Mirage - Shall We Date Wizardess Heart' Fic

Chapter 16: The way you look at me

Today made two weeks excatly after the expedition to the Great Ocean took place. 

Maiya was a small island basically surrounded by rocks of all sizes yet, in the vast ocean that bathed its golden sands, it was possible to encounter all kinds of magical marine-creatures: from tiny fishes to big-sized whales to humanized fish-like mammals. Academic-wise, the main reason for visiting the aquatic land was to study their population, what were their survival mechanisms and to better understand how some of them can show the capability for intelligence, language, sentience, and even magic power. Although being a relevant learning moment, it could encourage the students to slack off and not take it seriously. As such, the professor in charge made it to be mandatory and, also, required from them an essay about an animal of each one choice. They were informed that it would be graded.

The deadline to deliver the Biology essay was due this day. 

Meanwhile, the school bell rang, signaling the end of the first period. Lively commotion filled the once silent classroom.

"And with that, the class is dismissed. Don't forget to leave your essays on my desk before you head out. Thank you." Headmaster Randolph reminded his students.

Everyone did as instructed, making the job easier for the professor. Liz was one of the first ones to turn down her paper, followed right behind by the dedicated Elias and the lonesome-wolf Yukiya. Also, Luca had already delivered his half-written essay, with a playful grin on his lips and a carefree act as usual. 

From her seat, she watched all of her colleagues roam through the door one by one. When the classroom became empty, she decided to approach Randolph's desk. She absently slipped her essay onto the pile of papers on the desk and readied herself to also leave the class.

Randolph dashed forward and grabbed Aurora's arm a few meters from the desk, bringing her to an abrupt halt. "Aurora," He softly called out to her, making her swing back in her heels the second she heard the first letter to her name. 

Their gazes instantly met, and for the life of her, she couldn't move away from him."Y-Yes, Headmaster Randolph?"

"You haven't come to our evening sessions lately. Am I to assume that everything is alright?" His expression was a blend of questions and concern.

Aurora promptly tossed aside his concern, "Y-Yes, I sorry about that... I just have been busy with other classes, s-sir! Professor Schuyler gives us tons of homework to do so, I often find myself getting lost in them..." She laughed, albeit nervously. That was obviously a lie; the reason why she has been deliberately missing their lessons was because of her late realization. Somehow, she had developed romantic feelings for a professor, and, to top that, he was the headmaster to the school she attended. She had been told it was fine to have a crush on an older man, however, it was so much more than that, and she couldn't help but feel how wrong it was. Her fragile heart would even ache just by seeing his warm smile, her breath would shorten by just being near him and, she would forget her dang name by just being addressed to. Rather sooner than later, she wished to kill those twisted, sick feelings, and return herself to normality. But, up until recently, she has found it to be a difficult task and decided to take drastic measures. So, she distanced herself entirely from him, avoiding every and any alone-time as much as possible.