I

It was the first day of freshmen year at college, Maya had been waiting for this day for most of her life. It was a new start for her. Finally being away from her parents, Maya had the opportunity to do the things that she hadn't had the chance to do, things she had only dreamed of. The kind of things she had created in little scenarios in her head, she would finally get drunk or maybe kiss a guy that she didn't know or make friends with an owner of a bar close to the university...the options were endless.

It was currently 8:30 in the morning and Maya had been up for the past two hours making sure that her outfit for the day was ironed to the T.  She was also trying to finish a book that had captured her attention for the week, while savoring the best balance of coffee.

For her, books seemed like an escape from reality, it was the only way to experience all the crazy things that teenagers did and keep up to date with trends, not that she actually applied them to her controlled life but it was a nice getaway. Back home she was on a tight leash, her curious ways had gotten her into trouble so much as a kid that her parents put her on house arrest throughout her highschool years. She couldn't help that when something sparked her interest she needed to poke at it till she had learned everything down to its inner most single molecule and consumed it.

This part of her was great in many ways because she always managed to get outstandingly good grades. Consequently that didn't earn her any friends at school. People either bullied her out of envy or frustration. Though she didn't care because she always had a book to fall back on.

Books. That is what she always had her head in so it didn't come as a surprise to her family that she wanted to take English Literature as her Major and dabble in creative writing - even if she felt she didn’t have the confidence to write something so profound and relateable like the books she’s read. Though what did shock them and had them in weeks of uncontrollable worry was the fact that she wanted to move all the way to the other side of the country to study.

"What's wrong with Washington?" her mother would ask with extremely sad eyes every time Maya would talk about her move to Miami.

The alarm on her phone rang throughout the bedroom of her lush student apartment. Her parents had decided that living in the dorms with all the other freshmen would give Maya “ideas” and they definitely couldn't have that. God forbid she had any fun. They needed her away from distractions, so an apartment next to the university seemed like the best choice. Maya was determined to make friends so the fact that she wasn't in the dorms didn't deter her. If anything a scenario of her throwing dinner parties with her new gang in the amazing two bedroom apartment floated and overtook the thoughts in her mind. “But first, find a gang” she thought to herself.

She placed the book she was reading beside her, on the bed and grabbed her black iPhone and immediately silenced the alarm. With a hop in her step, Maya bounced to her bathroom and took a shower, getting herself ready for her first day.

Maya was a like a rare gem. She had long thick naturally curly, dark brown hair and deep penetrating hazel eyes with green specks, which she got from her father – who had green eyes. Her skin was a rich caramel color which she had her mom to thank. Maya was a product of an interracial marriage and to say she was drop dead gorgeous was an understatement. Too bad she didn't realize it.

Finally after a steaming hot shower Maya started working on her overall appearance. She had on black high waist shorts that had a green graphic t-shirt tucked in. The T-shirt read 'Caution' and had a cute design. She accessorized with a black fedora and hipster glasses. She added heels because without them she stood at 5 foot 6 and for some reason she has always wanted to be taller. Maya applied minimal makeup, which consisted of black eyeliner and dark purple lipstick. Once she was done she eyed herself in the mirror, content with the way she looked. She then grabbed her bag that had her laptop, the book she was currently obsessed with and everything she needed for the class.

It was currently 09:45 and her class started at ten. Picking up her pace, Maya got into her car and zoomed to the student parking at the university. Giving a quick glance at her schedule she navigated the halls of the university and finally found her class with two minutes to spare. The lecture hall had about 100 seats and just as many students. Quickly finding a seat in one of the middle rows Maya took out her laptop and other materials she needed for the class.

At exactly 10am the professor walked in with a briefcase in hand. The room went silent as he had his strong firm back towards the students. He placed his briefcase on the desk and proceeded to open it. Everybody was waiting in anticipation for him to start the lesson but he took his sweet time. Removing a pile of papers from the case and placing them on the corner of his table.

Slowly he turned around and looked at the large group of people in front of him. Every seat in the room was filled. The professor slightly tilted the corner of his undoubtedly, glorious lips and smirked at the fact that 80% of the class were from the female populous. Majority of the girls swooned at the sight of his smirk. That just boosted his confidence, as if it needed boosting. He was already an extremely confident man and knew he could get any of the female sitting in front of him but something caught his eye.

