The Professor's Apprentice
Read the storyAs the professor shuffled through some notes at the front of the room, Dave let his mind (and his eyes) wander. There were so many electives he could have taken: Art History, Intro to Human Sexuality… and he chose English. It had always been his worst subject in high school. Dave could understand numbers, the tireless cycle of hypothesis and experimentation, but… words? Words weren’t exactly his strong point. But he’d been late to register, and he needed a humanities credit. So after grumbling all the way to class, he found himself seated in a musty corner of the Arts Building, playing solitaire on his laptop and flicking through social media. At least there were a few cute guys in the room—sensitive, artsy types, laid-back stoners, fit gym-bunnies.... Maybe this would be the year he actually mustered up the courage to talk to one of them. That was a side of his life he’d been neglecting. He’d spent all of high school and so much of university focusing on schoolwork and lacrosse… on getting his scholarship, and then on keeping it. This English course certainly wouldn’t help... Dave tuned out as the prof went over the syllabus, and he didn’t think his focus would improve during the rest of the introduction. But then, the prof introduced the course's TA. Cole was beautiful, with just-slightly-overgrown brown hair and charming, boy-next-door good looks. There was something so impossibly enticing about him, the way he perched on the razor edge between pretty and dashing. His eyes and lips, his glossy hair, it was all so damn adorable, but then he had that sharp, powerful jawline and a nose that seemed to belong on a Renaissance sculpture. He filled out his chinos and a grey t-shirt like he was modelling them for a billboard. Dave felt a crush starting to form almost immediately. He had to look away to keep from staring. Throughout September, he spent English class gazing at the stunning graduate student in the front row. Cole was exactly Dave's type, with messy, silky hair and an athletic build, his broad shoulders tapering into a narrow waist. Did he row? Was he a football player? Whether he was gliding across a pristine lake or pulling off his helmet after scoring a touchdown for the home team, Cole acted out all sorts of fantasies in Dave’s imagination.