The door opened, and a young man walked in. I was pretty sure he was one of my students, but I couldn’t place his face. I raised my eyebrows. “Can I help you?”
“Hi, Professor; my name is Jason.”
“You can call me Chance,” I told him, disliking the formality of being referred to as “professor.”
“Great,” Jason said, as he gave me a dopey smile. “Awesome.”
“I take it you’re in one of my Econ classes?” I asked, trying to temper the impatience in my voice.
“I attend the Monday lecture and the Thursday class,” he replied, as he took a seat opposite me. “Great teaching, by the way.”
“I’m going to assume you’re not here simply to compliment my teaching?”
“Uh…no… I’m not.”
Instantly, he started stuttering over his words, and I detected some embarrassment in the way he held himself.
“If this is about amending the grades on your paper, then I’m sorry, all grades are final.”
“Ah, no, no,” Jason said quickly. “That isn’t what this is about.”
“Okay,” I said, raising my eyebrows. “Then what is it about?”
“Well, it’s sort of a personal matter,” he said, at last.
“A personal matter?” I repeated.
I had been told that it was possible that students might seek out their teachers for advice, but I had never given my students the impression that I was the counseling sort, so I was surprised Jason had chosen to seek me out. Still, I was figured it couldn’t hurt to listen, and I was curious besides.
“All right,” I said. “What’s your problem?”
“Well, the truth is… I’m having some girl trouble.”
“Problems with the girlfriend, huh?”
“Actually… it’s getting myself the girlfriend that’s the problem.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Ah,” I said. “Forgive me, Jared—”
“It’s Jason,” he corrected.
I looked the guy up and down and tried to get the measure of him. He was not exactly bad looking, but he was entirely forgettable, at least in my opinion. He had boring brown eyes and dark scanty hair. He had a dusting of freckles on his face, and he had a simpering smile that bordered on being creepy. I wondered how a girl would view him and I decided that many would find him desperate and unappealing.
“Jason,” I nodded. “Right. Well, Jason, I guess I’m just wondering why you haven’t gone to a friend with this problem. Why come to me?”
“Well, because all of my friends tend to have the same problems with girls,” Jason admitted. “And I need someone who…has experience.”
I raised my eyebrows. “How do you know I have experience?” I asked pointedly.
“Come on, man,” he said immediately. “Girls go nuts over you… I think most of the women who attend your lectures are there to stare at you rather than listen to you.”
“And, you know this because…”
“I’ve heard them talk about you,” he revealed, and instantly my interest in the conversation increased tenfold.
“Have you?”
“Apparently, it’s more than just your looks,” Jason informed me. “They like the fact that you’re so confident. So, I was hoping that you could help me out.”