Lemon Yellow
Chapter two: Lemon Yellow
“My name is Professor Dean Campbell, and you’re in world religions. If that means you’re in the wrong class please feel free to exit now.” She blinks as she watches the new but not unfamiliar professor for her class. “You’re all lucky I’m teaching this class, because next semester I’m teaching the ‘Can we talk about God?’ class, it’s going to be a great year.” Kari can hear a few snickers, and she sees the professor grin lightly. “In this class you’ll have three critical pieces to write, but that is it. If I have inkling you’ll fail my two tests then you can ask or be asked to do extra work. My objective is not to fail but to ensure understanding. Are we clear?”
She watches the students nod, before doing so herself. “This is the introduction to the world religions with an emphasis on Christian faith in interaction with other living faiths. That reason being that we see so much of Christian faith in lore, and this way I can talk about Lucifer. You know he’s a teacher here, right?” Kari frowns a little, and then she sees the smile he’s wearing slowly fade. “Difficult crowd… aish I thought students had a sense of humor.” The lesson goes off without a hitch and as people are leaving whispers of the good looking professors make their way across the halls. “Hey, Kari. Your father is Uncle Bobby’s friend?”
She looks up into green eyes, before nodding lightly. “Yes… that’s right professor…” She sees the face he makes. “Just call me Dean. I mean at one point I use to teach gym to elementary school kids. I’m not really sure how much I deserve the Professor title.” She nods lightly, moving to stand up hoping it fixes the height difference between the both of them so that she can feel less crowded. She realizes in that moment just how tall he is and she finds herself cursing her short frame. “You call him uncle Bobby too?” Kari watches Dean nod with a grin. “Saved me from a lifetime of trouble.” She smiles and then is quick to change the conversation. “I have to get going pro- Dean…” She whispers before glancing into his eyes and then leaving in a slightly rushed manner.
“So Kari how was your class?” She can almost hear the grin coming from Charlie’s voice. “My Inequality, conflict and social justice class was awesome had Professor Castiel Novak. I am utterly and completely a lesbian but that man has the bluest eyes Kari.” Kari raises her gaze a little indicating her confusion. “Oh you know, mister ogling you all night, blue eyes… we now have a name.” She returns to reading her book, not before rolling her eyes. She’s still unsure of the truth about blue eyes- no Castiel ogling her last night as she was serving. “It’s not proper etiquette.” She murmurs, full well knowing that this makes Charlie grin a little harder.
“Also… I have a teacher called Lucifer… can you believe that?” She blinks at the voice coming from beside her, Henry. “What do you mean Henry?” She watches his somber face before he sighs and answers her. “We have a new Professor for Human behavior: empirical observations. You know the class about human nature and how we behave and how to use that to our advantage… well basically the teacher’s name is Nick Lucian Star. But get this the dean of our program came to introduce him and basically he was like you can call him Lucifer, we all do.” Kari blinks a little, in a state of disbelief over what she’s just heard. “What?” its Charlie’s turn to question this situation. “No joke, and he was like, I prefer to be called Luke anyways. He’s such a scary, good looking dude…”
“Don’t get a hard on for the professor Henry.” She looks up at Becky who’s sticking her tongue out at Henry. “Never! I’m more of the love em and leave em kind anyhow.” Kari finds herself winking back at Henry after he finishes his phrase. “Guys Halloween’s a barely a month and a half away and I demand we dress up in sexy costumes this year! Not that being robot ninja pirates wasn’t cool… can we be something sexy this year?” She turns her gaze towards Becky to shrug her indifference on the matter. “I don’t mind…” Is the chorus of understanding that passes through all of them. “Look the Profs are back.” She doesn’t bother herself with looking around for them as they seem to be sitting in the perfect booth to be seen from her seat.
“Guess they like to drink-” She can hear Charlie murmur. She lets her mind wander back to her book, getting lost in the pages. She knows a few hours have passed because she’s all alone in her booth, highlighting the pages she finds interesting. “Hey Lucifer, nice of you to join us.” She glances up at the name to see that not only is the man responding to the name but Bobby is there with them. “Kari- c’mere will ya!” Kari blinks but picks up her books nonetheless, before walking towards the booth. She can feel all their eyes watching her. “Uh- Uncle Bobby?” She asks softly and he for a moment smiles.
“Meet the new professors of the university. I heard you met Dean already, he’s a damn idjit don’t mind him.” Kari nods at the introductions. There’s Sam Campbell, Castiel Novak, Dean Campbell, Chuck Shurley, Benny Lafitte and Nick Lucian Star or Lucifer for short. She now has the names of all the new professors but then she turns to look at the man she had given the sundae to. “I’m the dean of the law department I’m Gabriel Novak.” She finds it odd that despite their self-introductions only Gabriel gives her a more lengthy description of his job. She’s never been good with strangers. With people she’s known for a long time, she’s more at ease and friendly. The way she’s behaving right now, is a product of being shy, and not necessarily comfortable with speaking with her professors.
Professor Castiel Novak is staring her down, in a fashion reminiscent of lustful and deprived. Yet there is nothing threatening in his posture, or his breathing. He remains completely calm; she finds it difficult to ignore the electric air that surrounds the table. She finds herself looking at the table, wildly aware of the nature of these professors’s work, and knowing that she is easily seen as uncomfortable and awkward. “I see… Well, I should get going; I have classes in the morning.” Kari’s voice remains soft, despite the intensity of the stares she’s receiving from the men at the table. She doesn’t wait for approval, before moving to head out of the bar and into her car. She drives home, the radio silent, now fully aware of the intensity of the blue eyed stare.
In a waitress uniform she can push back the shyness and be as vibrant as she wants. The fear of disappointing people completely vanishes and she’s seen as an outgoing type of character. She knows she’s not flaky; she just has several levels of comfort with people. Parking her car, then making her way up the steps and into her home, she breathes out a sigh. “Well shit… this is bad.” She can feel her heart beat pounding against her chest. Leaning back against her door, she slides down onto the floor, leaning her head against her knees. “It’s really bad.” She hears footsteps and doesn’t bother to look up; she can hear Henry whispering something in her ear, too zoned out to remember what it is. She’s lifted from the floor and into Henry’s arms, where she loses the ability to stay awake, darkness overwhelming her.
“The room is like… yellow.” She groans lightly at the sound of words disrupting her sleep. “Not yellow… like a canary… no uh like a lemon?” Her eyes snap open and she glances tiredly at Henry. “Is this shirt lemon yellow?” He asks her and she finds herself nodding, albeit confused as to why he’s asking her. “Yep, it’s lemon yellow.”