The Professor I Shouldn't Want

Welcome, Anne Simmons

POV: Isadora

Henry: [Would you like to go this Saturday?]

I froze. Was he actually asking me out? Oh my God! Now what? Dammit! Dammit! I should’ve seen this coming. Of course, he was going to ask me out eventually, I was the i***t who told him we lived in the same city. Stupid! So stupid! s**t! He can’t see me in person; he’ll recognize me instantly.

My God. I rubbed my face, panicking. I needed an excuse. But what? Even if I could come up with something right now, I couldn't keep stringing him along forever.

The truth was, this had gone way too far. It was supposed to be just a few messages; it wasn't even supposed to leave i********:. But I let myself get carried away. s**t. I let him get under my skin.

Even then, in the middle of a total meltdown, spiraling because my secret was about to blow up, I was still happy. He’d asked me out. He was actually interested in me. I’d fantasized about this so many times since we started talking, and now it was finally happening.

I knew what the "right" thing to do was: make up an excuse and then just ghost, block him on everything and forget this ever happened. But why did that feel so hard? It wasn't just hard; it was painful, agonizing. Especially for someone like me, who was so used to sidelining my own wants. It made no sense.

I looked at my phone again. The message was still there, and he was probably waiting for a reply.

"f**k it.", I muttered before I started typing.

Anne: [Yes, I’d love to]

Anne: [What time should we meet there?]

I had officially lost my mind. That was a fact. I had just scored a date with my professor. My God, Isadora. I was terrified, yeah, but I was also happy. Really happy. Yep, I’d gone completely insane.

"How am I going to make sure he doesn't recognize me?", I opened my gallery and stared at the photo of "Anne."

It wouldn't be that hard to transform into her. I just needed some dark brown temporary hair dye, contacts, and glasses. It would also be a good idea to change my voice a bit and wear stuff I’d never wear to campus. But would that be enough? It had to be. What other choice did I have? I’d already said yes.

I woke up early the next morning, actually, I barely slept. I spent all night planning my disguise. This had to work; I had to be unrecognizable.

I grabbed a quick coffee and hit the stores. I decided on a spray-on dye I’d used once for a Halloween costume. For the contacts, I picked out the most natural-looking blue ones I could find.

As for the glasses, I bought a pair of black cat-eye frames. They were reading glasses, which was fine since I actually needed them anyway, I just hated wearing them.

Finally: new clothes. Anne needed a totally different vibe than mine. I usually wore more tailored, dressy clothes in light colors, pastels, or warm tones. So, I decided to go dark for Anne, earth tones, black, gray, plaid. Maybe it would give off a more mature look, too, since I needed to pass for twenty-eight.

I got home after 3:00 PM, my arms full of shopping bags. Luckily, my parents weren't there. I ran upstairs, too anxious to start getting ready. I took a shower, washed my hair, dried it, and decided to do some curls with a curling iron to help differentiate from my usual look. Then, the transformation began.

I’d bought several cans of the spray dye and emptied every single one. It took a while because I had to make sure every inch of my hair was a solid dark brown. When I finally finished, I took a long look in the mirror.

Okay, I looked different. The curls definitely helped. But I could do better. I grabbed the contacts and popped them in. My God, what a difference eye color makes. Now I was really starting to look like someone else.

I did my makeup, using a darker eyeshadow and eyeliner. I darkened my brows and put on fake lashes. And for the finishing touch: the glasses. There. Welcome, Anne Simmons.

"This is insane.", I said, staring at myself in the bathroom mirror.

I checked the time on my phone; it was past 6:00 PM. Time to get dressed. Out of all the clothes I bought, I chose a tight, long-sleeved black top with a turtleneck and shoulder cutouts. I paired it with a short, high-waisted gray skirt, straight-cut and minimalist. To top it off, sheer black tights and ankle boots.

And that was it. I was ready. I spent a few minutes checking myself out in the full-length mirror in my room. It looked good. It looked really good. I just hoped it was good enough.