My Professor's Secret Obsession

Wesley's Irrational Actions

ACIR HILLS

Zaijian Hewson looked far better than the last time I saw him.

He was wearing a full-on suit and tie. It was too professional even though they can just wear something casual like jeans and a shirt. I remember those thick brows and captivating blue eyes. His jet black hair was slicked back adding a much sexier look. The graded glasses he wore were now different. Gone was the thick framed one and was now replaced with black thin metal frames that settled on his perfect high-bridge nose.

I wonder if he still has the same eyesight grade or has it gone worse?

Apart from that, his jaw became more prominent now as well as his figure. He became bulkier than his usual fit body. The sleeves were hugging his muscles like a second skin and I feel like if he tried to flex, his suit might just rip.

Three years. Three whole fu.cking years since I last laid my eyes on him.

And three years since we broke up.

This can’t be happening! Suddenly, there was this urge to bolt out of the room and move to another country.

A subtle grin etched on the corner of his luscious plump lips–that’s when I noticed that he was staring directly at me. In the sea of students in the crowd, his eyes never left mine.

Professor Lynch clapped her hand softly, shushing all the gushing ladies in the room. “Alright, I’ll leave it to you then, Mr. Hewson. You have the whole class to yourself.”

“Babe? What’s the matter?” Wesley’s voice pulled me from my trance, gathering my attention. There was concern and confusion written on his face when I looked at him. “Your hands felt cold. Is your headache back?” He lifted his free hand to touch my forehead but I unconsciously jerked back and pulled my hand from his hold.

He seemed shocked by my reaction.

“No, I’m fine. Just a little hangover still.”

“You didn’t drink much last night.”

Oh crap. He didn’t know I ended up drowning myself with beer the second I got home. “I did. I drank like four cups before I went home.”

“But you have a headache?” he inquired. There was suspicion in his voice and the look on his face was indescribable, seemingly like he couldn’t comprehend what I was saying.

I should’ve just kept my mouth shut. If this escalated, things would really go downhill and I don’t want that.

“He looked much hotter than the picture posted in the forum!” Cherry squealed beside me.

My attention slowly averted to the current situation.

Brittany turned around at us and said. “Oh God! He’s not old and gross. He’s sexy and yummy.”

The guys in class groaned at the girl’s remarks. It was a commotion and I absolutely feel embarrassed by their reactions.

Zaijian ignored all of this and kept things professional. “Alright everyone, since it’s just the first day. I just want to know all your names, you’ll go one by one starting from you,” he pointed at Priscilla, the one who sat in front by the door. She giggled at Zaijian’s words. “Tell me your name, age, hobbies, and favorite film.”

Oh dear Lord… his voice got deeper too.

Thanks to Zaijian’s interjection, Wesley didn’t bother me again as we all listened to our classmates. Although, I could still feel that he was looking at me every now and then beside me. Probably waiting for me to look back at him, but I never did. All the time I was fidgeting with my hands on my lap. Cold sweat was trickling on my back and on my temple. This isn’t a normal reaction, but there was something with Zaijian’s demeanor that got me reacting this way.

By the time it was my turn, my legs felt wobbly so I needed to grip on the chair in front of me for support. “Uhh.. Acir Hills. I’m 21 years old. I like programming in my free time and my favorite film is The Notebook.”

Zaijian grinned at my answer. “Classic. I love that film.”

I forced an awkward smile, but I think it turned out that I looked constipated. I was about to sit down when he continued.

“Acir? I knew someone with the same name back in the days.”

His statement felt like a bucket of cold water was splashed on me. The blood drained from my face and I was feeling weak. If the girls weren’t admiring his looks, someone would’ve already pointed out that my name isn’t exactly common and asked who he was pertaining to.

It was making me uneasy… and he knows what he’s doing.

Zaijian chuckled. “Okay, next.”

Wesley introduced himself and it continued from then on. I was anxiously looking at my classmate’s reaction to see if they were suspicious of something. But it seemed like everything was normal.

No one was eyeing at me like there was something that I was hiding.

Figures. Newford University is located in Vista Central, far from my hometown which is in Perth Province–a whole 2 days’ ride away from here. Besides, I had no current classmates here from St. Mary Academy since it was a really small town. That being said, no one here knew that our new professor, Zaijian Hewson, and I used to date.

No. No one can know.

It can be just between the two of us.

Zaijian met my eyes the second I shifted my gaze to him. Angel was the one talking and introducing herself, but his blue eyes were boring to mine. His stare felt intense… blazing and sultry–like he knew all the deepest secrets of my soul, like he knew what’s currently going through my mind and was reading my thoughts, like he was undressing me with his mere eyes.

I instantly avoided his gaze and stared at my desk.

This isn’t fu.cking happening! I need to get out of here.

~

Despite the need to leave the class for the past hours, I stay rooted in my chair, conscious of every move that I made. The three hours of elective class felt like an eternity, and I was dreading for the time to pass quickly.

After everyone was done introducing themselves, Zaijian gave pointers on what we’ll be tackling for the next class then ended up just chatting with everyone. He was willing to answer some questions as long as it wasn’t too personal.

I mentally thank all the gods since Wesley was excused from the majority of the class since their coach wanted to discuss something in a meeting–like that couldn’t wait for our downtime. Not that I’m complaining. I was actually relieved.

“Mr. Hewson looked too young for his age, no?” Brittany said as we headed out of class and onto the cafeteria.

All of us have a two hour downtime before the next class. We decided to head to the Cafeteria to get something to eat and drink then head to the quad to hang out.

