“I have time after practice during the weekdays around seven,” Noah said somewhat reluctantly. But then again, beggars couldn’t be choosy. And right now, he needed Professor Bryant. If he didn’t get her help, everything he worked hard for would be over.
Professor Bryant nodded as she seemed to muse over what he told her. “Let's do it on Monday and Wednesday. I would suggest Friday, but I won’t be cruel and ruin your nights to have fun.”
“That sounds like a plan,” Noah said in agreement. It was cutting into his time a bit. Usually, he would hang out with his friends somewhere off campus around those times, but in dire times like these, sacrifices had to be made.
Professor Bryant went to grab the doorknob before she paused. “Oh, and I also think you might still need to do more studying after that. You have a lot to learn in order to pass this exam, and I think me helping you won’t be enough. You should talk to one of your classmates and plan study sessions with them…”
Noah had serious doubt that he would do something like that. Dale was his friend, but Noah didn't particularly like the way his friend studied, and he didn't want to go to Dale's dorm to study. The dorm Dale stayed in had way too many of the girls Noah had hooked up with before, and he didn't want to bother getting caught up by walking through those halls and getting mauled by a group of angry girls who were mad that they never got calls back.
“Maybe you could ask your friend Dale..." That wasn't happening.
"...or you could ask Josh..." That definitely wasn't happening. He couldn't stand being near Anderson half of the time.
"...and then there's also Julie."
Noah’s ears perked up when he heard that name. Now, he definitely wouldn’t mind having a sex— study session with Julie. Julie had been on his radar ever since he realized they were in the same class. Asking to study with her would be a nice way to make an in, and to be able to learn at the same time. She was a really smart girl, passing all of their quizzes and exams. Maybe he shouldn’t be thinking about hooking up with her at all and just focus on studying alone.
“She’s one of my best students, and she understands the material. If you were able to study with her, I’m positive you’ll be able to understand the material better yourself.”
“I’ll ask her,” Noah said seriously. No, he wouldn’t hook up with Julie. He needed to learn as much as he could to pass this class.
Professor Bryant nodded again before grabbing the knob, but this time, Noah stopped her. She looked at him with a raised brow, curiously glancing at the hand wrapped around her wrist, and Noah snatched his hand back.
“I wanted to thank you for tutoring me. I really appreciate it.”
“All I ask is that you don’t waste my time,” Professor Bryant said, pushing her frames up on her nose. “If you take this seriously, you’ll pass. The material isn’t as hard as you think it is if you apply yourself.”
“Okay,” he said, though he wasn’t quite sure he agreed with her yet. He would have never guessed that out of all the math courses he was taking this semester that a freaking psychology course would be the one to do him in.
“Bye, Melanie,” he said as he turned on his heels, tossing a hand wave at her.
“I’m serious, Noah. It’s Professor Bryant to you,” she called after him, and Noah once again found himself amused. Maybe she wasn’t as bad as he thought.
CHAPTER
6
NOAH
“W
HAT DO YOU THINK PSYCHOLOGY IS ABOUT?”
It was the first question Professor Bryant asked Noah once they settled down in an empty classroom. When he asked how they were able to get a classroom instead of going to her office or the library, she told him that the professors could use certain classrooms if they weren't in use and wouldn’t disrupt the schedule. It was a smaller classroom, unlike the lecture hall she usually taught in. It fit enough space for at the maximum forty students, and right now, with him sitting in the front row, he was directly next to Professor Bryant with little space between them. He couldn’t do the things he usually did in class, like when he got frustrated with not understanding the material and would space out, or scroll through twitter on his phone, or throw sly glances at Julie, who had taken to sitting next to him permanently ever since the second time he attended class.
There was no running in this situation with Professor Bryant peering down at him with her brown eyes that dared him to answer the question wrong.
“Uh,” he started uncomfortably tugging on the neck of his shirt. “It’s about being able to understand people on a deeper, intimate level. It’s about learning the psyche and how other people operate.”
Professor Bryant nodded before she turned to the board, grabbing a dry eraser marker, and he watched as she drew her elegant handwriting across the board. When she finished, she capped the dry eraser marker, stepping back with a small content smile. Clearly, she enjoyed teaching.
“Psychology, quite plainly, is the study of thought and behavior. As you said, it is a way of us getting to know ourselves and others on a deeper cognitive level. With this study, we're able to understand our actions and why we do the things we do. With psychology, we learn how our mind affects our behavior.”
“Are we really going to start from the beginning like this?” Noah asked.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Noah. I don’t quite remember you being in my class those first couple of weeks. Maybe I was mistaken,” she said sarcastically, and sheepishly, he smiled.
“But I read all of this before. I know this stuff,” Noah said.
