Forbidden To Love You, My Dragon Professor

Julia Reyes

Nina and Tyson had parked on the side of the road in front of her house, and got out only when Nina's mother pulled in the driveway. Nina ran to her mom and hugged her, "I missed you so much, Mom!"

"Oh honey, I've missed you more than you'll ever know. You have no idea how hard it was to watch you get out of my car and walk into that school," she said, holding her daughter by the arms and leaning back to look at her. "You're eating, right? You look thin."

"Yes, Mom, I'm eating. I just have a really intense workout regimen," she insisted. She looked at Tyson and he beamed at the two of them. "Mom, this is Tyson, my boyfriend." It still felt strange to call him that, but she found that she liked pairing him with those words. Her mom turned from her with a smile, which did falter for a moment, but she didn't let it last long.

"Nice to meet you," Tyson said, holding out his hand which she took.

"Hi, I'm Julia," she said, almost cautiously.

"How did you two meet?" Julia asked as they sat in the living room and she went to start dinner. Nina glanced at him with a small smile.

"We have Mythology together," he said, and Nina nearly choked. He wasn't lying, but if her mom decided to look into it at all, she'd find out he was the teacher of the class, not another student. Her mom looked in at her and she smiled, nodding.

"Yeah, he and my friend Hannah are in there with me and helped me get caught up in the class within the first week." Nina looked between the two of them and noticed her mom made to speak first.

"I'm sorry, I should wait to talk about this when your boyfriend isn't here, but Mythology isn't really something that's going to help you get a career going, and you dropped a business class for it," her mom said, and Nina sighed. She knew that was coming at some point.

"It's great reference material, though," she said suddenly, and smiled at her mom. "I was actually thinking that maybe I could do something in like, social working. Or become a therapist. I mean, I'm taking Psychology, too. I could go into that strain and get a doctorate and then work somewhere in that field.

Her mom stopped peeling potatoes and stared at her. Nina glanced at Tyson who was watching her mother as well, and just knew he was listening to her thoughts. If there was something he could do to hint her in the direction she needed to take this conversation, she'd love it to happen in the next ten seconds.

Tyson turned to Nina, stood up and winked at her before turning back to her mom. "I believe we forgot something in the car," he said and smiled at her mom. "Excuse me for a moment, Julia. I'll be right back." Julia nodded and as the door closed, Nina stood and made her way to her mom.

"Mom, I've really been having a change of thought. Business is fine, but if I'm honest with myself, I'd like to help people somehow. Even criminal psychology would be interesting. Become a detective or a therapist for people who've been through trauma."

"Are you sure that's what you want to do?"

"Well I'm good at the classes," Nina said, shrugging. "It's easy for me to understand, I just need to get more comfortable with people, and that's something I can work on while I'm in school."

"As long as you're sure, I don't care what you do. Just make sure it's something you really want," she said back and kissed Nina on the forehead. She cut up the potatoes and Nina walked around the counter to get the vegetables out and that was when she smelled it.

"Mom, are you cooking a roast?"

"Yes, honey," Julia said with a soft laugh. "I put it in as soon as I thought about calling you."

"Good thing I said yes," Nina laughed and her mom turned to her with a smile.

"Could you help me pull it out?"

"Yeah," Nina nodded and opened the oven. She put oven mitts on and pulled out the roast pan as Tyson came in the door with their coffees. "Oh, right, the coffee," Nina said and laughed, almost losing the roast in the process.

"Wow, calm down, it's just coffee," Julia laughed and Tyson did the same thing.

"No, my laughing caught me off guard with keeping it steady," Nina said, trying to set the roast on top of the oven so her mom could get the potatoes in. Her mom closed the oven and got to work.

"Thanks honey," she said and motioned for Nina to go back to the living room. "I've got it."

"You sure? I can put it back in once you're done."

"It'll be even heavier," her mom warned.

"Julia, I'd be glad to put it back in the oven once you're done," Tyson said as he put her coffee down on the counter where she had been working.

"Oh, well thank you, Tyson," she said with a smile and Tyson nodded to her.

How is my mom taking to you? Nina asked suddenly and Tyson looked at her for a moment, then back to her mom.

"She's questioning how old I am and worried about you," he whispered in her head. "You were right to worry about her thoughts on us, it seems."

"So, Tyson," her mom began, and Nina's eyes widened a little because she knew what her mom was about to do. Tyson said nothing, but he looked prepared. "How old are you?"

"Thirty," he said, trying not to frown but Nina knew it was just a play because she was watching him. "I'll be thirty one in January." Nina swallowed.

"Do you know how old my daughter is?"

"I've come to know she's nineteen, ma'am," he said respectfully.

"I'm only going to warn you once and then I won't mention this again," she said, standing up right with a towel to dry her hands. "Don't you dare take advantage of her, or hurt her in any way."

"Mom," Nina groaned. "Way to kick off a night."

"I'm just looking out for you, sweetie, you're still so young."