A girl with unruly curly hair wasn't paying attention to him but rather the book in her hands. She smiled while turning the page and sunk deeper into her seat. He cleared his throat but she didn't seem to take notice of that. He bit his lower lip trying to keep his irritation with her in check while shoving his clenched fists into his perfectly tailored suit pants. Controls has never been his strong suit.

"My name is Mr. R.J Dawson. But you will address me as Mr. Dawson or Professor Dawson. Nothing more and nothing less" his voice was cold and straight to the point. It cut through the air like an arrow piercing everyone’s ear with his dark bass stuffed voice. Mr. Dawson had on a black well tailored suit with a white crisp shirt and a black tie. He looked like he walked off the set of a GQ photoshoot. He had dark hair that was a tussled mess atop his head and sultry mocha brown eyes that usually left those of the female species very very speechless. 

Again every female let our either a groan or a whimper of  pleasure. With strong long strides Mr. Dawson walked around his desk so that he was now standing behind it, he turned his briefcase around and took out a small pile of books and slammed them against the sturdy wooden desk. Immediately Maya jumped at the sound and looked towards his direction. She smiled at herself in embarrassment, she was lost in the world of literature and hadn't realized the professor had already arrived.

Mr. Dawson was content that he - finally- had the attention of everybody in the room and proceeded to teach his class. "Before I start with today's lesson we need to get one thing clear. I am not your friend. I am your teacher and that is where our relationship starts and ends." He removed his suit jacket and effortlessly hung it on the back of his chair.

"I have three rules in my class, if you can't follow them then I don’t see a reason for you to be here." Maya swallowed a lump in her throat.

"First rule; arrive on time. If you are not seated by the time the class starts, do not bother entering the room. Second rule; any assignments I give you must be completed by the given due date. I do not give extensions. Third and Final rule; if you do not have a burning passion for literature you might as well leave now." Mr. Dawson did not play games and equally wasn’t here to waste time. There was a lack of agreement from everyone in the lecture hall. To which Mr. Dawson wasn't sure if it was because people were thick headed or outright intimidated by him.

"Are we clear?" he asked, voice at a neutral volume to symbolize his boredom and received mumbled 'yeses' in response "as you can see at the bottom corner of my table there is a pile of papers, those papers are transfer papers. And for those of you who don't know what that means, it means, if you can't handle my class you can drop out. There are three fully capable and well educated faculty members who’s classes you can join.

Maya had never met a man so intense in her life. She thought that her parents were bad but this guy was something else completely. She watched as he taught his class, walking up and down by the board with long strong strides and occasionally writing things. He spent the majority of the lesson explaining what the year would entail and Maya being who she was made sure she got what he said down. The hour lesson was coming to a close and Maya couldn't have been more thrilled. While Mr. Dawson spoke she couldn't help stealing glances at her book. It was getting interesting.

Maya's motions didn't go unnoticed. Mr. Dawson was watching her throughout the whole lesson. A part of him wanted to scold her in front of everyone but seeing as though the problem at hand wasn’t her being disrespectful it was the fact that his ego took a slight knock and he’d rather regain that in private. He needed to know why this girl wasn't ogling at him just like all the girls in the room. She probably wasn’t interested in men. Yup that’s what it is - at least that’s what Mr Dawson told himself. To say that it affected his ego was an understatement. Mr. Dawson loved having the upper hand; he lived his life that way. So having a girl who wasn't captivated by him enough to have her eyes watching his every move really got under his skin, especially a girl who looked like her.

"Time is running up on this lesson, however, before I let you go, I'd advise you to take note of your first assignment. All of you need to come up with a two minute speech on why you choose English Literature. Obviously since there are a lot of you we won't get through everybody in one lesson. Also this is an opportunity for you guys to really see if you actually want to be in this class. I will be rearranging the class in the weeks that follow. Technically I can't make you drop the class but I will not tolerate any slackers."

Mr. Dawson turned away from the class and slipped on his suit jacket. "You are dismissed.” Turning his back on the class, again, Mr. Dawson began to clean the board, wanting to leave the room the way he found it. Clean.

