My hands were sweaty as I walked to the classroom. I hated walking into a room full of people. This was precisely what I'd wanted to avoid. I cursed myself for forgetting the time.

Like I'd been afraid of, there were plenty of people already there, but luckily most of them were either on their phone or talking to others. Some, though, were watching anyone entering with bored expressions.

Taking an empty seat near the front as possible, I opened my bag and pulled out my notebook and a pen. A couple of minutes later, the professor came in and began teaching almost right away. I was just relieved that she didn't try any of those icebreaker games with us–I wasn't a fan of them, the awkwardness was too much for me.

Two of my classes went by quickly, and I only had one more before I could go home. It was strange being back at school after two and a half months away. I'd gotten so used to my summer routine, and I felt a kind of longing for those days. Don't get me wrong, I loved my major, but I felt like my plate was already full enough without adding anything else on it.

Again, I thought about how having two jobs, going to school, and have time to be with my dominants, all the while having time for homework on the side, would work out.

Agnes had given me today off, but that was the end of her consideration, which was already much more than any of the other bosses I'd had. It wasn't like I could take many days off anyway; I still needed to be able to pay my bills. I knew my men wouldn't hesitate to help me, but I would never be able to ask them for money.

Sometimes I felt like twenty-four hours in a day weren't enough. There were so many things I had to do that by the end of it, I'd only managed to do half. I'd figure it out though, I had to.

Aside from a couple hellos to a few I'd shared classes with before, I didn't talk to anyone, which was all the better. When I was nervous, I found it hard to hold a conversation unless it was with friends.

"Ah, Miss Fields," someone called out, and I stiffened, recognizing the voice.

"Professor Peterson," I greeted as I turned around to face my former–sleazy–professor. Mr. Peterson was a man in his late forties with a bald head and a beer gut. I'd been happy when I finished his class. He was quite...unnerving to be around.

"Have you had a nice summer?" His eyes dropped to my tank top for a split second before looking back up at me.

Suddenly feeling uncomfortable and exposed in my low neckline, I shifted on my feet. As much as I wanted to hide the swell of my breasts, I was afraid any move on my part would bring his attention back on them.

"Yeah, it's been good. And yours?" I was too polite for my own good. All I wanted to do was ignore him and walk away, but my manners held me in place. Damn my parents for raising me too right.

"Mine wasn't that bad either, but it's great being back at work. I'll miss you in my classes, though," he said like it was a compliment, but it only made me uncomfortable. I didn't know why he even said that–I'd literally never been muter than I had been in his class, trying to get away from the weird attention he seemed to give me.

"Oh." I shifted on my feet again. "That's nice," I lied. "I actually have to get going. My class will start soon. Have a good day."

He nodded. "Have a good day as well, Miss. Fields."

Good grief. What was it with creepy men and me? This last month they'd been coming out the fucking woodwork.

Mr. Peterson had always had a weird thing for me ever since I ran into him at Little Atlas Café minutes before I officially became his student. We'd only exchanged a couple of words, mainly me apologizing for literally running into him.

From the first second I started his class, he'd treated me differently than the others, giving me way too much attention. I'd stopped going to Little Atlas Café after that, even though it had been my favorite spot to relax at before classes started.

The thing was, on more than one occasion, I'd wanted to report him, but what could I really say? He'd never done anything wrong, not really. They wouldn't care that he'd looked at me a little too much or asked me how my day was. If he had touched or talked to me inappropriately, that would've been a whole different matter, but he hadn't.

Only when I was out of his sight did I pull up my schedule for today and look at it. I saw that I had Business Ethics, which I thought should be interesting. I knew from my adviser that this course was popular and filled up quickly, but I'd been lucky enough to get a spot. It was also one of my required courses, so I was relieved that it all worked out for me.

This time, I was early and managed to get a seat in the front. I always hated sitting way in the back where I had to strain to hear the professor and struggle to see the board.

Making sure my phone was set on silent, I sat back in my seat and waited for the professor to show up.

A guy sat down beside me and gave me a friendly smile. As he looked at me, a spark of recognition flashed in his eyes. "You're a friend of Malika, right?"

I nodded. "Yes, I am."

"Damn, that woman is badass. I had a class with her last year, and she fucking went on our professor's ass for being racist. She got her fired," he said. "I think I'm a little bit in love with her."

I chuckled a little, thinking, who wasn't a little bit in love with her? Seriously, I was as straight as an arrow, but she was something else. It was her beauty that everyone saw first, but her personality and strong will made everyone respect her.

"Yeah, I remembered that." Hell, I remembered how pissed I was when she'd told me about the professor. The old woman had thrown out racist remarks that had my stomach turning. If Malika hadn't already talked to the department chairperson before telling me about what had happened, I would've marched right down there to do it myself.

It still hurt to think about what Malika and anyone else that were subjected to the professor's racism in that class. They didn't deserve that kind of hate. No one did.

"Do you think I could get her number? I'd love to ask her out," the guy beside me asked.

"You'll have to ask her. I won't give out her number to strangers." I said it almost attentively, afraid he'd get mad, but all he did was smile.

"Oh right, yeah, that makes sense. I'm Liam, by the way, it's nice to mee–"

"All right, class. Welcome to Business Ethics," our professor, who must've shown up at some point, spoke. His familiar voice had me frozen in my seat, partially turned towards Liam. My heart was hammering in my chest, and panic gripped me tightly.

Liam must've seen my reaction because he asked, "Hi...are you okay?"

No. No, I wasn't okay. I was so fucking far from it; it wasn't even funny.

"My name is Mateo Wright, and I'll be your professor for this course."

I closed my eyes as the sense of dread washed over me. I could feel tears prickle behind my eyelids and my chest fucking hurt.

God, why was this happening to me?

Hi guys! I just want to apologize for not being active in the comment section. Lately I've been really busy and simply haven't found the time or the energy to write back to you all. Just know that appreciate every kind words from you