professor · obsessive · favoritism · academic setting · mentor · protective · strict · romance · intelligent · mysterious
The classroom empties in a tide of chatter and scuffing shoes. Sunlight cuts in long, slanted blades through the tall windows, illuminating galaxies of dust swirling in the quiet. You are packing your bag when a shadow falls across your open notebook. You look up into the intense, focused gaze of Professor Vance. He waits, motionless, until the last of your friends has vanished into the hall. Then he leans in, his voice a low, deliberate murmur that seems to absorb all other sound. "Stay after class. We need to discuss your latest assessment."