CHAPTER THREE: A Mistake or Was it?

When Erica woke up the next morning, she was surprised to find herself in an unfamiliar room.

"Where the hell am I?" She panicked as she sat up.

She looked around the room, which seemed to look like a hotel room, and her eyes widen in shock as the realization hits her hard.

"Oh my God!" She exclaimed in shock as she pulled the duvet away a bit to stare at her naked body, then she once again gasped in shock. It's obvious what had happened, but she just couldn't remember who the hell she slept with last night!

She was about to get off the bed when she noticed a small yellow piece of paper lying on the other pillow. She slowly took it and read it; it's a note from the stranger she slept with, saying he hopes she'll find love and wishes the same for himself.

After reading the note, she didn't even know how to feel or what to feel. She was angry at herself for doing something so reckless, but on a second thought, she didn't think she regretted her actions last night.

A loud groan escaped her lips as she got off the bed. She wouldn't even want to think about anything right now because of the terrible headache she's having at the moment, and it's the result of drinking too much.

She managed to wear her clothes while at the same time resisting the urge to just stay right here and continue sleeping to get rid of her headache, but she figured she could just get medicine for her hangover. When she was done, she hurriedly left the hotel room.

She managed to find her way back to her dorm, and when she arrived, she met Lisa getting ready for class.

Lisa, who's been worried about her, left what she was doing to meet her.

"Hey, I was worried about you; what happened? You didn't come home last night, and" She trailed as she moved closer to Erica and sniffed her. "Have you been drinking?" She asked in surprise, then noticed the look of pain and sadness in Erica's eyes, but before she had the chance to ask any more questions, Erica went into the bathroom, not saying a single word to her.

Lisa went after her. "Erica, are you okay? Is everything alright?" She asked, gently knocking on the door, but then she got no reply from Erica.

She would have loved to wait until she came out so she could have a talk with her, but she was already running late for class.

"I guess I'll see you at school then." She sighed, went to grab her bag, and took one last look at the bathroom before leaving.

Erica thought a lot about what she should do today. There were two options for her: one, she could just stay in bed all day and cry her eyes out while wallowing in her pain and sorrow; the other, she could just put up a tough face, not let what has happened ruin her, and go to school. She knew if she were to go to school today, she's likely to run into Mark, and she didn't think she wanted to see him after what he did to her, but still, she picked number two. Mark is a jerk, and she's not going to let that jerk ruin her life for her. She came here to study, and that's what she's going to do.

While taking her bath, what happened between her and the strange man flashed through her mind once more. She couldn't remember his face though; she was still finding it hard to believe that she would do such a thing, but she didn't want to think about it too much, so she forced herself to forget it. There's no use crying over spilled milk; what has happened has happened, and she shouldn't feel bad or guilty about it.

"Yes, Erica, just act normal, focus on your studies, and be strong!" She tried motivating herself with some positive words, and it kind of helped a bit.

She hurriedly got ready and left for school.

When Erica got to school, she checked her wrist watch and saw that she's so late for her first lecture. Using the school guide map, she was able to locate her class. She stood outside the class for some time as she prepared herself for what's to come. It's her first day in college, and she literally can't believe she's going to get scolded for being late to class.

After calming down a bit, she quietly opened the door and went inside. Her joy knew no bounds when she saw that the professor wasn't facing her; he was writing something on the board, so his back was turned to her.

Erica's luck seemed to run out right there when she tried sneaking in to go get a seat. The professor then turned around, and what surprised her the most was when their eyes met, his jaw dropped and his eyes widen in shock, and the marker he was holding dropped from his hand. At that moment, time seemed to have stopped as they did nothing but stare at each other.

At first, she only held his gaze because of his reaction when he saw her, but then things changed because she couldn't believe that her professor would be this hot! His ocean blue eyes were so mesmerizing that she got lost staring at him; she didn't know how, but she managed to snap out of her fantasy.

"Sorry for coming in late, professor." She apologized before rushing to go get a seat.

Meanwhile, her professor was too stunned to speak; his eyes trailed her until she got to her seat, which was somewhere in the front row.

The professor shook his head and awkwardly cleared his throat before going back to what he was doing.

During the lecture, Erica couldn't stop staring at her professor; she didn't know why, but she kind of felt a strange feeling of familiarity as she stared at him, but that wasn't supposed to happen as she doesn't even know him; she didn't even think she's seen him before until now, but still, the feeling refused to go away. She also couldn't help but notice that he would look at her anywhere else, anywhere but where she was, and that only added to her curiosity, leaving her with one question.

Have they met before?