Chapter 3

　　"You're joking!"

　　Maya refused to respond to her friend's question, choosing instead to take a long sip from her avocado smoothie.

　　gabrielle's grin widened at her silence, dark eyes gleaming in excitement, "you do you're fucked right? i mean throwing your professor to the ground is one thing, but cracking up in his class?!"

　　"you don't have to be so fucking dramatic about it," maya grumbled under her breath but didn't bother to fight back the smile that threatened to tug at her lips.

　　"I gotta ask, how hot exactly is he?" Gabrielle leaned across the table, propping her elbow on it and resting her chin on her hand. "Jason wouldn't stop rambling about how good-looking your new psychology professor is."

　　A chuckle slipped past her lips before she could stop it, earning herself an inquisitive look from her friend. She took another sip of her smoothie. "He's... attractive. In a conventional sort of way." She admitted with a shrug and grinned at Gabrielle who made a face in response.

　　However, she was too exhausted from their morning classes to argue with her best friend over the topic. She could honestly do without talking about the man, it was obvious he still held a grudge against her and she worried it'd already marred his impressions of her, that was if he even had any in the first place, so she decided against further discussion about her professor.

　　"That is definitely not what I was expecting to hear," Gabrielle muttered, stabbing a fork aggressively into her salad.

　　"Well, that's what you're getting." She stuck a tongue at the dark-skinned girl who glared at her for a second before rolling her eyes.

　　"Anyways," Gabrielle began to say and grabbed her purse from where it was hanging at the back of her chair, "I have a class at ten, I'll see you later yeah?"

　　Maya pouted in disappointment, "Do you have to go?"

　　Her friend gave her an 'are-you-kidding-me' look before rising to her feet. "Don't miss me much." Gabrielle playfully winked and she glared at her,

　　"I hate you."

　　She smiled sweetly in return and blew a kiss at Maya before slipping out of the café into the deserted street outside.

　　Maya released a tired exhale through her nose and swirled her drink around with the straw, her eyes scanned the length of the coffee shop and noted that it was less busy than usual. A quick check of her phone told her it was just after noon, another sigh escaped her and this time she gently pushed her smoothie cup away and grabbed her bag.

　　She still had some editing to do for her youtube channel, and then there was the essay she needed to submit by tonight, so far all she'd manage to get done was a rough outline.

　　Maya really couldn't be blamed, the topic she had picked was...well, it was a bit controversial and not something most students would even consider asking their professors for advice about, well she couldn't. That meant she'd been forced to spend hours on it alone, which was bad enough. But that wasn't even touching on the fact that she hadn't slept much the previous night because of the stress and lack of caffeine in her system due to the amount she'd spent up all night writing. Her brain was starting to feel like mush and she was beginning to regret why she'd cussed Davis so much.

　　She quickly stood, waving the barista goodbye, who gave her a polite nod, before making it towards the door. Immediately she stepped out, the warm breeze instantly hit her face as she crossed the sidewalk. The trek to her car was quicker than expected and she was grateful, another minute under the blazing sun and she was sure she'd turn into a puddle.

　　Her fingers fumbled to insert the key into the lock of the vehicle,

　　"Fuck!" An annoyed huff slipped out from her mouth, the key thankfully clicked into the hole and Maya opened the driver's seat, sliding inside and slamming the door shut before the heat could melt away some of the skin cells on her palms. "Shit," she swore softly and ran a sweaty palm through her hair, "that was close."

　　She turned the key in the ignition and started up the car, "Alright, Charlie," She patted the wheel firmly, "Let's move."

　　The car rumbled in response and she cheekily smiled, Gabrielle had always called her crazy for naming a car Charlie, but it felt fitting. The car was old and beat up but Charlie was nothing short of pure energy and had taken Maya from the depths of despair when she had no other options and now, she had formed a strong bond with the vehicle.

　　As she drove down the road, her hands reached for the radio dial and turned it on. It was a slow song she loved and she hummed along, feeling more relaxed than she had in days.

