Leona threw her pencil down on the table in frustration. The tip broke and she thumped her fist down next to it. She put her elbows on the table and held her face in her hands. The book shifted from under her. She looked up to see what was going on and noticed her professor picking it up and having a look.
Professor Duncan flicked the book back a few pages to have a look at the work Leona had been doing. His tongue was clicking inside his mouth and it was driving her crazy.
“Now look Leona,” he always tried to sound sweet and understanding when he spoke to her, but he always came off as a know-it-all, “I've noticed over the weeks since you started this course that you’re falling way behind. Your grades are currently too low to pass, and you’re already halfway through the semester. Personally, I don't understand why you're still here.”
He put the book back down on the table and crouched down beside her.
“You’re going to have to lift your game.”
Leona just nodded silently.
The Professor turned and went back to monitoring the rest of the class. Leona sharpened her pencil again and got back to the work she was doing. It was difficult, and quite a bit above her. But she did try her hardest.
The bell sounded, marking the end of class. She packed up and walked out of the class with her head hung in shame. She was so lost in her own musings that she ran into someone. She looked down at his feet, then slowly brought her eyes up to look him in the face. It was Adey, the Spanish student in their class. He had travelled all the way from Spain to study Immunology in Australia.
Leona blushed. He was handsome. He didn't have the same mystery that Tyran had surrounding him, and he wasn't wealthy beyond belief. The other boys in the class had already counted that Tyran owned at least five impossible to get motorbikes, one might even have been a prototype. But he did have dashing good looks.
His chest was muscled. His face was chiselled, he kept himself clean shaven, and looked like he had been carved out of marble by a sculptor beyond belief. And atop his head sat tight curls of light brown hair. His voice was deep also, oozing masculinity. She had seen him playing soccer with some of the other students as well, and he looked quite amazing.
“I noticed the professor, he spoke to you.”
The only problem with him was his English still wasn't the best. She nodded though, and dropped her head, trying to hide her blushing.
“I, er, offer to assist you,” he was waving his arms around as he spoke, “you know, my grades, they are good, right? Yes. I help you with your work, help you get good grades. In return, you help me with my English, make it good like all others. Show me Melbourne too.”
“You want to help me?”
“Yes, of course. You are smart and beautiful. Who would not want to help you out?”
“It is very kind of you to offer this. Where would you like me to meet you?”
“I come to your house, no?”
“No, sorry. I am staying with an uncle. What about the library in the CBD after school tomorrow?”
“Yes, sure. That is on Swanston street right?”
“Yes it is, not too far from here.”
“After we study, want to get coffee? People tell me Melbourne is home of coffee.”
“Sure, there's a few coffee shops in the CBD.” That was a vast understatement, the whole centre of Melbourne was riddled with them.
“It is date then.”
Adey turned and left quickly, Leona raised her hand as if to stop him, wanting to tell him it wasn't a date, they were just going to study. But he was gone too quickly. She shrugged. She was glad someone had offered to help her, she was struggling trying to do it alone. She was even more grateful that Adey had chosen to ask her. Leona was sure studying in the presence of such a hunk would be a wonderful experience.
She continued on her way to her bike and turned her head. Standing across the road from where she had been talking to Adey was Tyran. He seemed to be looking across at her. His hand was bunched in a fist beside his head. He opened his hand up and fragments of what must have been a pencil fell to the ground. He left briskly, dusting his hand off, and donning his leather jacket he never seemed to be without.
The next day came around quickly. Adey was looking at her during class, she could feel his eyes on her. Tyran seemed to be ignoring her completely. He had a new pencil though, and was now vigorously spinning that between his fingers. Leona watched as the Professor went over to Tyran and started speaking with him quietly.
They were too far away for Leona to make out what they were saying, but their body language was speaking in multiple volumes. Tyran grabbed the pencil he was spinning and stabbed the point of it into the desk, and rather than snapping the nib it stood there quivering. The Professor reached down, took it out of the desk and placed it down on its side. He was shaking his head, probably at the action that Tyran had done.
Tyran casually leaned back in his chair and waved his hand in the direction of Adey, who was watching them. In fact, everyone in the class was watching them now. The pencil had hit the desk with considerable force. The Professor turned to look at Adey for a few moments, then turned his attention to the rest of the class.
“This doesn't concern any of you. I am sure you have plenty of work to get on with,” he snapped at them, making sure pencils were scribbling on paper before he turned back to Tyran.
The Professor was shaking his head again, and Tyran shrugged. Tyran had picked up the pencil again and was now tapping it on the table, making a rhythmic tick sound. He nodded very slowly and the Professor let out a little sigh of relief. They both then looked directly at Leona.
Professor Duncan stood and stretched, then walked over to Leona. She dropped her head to make it look like she was busy, quickly scratching a few notes onto the paper.
“Leona, may I have a word.”
He crouched down beside her as he had done the other day. She just nodded, trying to read what was in her text book so she could copy some notes.
“At the end of the lesson today I will be announcing a new assignment. If you fail this one you won’t have any chance at passing this course and moving on to the next stage of your degree.”
Leona's eyes opened wide in shock. To keep the scholarship she had obtained she needed to pass her classes. Fail one and she lost the money. Lose the money and she couldn't continue to study at University. She turned her face to look at the Professor.
“It’s okay though, don't be worried. I've spoken with Tyran and organised for him to give you some help with it. He's passing the class with the highest grade, so I thought it only appropriate to ask for his aide.”
Leona's pencil fell from her grip.
“You'll have to organise with him when and where to meet. But you should be thankful. It'll do you good.”
Professor Duncan pat her on the shoulder a couple of times then stood and went over to his desk. He called the attention of the class and announced the assignment, giving a pile of sheets to the people at the front, who sent them back, everyone taking a sheet as the piles went past them.
