The Potions Professor

Chapter 14

I woke up the next morning freaking out about the day before. I made out with my professor more than once. The one who was always there for me. I never caused him any form of discomfort by flirting with him and I went farther by kissing.

I decided that I needed to be away from him for the day. I went to the storage closet for the potions class and knew that I could go to the herbology and restock what we needed. I made a list of everything and took a basket out to the herbology class.

I walked into the greenhouse and saw the state of the plants. I placed the basket by the door and got to work tending to the plants. I knew that the students who were in charge of this were not doing their job. I took my time with each plant assessing the state they were in and giving them the care they needed.

"Miss Russell!" The professor was alarmed since they didn't expect me to be there taking care of the plants.

"Sorry professor." I started, "I came in to gather some plants for our stockroom, but when I saw the state of a lot of the plants I couldn't leave them."

"That's nice of you, but I have students that should be doing that." They tell me.

"I know, but I couldn't help myself and leave them to suffer." After saying it I questioned if that was the full reason or if it gave me a longer reason to not have to go back near professor Lucas.

"Maybe you should be here when they show up and show them how to care for the plants properly?" I knew the professor wanted them to have the same respect for the plants as I did.

"I don't mind waiting for them. When are they supposed to be here?" I ask.

"They should be here soon, but I do wonder if they will show up." The annoyance in their voice was evident.

"While I wait I'll keep working on these plants," I said and went back to work. The Professor went into their office.

I took more time not sure how long before someone walked into the greenhouse.

"Who are you?" The voice was harsh. I looked over to see a female student standing in the door looking upset.

"Lena, I'm doing your job," I say only because of how rude she was first.

"Lena, like the potions professor's little pet?"

"I am not his pet. I worked hard to be where I am in potions." I get mad at her for saying that to me.

"Sure." She moves in and starts working with a few of the plants. I notice how careless she is when she waters some of the plants. Along with watering plants that didn't need that type of care.

"You aren't doing any of that right," I tell her.

"Are you telling me that I don't know how to do my job?" She crossed her arms.

"Yes." I stare her down.

"You bitch." She said to me.

"I have to be able to use some of these plants in potions and if you don't take care of them right then it makes the potion go bad. If you actually cared about herbology you would know the proper care and know what I plant needs by looking at it. You aren't even looking at them."

"You can't take care of every plant in this proper way and waste time."

"You are wasting time not looking into their needs. If you don't do that then you have more work later. If you cared about plants then you would do it right. " I tell her since she doesn't see the right way of plant care.

"Why the f**k do you think acting better than everyone else gets people to like you." She walked over to me and got in my face.

"I am not acting better than you. I am telling you that plant care is a responsible thing to do if your job is with herbology." I say.

"You are doubling down. You act better than everyone when it comes to potions and now you think you can tell me that I can't do herbology right." She gets angry.

"Oh, Michelle you're here. You should do what Miss Russell was doing. The plants would look so great." The professor says as they move out of their office.

"Find someone else," Michelle said as she left the greenhouse.

"Oh my." The professor said, "You don't mind working here all day, do you while I find someone new?" They asked.

"I don't mind. I also would not feel comfortable leaving the last plants without working with them." I say.

"Thank you."

I spent the whole day while the professor lectured tending to all the plants in the greenhouse. I didn't even eat lunch. I finished right before dinner but still hadn't grabbed any of the plants for the stockroom. I spent dinner working on collecting the plants that needed to be restocked.

I took my basket of plants to the stockroom to get them ready for drying and storing.

"Lena, you finally come in?" I hear professor Lucas ask from the other side of the stockroom door.

"I wanted to fill the stockroom, but I had to take care of the plants before being able to get any," I tell him as I am getting the different bundles in place to dry.

"And all of this is not because you are avoiding me?" I froze.

"No." After a few seconds.

"I'm sorry I put you in that position. I will never do that to you again." He told me still standing in the doorway.

"It wasn't just you," I said. I didn't hate what we did but I didn't want him to treat me differently because of what we did. I didn't want him to see me as one of those other girls.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I didn't hate what happened, but all I need is for you to think that I spent all this time acting like I didn't like you to then throw myself at you," I told him. I wanted him to know my intentions.

"You are not that kind of person which is why I kissed you. I care about you and only want what is best for you. I know I'm your teacher and a line was crossed, but that does not change the way I view you." He finally moved away from the doorway.

He made his way closer to me and put his hand on my cheek. Then he moved his face close to mine. Our lips touched and the feeling of it made me feel good. I didn't want it to stop.

He finally pulled away.

"I know we can't be open about this, but do you want to do more of this kind of thing?" He asked me. I couldn't say no to the way he was looking at me. I kissed him again to show him my yes.