever."

Lisa giggled, shaking her head. "Mom, I don't think-"

"What you want? Baby I got it! What you need? You know I got it!" Lisa instantly recognized her father singing in the background of the video.

Marge groaned. "Sounds like your father just got back from Moe's."

To prove her point, her father's face popped into view of the video. "Hey Marge! Guess what happened to me today?"

"Homer, Lisa's on the computer."

He glanced at the screen and smiled at the sight of his daughter's face. Homer had aged a little more than Marge did in the past ten years. "Hi sweetie. How's Harvard?"

"It's Yale, Dad."

"Of course," he laughed. "Are you making any new friends there?"

"Well, my roommate has been very nice to me," she replied. "What's the good news that happened to you today?"

"I got a promotion at work!" he announced proudly. Both women congratulated him, and Marge gave him a tight hug and kiss on the cheek. "It's an office position that just opened up. Mr. Smithers says my skills are best suited far away from safety inspection."

"That's really great dad," Lisa smiled. She then remembered her siblings. "How are Bart and Maggie doing?"

"They're doing great," her mother replied. "Bart moved out this weekend into Milhouse's apartment. He really loves his construction job. And Maggie is loving second grade. She's also getting better at the guitar Bart got her for her birthday."

"Can you imagine Maggie growing up to be a rock star?" Homer added. "She'd be all..." he jumped back a few steps and started air guitaring. "Just a little bit! Just a little bit! R-E-S-P... um..." he paused, trying to remember the lyrics.

Marge just laughed. "I think your father is a little too excited tonight."

Lisa laughed with her. Seeing her parents like this was making her homesick. Why couldn't Yale be closer to home?

"Well sweetie, I'd hate to cut this conversation short, but I need to go pick up Maggie from Aunt Selma's house," Marge stated. "She was spending the afternoon with cousin Ling."

"Alright," she replied. "Give everyone a hug and tell them I miss them."

"Will do," Homer said for her. "Bye sweetie! We love you!"

"I love you all, too."

Lisa ended the call. As she leaned back into her chair, she started to feel sad about being away from her family. Taking Meghan's advice, she saved her almost finished essay and decided to leave it for tomorrow. She grabbed her saxophone from under her bed and started jamming on it. The sax usually made her feel better, but it wasn't the same without her dad shouting at her to stop playing.

This is going to be a long semester.

...

Lyrics are from "Respect" by Aretha Franklin. They do not belong to me