"Abby, hurry up in there, it's my bathroom too! I'm going to be late!" Olivia shouted, pounding on the bathroom door. "Okay, just give me a sec. I'm almost done!" Abby shouted back. Olivia rolled her eyes and waited a few more moments before Abby opened the door. Her hair and makeup looked perfect as always, and Kerry was beginning to understand why. She took forever to get ready.

She and Abby had become best friends during their freshman year, living just down the hall from each other in their dorm. Now, however, since the University didn't require sophomores to live in the dorms, they rented an apartment together on campus. "How do I look?" Abby asked happily. "Wonderful. Now can I please use the bathroom?" Olivia asked. Abby nodded and stepped aside, allowing her entrance to the bathroom.

Olivia started to put on her makeup, talking to Abby as she got ready. "So what classes do you have today again?" Abby yelled from her bedroom, gathering all her books. "I just have International Politics today, thank god. Having three classes yesterday really sucked" Olivia answered. "That class still sounds hard, Liv," Abby said. "It probably will be, I've heard the professor is tough," Olivia said. "What's the professor's name? I'll look them up on RateMyProfessors" Abby suggested.

"Professor...Grant, I think" Olivia said, trying to remember the name that appeared on her schedule. "First name?" Abby asked, typing away on her computer. "Uh...it started with an F I'm pretty sure. Kinda long, not very common" Olivia said, not quite sure. "Let me see...here's a Debra Grant...William Grant...Oh, here, it must be this guy. Fitzgerald Grant" Abby said.

"Yep, that's the one," Olivia said. "Oh, he's the third" Abby said, sounding impressed. "Huh?" Olivia asked with a laugh. "Fitzgerald Grant III," Abby said, clarifying. "Oh, wow there's three of them. So what's his rating?" Olivia asked. "Hmm...he's a 4.6 out of 5. Not bad at all. 87% said they would take his class again. Oh...but the class difficulty level is 4.8 out of 5" Abby said. Olivia sighed. "Great" she mumbled.

"Hey, don't sweat it. You're a 4.0 student, you'll be just fine. I'm sure you could ace this class in your sleep" Abby said, coming to stand in the doorway. "Thanks, Abby. I hope you're right" Olivia replied. "I am. I always am. Now, I better go Liv. Philosophy of Law awaits! See you at lunch!" Abby exclaimed. "Yep, see you then!" Olivia replied. She couldn't help but laugh at her friend's love for her Pre-Law major. Technically Olivia's major was political science, but she could definitely see herself going to Law School after college, too.

She wasn't quite sure yet, but she knew she wanted to do big things in her future. She finished getting ready as quickly as possible, fearing that her chat with Abby had put her even more behind schedule. She glanced at her watch, which read 10:37. Class started at 11:00, so she knew she needed to get going. She ran to her room and put her laptop and textbook in her backpack before slinging it over her shoulders. And off she went on the second day of her sophomore year at Yale.

She got to the lecture hall at 10:54, thankful that she wasn't late. She chose a spot in one of the middle rows next to a shy looking girl. "Hi, I'm Olivia," she said with a little wave. The girl turned nervously to look at her, attempting a wave back. "Hi. My—my name...is Madison" she said quietly. "Nice to meet you, Madison" Olivia replied happily. Madison just nodded and looked down at her lap. Olivia got the sense she didn't want to talk much, so she took out her laptop and got everything situated. Olivia didn't pay much attention to the professor as he walked in from one of the side doors.

Everyone began to quiet down as he started to write on the board. Olivia sensed the silence and looked up from her computer. She watched him neatly write "International Politics 475" on the chalkboard. She eyed him up and down from behind, thinking that he wasn't really what she was expecting. For some reason, she had pictured an older, larger man with gray hair, but this man was nothing like that. He looked young for a professor, maybe mid-thirties. He was slim, yet muscular, and had curly brown hair. "Alright let's get started, shall we?" He said, his deep voice traveling around the large room.

He turned around and scanned the auditorium, making eye contact with students here and there. "I'm professor Grant, and I will be conducting this special year-long Political Science Course. My email is on the syllabus, as well as my office hours and my phone number. You may choose to contact me in any way you please, just note that I will not respond to your drunk texts on Friday nights" he said. Laughter filled the auditorium, which Olivia joined in on. "And yes, I am speaking from experience. It has happened many times before, and undoubtedly will happen again" he said, which resulted in even more laughter. "Alright, why don't you all pull up the syllabus so we can go through it together," he said.

There was rustling in the auditorium as everyone pulled out their laptops. Olivia, already having hers out, took the time to watch the professor. He paced across the front of the lecture hall with his hands in his pockets, looking down at the floor. She noticed his sleeves were rolled up, which differed from all the other male professors she'd ever had. Everyone here was always extremely formal, but he didn't seem to care. For some reason, he interested her. She couldn't see his face very well because of how far away she was from him, but she felt oddly drawn to him and she was not at all sure why.

