VIII



"What are you doing?" Theresa hissed as she hit Professor Hammond on the arm. Theresa was getting very irritated with Professor Hammond. She wondered how she was going to get through the year with a man she couldn't help but banter with. She sent Professor Hammond a look of annoyance. Professor Hammond gave Theresa a wide grin. Theresa rolled her eyes and shifted her body so that her back was turned to Professor Hammond. She couldn't look at him without feeling irritated.

"I was just trying to be friendly." Justin replied with a smug expression.

"That's a first." Theresa mumbled sarcastically. "And quite amusing." She added. "You be nice? Ha!"

Professor Hammond narrowed his eyes and called Ethan's name again. He waved enthusiastically. Theresa thought he looked like a complete fool. She decided to tell him so. "You look ridiculous." She commented.

"That's your opinion." Justin replied. "You know, a very unpleasant person once told me that opinions were like behinds. Everybody has one, but sometimes they stink. And your opinion, my dear, stinks."

Theresa rolled her eyes again. "Don't call me dear." She said.

"All right, dear." Professor Hammond replied smiling.

Theresa tightened her hold on her cup. "Would you like some coffee?" She asked.

Justin eyed her warily. "I already have some, thanks."

"You look like you need some more." Theresa said smiling sweetly.

"No," Justin insisted. "I don't need anymore."

"Please, it's on me." Theresa said as she stood up. She then proceeded to dump the contents of her cup onto Professor Hammond's head. "Oh never mind, it looks like it's on you."

Whitney gasped. "Theresa, I can't believe you did that!"

"I can." Justin Hammond replied as he wiped his eyes. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to clean myself up." Hammond said to Whitney. "This isn't over." He said to Theresa in a low tone that was inaudible to Whitney.

"Bring it on." Theresa said as she held her head high in triumph and walked to the counter. As she ordered another cappuccino, someone gently tapped her on her shoulder. Theresa turned around. She gazed into saddened blue eyes.

"Hey, Theresa." Ethan said quietly. "It's been awhile."

"Ethan." Theresa said. "Yeah, it has been awhile." She agreed. "How are you?"

Ethan sighed. Things hadn't been very good between him and Gwen, but Ethan was enjoying fatherhood. Most of his time was occupied with taking care of his daughter Sarah. However, the rest of Ethan's time was spent on other thoughts that included Theresa. Although Ethan had a family to look after, he still had issues with letting go of his feelings towards her. Deep down Gwen knew that her husband had not buried his love for another woman in the past. A few weeks ago she had been tight-lipped about the whole situation, but up until a few days ago, she and Ethan began to have heated arguments. Gwen's resentment towards her husband escalated day by day, and it was reaching its limit. Gwen was about ready to boil over in anger. "I'm not doing so great," Ethan admitted.

"Why?" Theresa asked with sincere concern. Ethan appeared to be unhappy to her.

"Gwen's angry with me." Ethan replied.

"I see." Theresa said quietly.

"It concerned you." Ethan said quietly.

"Oh." Theresa said as her gaze traveled to the floor.

"I still love you," Ethan said in an even lower tone. He fidgeted nervously.

"Ethan," Theresa said exasperated. "We've already talked about this."

"Yeah, I remember." Ethan said expressionlessly. "You know what? Forget I even mentioned anything, I'll see you around." Ethan turned to leave before Theresa stopped him.

"Ethan, are you going to be all right?" She asked. She could tell that Ethan was suffering. Even though Theresa harbored a little bit of bitterness towards Ethan, he was still human. Humans had feelings and obviously Ethan was having problems. Theresa, like any other compassionate person, felt obligated to help Ethan in some way.

"It's not like you really care anyway," Ethan said dully as he quickly left.

His words stung Theresa. She frowned and watched him walk down the street until he disappeared around the corner. "If he doesn't want my help, then fine." She thought to herself. When she walked back to the table, Professor Hammond had cleaned himself up. His hair was slick. The only evidence that he had coffee dumped on him was the brown circles on his white collard shirt.

"You're back." Justin said with feigned cheerfulness.

"Enjoy your coffee?" Theresa asked as a smile tugged at the corner's of her mouth.

"Immensely. In fact, I'll enjoy it as much as you'll enjoy your second topic."

"Second topic?" Theresa said confused.

"Yes, in addition to your other paper on ten reasons why you don't like me."

"You're giving me another assignment?" Theresa said in disbelief.

