F for Fantasy

Chapter 1

I had absolutely no idea what Professor Julian Cross was teaching.

His voice had shattered my attention the moment he began, and my mind had drifted far from the lecture hall.

In my daydream, his dark eyes stayed fixed on mine while his fingers traced slowly along my face.

"Tell me what you're thinking," he said.

I smiled shyly, whispering it. "I don't think you want to know." I could feel the butterflies in my stomach go insane.

"Sierra." He said my name in that deep voice, and my control slipped a little more.

I wanted him so badly. I closed my eyes to savor the fantasy, shivers running through me.

They didn't stay closed for long. His voice continued, and his hands were everywhere, scattering every sensible thought I had.

"I want you, Sierra."

Heat flooded my cheeks. I could only nod, tension coiling tight inside me, as his hands moved to the buttons of my blouse.

"Julian," I breathed.

My clothes already felt loose against my skin. The anticipation of his touch made me groan. Every part of me knew I shouldn't want this. He was my professor. But in my head, nothing could stop me.

"Julian... God."

"SIERRA!"

My name cracked through the air, and the fantasy shattered. I was in a lecture hall. The man shouting at me was the same man from my daydream. My professor.

"S-sir, I - "

I stuttered badly, but he didn't stop.

"What were you doing?"

Professor Julian's face barely concealed his anger.

I had no answer. Would I tell him I'd spent thirty minutes fantasizing about him kissing me? Absolutely not. My heart hammered against my ribs. Of all the people in the world to fantasize about, it had to be the one man I couldn't have. I swallowed hard, searching for an excuse, but his patience was already wearing thin.

"I expect my students to carry themselves with discipline."

His voice was booming now. Every head in the hall had turned toward me, and that was when I saw it. Phones. Held up discreetly, all of them pointed at me.

Oh, shit. What had I done in my moment of weakness?

"Whatever sexual thoughts you have should be discarded before my class."

His warning poured over me like warm water. I bit my lip and bowed my head, hating how my body reacted to it even now.

"I assume that was clear. Let the class go on," he said after glaring at me, walking back to the podium.

The remaining twenty minutes dragged on. I blinked through them, driving my nails into my palms to keep from crying. His warning kept echoing in my head, and my toes curled each time in the waves of embarrassment washing over me as I thought about it.

"That will be all for this week."

Hundreds of students rose at once, chattering as they gathered their things.

"And Miss Sierra Riven," Professor Julian added.

The room seemed to pause as I looked up at him, wrapped in self-loathing.

"See me in my office."

My eyes widened. I glanced around, but none of the students filing out seemed to care.

"Yes, sir," I muttered, and walked out into the crowded hallway.

I was used to gossip and stares, but this was different. With every student I passed, the stares multiplied, sharper and crueler.

I took a breath to summon courage and turned to the nearest girl, who was holding a phone and looking at me like I was trash.

"Did something happen?" My voice was meant to sound confident. It came out as a croak.

She smiled sarcastically and looked me up and down. I recognized her. Marissa. She had been one of the people holding a phone at me.

Without a word, she shoved the phone into my hand. A video was already playing.

"Julian."

"Julian."

The girl groaning on the screen was me.

My jaw went slack. I watched it again and again, unable to process what I was seeing. It was a video of me looking so lost in my fantasy that I had forgotten where I was.

Marissa snatched the phone back, her expression hostile.

"Do yourself a favor and learn how to be discreet," she said with a smile.

Tears pricked my eyes as the truth sank in. Everyone in that hallway had the video. Everyone had watched me fantasize about my professor, and now I was supposed to face him in his office.

I turned and walked toward it, my thoughts spinning with what-ifs and whys. My legs felt like jelly the whole way.

The door seemed to mock my distress as I raised a shaky hand to knock.

"Come in."

I stepped inside quietly, my palms damp, avoiding his gaze and praying he hadn't called me here about the video.

Julian was bent over his books, his eyes moving over each file as if searching for something. His expression gave nothing away. I couldn't tell whether he had seen it.

"Your project result came in," he said at last, holding up an envelope.

My heart jumped. Anxiety about my result flared so fast it pushed the video right out of my mind.

He held it out and I took it, our fingers brushing for barely five seconds. It was enough for me to feel the butterflies again, this time in reality. I hated that even now, with my face still burning, his touch could do that to me.

"Congratulations in advance," he said.

I nodded eagerly, a huge smile spreading across my face, and turned to leave.

Warmth swelled in my chest. Despite everything that had happened today, he still saw me as one of his best students.

Curiosity got the better of me. The moment I stepped outside his door, I scrambled to tear open the envelope. Flashbacks of my proposal and my thesis rushed through my mind, giving me goosebumps. I was ready for this.

My hands trembled as I pulled the paper free. What I saw tore a guttural scream out of me.

Printed in bold letters were the words:

PROJECT EVALUATION RESULT

Student: Sierra Riven

Overall Grade: F

Status: FAILED