More weeks passed and soon Pedro had posted the mid term grades outside the class. She walked through the sea of her classmates as they all scrambled to see if they were passing.
Haven met up with the few friends she had in the class as they looked at their grades. Jessie and her boyfriend were hugging so she assumed they were both passing. The class ended up harder than any of them were expecting. Pedro may have been new at teaching, but he knew how to grade harshly and give challenging tests.
As she reached the posted grades, her close friend Cassandra was turning around. She was smirking as she gave Jessie and her boyfriend Will high fives.
"There's miss head of the class now," Cassandra said as she saw Haven walk closer to them.
"What?" She said as she brought her attention to the paper taped to the wall. She brought her finger to it and scanned down for her name. Once she did she noticed that she did in fact have the highest grade in the class, a 98 to be in fact.
Haven's friends began to walk down the hall, giving their other classmates a chance to see their grades.
"So what's your secret, Haven? I've been working my ass off and I'm barely making a C in this class." Jessie's boyfriend, Will said.
She shrugged to herself as she followed them down the hall, "I don't think this class is that bad."
"That bad?" Jessie piped up. "Easy for you to say you have a 98!"
"Be real, Jess. We all know why Haven has the highest grade." Cassandra said, brushing her hair over her shoulder.
Haven felt her face flush and her thoughts began to race. Did they know she had the hots for Mr Pascal?
"Because she's a huge English nerd!" Cassandra said giving her friends a wink. She was kidding but her comment made Haven's racing heart calm slightly.
"You know what," Will said as he stopped in the middle of the hall. "We should celebrate tonight! We have been studying our asses off and deserve a break."
"I'm in!" Jessie said raising a fist to the air.
"Same here!" Cassandra added as she looked over at her other friend. "What about you Haven? You in?"
"Sure!" Haven agreed cheerfully. She knew they were right, her of all people had been studying for weeks for all of her classes, a break would be nice.
They began to discuss which bar they should go to as Haven looked back down the hall. Most of the students had dispersed from in front of Mr Pascal's class. It was the end of the day now and she watched as Pedro exited his classroom, locking the door behind him.
He glanced down the hall as he took the key from the doorknob and met Haven's eyes. He gave her a smile, or maybe not she couldn't be for sure. She quickly turned towards her friends and pretended that it didn't happen.
But if it did happen, she was more than okay with it.
---
That night Haven rummaged through her closet for something that wasn't jeans or sweatshirts. Her wardrobe was very plain, but she managed to find a simple black dress.
It was tighter than she remembered, she couldn't even think of when she wore it last. She slipped on a pair of matching heels and attempted to curl her uncooperative hair. She ended up pulling back half, letting her bangs lay to the side.
She drove over to Jessie and Wills apartment which was in walking distance of a few bars downtown.
Once they had all met up, they walked to the first bar that Will said was better than the others. They entered the bar and found out it was more of a club than anything.
There was music playing just loudly enough where they had to speak up to talk. "I'll get us some shots!" Cassandra called before walking towards the bar.
"You want a beer?" Jessie asked Haven as she scooted in beside her in the booth.
She nodded, not wanting to have to say yes again if she couldn't hear her. She sent Will to get beers as Cass came back with the shots.
They waited for Will to come back before he started the toast. "Here's to being young and barely passing classes for subjects we won't need for future jobs!"
After a fit of laughter they all took their shots. It was vodka and it went down Haven's throat quickly, but not before leaving a terrible after taste.
She chased it with the beer and she hoped that was the only shot of the night.
A few shots and an hour later, Haven felt on top of the freaking world. A song that the group all loved in high school began to play and they all made a beeline for the dance floor.
By now her beer had turned into a mixed drink, and she soon felt the effects of the alcohol difference.
After dancing to a few songs, she brought a hand to Cassandra's arm. "I have to pee!" Haven yelled over the pumping music.
Cassandra nodded but continued to dance to the song. Haven spotted Jessie and Will in the booth making out as she walked towards the ladies room. With a shake of her head, she entered the bathroom.
After her business was taken care she looked for Cassandra who was no longer on the dance floor. Will and Jess were still sucking face at their table, so she walked to the bar.
She sat at a stool with a huff as she scanned the room yet again. As she trailed over the various couples and drinkers, she saw a familiar face across the bar.
Pedro Pascal, her freakin' professor.