　　When her ringtone interrupted her music Maya paused, glancing down at her phone, the familiar number glared at her through the screen and a warm smile stretched her lips. She pressed the answer button with a laugh while keeping a careful eye on the road.

　　"Hey."

　　"Mi corazón!" Her mother cooed over the speakers and she chuckled again, leaning back into the comfortable leather seats. "How are things going on your end?"

　　"Fine," Maya responded reassuringly before giving a small sigh, "Just, uhm...been a bit of a busy week."

　　There was the sound of a muffled reply and Maya rolled her eyes, "I can't hear you."

　　There were sounds of shuffling then she heard her mother's voice, "Call me 'mom' again and I'll make sure to stuff las patatas fritas con queso down your throat the next time you come home."

　　Maya snorted despite the serious tone in her mother's voice, "Lo siento, mama, but that's what all American kids call their mother."

　　She heard her mother grumble something about 'how the Americans were negatively influencing her', Maya was about to tell her it was quite the opposite when she heard her father's cheerful voice,

　　"Hey, Maemae!" Maya blushed at the nickname, she remembered when her father told her how she'd gotten the pet name. Apparently, when she was born her parents had a huge fight about what to name her. Her father wanted to name her Mae after his deceased mother but his wife was pretty insistent on Maya. They'd argued for so long about the name and finally settled on Maya. And it hadn't changed since then, however, her father had managed to give her a little nickname and refused to let go of it, despite her mother's protest.

　　She was okay with it actually, except when he publicly used it. And he did, a lot.

　　"Looking good, Mr. Greenley." She playfully purred and winked, even though he couldn't see it.

　　His hearty laugh brought a warm feeling to her chest.

　　"Blame it on the diet plan your mother has me on." She heard the sound of smacking and her mother's betrayed voice,

　　"Joseph! You told me you liked the plan."

　　Her father huffed and she could literally see him engulfing his wife in his large arms, "Just kidding, honey." Then he whispered conspiratorially, "I'm not Maemae, she's practically killing me."

　　Maya couldn't stop the laugh that tumbled out of her mouth, her father and mother were like two peas in a pod, she was certain they were meant for each other and she secretly wished for a love like theirs. One that would last, even when they grew old.

　　She tuned out their argument as she drove into the driveway and carefully parked. Maya killed the engine with one hand and grabbed her phone with the other,

　　"Have you had sex lately?" She questioned, faking a serious tome, "I can literally feel the sexual tension from your arguing."

　　"Maya!" Her mother screeched and she chuckled alongside her father. She heard a drawn-out sigh and knew it was from her mom, "Do you need anything? Are you okay? And Gabrielle? How is she?"

　　"Everything is fine, mamá. There's no need for you to worry." Maya pushed the door open and stepped out, maneuvering her bag, her keys, and a few papers into one hand, and slammed the door with her hip.

　　Her family was incredibly overprotective, especially her mother, the woman was always worrying about her and Gabrielle. At first, she found it endearing and adorable; she always knew how much her parents cared about her. But the constant worrying was unhealthy and she didn't like it.

　　She walked quickly past the pavement to the front door, unlocking it and letting herself in. As soon as she kicked off her shoes she walked directly into the kitchen and opened the fridge, skimming through the contents for water.

　　They needed to go grocery shopping soon, Maya noted with a frown as she examined the contents of the refrigerator. She dropped the items in her hold on the counter and grabbed the bottled water, twisting off the cap and taking a sip. She sighed contentedly,

　　"Alright, mija. If you say so."

　　She leaned against the countertop, smiling as she played with the plastic bottle in her hold, "I do and if I have any problems, I'll call you first."

　　Maya heard her mother hum in satisfaction, "Esta bien. Take care of yourself. I love you."

　　"Me too maemae!"

　　She chuckled, placing the phone in her other ear, her left ear had begun to hurt from pressing the device against it. "I love you too mom and you too dad!"

　　Maya heard a soft laugh and a smile curled on her lip, but the line disconnected before she could say another word. Maya placed her phone back on the counter, finished drinking her water and decided to take a shower.

