Authors: Kimberly Slivinski
Our lecture hall was sparsely filled when we first arrived. Professor Jacobs was shuffling papers around on the podium and immediately took notice of our arrival. His piercing stare was friendly, almost overpowering.
“Kara, can I see you for a moment?” His voice boomed through the space and several heads turned as I shuffled down the tiered isle.
Not knowing why he had requested me, I blurted out an awkward dialog. “Thanks for the books, Mr. Jacobs. It was...ah nice of you to include the outline too.”
“Do you have family in the area, Kara? Alumni maybe? You look just like someone I used to know.”
That definitely wasn’t what I expected him to say. “Sorry no. I’m the first to attend or visit Rosewood and the only family member in the area.”
He then stared at me so absorbedly I momentarily stopped breathing. “It’s just remarkable how much you look like
her
.” He broke his gaze. “I just wanted to make sure you got the books. You can take your seat.”
Snapping out of my trance, I smiled briefly and hurried to my seat. Most of the seats were filled, signaling class was about to commence. I shook the bizarre encounter as I pulled out my materials.
Chloe sensed my unease. Instead of a snarky rib, she gave me a sympathetic nod. For the rest of class I directed my focus towards the lecture. As hard as Professor Jacobs worked at tolerating questions from confused classmates, his supportive temperament seemed to be fading.
It was egotistical to assume, but I felt like his conscience. During class, whenever he seemed ready to pounce he’d glance up at me and smile. Whoever I reminded him of had obviously done a number on him and I almost wished I’d just remained a random face in the crowd.
“That was the strangest class I’ve experienced yet,” the girl behind me giggled to her friend. “Was it just me or did you feel like he was crushing on us?”
Chloe scoffed silently and nudged me. “Little do they know he was smiling at you. Was that as uncomfortable for you as it seemed?”
I smiled weakly.
We pushed through the crowd and made our way outside. The air had never tasted so refreshing. Several deep breaths later Chloe and I parted ways, leaving me to hike uphill for two more courses. I only hoped immersing myself in all things academic over the next few hours would squelch the imaginative and unwelcome images of my seemingly infatuated professor.
At days end, exhausted and mentally drained, I’d never been more thrilled to be finished with classes. The door to my room whooshed open before my palm had time to grab the knob. Startled, my weak reflexes sent me plunging towards the floor before I knew what had happened. Bruised and defeated I started to cry.
“Oh Red, I’m sorry!” Chloe exclaimed. “I was just so excited about your visitor and I wanted to—”
Before she could finish, Luke rushed out from around the door and scooped me up. Seeing him was the last thing I expected and I couldn’t have been more appreciative.
“You appear to be having a rough day,” Luke said as he laid me on my bed.
“How bad could it be?” Chloe cracked. “She’s got two men in love with her and one of them could boost her grade point average.”
That was the sarcastic banter I’d been waiting all day for. Chloe could only bite her tongue for so long, something I almost enjoyed about her.
“Not funny,” I barked, whipping a pillow towards her while concealing a grin. “And Professor Jacobs is not in love with me. Just oddly curious at best.”
“A Professor?” Luke inquired, turning to Chloe, rather than me, for clarification. His expression was one of mild amusement and for that I was thankful. No sense alarming him over a few nonsensical assumptions. “See, I knew you’d be turning heads.”
“Luke,” I protested.
“I’m going to leave you two alone,” Chloe winked as she scooped up her books. “Let me know when it’s safe to return. I’ll just be down in the study lounge harassing some of the bookworms.”
“You don’t have to go, really,” I insisted as I grabbed Luke’s hand and kissed it. “He probably can’t stay long.”
“All the more reason to give you alone time.” She closed the door, but then opened it a crack to add one last remark. “Be sure Luke fills you in on how we met. I for one will be telling that story for years to come.” She winked at Luke. “Nothing personal, of course.”
My mouth hung open in a brief moment of confusion before Luke easily diverted my attention. We made ourselves comfortable on the only existing seating in the room, the bed. A surplus of events inundated my thoughts. It had been days since we’d seen each other and I didn’t know where to start, shallow details or happenings of a more celestial nature.
“So I leaped,” I finally announced. Luke’s docile expression didn’t change. He clearly had more faith in me than I did. “And after several hours, I still don’t know who I’m helping or why. There was this one guy but—”
His eyes widened and I knew he was waiting for me to finish. My mouth wanted to blurt out the fact that Caleb had made an appearance, something that had taken my mind off my mission and thoroughly confused me. Since my heart didn’t want to trouble Luke with particulars he couldn’t control, I decided against it.
