Simon's PoV

I would kill to know what he's thinking right now. I thought, watching him work on his math. I snapped out of my thoughts and refocused on my paper. Could I be any more obvious? I can't stand myself sometimes. But damn, I did a good job... I looked back over at him. Shit, he's looking at me. Should I say something? "Do you need some more help?" I asked kindly, smiling.

"What? Oh, no thank you. I've got it now." He nodded before turning back to his paper. I watched him for a bit. Wait, that's not how... oh, that's clever. He had figured out a way to cut down the number of steps while still getting the right answer after barely five minutes of understanding how to do the problem the way we were taught. His intelligence is really impressive. I heard footsteps and looked back to my own paper just before Professor James arrived in front of our desks. He stood, watching Kieran for a few minutes. From Kieran's slightly tensing posture, I could tell he noticed.

Professor James clears his voice. "Mr. Grey, I do not believe that this is how I taught you to do this assignment." Kieran looked up quickly, face pinkening.

"I-I know, sir. I have to admit though that it is more efficient.. A-and I'm.. look, I'm getting the answer much faster. Sir."

Judging from Professor James's face, that was NOT the right answer. His nostrils flared ever so slightly as he continued. "So you are saying your way is better?"

"W-Well, no si-"

"Because if that is what you're saying, then maybe I should let you teach the class. My Master's degree must mean nothing to you, apparently, because in your eyes, my teaching is irrelevant and you're just going to do what you want anyway." Professor James frowned, the first facial expression I've seen him make.

Maybe I should step in. Damsel in distress. Damsel is a female... Damoiseau? I like it. I turned as Kieran's face darkened. The professor's face was rapidly purpling as well. "Professor, if I may. I do believe that what Mr. Grey is trying to say here is that through your enlightening lecture, he was able to grasp a higher understand from a professional such as yourself and allow that to drive him to create another method for you to use in your teachings as a way to spread your experience more quickly and impart your wisdom upon your students in a way that will encourage more of them to seek this higher understanding as well."

Professor James's face returned to its natural hue and he nodded solemnly. "What an excellent idea. Mr. Grey. I look forward to seeing your work." I glanced over at Kieran triumphantly to see him staring, dumbfounded.

'Thank you.' He mouthed and I nodded, smiling. He's so cute... Focus, Simon. I heard Professor James walk away, unable to look away from Kieran.

"How... How did you d-do that?!" He exclaimed when he finally regained possession of his voice. He's so cute when he stutters... What the FUCK, Simon! Chill.

I shrugged casually. "Just told him what he wanted to hear."

He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "If it was anyone else, he would've..." He trailed off, focusing on something just over my shoulder. I looked and found a guy standing just inside the doorway. The guy wasn't bad looking, perfectly fitting the buff surfer dude look if you like that sort of thing. I didn't. He was clearly looking for something though because he seemed to start analyzing me and the other guys in the class before stopping himself and looking at Kieran. I wonder why he keeps looking over here. Maybe he knows Kieran? They could be friends. I noticed that as the guy looked at Kieran longer, disgust began sharpening his features. Definitely not friends.

"Who is that, Kieran? He won't stop looking over here. What's his problem?" I glanced back at Kieran.

Kieran snapped out of the staring contest he seemed to be having long enough to address me. "That is Clark. My older brother," he admitted begrudgingly, "And his problem? That would be me."