Olivia was the type of student that always went to introduce herself to the professor on the first day of class, but she felt panic arise in her at the thought of going to meet him. She had no idea what the hell was going on with her. She rarely got scared of anything, especially meeting one of her professors. That's just something students can't be afraid of in college. If she wanted to do well, especially at a school like Yale, she needed to be able to interact with her professors. She decided she would push aside whatever was scaring her and go introduce herself once class was over.

They went over the syllabus and he talked a bit about his background. He was born in California into a very political family, hence his love for the class he taught. He shared that his father, Fitzgerald Grant II, had served two terms as governor and four as a senator, which had many of the students in awe. He didn't talk much about himself, which Olivia found a little odd. He only discussed his family, and his decision to come teach here at Yale two years ago.

"Alright, I will see you all on Thursday. Come prepared. Dismissed" he announced, unclipping his mic from his dress shirt. He walked back to his desk and started gathering his things before the small line of students began to form beside him. Olivia couldn't believe it had been fifty minutes already. She could have listened to him talk for hours, not knowing how much time was passing by. She packed up her things and walked down the stairs, getting into the line to meet him. He spent a good amount of time with each student who had come to introduce themselves, which she admired.

As the line became shorter and shorter, she got increasingly more nervous. It appeared that there wasn't a class after this one, as there were no students filing into the vast, empty lecture hall. She glanced behind her, expecting to see a couple more students, but found nobody there. Great, she thought. Of course, I'm the last one. When the student in front of her said goodbye to the professor, she slowly stepped forward. "Hi, I'm Olivia," she said. He extended out his hand and looked at her intently. "Hi, Olivia. It's very nice to meet you" he replied with a smile, shaking her hand. She looked at him for the first time up close, taking in every detail. How blue his eyes were, how tall he was, how there seemed to be one unruly curl that rested on his forehead.

She pushed her thoughts aside and smiled back at him, hoping he hadn't noticed her staring. "Yes, it's nice to meet you too," she said. "So is this class a requirement for you or are you just taking it as an elective?" he asked. "Requirement, but don't get me wrong, I did actually want to take it," she said, which made him laugh. "Well that's wonderful, I appreciate your enthusiasm. What's your major?" he asked curiously. "Political science" she replied. "I figured. What year are you, junior, senior?" he asked. "I'm a sophomore, actually," she said, feeling herself blush a little bit. "Oh, wow. Usually, all I ever get are juniors and seniors in this class" he said, clearly impressed. "I know, that's what my advisor told me too. But, I like a challenge" she said with a smile. "I'm glad to hear it. I will personally make sure that this class challenges you, Olivia" he said happily, at which she smiled.

They talked for almost half an hour, just the two of them in the big auditorium. She learned that he had also attended Yale for his undergrad, followed by Harvard Law school. She had to admit, she was impressed. She looked at her watch, realizing that she had to go to if she didn't want to be late for lunch with Abby. "Well, unfortunately, I probably should get going. I actually have lunch plans. Thank you, Professor Grant. It truly was a pleasure meeting you" she said. "The pleasure was mine," he said, extending out his hand again. She felt his large hand wrap around her little one. He seemed to linger there for a moment, before finally letting go.

She gave him a smile and walked out of the door, leaving him alone in the big auditorium. As she walked out of the building, she replayed their meeting over in her head. Thank god she had mustered up the courage to meet him because he was by far her favorite professor already. He was incredibly kind and actually seemed to care. She couldn't wait until Thursday.

"So how was the scary professor today?" Abby asked at lunch. Olivia smiled. "Actually...not scary at all. We talked for almost thirty minutes after class today" she said. Abby looked up at her. "Why?" Abby asked. "Well, I went to introduce myself, but we just kept talking. His father was a governor and a senator. How cool is that? And he went here too, along with Harvard Law! I don't know he was just...interesting" Olivia said casually, taking a bite of her sandwich.

"Well sounds like you had a fun class, Liv. Okay, so guess what Quinn told me today" Abby said, leaning in closer. Olivia rolled her eyes, getting ready to listen to drama that she didn't care about. She found herself tuning Abby out and thinking about him. My god, Olivia. Snap out of it, she thought. But she couldn't. There was just something about him, something that pulled her in. She tried to set her thoughts aside and listen to Abby, who was telling some insane story about the crazy boys down the hall from them, Huck and Harrison. No matter how hard she tried, her mind always seemed to come back to him.

Fitz sat on his couch, watching TV and drinking scotch. He sighed, looking around at his sad, empty apartment. While he lived in one of the nicest apartment complexes in town, it still didn't quite feel like home to him. Although, no place really felt like home to him anymore. Certainly not his house in Santa Barbara that now belonged to his ex-wife. He downed the last of his drink and shut off the TV, heading to his bedroom. It was only nine o'clock, but he had nothing else to do but go to bed. He kept thinking about the student he had met today. Olivia. He knew he should not be thinking about a student, but he most definitely was.

She was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen in his life. Everything about her was etched into his memory. In all honesty, she was just a kid, but she didn't act her age at all. She was sophisticated. Elegant. She carried herself with grace and class, and he couldn't wait to see her again. He silently condemned himself for entertaining the thought of simply seeing her again when he knew it was incredibly wrong of him. He sighed deeply. It was going to be a long year.