Forbidden To Love You, My Dragon Professor

Nina Reyes

Nina sat down on a bench, still on the grounds of the school. They were employing a demon to run the Mythology class? So mystifyingly ironic, she thought. There was no way they'd do that if they knew. She sat back and thought about why this was happening. Why could she see him as a creature but the rest of the class could not? How could she walk back in there and not look like an i***t?

"Hey!" she heard the all too familiar voice of Hannah off in the distance. She was coming closer. "Why did you take off like that?"

"I uh- I don't know. I just started having a panic attack and I had to get out and get some air."

"Are you okay now? He's not waiting for you but the class is two hours long. He covers a lot each time, so it's beneficial to come back," Hannah asked, looking uncomfortable. "I have to get back too, he knows I came to check on you, but he's not going to wait for me to come back, either."

"I don't know if I can," Nina said slowly.

"Well it doesn't look good with you joining the class and then not going your first day in it. Just FYI," she said before turning away. "I don't know what you're going through, but if you're serious about taking the class, you better be there. Reading the book isn't enough to pass."

"You been in another class of his before?"

"No, but he told us that, and I believe him. He expands on the texts and we've gotten a few things that will be on the final exam already. I'm going back now," she said, beginning her walk back to the building.

Nina's stomach turned as she stood up, knowing what she was walking into if she did go back. Everyone else was going to see a man standing there, and she was going to see a lizard. Not even a lizard, a dragon man. She ran around the bench to catch up with Hannah.

"Sorry I'm making you miss part of his lecture."

"You're not, I chose to come out here to find you."

"I know that, but if I hadn't run out you'd still be sitting in there."

"Doesn't matter," she looked over to Nina and winked. "I record all his sessions."

"You what? Does he know?"

"Of course not! I'll let you listen to his classes from start to today," Hannah nudged Nina. Nina smiled and looked at the ground while shaking her head. "I know we're not supposed to, but it's how I make exceptional notes."

"It's a good idea, though," Nina said, shrugging. "And thanks, I'd really appreciate it."

"You staying on campus?"

"Yeah, third floor of the main dorms," Nina said and Hannah's mouth dropped open.

"Me too! Why do I never see you?"

"I'm out real early, don't come back until late. I literally just sleep there or don't leave for the weekend. It's just me."

"For real? My room mate is an animal, could I move in with you?" Hannah asked, her eyes wide.

"I kind of like being on my own," Nina said slowly.

"I won't bother you, I swear," she said, putting her hand up in the air. "Scout's honor."

"Other hand, Hannah," Nina laughed as Hannah switched hands. "I guess so, sure."

"Okay, you gonna be okay coming back in here?" Hannah asked as they got to the door of the creature's den. Nina took a deep breath and nodded, opening the door herself and walking in. The lights were dimmed and the dragon was down by the podium, still, talking about the picture of some Greek mythos. She came to a realization that she didn't care at all about Mythology anymore. She cared about what the hell a dragon guy was doing teaching a class of humans in a college.

She also cared about why she could see him as a dragon. Why she seemed to be the only one who could.

He looked back in her direction and she could feel his yellow-green eyes staring at her. She felt her skin seem to tighten on her face as she looked down at him, the royal blue tips of her raven hair falling just over her eyes.

"Psst, over here!" Hannah hissed, getting Nina's attention and beckoning her over. Nina moved quickly to sit beside Hannah. "I picked up the stuff you left. Sure you're okay? You know him or something?"

"Never met him," Nina whispered back. Hannah arched an eyebrow but turned back to look at the next picture. "I'd know if I did," she mumbled to herself, reorganizing her pens and paper quietly. Once she got the title of the class and the date down on her notepad, she breathed in, and looked up.

There he was, talking like a human, interacting with everyone like a human would, and yet nothing about him was human. Maybe she was crazy. That had to be it. She was crazy and he was normal. Maybe she should go to the hospital room on campus and see if there was something going on in her head. Clearly, this wasn't possible.

Before she knew it, the class was over. "Nina Reyes," the dragon man called suddenly, snapping her out of her thought-like trance. "Can I see you for a moment?"

Nina felt her blood run cold. She had stood up and walked into the aisle, Hannah out behind her, and she looked at her new friend with wide eyes.

"Go, I'm heading to the office to see if I can change my room to yours. Meet me there?"

"You can't stay?"

"You'll be alright. He's a nice guy. I'll see you in a bit."

She was so helpful in the store, now she was a deserter. Nina swallowed and looked back down at the... thing. She wasn't even sure dragon was the right thing. She began to walk down the remaining steps to the front as he stapled some things together.

"Hi Nina, so I was told just before class that you would be joining us for hopefully the rest of the term," he said, barely glancing at her. She couldn't believe how he talked so normally, like nothing was wrong.

"How long have you been teaching?" Nina asked absentmindedly. He paused and looked from the papers to her face. He was fixated on her eyes for just a moment, and they shared several long moments of silent... communication?

"A few years," he answered, holding out the papers for her. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, um, nothing, I uh-" she stumbled on the words as her shaking hands took the papers. "I didn't know Mythology was even a course here until today," she said, changing the subject. "Um, so, are there any pages I should be reading to catch up to speed with everyone?"

