Mondaymorningcomestoosoon. The alarm blares, jolting me awake from a peaceful dream. A dream where I was in a field much like the ones I drove around and saw on Friday, and maybe again on Sunday when I didn't have anything to do. I drove for over an hour, just enjoying the warm air and lack of tall buildings.
I make a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast before grabbing my coffee thermos and heading out the door. The drive to the college isn't long, maybe fifteen minutes on the main road. The college still feels empty, but there are a couple of people walking around now, some with backpacks and others with nothing but an iced coffee in their hand.
We have half an hour before class is supposed to start so it's no surprise that no one is waiting for me to unlock the door. I flip the light on and drop my things at the desk. The room is one ofthe smaller ones on campus. It has the long tables that allow two people at each one.
I double check that the papers are still where I left them Friday and start walking around the room to distribute them for each student. It's an outline for the next eight weeks, each date of the quizzes and tests. Office hours are listed at the bottom. Just as I'm starting on the last row, the door opens. I glance up, then pause with my hand halfway to the table.
"Can I help you?" I ask. The man has to be at least ten years older than me. He's taller, too. I can tell that even across the room. I'm not sure if he's staff or another teacher.
"Um, this is the eight A.M. business class, right?" His voice is deep, and that southern drawl has my knees going weak. He looks down at a paper in his hand. "With Professor Murray?"
The guy looks back up at me as he moves further into the room. I finish laying down the last syllabus and nod. "That's me. Sorry, I wasn't expecting anyone to show up before the eight o'clock mark."
I also wasn't expecting a student… well, like him. We meet in front of my desk. I hold out my hand. "I'm Professor Murray, but please just call me Bennett."
"Bennett." The guy shakes my hand and fuck me, I want to melt right then and there. He says my name slowly, with a hint of a southern accent. We don't live too far south, Kentucky, but it's enough of a difference from what I grew up with in Chicago. His grip is firm, too, and calloused. Like he does something physical for work. "It's nice to meet you. Um, sorry if I sent too many emails to you last week."
"Ah, you must be Nelson, then?"
"Was it that bad you already know my name?" He avoids my eyes. "I'm sorry. I haven't—"
"It's okay," I interrupt him. "Honestly, I thought you were going to be one of those students that tried to play teacher's petor coast by. So this," I raise a hand between us, motioning to all of him, "is a nice surprise."
"A nice surprise?" His eyebrows raise and I realize how that sounded. It's my turn to avoid his eyes. Thankfully, the door opens then and we both turn to see a young girl walk in. She pauses for a moment before turning and picking one of the seats in the back row. "I guess I should sit down, then."
I turn to the chalk board behind my desk and write my name at the top left hand corner. We'll be using the projector for most of the class this summer, but for the introductions I'll keep it old school. Students come in one or two at a time. Half of them look half asleep, one even comes in in a hoodie and sweats. I don't blame them, but they'll hate the policy for business casual on presentation days. There's only two of those days, but still. Dressing appropriately will count toward their overall grade.
At 8:10, I get everyone's attention and officially start the first class. We're here until eleven, so we have plenty of time to do introductions and go over the rules and expectations.
"Welcome to Business 101," I start. I sweep my eyes over the students, taking in each of them. Some already have notebooks open, others are sitting with nothing but the syllabus in front of them. They're all fresh from high school, no older than twenty at the most. Except Nelson. He's taken the seat on the far left of me. "We're on a tight schedule. We'll be doing one chapter a day, with a quiz on Thursdays. Make sure to show up on time, because you will have 40 minutes to complete the quiz and then we move on to the next chapter. You'll see everything outlined in the syllabus as well. There will be a test for every five chapters. Two presentations will be presented, one as a group that I will form for you and the other is individual work."
I see some look at each other, most likely friends that are taking the class together. My eyes glance to Nelson once again. He's looking right at me and I glance away quickly before I loosemy train of thought. His eyes are a shocking green, beautiful. I am not going to crush on a student. Even if he is older, he's still a student.
"Let's start with introductions," I say. I point to the guy on the far right. "We'll start here. Give your name, the degree you're working toward, and… The last thing you ate."
There are a few snickers around the room at that. I always hated the deeper intro questions. This way they get talking but they don't have to think or reveal anything too personal to strangers.
"I'm Joey, going for an Accounting degree, and the last thing I ate was pizza."
"Dinner last night or breakfast this morning?" I ask, half curious and also because I can see three other guys nod their heads. They're all sitting together, so I'm assuming they're friends.
"Both." The section of the class laughs. We move on to the girl sitting beside him.
"Winnie. Business degree. I had a smoothie for breakfast."
"Health nut," Joey coughs out. Again, half the class laughs. Winnie punches his arm playfully.
"I'm going to go out on a limb and say you know each other?"
"Irish twins," Joey says. "Someone had to go and graduate a year early because she'd miss her big bro."
"It's not my fault I got all the brains."
I can tell I'll have my hands full with those two, but I do love that they seem to have a strong family bond. It makes me miss my older brother and younger sister a little bit.
The next several students go. Tyler, Breanna, Xavier, Yvonne, and Rebel. There are a range of degrees taking this class too, which surprises me but it's also fun. We're only learning the basics in this class, enough for certifications or to take the higher level classes. When it gets to Nelson, the class goes quiet.
"I'm Nelson." His voice is deep, but I can tell he's nervous. He doesn't take his eyes off me. "I'm taking this class for a certification on a job. I had some fresh eggs from the farm."
