#i can email any professor when i get their vibe down but i don't like her vibe

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

One Message Waiting

Sequel to One is the Loneliest Number, One on One, One Little Thing, Only One I See, One Thing Leads To Another

Warnings: none, Professor Steve (that’s a warning in itself)

Dunno if I’ll be doing an exhaustive drabble series but there’s at least this. Let me know if you’re enjoying it or not and any thoughts you have. Love you!

Your phone lights up in the middle of the lecture and you flip it, ignoring the dual notification in the corner of your screen. Inez has no shame as she swipes through her feed, Professor Rogers' voice reaching the high ceiling as he expounds on the themes of FitzGerald. You note the title of the email before it flits back into the tool bar: Teacher's Assistant: Application Accepted.

You can't get ahead of yourself. Once you're through class, you can get excited. And anxious. Inez has taken to calling you goody two shoes over your extracurriculars but you'll laugh at her over your paychecks.

As the lesson comes to a close, Inez yawns and stretches, "you'll send me a copy of your notes?"

"Star student right here," you close your laptop and slip it in yoir bag.

"Who? You? You learn fast, Miss Sniper from the Side."

"You might get a bit better than a C if you wrote anything down," you chide as head down the row.

"Right, mom, I'll get on that," she follows you down the steps towards the front of the lecture hall, "right after I pick up my official geek badge from the station."

"You're stupid," you hurl back at her.

"Never claimed otherwise," she chuckles, "hey, you hear that, this bimbo used a big word. Otherwise!"

"Quit," you smile and stick your tongue out at her over your shoulder.

Your name smothers her response. Professor Rogers waves his pen at you as he nears, twirling it before hooking it over his shirt pocket, "so, you get the good news?"

"Hi, professor," Inez says deliberately.

"Um, hi," he gives and awkward smile before turning back to you, "so?"

"About my TAship? Yeah, I just got the email but haven't opened it–"

"So you don't know?"

"Um, it said accepted so–"

"Right, I won't spoil it," he beams, "sorry, I… you two have a good day. I gotta get across campus but if you have any questions about your placement, you know how to find me."

"Sure, thanks, professor," you nod and turn away, Inez hesitating before she trails after you.

"Uh huh, you know exactly how to find him, don't you?" She hisses as you pass into the hallway, "all you have to do is exist. Like Christ–"

"Really? You're still on this?" You huff.

"Oh, come on, you're not that clueless. He was shaking in excitement. Just to talk to you."

"Whatever," you take out your phone and swipe up. "I bet I got Laufeyson. Not even English, just my–" you pause as you open the email and read through, "huh."

"What?" She asks as she opens the front door ahead of you.

"I got… him. Professor Rogers."

"I knew it. I fucking called it," she hops down the steps in glee ahead of you, "oh my god, perfect opportunities for good old Professor Hunk!"

"Stop. Please. I'm already stressing and you're– you're freaking me out."

"Come on, I'm teasing you. We both know he's too squeaky clean to do anything like that. But it's funny, he's got a little crush on you. On you! The cutest little nerd on campus."

"Wow, thanks, you're an amazing friend," you say dryly.

"You should be flattered. He's a hottie, even for an old dude. Not exactly my flavour, you know, with the dangly bits and all, but I can tell a hot tamale when I see one."

"Do you stop? Ever?"

"No," she giggles, "come on, lets go get some tea. Then maybe you'll calm down… and we can plot how you can really make Dr. Heart Eyes squirm."

"No," you sneer.

"Aw, fine, just tea."

📱

The weight of the textbook weighs on your chest, your eyes half-closed as you lay across the narrow twin bed. In a minute, you'll finish, you swear. You just need a moment. Your phone vibes and you growl, Inez can be so annoying. And persistent.

You reach over blindly and bring your phone up, unlocking it with your thumb. The screen flashes and you hit the icon for your messages. You're surprised to find it isn't Inez, but a number without a name. You read through the last messages and realise it's Steve.

'Hey, can't wait to see you gorgeous. At the restaurant now.'

You blink and shove the book off your chest as you sit up. What the hell?

You put the phone back. Wrong number maybe? You don't know but you feel worse correcting him.

You let out a breath and grab the textbook, trying to refocus on your homework. He'll figure it out. Hopefully he can just laugh it off.

You uncap your highlighter as you contemplate another cup of coffee. It's late. You should at least try to sleep after.

You zone out to the buzz of your playlist, bulling through the last half of the chapter. History… it's like reading a story in a way but you just can't hold onto the details.

Your phone shakes again. You grab it and look at the time. You rest it on the closed textbook and yawn. It's veen thirty minutes since hisnlast text but you don't think he realises.

'Hey, you still coming?' Followed by the smiley emoji. Oh god.

You should tell him. You should let him know he's texting the wrong person. You key in the message and hover over send.

You can't. You feel the second-hand embarrassment through the phone. Hopefully he figures it out and just deletes the messages and pretends it didn't happen.

You black out the screen and plug in to the charger. You pile up your textbook and notebook and drop them on the floor beside the bed. You hit the bottom of the lamp and it turns off before you flop against the pillow. You're too tired to worry about all this.

You drift off easily. You sleep most of the night but wake at the noise of one of your roommates in the kitchen. The place is small and the walls are thin. You groan and rub the sleep from your eyes.

You get up and pull on your robe, dragging your feet into the hall and down to the bathroom. You take your time and come out as Ellie waits outside. You apologise and go back to your room.

You take your phone and look at the time, a speech bubble floating beneath. You hit it to expand the preview.

'So sorry. Wrong number. Hope you had a good night.'

You snort, slightly amused. At least he caught his mistake. You swipe away the notification and unlock the screen, going through the dailyl listless scroll of social media.