Professor's Favorite Student

8

It was already mid-November and Elizabeth had no idea how a month and a half had gone by so fast, it felt like she came to New York only two days ago and in the same time it felt like she had lived here since forever. She had found friends she never imagined she could have, a job she had grown to like, she was doing just fine in her senior year and on top of that she had known him...

Well she didn't exactly know what he meant to her and she couldn't pick a name but she only knew despite everything, her time in this new big city wouldn't be the same without him.

They only had one class in the morning this Friday and then three other hours to do absolutely nothing. Liz and Alex had seen Mia getting nervous about her date with Amber as they didn't live together already and they found it so cute to see her check out her dress and her hair from time to time as she waved goodbye at them worriedly. She'd meet up with Amber's big sister for the first time and that was a big thing for both of them.

Liz and Alex were left alone, once again, with nothing to do since they had ate they usual sandwich and drank their hot chocolates. Of course they could go in library to study but it's not like that'd be that effective considering it was certain they'd start talking about random things —or worse, even laughing out loud — and the librarian would be so ready to kick them out.

"Have you seen the entire campus?" Alex asked and now that she thought of it, she hadn't. "Me neither," he continued and only then she reminded herself he was transferred there as well.

She raised her shoulders, not sure of the idea of pointlessly going around but what was there to lose anyway?

They went through the empty hallways to the science department classes first, then to the film ones and in the end to the music ones.

The class was big, filled with instruments of any kind, some of them unknown to them. She went to the piano first and touched its keys but when her eyes went to a guitar hanged in the wall a big smile formed in her face and she ran to check on it. The guitar was blue, and even though not her favorite — she was a fan of acoustic classic brown guitars — she saw it like she had found a treasure.

"What is it?" Alex asked surprised but she only touched its strings lightly, the sensation making her suddenly nostalgic.

"I love playing guitar."

                                      ***  

Daniel was walking through the hallways, his mood one of the worst this day because it was the first time the rector of the college had wanted to meet him in his office and tell him to be less strict with his students. 'It isn't my fault this years' students are the worst in novels' he sighed within himself but a noise coming from inside a class he was walking by stopped him from walking. 

It wasn't just a noise, it was a giggle. Her giggle?

He shook his head and started walking again, feeling delusional enough already to imagine things like this, let alone to check out for her. What would she be doing in another department anyways? It was only his mind playing tricks on him.

"Come on, no one else will hear it," he heard the voice coming from the same class, now almost sure it was coming from the blonde British boy, his accent unmistakable.

The door was left a little open so as he approached more, he could see them clearly, only him and Elizabeth who had a guitar in her hands, both talking and smiling to each other.

"I have forgot how to play totally," she complained and Daniel narrowed his eyes surprisingly. He had no idea she knew how to play guitar. He found this so amusing, was there a thing this woman wasn't good at?

"You can play whatever part you remember. Come on it's only me here," the boy talked as she sighed, not sure if it was the right thing to do or not. The sudden idea of her playing guitar for a boy made him bit the inside of his cheek so he could swallow the anger and jealousy clouding his judgment.

She sat down on the floor with her legs crossed and he could see in her eyes she was still doubting it. "I haven't played for more than a year," she said and the tone of her voice sounded sadder.

"Why not?" Alex asked while sitting down besides her and their nearness only made Daniel want to go inside, grab her from her wrist and take her away so her eyes could only see him and no one else. He couldn't remember the last time he felt so possessive towards someone, especially not to a student.

"Because...I got into a bad argument with my parents, like always, and I broke it and then I was too proud and stubborn to buy another one." Regret was heard in her low soft voice as she was looking down to the guitar and Daniel could clearly notice the British boy's expression, full of amusement and admiration as his hands went to her hair and brushed them behind her ear lightly, something that made his control fly out of the window. 

She saw the boy surprised but he only smiled at her and she dropped it and smiled in return.

He felt a wave of anger radiating from his body but he still tried to stay calm, reminding himself that he was acting like a child enough by eavesdropping behind the door.

She started playing some soft and chilly notes and they were somehow known to Daniel, he had heard that song before.

