glory, Syeesha held his eyes. “Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The court agreed.” She wished he would covertly wink at her. “None dissented.”
All eyes returned to Professor Asher. He nodded. “Try to keep your mind focused for the rest of the lecture. And I’ll try not to bore you.”
As the professor stood up and made his way back to the podium, Syeesha could’ve sworn she’d seen the tiniest smile flicker across his lips then disappear with the speed of a falling star.
***
Chapter 9
As soon as class ended, Syeesha lingered a bit by fumbling with her laptop and backpack. When it became obvious that Professor Asher was more preoccupied with whatever was purring from Felicia Pearlmann’s strawberry-glossed pout than asking Syeesha to hang around so that he could confess his forbidden love for her, she bundled up in her puffy coat and scarf and meandered from the room, her sophomoric crush crushed.
“Syeesha!”
For the sweetest second, Syeesha imagined it was the professor calling. But she had memorized the cadence in his voice enough to know that it wasn’t him.
“Hey, Christian. What’s up?”
The way his eyebrows rose high on his forehead brought to mind a little boy sitting on Santa’s lap, ready to recite his memorized wish list of toys. The snug knit cap stopped an inch above his alert black eyes.
“I’ve been meaning to ask if you’d like to join our study group. Me and a couple other students. I know you’ve said no before, but I thought maybe you’d have changed your mind by now.”
Christian probably needed his study group less than they needed him to decode the complex lectures. His intelligence was only one of the reasons why he was the kind of guy that every parent would want to see their daughter bring home. His wide mouth, beneath a faint outline of a mustache, looked like a foul word had never touched them. His dark eyes slanted upward, and his long, full nose complemented his angular face. A scar sliced through his right eyebrow like a perfectly straight line drawn through smooth sand. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Syeesha so he couldn’t have been more than five seven, too short for her taste. He wore loose-fitting jeans, a mint button-down shirt beneath a soft gray V-neck sweater, and an unzipped bubble jacket that reminded Syeesha of the Michelin man. She guessed he couldn’t be more than twenty-two, max, considering that he looked like his mother dressed him for school.
“I can’t, sorry. I’ve got so much going on right now.”
“Yeah, but . . .” He shrugged. “It’s kind of hard making it through school without a study group, isn’t it?”
“I’m managing . . .”
The grade on her last test said otherwise. But there was no way he could know that. Syeesha figured she was just going through a slump. The procrastination instead of studying, the daydreaming in class, and the cramming for exams were all normal symptoms of a tired student. It would pass. It had to. Buying the big house with the nice kitchen was still on her agenda and secretarial pay wasn’t gonna get it. Besides, she just couldn’t bear to be stuck in a study group with a bunch of Type A personalities jockeying for the leadership position and spouting off their knowledge of employment law in an effort to one-up one another. After Tanya had left, Syeesha hadn’t joined another group.
“Listen.” He took her gently by the arm and led her out of the way of the students spilling from other classrooms. “We’ve got a couple of classes together, and I know that you’re really smart. I’d hate to see you fall behind because you’ve got too much pride to join a study group.”
“What makes you think I’m going to fall behind?”
He shrugged, his shoulders moving up and down so slightly that she almost missed it.
Looking at him conjured a long-ago memory of a lone Boston terrier that had sat on the sidewalk and seduced her with its sad eyes while she had
All eyes returned to Professor Asher. He nodded. “Try to keep your mind focused for the rest of the lecture. And I’ll try not to bore you.”
As the professor stood up and made his way back to the podium, Syeesha could’ve sworn she’d seen the tiniest smile flicker across his lips then disappear with the speed of a falling star.
***
Chapter 9
As soon as class ended, Syeesha lingered a bit by fumbling with her laptop and backpack. When it became obvious that Professor Asher was more preoccupied with whatever was purring from Felicia Pearlmann’s strawberry-glossed pout than asking Syeesha to hang around so that he could confess his forbidden love for her, she bundled up in her puffy coat and scarf and meandered from the room, her sophomoric crush crushed.
“Syeesha!”
For the sweetest second, Syeesha imagined it was the professor calling. But she had memorized the cadence in his voice enough to know that it wasn’t him.
“Hey, Christian. What’s up?”
The way his eyebrows rose high on his forehead brought to mind a little boy sitting on Santa’s lap, ready to recite his memorized wish list of toys. The snug knit cap stopped an inch above his alert black eyes.
“I’ve been meaning to ask if you’d like to join our study group. Me and a couple other students. I know you’ve said no before, but I thought maybe you’d have changed your mind by now.”
Christian probably needed his study group less than they needed him to decode the complex lectures. His intelligence was only one of the reasons why he was the kind of guy that every parent would want to see their daughter bring home. His wide mouth, beneath a faint outline of a mustache, looked like a foul word had never touched them. His dark eyes slanted upward, and his long, full nose complemented his angular face. A scar sliced through his right eyebrow like a perfectly straight line drawn through smooth sand. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Syeesha so he couldn’t have been more than five seven, too short for her taste. He wore loose-fitting jeans, a mint button-down shirt beneath a soft gray V-neck sweater, and an unzipped bubble jacket that reminded Syeesha of the Michelin man. She guessed he couldn’t be more than twenty-two, max, considering that he looked like his mother dressed him for school.
“I can’t, sorry. I’ve got so much going on right now.”
“Yeah, but . . .” He shrugged. “It’s kind of hard making it through school without a study group, isn’t it?”
“I’m managing . . .”
The grade on her last test said otherwise. But there was no way he could know that. Syeesha figured she was just going through a slump. The procrastination instead of studying, the daydreaming in class, and the cramming for exams were all normal symptoms of a tired student. It would pass. It had to. Buying the big house with the nice kitchen was still on her agenda and secretarial pay wasn’t gonna get it. Besides, she just couldn’t bear to be stuck in a study group with a bunch of Type A personalities jockeying for the leadership position and spouting off their knowledge of employment law in an effort to one-up one another. After Tanya had left, Syeesha hadn’t joined another group.
“Listen.” He took her gently by the arm and led her out of the way of the students spilling from other classrooms. “We’ve got a couple of classes together, and I know that you’re really smart. I’d hate to see you fall behind because you’ve got too much pride to join a study group.”
“What makes you think I’m going to fall behind?”
He shrugged, his shoulders moving up and down so slightly that she almost missed it.
Looking at him conjured a long-ago memory of a lone Boston terrier that had sat on the sidewalk and seduced her with its sad eyes while she had
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