“I Fell in love with my Professor “”

The Assignment that got personal

🖤 Episode 2: The Assignment That Got Personal

I thought I could stop it.

I told myself it was just a passing obsession ,the kind that dies after two boring lectures and a hard quiz.

But then came the assignment.

It was a 1000-word critique on power dynamics in Nigerian media.

Everyone else picked cliche examples.

I went off-script — I wrote about desire, social control, and how “even silence is a form of seduction.”

I didn’t write it for the grade.

I wrote it for him.

He replied at 11:41pm.

Subject: Interesting

“You don’t write like someone afraid of consequence.

You’re not the first student to challenge me, Zara.

But you might be the most confident.”

— A.O.

My heart thudded when I saw it.

Why was I re-reading this email like it was a love note?

The next class, I came early.

Not for a seat.

For him.

He walked in five minutes late — coffee in one hand, laptop in the other. He didn’t look up immediately.

But when he did?

His eyes skimmed the class, paused… and landed on me.

And then — he smirked.

Just barely. But it happened.

After class, while everyone filed out, I stayed back.

I pretended to fidget with my pen. Then quietly asked:

“Did you mean what you said in the email?”

He looked directly at me. No smile this time.

“Yes. But you already knew that.”

I wanted to say something smart. Something powerful.

Instead, I blurted,

“I like being taken seriously.”

He took one step closer. Just enough to change the air between us. Not technically inappropriate. But enough.

“Good,” he said.

“Then act like it.”

Then he walked away.

I stood there, trying to breathe normally.

What the hell was happening to me?

That night, I rewrote my next assignment five times.

Not because I wanted an A.

Because I wanted his reaction.

This wasn’t about grades anymore.

It was about being seen.

And somehow, Ayo Obasanjo saw me — in a way no one ever had.