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Leona grabbed one and handed the rest of the sheets behind her. She looked down at it, but her eyes couldn't focus on it. So she just shoved it into her folder. The bell sounded as the Professor told the class the assignment was due in three weeks. She put the folder in her bag and shouldered it. Then stood and left the classroom.
She couldn't decide whether she was in shock because she might fail and lose the scholarship, or whether it was because she now had two tutors who were both good looking. But that last she could hopefully deal with easily. And if all worked out, then the two of them could save her scholarship for her.
She started to make her way to her bike as she remembered she was meeting Adey at the library fairly soon. She took a moment to think, then decided it might be a little safer to leave her bike here, behind the gates of the University grounds, and just walk to the library.
She passed by the classroom again, walking with her head down, watching where she placed her feet. When a strong hand grabbed onto her should. She gasped, but when she lifted her head to see who had grabbed her she smiled. It was only Tyran.
“That’s a bit rude you know,” she berated him as he let her go.
“It was a bit rude of you to ignore your own name. I said it twice as you walked past me.”
“Oh, I am sorry. My mind is elsewhere.”
Her nose had adapted to the strange smell that seemed to emanate from Tyran, and her nostrils didn’t flare nearly as much as they had when she first met him. It only really seemed to affect her though when she was close to him. Her nose was better than a regular humans, but not by much. When she turned into her hybrid form, that’s when the superior senses of a wolf really kicked in.
“Now, what is it you want?”
“No need to be so short with me,” his mouth almost seemed to snarl at her, “I am just trying to find out when you want help on your assignment.”
“We have weeks to do it. I'll talk to you next week about it. Today I am going to study with Adey.”
His mouth turned into a definite snarl when she had finished.
“I am going to be completing it over the next few days. I would rather you complete yours at the same time as me. I have no wish to go over the same material too many times.”
Leona smiled at him and he raised an eyebrow.
“Okay, you got me. How about tonight? I could come over to your place.”
“Why could it not be done at yours, Leona?”
“My uncle would not approve of me inviting people over, especially young men. He is quite protective of me. Is there something wrong with your place?”
“My,” he seemed to strain to find the word he was looking for, “Uncle for want of a better description. He would also not take kindly to me bringing other people into his presence uninvited.”
“You know, you talk a bit strange.”
“I had never noticed. Apologies if it offends.”
“Oh, no, it’s not offensive. It’s just odd. Sometimes you switch from regular talk to suddenly being overly formal. But if your uncle would take offence at me being there, then maybe we could meet somewhere else.”
“Well, I will organise something and meet you at Southern Cross Station?”
“Yes, fine, whatever. I am going to meet Adey now. It's what? Four o'clock? I'll meet you at the station at seven then.”
“Seven it is then. At the corner of Collins Street. Try not to be too late.”
She laughed at his comment, but he just turned and left. Her mirth died in her throat and she gulped. First she was going to meet Adey, then she was going to spend the evening with Tyran. The only other time she had spent so long with members of the opposite sex was with her cousins. This would be totally different.
She made her way to the library and found Adey standing out front waiting for her. He waved and walked across to her.
“I take your bag?” he held out as hand. She could sense he was trying to be polite. So she handed it across.
“I won’t be able to spend too long out this afternoon Adey. The Professor organised for Tyran to give me some help with the assignment, and he's asked me to work with him tonight on it.”
“We only get it today though. But that is no problem. I am not very good anyway, and he is top student. I was just trying to find excuses to spend time with you.”
Leona blushed. She had been half expecting that, but it was still nice to hear.
“Would you like to go for a walk then?”
He nodded his enthusiasm at the prospect and together they started walking down Swanston Street. They stopped by several shops, taking a bit of time to look at them. He took her into some clothing shops, and also some jewellery shops. They kept walking until they hit Little Collins Street and made their way left.
“Do you know where you’re going Adey?”
“Yes. When I first come here, I find this place with coffee. But also, muffins. Big muffins. Taste good too. Maybe we go, sit down, have chat, eat muffins, drink coffee.”
“Sounds good. But I don't have any money on me.”
“That's okay. I will pay.”
Soon they made their way to the coffee shop, a little store nestled between a couple of other stores. They sat outside in the warm afternoon sunlight, and soon a waitress came out to take their order. Adey ordered two muffins, one for each of them, and two coffees.
The waitress told Leona the muffins were made on the premises every morning when she brought out two huge muffins and sat them on the table. They were easily bigger than the two cups of coffee that were brought out only a few moments later.
She broke a piece of the muffin off and placed it in her mouth. The flavours melted on her tongue. Coconut and white chocolate, mixed with the texture of the muffin. She eagerly ate another piece. Adey was smiling over his cup of coffee at her.
“I said, didn't I? They are good muffins.”
“They are wonderful Adey. I'll have to come back here again.”
“Why not come back here on Sunday with me? I will be in the city again.”
Leona was a little taken aback by that, but nodded yes to him. His smile seemed to broaden, and his eyes lit up with delight. He took a large mouthful of coffee and put the cup down. Over the next half an hour they drank their coffee and ate their muffins, all the while talking about Melbourne and how wonderful it was. Soon Leona looked at her watch though.
“Oh, I am so sorry Adey.”
“There is no need to apologise Leona.”
“Yes there is, I need to run off. I told Tyran I would meet him at Southern Cross at seven. It's nearly seven and the station is down the other end of the street.”
“I am sure he will understand. Go now, have fun studying.”
Leona stood up and took off, leaving Adey still sitting at the table finishing off his coffee. He was still smiling as she waved to him. He gave a curt little wave. She rushed, walking as fast as she could without running. It didn't take too long, but it took long enough. It was after quarter past seven when she got to the spot where she was supposed to meet Tyran.