"Mom, I know you're worried, but this isn't the same thing," Nina reassured her mother. "It's not and I promise it won't be." Nina knew her mom was only doing this because of what happened to her before she got pregnant with Nina. She knew the conversation wasn't over, she didn't need to read minds to know that, and when her mom looked away, Nina looked to Tyson and saw something she didn't understand. It was a kind of shock and understanding. Had he heard or seen something in her mind that told him more than what even Nina knew?

"If you would prefer that I leave early, Julia, I'll understand," he said suddenly and Nina's heart beat faster in her chest. What had he seen? Why would he suggest to leave just like that?

"No, it's alright," her mom said, shaking her head. "I'm overreacting, and I'm sorry."

"No, you're not, I'm aware of what this looks like. I have no intentions of disrespecting you or Nina," Tyson said warmly. "Whatever happened to you, I won't make the same mistake he did and leave her. You have my word."

"I don't want her to get pregnant before she has a chance to live her life," Julia stared at him while speaking.

"I will not be that guy," he assured her. She nodded but Nina could see her teeth were clenched and that whatever thoughts going through her head were painful for her to think about. "Are you ready for the roast to go back in?"

"Oh!" Julia gasped, suddenly laughing as she turned to the roast pan. The potatoes and vegetables were now in the water, and she moved to the spice rack beside the stove. After she put in several spices and herbs, she put the lid back on it. Tyson slipped past Nina and Julia moved out of the way to give him some more room. He was likely about two inches taller than Nina, which meant he was likely six taller than her. Nina always teased her mom about the height difference, but never claimed it was over her father, but she now knew it was true.

"There we go," he said, closing the oven door for her. He turned to look at her and she nodded in thanks before he moved back over to Nina.

"We should all go sit in the living room, or outside in the back yard or something while we wait for dinner," Nina suggested and both her mom and Tyson agreed. They kept the conversation light after that, and talked about school, classes, how work is going for Julia, and how she's thinking about getting a pet.

Dinner on the table, Nina sat across from her mom and Tyson sat diagonally to them both. Nina was nervous, and it seemed so was her mom. Neither of them had ever had a guy at the table except Julia's father and that was twice a year. Tyson was a stranger to Julia, and it seemed to trigger some sad emotions inside her. Tyson frowned at Nina for a moment before her mother could look up and notice.

"So, do you stay on campus or do you live in the city?" Julia asked Tyson. He smiled gently at her and answered her question.

"I have my own place in the city," he said, and before she could ask her next question, he was already answering it. "I teach night classes off campus on weekdays and work online."

"Oh, so if you teach why are you taking classes?"

"I enjoy learning new things, and I travel to different countries in the summer," he added, a small smirk playing on his lips. Nina found she was learning things about him, but wasn't sure if they were all true, since he was lying about taking Mythology rather than teaching it. "Seriously," he said, looking at Nina as if it was a response to her thoughts rather than her mother's surprised face. "I'm working on going to every country at least once in my life."

"That's definitely a bucket list sort of plan," Julia laughed. "That would be wonderful to be able to do."

"Mom, I could get a job and then you could keep the two jobs until you have money to travel, you know. Seriously I'd rather you be happy if that's something you want to do. I have four years of school ahead of me, or more, and I don't want you stuck dealing with all of those payments."

"Don't be silly Nina, I don't have the guts to get on a plane," Julia laughed.

"Well, go on a cruise or five," Nina teased. "A different one each time."

"Tell you what, I'll think about it, alright?"

"I think Nina has a good point," Tyson shrugged. "You do deserve to be happy. If travel is something you always wanted to do, then you should do it."

"Oh, I don't know, Tyson. It's not really in my grasp right now," she smiled at them both. "Thank you for thinking about me, though, but I'm used to doing this. I wouldn't even know where to start."

"Thank you for dinner, Nina," Tyson said as he pulled his shoes on to leave. "It was a nice surprise." He glanced at Nina as her mother said it was no problem. "I could pick you up Monday morning, if you like." Nina raised her eyebrows and Julia did the same thing.

"You'd drive all the way here again, just to drive me back to school?"

"No, no, you've done enough driving," Julia said, raising her hands and shaking her head. "I'll get her there."

"It's no trouble, I can catch up on my online work after I bring her to campus. I don't mind long drives."

"Well, alright," Julia nearly coughed in disbelief. Nina smiled.

"If you really don't mind, I'd appreciate it," Nina added after her mom gave in.

"I can pick you up about nine, gives you a few hours to get there, plus a little if there's traffic."

"Yeah, sure," Nina nodded and Julia looked from one to the other but said nothing. Tyson grinned suddenly and Nina knew he was listening to her mom. Nina could just imagine what she was thinking. Tyson nodded to Nina as he opened the door to leave.

After he was gone, Nina's mom looked over to Nina with a curious smile.

"What?" Nina asked and her mom shook her head, smiling wider.

"He didn't kiss you good bye."

"Oh my god, Mom!" Nina yelled. "We haven't kissed yet!"