The Learning Curve - Jim Hopper x Reader

ii. Lecture

"I mean, you said it, not me," she smirked, bumping his shoulder playfully with her own, before they stopped at the elevator a few feet away from Steve, who was currently checking his Bumble for matches on his cell phone. "Well, I guess I'll see you Wednesday?"

"You mean I didn't bore you enough to drop the class?" he teased. "I would love to hear your thoughts on the reading...I think you could offer the class a lot of insight on the subject."

"And why would that be, professor?" she cocked her head, smiling at him dopily, before crossing her arms tightly underneath the swell of her breasts.

Hopper's eyes glanced down to her cleavage, a smirk playing at his lips before looking back into her eyes, "It's an account from a younger woman about her relationship with a German soldier in World War II."

"Oh," Holly replied in confusion, furrowing her eyebrows. "Why would I have insight on that?"

He bent down, his face hovering a few inches away from holly's ear as he whispered, "It's about forbidden lust. I just figure that...maybe that would be of interest to you?"

Holly's lips parted, her heart beginning to pound against her rib cage as a throb presented itself in between her thighs. The man returned to his position, winking at her before cockily striding into the now-open elevator. Holly's feet remained glued to the floor as she lifted her hand up to cup her cheek lightly.

Professor Dreamboat, indeed.

Steve approached her, a bemused expression painted on his face as he motioned to her cheeks, "Your face is about as red as your blouse."

She chuckled, waving her hand in dismissal, "Sorry, he's just-"

"I don't wanna know," he interrupted her, shoving his phone into his pocket before gesturing to the stairwell. "My stomach is growling louder and louder by the second, and I need some damn food."

Holly smirked gratefully, trying in vain to refocus her attention back to Steve's newest obsession as he began to talk.

Only it never came.

The rest of her classes found her to be overwhelmingly distracted. She couldn't place her finger on what exactly it was about Hopper that had such a hold on her. Something about him made her feel different, special even. The only other time she had felt like this was in her junior year of high school, truly the most embarrassing year of her high school career.

His name was Brett Gillman.

A senior in her physics class, Brett would often force himself to pair with Holly for lab assignments. They would discuss a wide range of strange topics as they found the density, volume, and mass of various objects. He was smart, funny, stunningly beautiful...the image of his green eyes kept her awake in bed on multiple occasions. They had went on a few dates, Brett even asking Holly to be his date to the prom. Everything about their relationship was looking up until she caught him making out with Jaime Penderghast in the coat closet at the dance.

Maybe you shouldn't let yourself go down this path again. You'll just end up hurting yourself.

As much as she tried to reason with her logic, Holly DelMonica was certainly smitten, and there was no end in sight.

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Holly sighed in relief as she opened the door of her dorm room, fatigue settling into his limbs from a long day of boring lecture and even more boring professors.

She tossed her tote bag onto the floor near the edge of her bed, falling onto her mattress with a thud before she fished her phone out of her jean pocket. She unlocked her screen, her thumb hovering over the Facebook icon as she pondered her next move. With a sigh, she clicked on the application, waiting for it to load before she typed in the name in the search bar.