The Laws of Motion (manxmen, teacher/student) *Short Story* Camp Nanowrimo 2015 Winner

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Addison...

The elevator dinged and the doors swooshed open revealing the polished tile floors of the math lab's almost deserted hallway. The students rarely spent any time up here which was really sad and I was hoping to change that with my students. Math lab rocked, you can get the chance to interact with other students taking the same courses that you are, and those who are willing to help you understand the language of mathematics better for free or for a reduced fee. But I guess that Math lab now a days was becoming a thing of the past with the age of the internet and virtual tutoring.

I shook my head and muttered, "Yeesh, I sound like an old man." I passed by some of the study rooms and I was happy to see a few students either studying in a group or quietly tapping away on their laptops. A security guard sat behind a desk in the far corner of the hallway and he looked up and gave me a salute before going back to whatever it was he was doing on his cell phone.

Although I held out the hope that the students who were truly struggling in my class would have signed up for at least this first round of my tutoring session, I was seventy-five percent sure that they did not. So my eyes went wide with disbelief when I lifted the clipboard from the peg on the wall and saw that the entire page was filled, every session was booked. From four to seven this evening, I will be helping almost all of my students from my morning Physics class.

I carried the clipboard into the the room with me and switched on the lights to reveal a sparsely decorated room. There was a set of sofas each set on the opposite side of a coffee table, it was very cafe like and I thought about maybe bringing some coffee next time. Huh, I better hurry and set up for my first student, I checked my watch and I had fifteen minutes before the first young mind was due to arrive. I made sure that my laptop was plugged in and cued to the correct program to provide visual examples of the work we have covered so far in class. I tidied the table and set out my textbook, some paper, pencils, and scientific calculators.

That took all of five minutes so I explored the room to kill time. The room was big enough that you didn't feel cramped, and the furniture was of decent quality but I wondered if I should have chosen a traditional study room rather than this comfy laid back area. But I figured my students would be comfortable so they can concentrate on their work. I dropped my head forward on my shoulders and held my arms out and stretched out the muscles in my shoulders.

My mind instantly strayed to thoughts of the MacMurray twins, I wanted to pat myself on the back for resisting their advances so far and standing my ground. I had to be honest and admit that with every encounter with those determined brothers, my resistance to them was getting weaker and weaker. On a recent run in with those two, they had gleefully informed me that there were no rules about a professor dating a student, the only mention in the school's guidebook was that if a student was in a personal relationship with a member of the faculty, then said student cannot attend any course studies taught by that member of the staff. Which I am not sure is a good or bad thing, depending on which one of us was interpreting it.

My mind, my body, and I could swear even my soul reacted to those two like none other. I found myself drawn to them in ways I couldn't even begin to explain, like there was some invisible force moving through time and space to connect me to those two sinfully sexy men. It was embarrassing at this age to say that I have never had a meaningful relationship with someone else, or even a few one night stands under my belt.

You have to understand that I was always younger than my peers in school. I was the weird smart kid, no one spoke to me much or less looked in my direction. I had no one boy or girl crushing on me. They didn't have a clue how to treat me so they ignored me, even in college I was jailbait for a good while and by the time I wasn't I'd graduated. That's why I had moved far away from my hometown and everyone and everything that I knew to begin a new life here, where I know no one, and I have a chance to start out fresh. To live, love and laugh without the same old issues or people that I grew up with. Now, I've walked into this dilemma, and it centered around my two very attractive students and my feelings towards them.