The Professor I Shouldn't Want

Surprisingly Friendly

POV: Isadora

I stared at my phone screen in total shock. I was still in my car, hadn't even pulled out of the campus parking lot yet. My hands were shaking, my heart was racing, and I was completely frozen. What the hell did I do last Friday? And how did I just forget? Okay, granted, I woke up Saturday with the worst hangover of my life, spent the whole day feeling like my head was gonna explode, and then Sunday I had to grind through that damn homicide case study. But this is the kind of mistake you’re supposed to remember making.

I re-read the DM he sent. It seemed... surprisingly friendly. It wasn't even close to the kind of vibe I’d expect from him. The Professor Anderson I know wouldn’t waste two seconds replying to some random person on i********:. But there he was, following a complete stranger and actually being nice to her. I couldn’t deny it: I was intrigued. Suddenly, I really wanted to get to know this "nice" version of him.

No, no, no! This had already gone way too far. The smart thing to do was delete the account and pretend none of this ever happened. It was already a miracle he hadn’t realized it was me in the photo, though, to be fair, I looked totally different. I really outdid myself, considering I did all of this while wasted. Still, I was playing with fire. I was catfishing him in a way that was way lower than just turning in an AI-written paper.

His icy stare flashed through my mind and I shuddered. If he even suspected I was the one behind this account... But then again, didn't he say I’d never be able to fool him? I smirked, looking down at his message. Well, looks like I did, didn't I?

Was what I was doing wrong? Yes. But I was also a little proud of myself. For the past month, I’d felt like a total i***t in his classes. And now, who was the i***t? The big-shot prosecutor, the prodigy, the genius, falling for the oldest trick in the book. Maybe I should message him back. After everything he’d put me through, he deserved to be messed with a little longer.

Anne: [I’m doing good too!]

Anne: [i********: recommended your profile and I thought you looked pretty interesting]

Anne: [Hope that’s okay]

Henry: [Not a problem at all]

He replied instantly, making me jump. My God, he couldn’t even wait two minutes to text back?

Henry: [Are you from Boston too?]

Anne: [Yeah]

I replied automatically, regretting it a second later. It would’ve been way safer to say I lived somewhere far away. But whatever, it’s not like I’m actually going to meet him in person. I’ll have him blocked way before it gets to that point.

Anne: [I saw in your bio that you’re a prosecutor and a professor at Harvard]

Henry: [I am]

Anne: [Wow, that’s pretty impressive]

Anne: [Especially since you look so young]

I decided to stroke his ego a bit. Being as arrogant as he is, he probably lives for that stuff.

Henry: [To be honest, it’s more exhausting than anything else]

Henry: [But thanks]

Henry: [And you? What do you do?]

Crap! I hadn’t thought of a career for her, honestly, I hadn't thought of anything. I needed an answer and I needed it fast, or he was going to get suspicious.

Anne: [I work in marketing]

I typed the literal first thing that popped into my head.

Henry: [Marketing? Wow!]

Henry: [Now that’s something even worse than Law haha]

I laughed.

Anne: [Worse than Law? lol]

Anne: [No way]

Anne: [At least I don't have to read massive books about boring laws, lawsuits, and legal theories]

Actually, I did have to do that, which was exactly why I knew how much it sucked.

Henry: [I’d take the massive books over having to deal with social media any day]

Anne: [Okay, so you’re just a weirdo then]

I hit send without thinking and immediately cringed. Did I seriously just call him a weirdo? Well, it was fun while it lasted. He’s probably going to shut down and end the conversation now.

Henry: [Hahahaha]

Henry: [Yeah, maybe I am]

I stared at my phone for a few seconds, shocked. That was not the reaction I expected. Of all the possible responses, him laughing after I called him a weirdo was definitely not on my bingo card.

Henry: [But at least you like it, right?]

Henry: [What you do?]

Anne: [Yeah]

Anne: [Do you?]

Henry: [Despite everything, yeah]

Our conversation ended up lasting way longer than I’d planned, long enough for me to get home, shower, eat dinner, and crawl into bed with heavy eyes. But even though I was crashing, I didn’t want to stop talking to him. The vibe was just... so easy.

I didn't even have to try to keep the conversation going; it just flowed. We’d already talked about movies, music, places we wanted to travel, favorite sports. I’d never had such an easy time talking to someone. And it was even more mind-blowing considering that "someone" was Professor Anderson. He seemed like a completely different person, more relaxed, funny, and honestly, really charming.

Henry: [I should probably head out now, Anne]

Henry: [Gotta get up early tomorrow]

I caught myself sighing.

Anne: [That’s fine]

Anne: [We can talk more tomorrow or some other time]

Henry: [Actually, would you mind giving me your number?]

Henry: [I’m not on i********: much]

I froze. I hadn’t even considered the possibility of him asking for my number. But how could I? How was I supposed to guess that the harsh, rigid, cold professor who tormented me in class would turn into this sweet, charming, fun guy? I could spend hours talking to him, and that’s exactly what I wanted to do. So, without overthinking it, I gave him my number, not my main one, but the Google Voice burner I had. Just to be safe.

Anne: [There you go]

Anne: [Feel free to text me whenever 😊]

I typed, right after sending the digits.

Henry: [Really? haha]

Anne: [For sure lol]

Henry: [Okay]

Henry: [It was good meeting you, Anne]

Henry: [Goodnight]

Anne: [I liked meeting you too 😊]

Anne: [Goodnight]

I closed the app and locked my phone. I felt strange, a weird mix of emotions, not knowing exactly what to make of it all. The only thing I knew for sure was that I couldn’t wait to talk to him again.

"It really was good to finally meet you.", I whispered to the empty room before drifting off to sleep.