Your Gravity: Part One (3 page)

C
old air hit
against my skin, making me break out in goose bumps the moment I opened the classroom door.

“Oh thank god.” I held onto the doorframe, gasping for breath, waiting for the black dots to stop whirling around.

Note to self: do not run half a mile with ten pounds of textbooks on your back.

“Out of shape much?” Greg took my backpack and guided me to a couple of empty chairs.

I plopped in my seat, too exhausted to argue with him. When I finally caught my breath, I looked around the auditorium. It was huge! There had to be at least one hundred seats and almost all of them were filled. And no one had coffee stains on their clothes.

“You’ve been acting strange all morning, Nicole. Nervous?”

Concerned blue eyes gazed at me. I could never hide anything from him. He always read me well.

“Yeah.”

“Look, you don’t have to take this class. And you don’t have to hide behind those sunglasses.” He tapped the lens. “You could always drop it.”

“I want to. Really, I do.”

“You don’t have to prove anything to anyone.”

“I know that. I just wanted to challenge myself.”

All my life I’d felt like the average person. No one special. No special talents like my parents. Not super smart or funny, like Greg. I was just plain Nicole.

“I admire your initiative, but chemistry on a Monday morning?” He hunched over, his forehead landing on the desk with a soft thud. “You seriously need to rethink your priorities. Like sleep. Even the professor isn’t here yet. He’s probably still sleeping too.”

A high-pitched squeal caught my attention. A cute girl with bright red hair jumped up, waving to someone standing at the back of the classroom.

“Gianna! Over here!”

There were a few whistles and wolf calls as a raven-haired girl sauntered down the stairs to her friend. She looked like a model with perfect silky hair lying in waves on her shoulder and sultry dark eyes. She had killer cheekbones and pouty red lips. The tiny fitted T-shirt and jeans accentuated her perfect figure. And there wasn’t a coffee-stain in sight.

“I can’t believe you’re going to take Cooper’s class again. I thought he gave you the brush off last spring,” Red said.

“Last spring was a warmup.” Gianna pulled a compact mirror from her purse. “I’m going full blast this year.”

Red giggled. “You’re so bad, Gianna. If I thought I had a chance with Professor Cooper, I’d totally go for him. He’s hot and loaded from all those patients he has.”

“Patents,” she corrected, rolling her eyes. She gazed into the mirror and lightly dusted her nose. “He has to be someone’s sugar daddy. He might as well be mine.”

Ugh! She was one of those girls. I sat back in my seat, disgusted.

“I still don’t get why he’s even here.” Red popped a piece of gum in her mouth. “Who leaves a job at MIT for Texas State? He has to be married. Maybe his wife got a job in town.”

“Nope. Totally single.” Gianna snapped the compact shut.

“Divorced? Fleeing an ex or something?”

“Nope. As far as I know, he hasn’t hooked up with anyone. He spends all his time in the lab. But I’m going to change that.”

“Oh really?” Red blew a bubble and sucked it in, snapping it.

“Yep. A man like that has to get his release somewhere.”

“He didn’t seem to be interested when you took the class last spring.”

“I didn’t have a plan back then. I do now.”

“Yeah, right.” Red blew another quick bubble. “Failing chemistry and re-taking it a second time is not a plan.”

I rolled my eyes. Here I was nervous that I wouldn’t be able to pass a college level chemistry class and this Gianna chick saw it as an opportunity to find her next sugar daddy.

“Oh, my sweet baby Jesus!” Greg grabbed my arm.

“Um, ouch?” I snatched my arm out of his grasp. “What’s your deal?”

The room grew louder as people stared and pointed toward the back of the auditorium. Red’s eyes grew wide and a pink bubble fell out of her mouth and onto her lap.

Swaggering down the auditorium steps was an Adonis in a Texas State T-shirt. He moved slowly as if making sure that everyone had time to take in his long, lean body. A couple of girls called out to him. He flashed them a dimpled smile, revealing perfect white teeth. He was gorgeous. All eyes were on him and he soaked in the admiration from men and women alike.

When he flexed the muscled arm holding onto the strap of his backpack, Red sighed dramatically, fanning herself.

I rolled my eyes.

“Do you know who that is?” Greg squealed.

“Don’t know. Don’t care.” I poked my nose into my backpack looking for an extra pencil and notepad. My first day of college was turning out to be a repeat of high school. Couldn’t the professor just show up already so I could get this class over with?

“That’s Travis Brandon.”

“So.”

“He’s only the greatest college quarterback in the history of football.”

“Seriously?” My eyes were getting a workout today with all the rolling they were doing. “How would you even know that? You don’t watch football.”

“I don’t. But I watch
him
. Everyone does. Holy shit! He’s coming this way.”

“This seat taken?” Travis stood next to the empty seat beside Greg. The lights overhead casted a glow over his golden locks. Greg was speechless.

Well, that was a first. He’d never been at a loss for words. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Red and Gianna shoving, trying to push each other out of their seat to make space for the university’s star quarterback.

Nice friendship they had going on there.

“Nope. All yours,” I said, answering for a flabbergasted Greg.

“I’m Travis. Travis Brandon.”

