You see a transformation

You follow Stacy into her classroom and stop short at the door. It's five minutes before class starts but the first three rows of the room are full... and every one of those front seats is filled by a male.

Girls are sprinkled through the back two thirds of the classroom and you sit next to a cute Asian girl in the back row.

"What's with the seating?" you ask.

She sighs. "Obviously you've missed all of the classes."

"Yeah."

"You won't miss any more. None of the guys do. And I guess you'll be fighting for your place upfront."

"That doesn't seem likely."

"What? Are you gay?"

"Uh, no."

"Then you will be."

Stacy stands at the front of the classroom and the room falls completely silent, as if she were a prophet and every precious word she spoke is to be learned and cherished.

What the hell?

Then she starts her lecture.

"One of my students," she says, "asked me about the laws of magic. How mere humans can commune with the powers beyond humanity. How we can attract the attention of those powers? How can we communicate our wishes? How can we, perhaps, compel them to do our bidding. It is a question that sages of all nations have wrestled with.

"According to Frazer, there are two--the laws of similarity and of contagion."

She continues but you, like every other male in the classroom, are transported by her words to somewhere else. In the graduate office, she was just another girl... not ugly, for sure. Maybe even cute. But nothing special. Her passion for her subject makes her radiant. It isn't that her looks change. She's still just a girl with mousy-brown hair, a cute nose, and a slender figure. But she cares about her subject and, through this, you feel that she cares about you. It's all you can do to restrain yourself from throwing yourself at her feet and, for the first time in your life, you understand the nature of the magic that the mythical Sirens wielded.

"Told you," the Asian girl says.

"Huh?"

She laughs.

You shake your head and turn your attention back to Stacy. You're pretty sure the answer to all of your problems lies within her words... if only you can understand them.

You try to see what's different, why ever male dick in the room is standing at attention. Is it her voice, which seems to have dropped an octave and resonates a sensuality that reminds you of some throaty Hollywood star, maybe Lauren Bacall or Susan Hayward. It resonates sensuality partly because of Stacy's excitement about her field and partly for some reason you simply don't understand. Her body is the same... yet different. She moves with purpose, with smoothness, like a dancer controlling the dancefloor. Like a martial artist whose every step is precise, meaningful, non-random. Yet... yet she is the same person.

For a moment, you wonder if she is somehow transcendent, herself. Has she enjoyed that commune with the powers beyond she speaks of? Surely not, right? Yet she seems to be proof of something important. If only you can figure out what it is.

When the class ends, Stacy's shoulders slump and, all of a sudden, she's just an ordinary girl once more. The guys in front rub their eyes as if waking, chat among themselves, check out the girls in the class as if they hadn't realized that there were girls there at all, and gradually leave.

"That," you say to Stacy, "was pure magic."

"What?"

"The way you lectured. Who taught you to teach like that?"

"Well, we have to take a seminar on teaching Anthropology before we can get the T.A. stipend."

"Yeah, I don't think that's what they taught you. Anyway, can I buy you lunch? We can continue our conversation. I think I'm a lot better prepared after listening to your lecture.

"Sure, I guess. I have to be back for a seminar in two and a half hours, though, so we can't go far."

"Anywhere you want," you say, hoping she won't suddenly decide she wants to try some fancy French restaurant you can't afford... not that you can afford anything, really. "And I'm doing some streaming. If you'd be willing to help me on one of my streams, I'm certainly willing to pay, say, a hundred bucks for a couple of hours."

"I guess. It'll have to be soon, though. Like I said, I'm going to be heading off to Mexico soon."

"Definitely soon. But for now, let's grab something to eat."