But he couldn't believe his ears when he heard her sing. 

She was singing! Like literally singing!

Daniel remembered that song was called 'coffee' and was somehow famous in the internet, even though he had no idea about the singer.  

Her voice, even though obviously untrained and unprofessional, was the smoothest he had ever heard, the softest, the sweetest. It sounded like honey in the morning, like the smell of earth after raining, or the feeling of coming inside from the biting cold of New York and wrapping yourself with a blanket in a sofa. 

He found himself totally, extremely, entirely captivated seeing her thin fingers tangling with the strings, creating a chill and sad music, her eyes half closed focused somewhere else but not in the British boy as her voice sounded more and more smoother.

However the look in Alex's face assured him the boy was indeed falling for her and he closed his eyes angrily at the fact the she was literally singing and playing guitar for him, his blood boiling in his veins.

A smile formed in her face after she finished and even from away he could tell she was embarrassed by her voice.

But what happened next darkened everything in front of him; Alex leaned forward to her, cupped her cheeks with his hands and kissed her.

Daniel frowned.

This couldn't be happening, shouldn't be happening. 

He was the the only one who should've kissed her, the one she'd sing chill romantic songs while playing guitar in a long winter night close to the fireplace, covered in blankets.

It was hurting to see more so he went away. He didn't exactly know where he was going but he had to go out of the campus before doing anything stupid. This was too much and he'd wish with all his heart to had not seen it.

                                      ***  

Elizabeth felt Alex's lips on hers and it took a second more than it should have it adjust in reality. Her eyes were opened in shock and for a split second, suddenly, his brown eyes turned in a crystal green and his hair darker and longer.

But only for a really short fragment of time since she pulled back from him, shock and anger suddenly replacing the blood in her veins.

"What are you doing?" She demanded, leaving Alex narrowing his eyes surprisingly at what he just did and how she just reacted.

"Liz—"

"What?" She cut him off. "What do you have to say after this?"

She saw his eyes were in pain but somehow she couldn't stop being angry at him for literally kissing her without her consent and at herself too for imagining Mr. Ambrose in his place.

"I thought you wanted it — us," he said softly, looking away and somehow it softened her heart. "You were spending a lot of time with me, going out with me. Hell you sang and played guitar because I asked you to, I was confused..." he admitted and she cursed herself for not being able to notice until now. But she had no idea whatsoever and she was never doing it on purpose.

"Alex I'm so sorry, I didn't know..." was the only thing she could say and her words made her feel even more bad inside. "I was just so happy you were my friend."

He chuckled sadly, his eyes still not at her. "Come on Liz, tell me a thing that wouldn't make me have feelings for you. You're literally everything a boy could dream of."

She had no idea how he managed to be this sweet and caring even when he was heartbroken but it only hurt her more. There had been several times she thought she didn't deserve him but this was surely the first on top three.

"It doesn't help that you're this kind you know. I feel even worse now," she whispered but he forced a smile on his face, saddening her being the least thing he wanted.

"You don't have to, it's not your fault. It's okay, really," he assured her but she wasn't convinced however as she sighed, awkwardness filling the room so suddenly. "There's someone else, right?" He added and she wanted to add a quick 'no' but the look in her face betrayed her. He had started to know her a lot better recently and she knew it.

"It's complicated," she admitted in a low tone, as if she was almost doubting if she had to say it or not. "But I won't ever be with him, that's for sure," she find herself saying.

"Then that doesn't make me that much of a loser," he said in a more brighter tone that it was supposed to change the mood but it only worsened it since she didn't want to give him more hopes. But a sudden thought hit her head like a big stone; the thought of not being around her best friend anymore.

"Alex... will we still be friends?" She asked with a desperate voice. "I don't wanna lose you."

For a second he was lost in his thoughts and it scared her that he was thinking of really staying away from her. But if it'd be what he wanted she'd respect him even though it would hurt like hell.

"I think there's no one else to hear my dumb jokes out there so you're stuck with me for a long time ma'am," he smiled brightly, a smile only Alex could have that'd always manage to put one in her face too.