Greg stared at his extended hand as if he’d never seen one before.

“I’m Nicole and this is my friend, Greg.” I elbowed him.

“You’re Travis Brandon,” he said.

“Yeah, I just said that.” Travis looked at him curiously and then turned his attention to me. “So, I hear this Professor Cooper is a real hard ass.”

He leaned over his desk. Brown eyes drifted down to my chest and then back up to meet my eyes again.

I hated it when guys did that. I could give him the benefit of the doubt that he was checking out my cool coffee stains, but nope, he was doing it again, eyes on boobs.

“Then why are you taking the class?” I snapped.

His eyes flicked up. “It’s the last one I need before graduation, and it’s the only one that didn’t interfere with football practice.”

“So glad to hear you have your priorities straight.”

Greg turned to me, his eyes bulging.

“What?”

“Opstay eingbay osay uderay,” he said, gritting his teeth with a fake smile. He was just like a professional ventriloquist. The man had talent and an obvious man crush on Travis.

“Papers and pencils out,” a harsh voiced echoed loudly in the auditorium.

The door at the front of the room slammed shut as the professor marched to the lectern. And as soon as I saw his face, I died.

Mr. Butthead in all his sexy butthead glory glared from behind the lectern.

Aww, crap! Mr. Butthead was Professor Butthead.
My
professor.

“In a couple of minutes, you’ll be taking a quiz. I demand excellence in this course. I anticipate half of you will drop out by the end of the day and another third will give up by the end of the week. Due to your inadequate high school preparation, this quiz will allow me to assess how far I have to lower my expectations.”

Students jumped in their seats when he slammed his briefcase onto the lectern. As he rifled through his briefcase, pulling out a stack of papers, I noticed a sheen of sweat on his forehead. It was way too hot to be wearing a sports jacket. When he lifted his arm to wipe his brow, a brown coffee stain peeked from under the buttoned coat.

“I’m screwed.”

“Don’t worry. You’ll do fine,” Greg said.

“Oh, uh, yeah, the quiz.” I was less worried about the quiz and more worried that Professor Cooper would notice me. I sank down low in my seat. It was my fault that he was late. And he looked royally pissed.

Professor Cooper looked up and scanned the auditorium. Students stared back at him as if they had no clue what he was talking about. They were probably still in shock.

“Do you need an invitation? Papers. Pencils. Now!”

There was a flurry of movement as students scrambled to get their materials together. I guess they thought that since it was the first day of class, he would take it easy. Most professors called out roll, went over the syllabus, and called it a day.

“Hey, man, you got a pencil?” Travis whispered to Greg.

“Yeah, sure.” Greg, suddenly finding his voice and looking way too eager to be helpful, searched frantically for another pencil. He took one look at me and tugged at my bun.

“Hey!”

“There will be silence during the exam.”

Professor Cooper’s voice sounded way too close. Gulping, I slowly looked up and there he was, with a stack of quizzes in his hand, sapphire eyes blazing.

Shit! He recognized me.

“Do you think you can handle that, Ms...?”

“Ashford,” I squeaked.

“Ms. Ashford. Please remove your sunglasses. Cheating will not be tolerated in this class.”

“I don’t . . . uh, yes, sir, Professor, sir, Cooper,” I stammered as I fumbled to take off my glasses. As soon as I had them off, I gazed back up at him.

His blue eyes widened as they locked with mine. In that moment, his entire face shifted. The hard glint was gone.

Images and sounds flashed through my mind again: a disco ball, skates, puffy white clouds, and a little girl laughing. A mixture of feelings coursed through me: confusion, happiness, grief.

I held onto my desk, dizzy with sensory overload. I tried to look away, to run out of the classroom. I was falling apart. But I couldn’t look away. Something was pulling me, holding me to him like gravity.

“Nicole,” he breathed.

I blinked, confused at the sudden surge of euphoria as he said my name. What was going on? Why couldn’t I look away? How did he know my name?

“Yes, professor?”

As if coming out of a dream, the soft expression vanished and the hard glint returned. “Try not to spill anything on these.”

He dropped the quiz onto my lap.

W
hat the hell
was I looking at?

I rotated the paper, hoping that something resembling English would magically appear. There were all these squiggly marks swirling on the page. I had no idea what they were or what they meant.

I bit down on my pencil, feeling sweat bead on my forehead, even in the cold room. There was nothing like the clock ticking to remind me I had forty-five minutes to get my head out of my ass or fail my first ever college exam. Talk about pressure.

Squaring my shoulders, I studied the first question. I wasn’t going to let my freaky-deaky hallucinations get in my way. It was obvious that the stress of starting my first college class was getting to me, and I wasn’t going to let it. What was I thinking? That Professor Cooper somehow magically knew my name? He had the class roster, and I’d told him my last name. Duh!

It hadn’t even been five minutes when a handful of students crumpled their quizzes and left. Even Greg seemed to have a problem. His face was all scrunched in deep concentration and he kept erasing his answers.

Travis seemed to be having a little too much fun. He was chuckling to himself, his dimples flashing when he laughed. I leaned a little to try to get a better look at what he was scribbling. It was a figure drawing of Professor Cooper with devil’s horns and a goatee.