“Totally! He could pass as a junior or senior here! 26 doesn’t look that old I guess,” Cherry chirped, clutching both hands on her chest as she sighed dreamily. “I’m calling it. Professor Hewson is the best thing this senior year.”

“If I wear a suit and tie, will you call me professor too?” Ryan interjected as he tipped Cherry’s chin to face him. “Baby, I think I just found a new kink,” he added, snarking his hand on Cherry’s waist.

She playfully hit his head. “Id.iot! You sound so hot right now.”

Ryan kissed her in the middle of the hallway while students brushed past them.

A hand draped over my shoulders and I didn’t need to take a look to know who it was. Wesley’s perfume invaded my nose. He was taller than me and my head just leveled on his neck.

“Hey, babe. I got here in time for lunch.”

I stopped walking, causing him to do the same since he had his arms on my shoulder. “I need to head to the bathroom. You go first and I’ll catch up.”

At this point, I really need a breather. Everything is just becoming too much for me.

“Just text me, we’ll save a seat for you.” Cherry mentioned then continued walking. Ryan and Brittany followed suit, while Wesley stayed still in his tracks.

When he didn’t move for the next five seconds, I added. “Aren’t you going?”

“I’ll accompany you.”

“You really don’t have too. I can certainly manage myself.”

“Babe, what’s wrong? You’re acting a little strange today.” Wesley decreased the proximity between us, reached out for my hand, but I quickly dodged away.

“Nothing. Maybe the girl thingy,” I gestured quote-unquote. “It’s that time of the month.” Even though this isn’t entirely true, I hoped that Wesley would eventually just leave and let me have the time of my own.

Although, knowing his clingy side, I did have an inkling that a simple wanting to go to the bathroom alone would cause an argument between the two of us. This isn’t even the first time that Wesley would make a big deal out of something so minuscule.

“The more reason I'll go with you, babe.”

Fu.ck. Why is this guy so dense?

“You know what? Whatever. Do what you want. Cause no matter what I say, you’ll always do the opposite.” I spat, then pivoted my heel.

Without even looking back, I trotted to the east wing of the building. There’s this women’s bathroom area that students rarely go to since there were a lot of rumors that paranormal things happen there. Though, on numerous times I’ve been in that place I had never once seen a ghost.

The number of students on sight decreased the more I reached the Engineering Department. People just rarely take this route because it’s on the other side where the Cafeteria and Quad was located. This place is practically deserted aside from the scheduled classes every now and then.

Just as I was three rooms away from the bathroom area, someone yanked me by my arm with such force that I almost stumbled forward. Steadying my balance, I faced the person.

“What the f***k, Wesley?”

This guy doesn’t know when to stop. I didn’t even notice that he followed me. I thought that he had already gone to the Cafeteria.

“You can’t walk out on me like that, Acir.” His voice was stern this time around, like I somewhat hit a nerve and he had the right to act this way.

“I just did.”

When it comes to Wesley, I have always been vocal to him whenever he would act irrational or whenever his emotions would get a hold of him. I tell him frankly when he’s being too much and oftentimes he would validate his emotions, and rarely he would soon realize that he’s really the one at fault.

He gruffed. “What’s going on with you? You’re acting out a lot lately. It’s really concerning.”

My jaw ticked. Now my actions are concerning? And his actions weren’t?

The month of September has always been rough for me. He doesn’t know this because this is the first time we’d spent this month together. But for the past three years, whenever September comes, I would spiral. My energy’s low, my mental health deflates. I become anti-social, and I rarely eat. It’s just… everything turns upside down.

I never opened up about this to anyone except for Onda. Due to some events that happened in my past, I never really share details of my life with anyone—even to all the guys I’ve dated. I was always the secretive and the mysterious girl in the crowd.

Probably one of the reasons why guys are drawn to me.

They thought that eventually, I would share the deepest part of my soul with them… that someday, they can see past through the enigma that I carry along with me. It’s not even intentional. There are times that your mind formulates a different identity for you after a traumatic incident.

So no, I’m not secretive because I want guys to find me attractive. It’s not an invitation for them to make a move on me. Some guys I’ve dated dumped me because I was unwilling to share personal information about my life with them.

Did that make me want to tell every detail of my life to the next guy I date? No.

Having to just casually throw personal details of yourself to someone that would forget them the next day is nothing compared to having a deep and serious conversation with someone you spiritually connect to.

One that is rare to find nowadays.

“Are you even listening, Acir?” Wesley’s rigid voice echoed in the empty hallway which brought me back to the present. His grip was now harsher so I can’t really just move away freely since he’s stronger than me.

“What part of ‘I can manage myself’ didn’t you understand?”

“No. This isn’t just about wanting to go to the bathroom. You’ve been acting strange even before the first period started.”

Yeah, because you almost fu.cking harrased me! If it wasn’t for Brittany, things might’ve turned worse—is what I wanted to tell him. However, I couldn’t find any courage to say it to his face. Because verbally admitting it means that I let things happen… that I was the one who put myself in that situation.

I lightly shook my arms to nudge him away but he didn’t budge. “You’re hurting me.”

Wesley scoffed. “I’m barely holding you,” he said as if he wasn’t gripping onto me like glue.

“Let go of me, Wes.” I warned him.

“Or what?”

“I’ll scream.”

He huffed a laugh, unfazed by my words. “Like that helps you with anything?”

Why does it feel like the universe is testing me?

“Is there any problem here, Ms. Hills and Mr. Garett?”

The familiar voice coming from my back was enough for the hair on my shackles to rise. In an instant, I turned to face him. Lifting my chin, I met the pair of the prettiest blue eyes I’ve ever laid my sight on.

I think the students were right about the rumors in the east wing of this building.

Cause why do I feel like I saw a ghost just now?