"Professor Bryant!"
Their attention turned to the student running towards them. She came to a full stop in front of them, heavily breathing as she held her chest. Professor Bryant frowned with worry.
"Allison, what's wrong?" she asked. "You didn't have to rush here. You still have three minutes left."
"I'm so sorry, Professor Bryant. I know we have the exam today, but I can't make it because I have to pick up my brother from the hospital. I'm really sorry. I know you need help passing all the exams around—"
"It's okay. You should have just texted me. Hurry up and go and make sure to update me. I hope your brother is okay," Professor Bryant said, reassuringly.
"Are you—"
"Go, Allison," Professor Bryant said firmly with a small smile.
Allison smiled, her eyes watery before she hurried up and took off. Professor Bryant watched her leave before she sighed. Noah glanced through the window of the classroom door to see it was a lecture hall with at least a hundred students in it. She would definitely need help without her TA being there. When an idea came to Noah, he grinned.
"I'll help you pass out the tests," Noah offered. Professor Bryant looked at him with a suspicious stare, her nose wrinkled.
"I guess the reason you're telling me you'll do this has nothing to do with the kindness of your heart but all to do with the tutoring," Professor Bryant said sarcastically.
"I mean," Noah started, biting his lip in mock innocence. "I didn't say it. You did, Mel."
"Mel?" she repeated astonished by the nickname. Noah couldn't help it; he laughed.
"You do not get to call me that," she said before she stamped her foot against the ground, quite childishly he might add, but it was kind of cute of her. It reminded him of his little sister whenever she was forced into doing something she didn't want to do.
She opened the door and paused. "You can help me," she said, and reluctantly added, "I'll do the tutoring."
"Okay," Noah said, following her inside, happy with the new terms they had come up with.
"But I swear if you're late one more time—"
"I won't be. I learned my lesson this time," he said as they stopped in front of the desk next to the projector. This would be a piece of cake.
CHAPTER
12
NOAH
T
HE HOUR-LONG CLASS WENT BY IN A FLASH, AND SOON PROFESSOR BRYANT’S DESK WAS COVERED WITH COMPLETED EXAMS. The last of the students who were still trying to scribble down answers realized they no longer had time as Noah started to go around picking up the rest of the exams. As he had expected, helping Professor Bryant was as easy as pie. But the surprising part was that he was even able to help the students out when they had questions because he actually knew them. He was actually picking up on this psychology thing now.
Noah took the last pile of exams and placed them on the table. They were in no rush because, apparently, this room wouldn't be used again for another hour. Professor Bryant sat behind the desk, looking over the section of the written questions as she marked them with her red pen.
"You're already grading?" Noah asked. He'd seen her do it in some of his classes before, but it still always surprised him, and he was pretty sure it intimidated half of the class, seeing the way her red pen would shred through someone's hard work. Most students who finished an exam early left with confidence, but Noah noticed that most of the students didn't attempt to leave early and used up every bit of time they had.
"Hmm." She hummed over the pen wedged between her lips. She glanced at him before looking back at her paper and then looking back at him again as if she were surprised to see him still there. Damn. For some reason, Professor Bryant seriously had a way of hurting his pride, and Noah wasn't quite sure if she was doing it on purpose or not. He couldn't tell.
"Everyone done?" she asked as she glanced at the seats to see them all empty.
"Yup, the exam is over," Noah announced, pointedly looking at the stack of exams piled together. "You're going to have a lot of work cut out for you without your TA here to help you."
"It's fine," she said with a dismissive wave. "I usually go over the exams after her just to make sure everything is correct."
Of course, she did. On top of everything, she was a perfectionist. Noah walked behind the table to grab his bag that he had tossed on the floor, and when he went to pick it up, he noticed that, once again, her feet were on top of her shoes, instead of in them. What was the point of her wearing heels if they hurt her feet so badly?
"So, we're on for tutoring tonight, right?" Noah asked, wanting to confirm that this wasn't a fluke, and he didn't just waste an hour of his life when he could have been hanging out with his friends in the Can for lunch.
