Profess Your Love To The Professor

The lights went down, the crowd began to grow quiet, and very soon we could all hear the clicks of heels as a figure started to walk from the side of the stage. My eyes widened, a huge smile grew on my face, and my nails started to dig into the arm rests besides me…

“Ow! Petra! Nails!” Whispers Harriette next to me as she slaps my hand away… I guess I didn’t really notice her arm there. Whoops. Still, it was time, and as the woman of the hour began to walk on stage the crowd roared in applause, and I was the first to stand in a standing ovation in her honor.

“Oh! Why… thank you! Thank you! Please! You are all far too kind.” Dr. Conners says as she makes her way to the podium, radiating an aura of pure confidence, intellect, and poise as she stood in front of us. Rather than a pantsuit or flashy dress, as most presenters did, she wore her normal lab attire: brown pants, a black shirt, and a white lab coat with one sleeve tied around her arm where it was amputated. Despite her disability this woman was the absolute best in her field, and obviously showed no signs of stopping any time soon.

“Young minds… fresh, unique, with bold and exciting ideas to take our world into the future!” She says with a smile, which once again leads to an uproar of applause from the crowd, including myself… oh my God we’re nerds. “Today, I’m here merely to introduce myself to those who don’t know me. I am Doctor Kendra Conners, with doctorates in bioengineering, genetics, and other frivolous things to make my resume look better.” She says with a chuckle that was echoed by the rest of the chamber. “It is my plan, and my duty to this school, to take you all on a journey that will hopefully not be unlike your own journey of self discovery you’ve been experiencing thus far.” She says with a smile, clicking a button as a power point appears above her. “But, with my help, I hope you all experience the true meaning of not only your own life, but the meaning of the world around you, the universe above you, and every living being surrounding you! All, with the power, and knowledge, of science!”

After a little while of exhilarating talks of the field of genetics, and the studies conducted towards gene growth, regeneration, and the fight against cancer, the bell rang and I can’t believe it had been 2 hours already! And neither could Harriette… mainly because she fell asleep. But after waking her up 3 times I gave up on trying to keep her awake.

While the rest of the class cleared out, Harriette along with them, I cleared my throat, grabbed my books, and began to approach the stage slowly as Kendra began to put away her things. Her movements were so smooth… so swift! Even with her lack of an arm it’s like she compensates it with how efficient she was.

“Dr. Conners?” I say quietly, not really wanting to interrupt her as she packed, but she quickly stopped what she was doing, turned to me with a warm grin, and put all her attention on me, putting down what she was doing like it was nothing.

 “Hello! How can I help you my dear?” She asks, her voice sweet yet technical, almost like even the cadence of her words and her tone had been carefully crafted over years for pure efficiency.

“My name is Petra Parker and um… Gwen said you wanted to see me?” I ask, raising an eyebrow slightly and giving her an awkward grin in return, doing my absolute best to not make myself look like a fucking dummy in front of one of my idols.

It seemed to have worked though as Kendra’s polite grin only grew into a more genuine smile, as she reached out, shook my hand with a firm grip, and became much more cheerful.

“Miss Parker! Oh yes, Gwen has told me a lot about you!” She says in that same warm tone. But something about that sentence made my heart sink… how much has Gwen told? I know I’m not exactly on her <i>nice list</i> right now, but with how nice the Doc was being…

“All good things I hope?” I ask with a chuckle and an awkward look, trying to play it off as a joke but being much more genuine than I was leading on.

“Only the absolute best.” She says with a quick wink. “Which, from what I heard, is the perfect way to describe you, Miss Parker.” She takes a second to hop off the stage and be more eye level with me now, even though she still had practically a foot on me, getting slightly closer but still leaving enough personal space between us.

“I would absolutely love to talk to you and pick your brain about genetic testing and what you would like your place to be in the future of bio-engineering.” She says with a smile, putting her hand on my shoulder and I could once again feel her firm grip, the strength in her arm undeniable. “Would you be open to going out with me for a cup of coffee in let’s say… an hour and a half? In the student union?” She asks me with a small innocent smile.

“Of course! I would absolutely love to!” I say, a little too quickly, and a little too loudly. I could see on her face she was taken back a bit, but her grin only grew as a small chuckle left her lips and she pat my shoulder playfully.

“I love the enthusiasm! Then yes, please, we will meet there. But for now if you wouldn’t mind, I do need to bring my things to my new classroom.” She says, taking a couple steps away and back onto the stage, seemingly breaking off the conversation here.

“Oh! Yes, of course. I’m sorry! Uh… hour and a half, yes?” I ask, and I get small nod in response as Kendra starts to type on her computer. “Got it! Ok! I’ll see you then!” I smile, turn around, and practically skip down the aisle of the lecture hall and out the door, letting out another loud squeal in pure excitement that got a few different eyes on me.

This is gonna so awesome! Working alongside my idol, getting my foot in the door with real scientists! And a new job? Hopefully get some better money? Today is turning out great!

But for now I have an hour to kill… and it has been a little while since my last web slinging session… I take a quick look at my phone to check the time, before smiling and running back to my apartment for a quick outfit change.