　　By the time she made her way to bed later that night, her body still felt tired, but she wasn't exactly sleepy either. So she simply changed into pajamas and crawled onto the bed, grabbing her laptop. She'd decided to do some editing on the videos Gabrielle had recorded for her last week,

　　Her fingers expertly scrolled through the mouse, her eyes searching the bright screen for the folder. When she found it, she scooted closer to the edge of the bed and began to work on editing the videos After spending what felt like hours on editing she finally sent the finished files to Gabrielle for review.

　　The girl always had good eyes for things like these and with Gab being her personal manager and all, it was essential she ran every video through with her.

　　Maya had been an active YouTuber for years now, her channel had first started as a healthcare site, then she'd gotten only three subscribers; one from her mom, her dad, and Gabrielle. She soon realized that nobody wanted health advice from an eleven-year-old child, and that was when she developed a passion for cooking and makeup artistry. At first, she would get random new subscribers and comments, Maya remembered how giddy she felt back then.

　　Nine years later, her channel had skyrocketed to more than one million subscribers. People started watching her videos as soon as she uploaded them. Soon, she'd found herself working in front of cameras, making cameos for various youtube channels and blogs and she was slowly starting to gain recognition on her Instagram page. She'd also gone viral with some of her content on there, mainly her cooking tutorials and exercise tips.

　　If she were being honest, she owed everything to her family They kept pushing her to continue especially when she was on the verge of giving up.

　　Maya smiled fondly remembering how her father and her mother would watch her YouTube videos together and sometimes even help her cook.

　　Maya yawned and closed her laptop after checking for the second time that the message was delivered. She laid on her back and stared at the ceiling, her mind unconsciously drifting to a certain dark-haired man. She couldn't forget the way his arm felt when he caught her or the dark glimmer in his eyes whenever she caught him staring.

　　Maya knew she lied to Gabrielle, her professor was more than just attractive. The man was practically 'sex-on-legs' and she honestly wondered why he would confine himself to teaching at a university. He could have been a model or heck, a movie star if he wanted to.

　　Doctor Alexander Grey

　　Maya silently wondered what the man was like and why he had a cold exterior. She grabbed her phone before her rational self could kick in and logged into Facebook. It took forever to load and she began to wonder if she was making the right decision. The man didn't even like her and yet here she was, about to stalk him.

　　She shook her head, ridding the thoughts away. She wasn't stalking him per se, Maya simply wanted to know what he was like, she knew everything about the professors of the courses she was offering, down to their irks and likes, even their pets, and for this man, however hot he may be, to ruin her perfectly strategized plan ...she wasn't going to allow it.

　　Maya decided that she would just casually search for him and then once she learned something of interest, she'd leave him alone and pretend it never happened. She sighed deeply and stared at the wall as her hand tapped anxiously against her knee. The page finally loaded and she quickly tapped the search icon and typed his name into it.

　　She was surprised at how many results popped up as a result and almost instantly went through them, finding nothing about the professor. After searching for a few minutes, she was about to give you when something caught her eye that caught her by surprise.

　　There, on the top of a page with tons of profiles, one, in particular, stood out. There was no picture on it, just a colorful logo of Umass on it. A familiar emblem she saw everywhere around campus,

　　She tapped on it and waited for the page to load, luckily it was quicker and when she read his feed, an excited grin lighted her face. So he did have a Facebook page. Maya spent the next hours scrolling through his feed and even checking his photos. She was disappointed to see he had none except for one but it was simply a silhouette of a person reading a book.

　　Maya did not doubt that he was the one.

　　Her fingers were beginning to feel numb and her eyes were slowly dropping shut but she didn't want to fall asleep yet. Not when she hadn't found anything on the professor, at least something new or private. It would be nice to have something to hold against his head, knowledge was power after all.

　　But despite that fact, nature won and Maya soon fell fast asleep. She dreamed of fire, black wings, and a pair of deep coal-colored eyes.