MY PROFESSOR AND I

The spill

Episode 6

After Tia and Katie left the lecture hall, the hallway was already flooding with students.

“My stomach is growling,” Katie said, rubbing her belly. “Cafeteria?”

“Cafeteria,” Tia agreed.

The Law building was only a 5-minute walk from the main cafeteria. The sun was high now, and the campus smelled like fried rice and coffee.

When they got there, Linda and Gloria were already at a table near the window, saving seats and guarding their bags.

“There she is, Miss First Day!” Linda waved, her hands still faintly stained with blue paint.

“How was Contract Law?” Gloria asked, pushing a bottle of water toward Tia.

“Good,” Tia said, smiling. “Intense. But good.”

“I’m starving,” Tia added. “I’m gonna go order first.”

She picked up her tray and joined the long line. The cafeteria was loud — clattering plates, music from a speaker, students laughing.

She ordered chicken rice, vegetables, and a cold drink. The tray was heavy and hot in her hands.

She turned carefully, trying to find her way back to her friends without dropping anything.

That’s when it happened.

She was looking over her shoulder, waving at Katie —

and *BAM.*

Her shoulder crashed into someone’s chest.

The tray jerked.

Hot rice, sauce, and her cold drink went everywhere.

All over her white TIU shirt.

All over her pants.

All over the floor.

For one second, the world went silent.

Tia’s face went red. Hot. Mortified.

“Ahh!” she gasped. Her first day and she was already a mess.

Anger bubbled up instantly. “Watch where you’re —”

She looked up.

And froze.

Standing in front of her, holding the other half of the spilled tray, was JJ.

Same bright eyes. Same easy smile. Slightly damp now too, because some of the drink had splashed on him.

JJ blinked. He didn’t recognize her at first — she was covered in rice.

Then his eyes widened.

“Tia?”

Her anger vanished. Just like that.

Replaced with the weirdest rush of happiness.

“JJ?” she said, dumbly.

He started laughing, not at her, but with her. “Oh my gosh. Of all the people in this huge cafeteria.”

“I’m so sorry,” Tia said quickly, looking down at her ruined clothes. “I wasn’t looking —”

“Hey, it’s my fault too,” JJ cut in, already grabbing napkins from a nearby table. “Here, let’s clean this up.”

He crouched down with her and started picking rice off the floor.

“Are you okay? Did it burn you?” he asked, glancing at her shirt.

“No, it’s just… embarrassing,” Tia mumbled.

“You look fine,” JJ said without thinking, then immediately looked away. “I mean — the food. On the shirt. Not you.”

Tia felt her cheeks burn for a different reason now.

A cafeteria staff member came over with a mop. “You two okay?”

“We’re fine,” JJ said. “But she needs new clothes.”

He stood up and looked Tia up and down, then snapped his fingers.

“Wait here. Don’t move.”

Two minutes later he came back with a TIU hoodie and a pair of black joggers from the campus store.

“They’re new,” he said, handing them to her. “Go change in the bathroom. I’ll watch your stuff.”

Tia stared at him. “You didn’t have to —”

“I know,” JJ said, smiling. “Just go.”

She rushed to the bathroom and changed. The hoodie was soft and way too big on her, but it covered the stains. When she came back, JJ was sitting with Katie, Linda, and Gloria, already chatting like he’d known them forever.

“You must be Room 402,” JJ said when he saw her. “They’ve been telling me about you.”

Tia sat down, still a little dazed. “You know them?”

“Met Gloria in Computer Science orientation,” he said. “Small campus.”

Introductions flew around the table.

“This is Katie, Law,” Tia said.

“Linda, Fine Arts.”

“Gloria, Computer Science.”

“And this is JJ,” Tia added. “Business Admin. And my… savior with clothes.”

Everyone laughed. JJ fit right in. He asked Gloria about her coding project, complimented Linda’s painting on her laptop sticker, and debated jollof rice vs Thai curry with Katie.

Tia just watched him, still feeling warm from the hoodie and from the way he’d handled the whole spill without making her feel stupid.

After 30 minutes, JJ checked his watch. “I have class in 10. Business Law.”

He stood up. Tia stood up too without thinking.

“I’ll walk you out,” she said.

They walked through the courtyard together. Students biked past. Music played from somewhere.

When they got to the parking lot, JJ stopped by a silver car.

He turned to her and frowned. “Wait. Do we… have each other’s numbers?”

Tia’s eyes went wide. “No.”

“See? This is why we can’t have nice things,” JJ said, pulling out his phone.

They exchanged numbers quickly.

“Saved as ‘JJ - The Spill’,” he said, showing her his screen.

Tia laughed. “I’m saving you as ‘JJ - Clothes Hero’.”

JJ opened his car door, then paused. He looked at her — really looked at her — in the oversized hoodie.

“Welcome to TIU, Tia,” he said softly. “I’m glad it was you I bumped into. Twice now.”

“Me too,” Tia said. Her voice came out quieter than she expected.

He gave her a polite, crooked smile and got into his car.

As he drove away, Tia stood there for a second, holding her phone with his new contact in it.

When she walked back to the cafeteria, her friends were waiting.

Katie raised an eyebrow. “Soooo. The Spill?”

Gloria grinned. “He brought you clothes??”

Linda was already drawing a little doodle of a rice bowl with a heart on it.

Tia just smiled and sat down.

Her shirt was ruined.

But somehow, her first day felt a little brighter.