Justin nodded. "But of course," He said in a fake French accent.

"I can't believe this!" Theresa cried aloud. "You can't just do that."

"I can, and I will." Justin replied. "You don't have to do the paper~" He said.

"Good. Because I didn't plan to." Theresa interrupted

"You didn't allow me to finish Mrs. Crane. You see, you don't have to do the paper unless of course you want to fail the class."

"What?" Theresa said.

"You don't do the paper, you don't pass the class. Understand?"

"Unbelievable!" Theresa cried. "You can't do this!" She repeated.

"It's my class, my rules. Either do the second topic in addition to your other assignment or else you fail my class."

"What's the second topic?" Theresa asked warily.

"Reasons why you shouldn't dump coffee on another individual."

Theresa blinked and stared dumbfounded at her professor. "You have got to be kidding me."

"Nope," Justin replied. "Have fun." He called as he walked out of the door.

"Oh my God," Whitney said. "What the hell was that between you two?"

"That is called utter dislike." Theresa replied frowning. "I hate him."

"Hate is such a strong word," Whitney said. "Besides, he seems nice."

"Nice?" Theresa said in disbelief. "Hell would freeze over before Professor Hammond would ever be considered nice."

"Maybe you just have to get to know him. Maybe then you'll find out why he acts the way he does around you." Whitney suggested.

"I don't think so, Whit." Theresa replied. "I get irritated just hearing his name, and I don't think I want to learn anything more about him."

"Okay," Whitney said slowly. "You may say that now, but wait until later."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Theresa asked.

"Who knows? You may end up finding more about Professor Hammond whether you like it or not."

~*~



"That is so romantic." Dylan said as he exaggeratingly batted his eyelashes. "Ah, love. Ain't it grand?"

Fox shoved Dylan. "You just wait until you fall in love."

"I don't think that's ever going to happen for me, buddy." Dylan replied.

"And why not?" Fox said. "I never thought I could fall in love and look what happened to me."

"Yeah," Dylan replied. "You got whipped." He laughed aloud.

"You're so not funny." Fox replied. He set little Ethan down in the playpen on the other side of the room. Little Ethan giggled as he began to play with the toys that surrounded him.

"Seriously, though." Dylan said. "I don't know if I could ever really love someone so much that I would commit my life to them."

"Just wait and see," Fox said. "It'll just hit you, and one day- BAM! You're in love."

"Did you know immediately that you loved Theresa?" Dylan asked. Fox contemplated Dylan's statement. "Actually," Fox said regretfully. "I didn't realize it right away. I thought I had been in love with Whitney for awhile, but that all changed. After awhile I finally realized that Theresa and I were meant to be."

"You believe in that stuff? The whole meant-to-be fate crap?" Dylan said frowning.

"It isn't crap." Fox replied. "It's weird, and you may think I'm crazy for believing this, but I think I was brought back to Harmony for a reason."

"Yeah, gambling debts." Dylan replied wryly.

"Besides that," Fox replied. "I just know that Theresa and I belong together. That's all that matters."

"So, what about Audrey?" Dylan asked.

"What about her?"

"What'd she say in the letter?" Dylan asked curiously. "I'd like to read it."

Fox walked over to the trashcan and pulled out the balled up sheets of paper. He handed them to Dylan who read them thoroughly. Once he was through, he whistled. "Wow," He said. "Sounds like she's looking for some love."

"She's not going to get any from me." Fox said. "Besides, I think she's just feeling lonely."

"Or horny." Dylan smirked. "I desperately wish to see you Fox. I want to feel your strong arms around me again. I want to kiss your lips. I just want you." Dylan quoted.

Fox rolled his eyes. "Give me the letter. I'm going to make sure this thing is destroyed. I want to eliminate any chance of Theresa reading this. She'll be heartbroken if she does."

"What if she asks about it?" Dylan wondered.

"I'll tell her that Audrey was just checking up on me to see how I was doing." Fox replied.

"Oooh, a lie." Dylan replied. "It's not good to have lies in a relationship."

"First off, look who's talking. Secondly, I'm trying to prevent Theresa from getting hurt. I hate it when I cause her pain. When her heart breaks, I can feel my own heart shattering to pieces."

"Well, just hope Audrey doesn't pay any surprise visits." Dylan replied.

"Yeah," Fox agreed. "Let's hope she doesn't."

~*~