AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The young woman, Mia Arias, was the most outspoken of the class. She asked a lot of questions, and it wasn’t until about the second week that he realized she was asking questions given to her by her less confident peers.
But more than that, she was far and away the brightest student he’d ever had. She attacked each lesson with voracity. More than once he was certain she knew the information better than him. Definitely better than his TA.
But she also had certain expectations for her instructors. She’d established a theme over the past two weeks. He knew exactly where her line of questioning was leading and it wasn’t about the lesson.
“Where did youreallyspend your fieldwork this summer?”
“I was in South Dakota. The Badlands.” He’d already told them that of course. First day of classes, because it looked likely he would get to go back next year.
Mia shot a look to one of her friends and a sly smile spread over her face. “Are you sure you weren’t in Egypt?”
A humorous murmur rippled through the room.
André suppressed a smile. “Quite sure.”
“Would you tell us if you were?”
He cleared his throat and tossed the dry-erase marker onto the lectern. “Would I tell you if I was racing off to hopefully discover the lost tomb of Alexander the Great?” He took a thoughtful breath and tucked his hands in his pockets. “Would you?”
Mia’s head jerked back slightly.
He let his eyes glance over the entire class. “Would any of you?”
“I would,” Felipe spoke up.
A few other voices agreed.
“Wait, wait, wait.” Mia waved a hand. “Does that mean you were in Egypt or you’re going there now?”
“No.” André shook his head. “It is very exciting that they think they’ve found such a promising lead. I do hope someone confirms it. As much as I appreciate how highly you all think of me, I am not Indiana Jones.” He glanced at the clock on the back wall and then crossed the room to stand by the door. “I will leave the large discoveries for those more deserving.”
The bell rang. The students gathered their things and filed out. He nodded to each of them as they passed, until Mia approached. She stopped and regarded him with suspicion in her dark eyes.
“You don’t believe me, Ms. Arias?” he asked.
“You really like dinosaurs that much?” she asked skeptically.
“I really do.” He tugged on his bowtie. A Christmas gift from his sister. It had little cartoon T. rexes on it.
Mia huffed. “I just find it really unfortunate that my professor isn’t at all like what I had hoped.” She waved a hand indicating his entire body. “All of this. The hair, the muscles, the dorky adorableness. Such a waste.”
André arched an eyebrow but chose to ignore her inappropriate comments. He hinged forward slightly at the waist in challenge. “Why don’tyoudo it?”
“What?” Her eyebrows dipped.
“Go be that person you look up to. You’re very bright. Fearless. You have a passion for history that most don’t and the kind of confidence that most aspire to. Go be it.”
Mia sucked in a breath to argue but nothing happened. Her frown intensified and her gaze lost focus as her thoughts turned inward. “Icould be Indiana Jones,” she said under her breath.
He smiled to himself as she wandered from his room and out into the world.
Hopefully she’d take his words to heart. The world would be better for it.
Imagine the things she’d discover if she were turned loose on the planet.
He wasn’t the adventurous type. Not in that way anyway.
But he did delight in watching others chase their dreams.