"Yes, they're on the papers I printed for you, along with a few notes I made. You'll see it's all in there," he nodded to the papers she was putting in her binder. "If you need any extra help, I believe your friend Hannah will be a great help."

"Are there assignments in these pages?"

"No, just things I want you to read and research on your own."

"Has there been any assignments so far?"

"There has."

"Well, I'd like to do them, if that's possible."

He chuckled at her. "Two small writing assignments that really won't have any effect on the outcome of your grade, Miss Reyes, is not something I care to make you do in the name of catching up."

"Will anything from those assignments come up for the exam?"

"Good night, Nina, if you're that willing to catch up, have all those pages done by class next week," he told her. The tone of his voice, she felt, was that he was beginning to get frustrated with her stubbornness.

"I just want to make sure there's nothing I'm... missing," she said, gaining his attention at how she paused before saying the last word. Her eyes were meaningful in the concept, and he looked almost like he seemed to know exactly what she was talking about.

"Something in my hair?" he asked suddenly, a small smile playing on his lips. She looked up to where a normal persons hair would be, and swallowed, looking back at his eyes for a moment before her heart seemed to drop to her stomach.

Flying out the door for the second time that afternoon, Nina's heart pounding in her chest once again as she took the stairs two at a time. He knew she knew. She knew that he knew that she knew. "Holy s**t. What am I going to do? He knows I can see what he is!"

"Hey, great news, I can move into your place tonight," Hannah said and went to high-five Nina, but had to stop because Nina didn't even notice. "You okay? What happened in there?"

"What color is his hair?" Nina asked suddenly. Hannah frowned.

"Dark brown, like semi-sweet chocolate," she answered, going off into fantasy thought. Nina took a deep breath. "What's up?"

"Nothing. I'll help you move in," Nina said, suddenly feeling exhausted.

"By the way," Hannah said suddenly, linking her arm with Nina's as they left the building. "Weren't your eyes lighter before? Come to think of it, they were brown in the store, but like a honey color in class earlier. Now they're brown again."

"What?" Nina furrowed her brows. "No, I think you just saw the light from the screen reflecting in them or something. It was dark in there."

"Maybe," she said, shrugging. "Let's hurry up, before my roomie and her boyfriend show up and start making out. They're super loud and it's gross."

Laughing, Nina and Hannah sped up to get to their building, and worked quickly to get Hannah's things packed and moved down the hall to Nina's dorm.

"So, what did he give you?" Hannah asked, sitting on her bed and looking at Nina expectantly.

"Well, a bunch of papers. He said he wants me to read everything he's got written down, and do some independent research."

"Didn't give you the two assignments?"

"No, he refused, even," Nina frowned.

"I told you," Hannah shrugged. "It's okay, he kind of did, by the look of these. He wanted in-depth research on two topics of our choice, based on the things we read, and just a thousand words each typed up and handed in."

"Oh."

"Yeah, so just do as he said and do some extra research on everything, and you'll be alright."

"Whatever," Nina whispered, shrugging her sweater off. "He told me if I wanted to really catch up, to do all this before class next week."

"That would be ambitious," she laughed. "Don't you have like six other classes that are rather heavy?"

"Love a challenge," Nina joked, rolling her eyes. "I'm not behind in any other classes, and this is the last class of the week, so I'll just spend tomorrow doing this stuff, and do my normal homework for the other classes on Sunday. Didn't have any plans for the weekend anyway."

"Do you see your parents at all?"

"Not really, never knew my dad, and my mom works two jobs. I call her on Mondays usually, after classes are over."

"Right. Well, here's all the lectures," Hannah said, making Nina turn to her. She was holding a little USB stick that she'd just taken out of her laptop. "Keep them. I'll keep adding as we go."

"Sure, that's great, thanks," Nina said, a little shock evident on her face as she took the lifeline she didn't know she needed until then. "Also, I think he does know," Nina said suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"He mentioned something about you being a good friend to have in class if I ever needed any help."

"Doesn't really mean anything."

"Maybe not, but he seemed very specific about it being you I talk to if I need something."

"Oh, well... yeah, we kind of had a little thing before class started," she said, her cheeks turning a light pink. "He stopped though, broke it off when he found out I was in his class this term."

"Seriously? Well, it does look bad if you're seeing your student," Nina laughed. If Hannah only knew what she'd been kissing wasn't actually human, she might think differently, Nina thought. Hannah stayed silent but smiled.

"You wanna go for dinner somewhere?" she asked Nina after a few minutes.

"I can't," Nina said after a minute. "I spent too much today," she half laughed. "My mom sends me money on Mondays, when she gets paid. She's amazing, and I love her and I feel bad, but she said as long as I get good grades, the money doesn't mean anything."

"That's an amazing mom for sure," Hannah smiled. "I'll buy. I don't mind."

"Something cheap then, I don't like spending other people's money."

"Nina, if I cared, I wouldn't have suggested it. If you want to, you could owe, but it's not necessary. I'm craving a burger and fries anyway, if you're cool with that."

"Yeah, no problem," Nina replied, relief setting in that her new friend wasn't planning on taking her anywhere special. A Burger Barn would be perfect right now.