Chapter 3

"Let's go, babe," Jason gave her a quick smile before killing the engine. She hadn't even noticed when he parked. They hurried out of the car, slammed the doors close simultaneously, and walked into the large building.

The faculty of Psychology was the largest in the university, a huge white building that resembled a Greek temple, consisting of ten floors and a dome-like structure at the top housing professors' offices and meeting rooms. Maya had often wondered why the school spent so much money on a single building. It was only when she realized how reputed the school was for its psychology degree that she understood.

They headed straight toward the entrance. The walk to the auditorium was short, and soon, they were inside the hall. Maya frowned upon entering. She noticed two things; first, the hall wasn't packed with students, which wasn't strange at all. She wasn't the only one with a strong dislike for Davis. Speaking of the devil, she wasn't present in the hall. Normally, she would be occupying the office chair in front of the auditorium, casting everyone judgy looks as they shuffled through the hallway in search of seats. But today, it seemed like Davis had chosen to leave early. That or she didn't show up at all.

"Maybe her car broke down," Jason muttered, almost as if he was hearing her thoughts. "Maybe," she repeated but doubted it. The professor was never late for any of her classes. There was a strong emphasis on the never. "Let's go sit at the back. I'm afraid if she takes one look at my face, she would know I've been drinking." Jason gave her an incredulous look but followed her. She ended up choosing the middle row and crossed her fingers that Davis wouldn't choose to patrol the hall today.

Jason took his seat next to Maya, and she leaned her head onto his shoulder, her eyes scanning the crowd. "They're less than normal," she pointed out, and Jason hummed in agreement. "Probably decided to indirectly flip the finger at Davis." A smile pulled at her lips, and she felt like shutting her eyes. Jason was right; the green tea had worked like magic. She could barely feel the pounding discomfort in her head; instead, it had dulled to a silent buzzing sound.

She'd almost closed her lids when a breathless voice called out, "Is this seat taken?" She felt Jason twist his head to the side, and she did the same, eyeing the person who'd interrupted her rest. Maya arched a brow when her gaze landed on the boy; he had chestnut brown hair falling messily over his forehead and piercing blue eyes. He was wearing faded blue jeans paired with a black t-shirt that looked two sizes too small, a black backpack hanging off his shoulders, and a grey beanie covering his head. His cheeks were rosy, and Maya guessed he'd run all the way here.

"Of course, you can," Jason purred seductively, and she turned to give him a questioning look. 'Seriously?' she mouthed. 'What? He's cute,' he mouthed back, and she rolled her eyes and placed her head back on his shoulders.

From the corner of her eye, Maya watched as the blue-eyed stranger took out a laptop from his backpack and placed it on his lap. He looked over at her again and grinned before turning back to his device, a pen resting between his fingers.

She ignored his presence altogether, her eyes darting to the fall on the far corner of the room. It was exactly eight, which meant the professor was late. Maya could already see some of the students' uneasiness as they waited; Jason had found a way to distract himself, his attention completely focused on the device in his hands, and blue eyes, well, he was scrolling on his laptop.

"I don't think Professor Davis' car broke down," she said loudly, gaining the attention of both boys seated by her side. "Professor Davis?" Blue-eyes asked, brows furrowing in what she suspected was confusion. "Yeah, our psychology professor," she said slowly, giving the boy an incredulous look. He didn't even know the name of the professor of the course he was offering. Students these days.

"Uh, No," the boy said, turning his laptop in her direction. "Our Professor is Doctor Grey," he pointed to the computer screen. Maya's head shot up instantly, and she grabbed the laptop from the boy's grasp, her eyes widening in shock when she saw that he was indeed saying the truth. "Well, shit," she heard Jason mutter over her shoulder. "Didn't you read the overview sent to you?" the boy asked curiously, and she sucked her bottom lip between her teeth. The truth was, she didn't. Maya had assumed that it would be the same thing Davis sent to them last year and completely ignored it. It seemed she wasn't the only one; Jason had a regretful look on his face as well.

However, blue-eyes simply smiled at them, "Don't worry, there's really nothing to it. Just a brief description of who the professor is and what to expect in his class."

Jason grabbed the laptop from her, his eyes hastily scanning over the screen, and he read aloud, "Doctor Alexander Grey, department of psychology, has a Ph.D. in clinical and Biopsychology." He let out a low whistle at that, and even Maya raised an eyebrow. "He must be a genius to have pursued courses that difficult," she theorized. "Extremely thorough in his duties and research, previously taught at Stanford University and was recently offered a spot in UMass Amherst," Jason's eyes grew bigger, and she tried to see what it was about. "You won't believe it, but he's only thirty-three years old."

"That's a lot of achievement for someone that young," Maya pointed out, and both boys nodded in agreement.

"This only means one thing, though," Jason said as he handed the laptop back to blue-eyes. "What's that?" Blue-eyes asked. "We're stuck with a grumpy bachelor for the rest of this semester."

She and blue-eyes chuckled, and she eyed him curiously. "Well, better he than Davis, am I right?" he said, a small smile still on his lips. Jason simply shrugged, "We'll see. I hope he's eye candy. I'd hate to be stuck with someone boring." "You took psychology in the second year too?" Maya butted in, disregarding Jason's offended look.

Blue-eyes nodded, smiling, but she could tell it wasn't genuine this time, "You don't know me?" She shook her head, and his lips pulled into a frown. "I'm Derek. Derek Chadwick." She pretended to think about the name; it sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite put a finger on it. "It's fine," he said quickly when he noticed her hesitation, "You were never the type to pay attention to people anyway."

She winced at the statement and offered him an apologetic look, "I'm Maya," she said instead, and he nodded, "I know." She couldn't help but feel like she'd disappointed him somewhat, and the look on Jason's face wasn't helping either. So she took out her phone and began to scroll through her social media accounts, looking for something to distract herself from whatever awkward moment she'd caused for the pair sitting next to her.

About fifteen or so minutes passed, and Doctor Grey was still absent. By this time, a few people had already begun to leave the hall while the others who stayed behind were talking amongst themselves. Some had plugged in their earphones and were bobbing their heads lightly, others were walking around aimlessly. Maya could practically feel the tension rising as the time ticked by.