“What did I tell you?” He grinned. “Now what’s going on with this professor?”
“Freshmen have been referring to him as a tyrant professor for years, but I think he’s trying to change his image. He didn’t chastise anyone in class today and rumor has it that it is a first for him. I guess only time will tell.”
I jumped off the bed to grab two bottled waters and hopefully move on to another topic. Luke wasn’t having it and I knew it. His arms and legs were crossed and he was waiting for me to elaborate on the awkward truths Chloe had pointed out.
“He just seems overly interested in me, a lowly freshman, and I don’t get it. He acts like he knows me, or my family, or met someone like me in his past,” I stammered. Then I gasped. “Do you think he was at that frat party I flashed to?”
“Frat Party?” Luke mouthed, utterly confused. “When did his interest start?”
“He was nice to me on campus before I’d ever leaped, something I still can’t figure out. Besides, the only guy I spent time with in my flash had a different name.” I replied.
Luke leaned back on my pillow and laughed. “You’re an attractive woman and I’m sure he won’t be the last professor to develop a crush. You should be flattered.” I smiled weakly. “I think that Chloe knows just how to push your panic buttons already.”
“Tell me about it,” I giggled. “She could be Reyna’s sister. So what did she mean by ‘ask Luke how we met’?”
“Actually I’m not sure why it would be worthy of remembering,” Luke replied, leaning back against the wall behind him.
“Just tell me,” I begged.
A large grin spread across his face as he began to explain. “So I just appeared here outside your dorm with no idea what to do next. Some girl tripped while going up the stairs and all her stuff went flying in all directions. She burst into tears and immediately had me empathizing.”
“There’s no way that girl was Chloe,” I interrupted. “I don’t see her crying over something like that, even if she did have the worst day possible.”
“No, it was not Chloe,” he smiled. “Apparently, unbeknownst to me, she was watching this all unfold from a distance.” I nodded, and then pursed my lips so he’d continue. “I helped her collect her belongings, apply a few Band-Aids because her hands were shaking and then I had a little talk with her.”
“Aww, Luke, that’s so sweet. What did you say to her?”
“I just told her, in a comical way of course, about some of the worst days I’d personally experienced. Once she was laughing I knew she’d be okay.”
“I’d expect nothing less from you, but why was Chloe so impressed?”
Luke rubbed his hands on his face briefly before staring up at the ceiling. “I thought you’d be coming down the sidewalk any minute so I just kept myself busy while I waited.”
“Busy?”
“I helped a girl carry a new mattress into the dorm, assisted a guy fixing his bike and taste tested some cupcakes for one of your dormmates.”
“Luke?” I giggled.
“Well they were actually quite good.”
I kissed his face. “Of course they were. So Chloe watched all of this?”
“Yes,” he laughed. “Then she strolled over, hands on her hips, and asked who exactly I was. She wanted to know if I was trying to earn extra credit and she was convinced I was filming everything. Once I asked about you she burst out laughing.”
“Wow. I sure hope she didn’t jerk you around for long.” I could imagine numerous scenarios of Chloe interrogating him, thankfully Luke had nothing but the best intentions about everything.
“She’s fine, Kara. I’m just glad you are settling in so well.” He ran his fingers through my hair and I briefly laid my head on his shoulder.
“It sounds like you are doing better than me,” I whispered. He’d probably made more friends today than most people on campus. It made me feel grateful that he was
my
Luke, my boyfriend.
For the rest of our short visit I caught him up on all the campus happenings and trivial events I had experienced thus far. For the first time since we’d met, Luke shared some stories about his other leapers and their escapades. It was enlightening, but also a side of Luke I’d been praying he’d share. Not only did he give me a peek into the lives and tribulations of others like me, but he also gave me a glimpse into his soul.
Watching him twinkle away to his celestial living space made parting ways more difficult than normal. Being at school, away from home, was an obvious way to rationalize my sudden feelings, but it was more than that. Reaching a new level of trust within our relationship, something unexpected and rare, made his departure all the more disappointing.
I went to sleep wondering if it was selfish to hope for a prolonged and uninterrupted visit with Luke. Could I even put a limit on how much time would be enough?