Maya was one of the last people to leave the room because after Mr. Dawson dismissed everyone she tried to quickly finish reading the page she was on. Noticing there was probably ten other people left she slipped her book into her bag and shut down her laptop and slipped that to into her bag. She stood up and fixed the strap of the bag onto her shoulder.

"Can I have a word?" she heard Mr. Dawson say. When he had turned back to grab his briefcase he had without much concentration noticed Maya with her head still in that damn book. Trying to not remove his eyes and their deadlock on Maya’s smooth skin he scanned the room and watched as the last few students shuffle towards the exit. Maya looked up to see who he was addressing. When her curious hazel eyes met with his cold unimpressed brown ones she was confused as to why he was looking at her.

"Are you going to sit there and gawk at me or are you going to come down here?" Mr. Dawson asked. Maya wasn't sure if he was being serious or teasing her.

"Me?" she pointed to herself.

"There isn't anybody else in the room." He spoke, his unimpressed tone back and sitting comfortably nestled in his throat. Mr. Dawson was fed up that this girl was not listening to his requests and following them hastily. He wasn't used to this sort of blatant act of ignorance. Who the hell was she?

Maya caught his words and looked around the room. What happened to the ten people that were just here? With sure steps she walked down so that she was standing in front of her English professor. Up close he was even more gorgeous than she had noticed from her seat. His eyes had a sinister glint that she couldn't help find intriguing.

"You're gawking again" Mr. Dawson spoke, his voice held an edge to them. Maya knew she was looking...okay staring openly at this man but she was not gawking at him like a love sick teenage girl.

"I was not." She responded firmly "I may have been staring at you - briefly - but I was not gawking at you like most of the girls in here."

Mr. Dawson was shocked at the confidence she spoke with but didn’t let his face betray his thoughts. He wasn't used to this type of feistiness, usually the girls that flocked to him were submissive but the girl who stood in front of him was not. He didn't know whether to be turned on or angry at the fact that this young girl, barely at the cusp of life had the audacity to speak to him the way she did.

"I wouldn't say briefly" he taunted, his thoughts getting louder and louder "but that is beside the point." Maya crossed her arms across her chest and looked up at her teacher in annoyance. She barely knew the guy and already she couldn't stand his cockiness. Although she had to admit that she was a tad bit scared seeing that he towered over her like a freaking skyscraper, even while she was in heels. He must have been at least 6 foot 2.

"I asked you here because I noticed that while I was teaching you had your head stuck in a book. Although this is English Lit, I will not tolerate the blatant disrespect you showed today and for that you will be presenting first on Wednesday." Mr. Dawson concluded.

"Alright, whatever." Maya mumbled and turned around to leave. Partly because looking any deeper into his eyes she’d surly get sucked in like a black hole and mostly because she really needed to fart -the coffee was unbalancing her stomach.

This sent Mr. Dawson raging "You will not leave until I excuse you" he spoke through clenched teeth. The one thing about Mr. Dawson that was so dangerous was not the intensity of the hostility his eyes held. It was the fact that he was always in control. He established himself as the alpha male in every situation he was put in. He took pleasure in knowing everyone around him bowed their heads in submission. Most of his reputation came from the intent behind his eyes and if anyone wanted to challenge him further, he has a multifaceted set of skills under his belt.

That was everyone except for Maya of course. Maya's curiosity took the better of her as she walked back to stand in front of her professor.

"What happened to you in your childhood for you to be such a control freak?" her question wasn't meant as an insult. It came from a place of curiosity but that didn't stop Mr. Dawson from seeing it as one. The question came from an innocent girl who liked to solve things and right Mr Dawson was an impossibly hard person to figure out, wrapped in a slew of paradoxes and finally enclosed in an enigma. His hands clenched in fists by his sides and A growl like sound escaped his lips.

"Leave. Now." He spat out, his chest heaving heavily due to the outrageousness of the innocent expression clear on her beautiful face.

Maya shrugged in response clearly oblivious to the cause of his reaction. "You look tense, you should probably get a massage" she spoke happily and bounced out of the lecture hall.