Travis looked up at me and winked.

I rolled my eyes. I didn’t have time for high school pranks.

“Is there a problem, Ms. Ashford?”

I jumped in my seat. Chairs squeaked in the silent auditorium as a dozen pairs of eyes turned to me.

“Uh . . . no, sir.”

“Then might I suggest you use your time wisely and keep your eyes on your own paper.”

Kill me now.

“Yes, sir.”

Tears stung my eyes. I was so embarrassed. My eyes flicked to Greg.

“You can do this,” he mouthed.

I nodded. He was right. I wasn’t going to let Professor McGrouchy get to me. I took a deep breath and tackled the first problem.

What is the chemical formula of ammonium sulfate, and what is its molecular weight?

I bit my lip, twirling and un-twirling a strand of hair around my finger as I thought back to my high school chemistry class. It was one of those nervous habits that my mother hated. I smiled when the answer finally came to me, and I wrote it down.

See, you can so do this. Just work on one problem at a time.

I moved on to the next problem, then the next. I was at the last problem when I had the oddest sensation hit me. It was like someone was watching me. I laughed. If someone was trying to cheat off of my paper, they were crazy, or probably just a crazy football player.

Slowly, I lifted my eyes, careful to keep my head down. From underneath my lashes, I glanced over at Travis. He was still doodling on his paper. At least this time, it was just geometric patterns.

Carefully, my eyes drifted to Professor Cooper. Soft eyes watched me as if waiting for something.

My breath hitched. Was this a trick? Maybe he felt sorry that he embarrassed me in front of the entire class. Or maybe I was a moron and he knew it and he was watching me to make sure I didn’t cheat.

He opened his wallet and took out what looked like a small photo. His eyes flicked up to me again, and he took a step forward. I froze, holding my breath. Slowly, he walked in my direction his eyes flicking back and forth between me and the photo.

What was he doing?

“Professor Cooper?”

Startled, he snapped at the student by his side. “What?”

The poor kid quivered in his shoes, his ears turning a bright pink.

“I-I-I’m d-done with the q-quiz.”

The paper shook in his hand as he held it up.

Cooper’s eyes flitted to me, and I quickly looked down at my paper gripping the top of my desk for dear life. Why did he keep staring at me?

“Fine.” He snatched the paper. “If you’re one hundred percent sure that your answers are accurate, you’re free to leave. Are you sure?”

“Uh, yes?”

“Then why are you still standing here?”

“Will you be passing out your syllabus?”

The poor kid looked like he was going to pass out when Professor Cooper’s voice boomed, “Attention class. For those of you who didn’t read the announcement posted outside of the auditorium doors and those of you who seem not to be able to follow instructions,” he glared back at the kid who was now green, “the syllabus will be emailed to the class tonight.”

He then turned to the student. “Any more questions?”

“No,” the kid squeaked and dashed out of the auditorium.

“Pencils down,” Cooper said. “If you weren’t able to complete a basic quiz that covers the rudimentary aspects of chemistry, then you more than likely won’t survive this class. For others of you who were able to complete all the questions, congratulations, you can read.”

The students filed to the front of the room to hand him their papers.

“Catch you two later.” Travis winked as he stuffed the quiz.

“Do me a favor and turn my quiz in for me.” Greg threw his paper at me, gathered his things, and ran after Travis.

“Wait, Greg!”

“Love ya forever!” He waved as he ran out the auditorium yelling after Travis.

Damn Greg and his man crush. The last thing I wanted to do was come into close contact with Professor Cooper. I just wanted this day to be over.

The moment I approached him, I felt it again, that familiar pull. I was about to toss the papers and run when a student bumped me from behind. Stumbling forward, my hand brushed against Cooper’s. He jerked back as if I’d burned him.

Expecting to see those cold eyes glare at me again, I blinked as I gazed into molten pools of blue. His lips parted as if was about to tell me something. And I waited with baited breath, fighting off the driving force that wanted me to bury myself into his chest. I didn’t even know the man, yet why could I see the hurt, hope, and bewilderment hidden deep in his eyes when they looked at me.

As if hearing my silent question, he quickly schooled his face into a hard professorial demeanor and avoided my gaze, as if protecting himself from me.

But that was crazy. Why would he be afraid of me? He was the professor.

Silently, I willed him to look at me again. The pull I had to him was driving me insane. I moved closer, inching my hand closer to his. Dark lashes fluttered closed as he appeared to fight something within himself.

Look at me.

“Oh, Professor Cooper. I’m so happy I was able to enroll in your class again. Oh here, let me get that for you.” Gianna snatched the quizzes out of my hand and tossed them with the others on the lectern.

Professor Cooper looked up. His eyes flicked to mine for a moment before turning to Gianna.

“Ms. Ferilli, it’s good to see you again. Perhaps we can do better this time around?”

“I think I might if I can get some extra help.” She batted her lashes.

“Of course, come with me. We can set an appointment to meet during my office hours.”

He swept passed me with Gianna following close behind. I stood there like an idiot with my mouth hanging open. I was pissed. And what pissed me off more was I didn’t know why I was pissed.