Chapter Text
Beverly Marlin is a saint.
She’s an innocent young woman, all pure and heavenly. She tells the truth, and has never lied for anybody. That may make her a snitch sometimes, a tell-tale, but lying is not for the pure of heart, and so she has pledged to be all but deceitful. ‘For the rest of my life’, she promised, ‘so I will become an angel in my next life.’
Though, promises usually tend to be broken eventually. She never thought so soon in her womanhood, that she would turn against everything.
It was okay at first, Beverly participated in her usual routine. Wake up, pray, take a shower, head off to college, etc. She loved how minimalistic her life was, she can never get enough of it. The saneness, the sheer simplicity of it all made her senses tingle with joy. ‘Could life get any better!’ Beverly would think. ‘What is better than just living? Breathing the crisp morning air of wintertime, letting the bitter wind nip at your cheeks sending goosebumps over your skin. I’ve never felt more joyous.’
Walking to school, she looked upon the snow-covered grass (so much so no grass was visible, in fact) smiling and humming quietly to herself underneath her baby-blue scarf. As much as she adored taking walks year round, it was truly frigid outside, if she had to assume, about 28 degrees fahrenheit. Much to her dismay, this meant there was just no time to enjoy the outdoors.
She began to advance quicker, eventually reaching her destination of Mensfield University. The place was gigantic, perhaps it was just to her eyes but every day when she took in the large building it astonished her. What might be tens of doors below hundreds of windows, just on the exterior. There were 4 floors, followed by a second one-story building of classes, cafeterias, gyms, libraries, it was frankly too much to look at. When she first arrived at the school in the fall, the most overwhelming and anxiety-inducing thing about the place was how to navigate it, especially how she was going to get to her first class on the ground floor, to the second on the third floor. She was so stressed the first day, it was like she was back in her first day of middle school, except ten times worse. Of course, eventually she learned the layout (after two and a half weeks, but in her defense she has terrible navigation skills).
Beverly now sauntered expertly through the halls, as if she's been there for a year instead of a couple months. She nodded at some bystanders in the halls, sometimes giving them a “Hello!” or “Good morning!”, possibly even a compliment. The woman takes great pleasure in making others feel appreciated, so handing out simple hello’s or goodbye’s make her feel better, and hopefully the other too. All the days work in kindness, she says to herself. After some minutes Beverly enters the library. She’s going to need a few books for her class studies. She should’ve gotten them two days ago, yet she’s been a bit occupied lately, never finding the time. Or she just forgot. Nevertheless, she’s here now, looking through the nonfiction books on psychology as well as anatomy. Beverly is studying to be a nurse, naturally. If it wasn’t clear enough, the brunette wants to help people for the rest of her days, no matter who. Hell, she would take an occupation in a senior citizen home, (worst case a firefighter, even with her physical weakness.) The sound of working an office job is purgatory in it’s own!
Sorting through the wood shelves of the crowded but quiet library, she overhears whispering from behind the one she is looking through. The brunette is aware that eavesdropping is bad, but it’s not like there’s anything else for her to focus her ears on in this place. So, against her morals, she listens.
“There’s a new professor in physiology. You know, taking over Mr. Orland?” One of the girls whispers. The other girl chuckles under her breath.
“Yeah, I heard. He told everyone to just call him ‘Doctor’, right? He seems kinda shady, don’t you think?” ‘The Doctor’. Almost has a ring to it. But it is carrying an odd tone of mystery to it. Beverly can’t tell if it would be the good kind or the bad kind of mysterious.
“Ha, shady would be an understatement. But when I was there, he looked really...average. He’s probably just trying to sound cool, don’t sweat it.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right…” Their voices dissipate with the sound of their sneakers trotting off next to it. How interesting. ‘Doctor’. Just call me Doctor, Beverly imagines him saying. Hm. No ‘professor’, ‘Mr.’, not even a last name. He must really be honing in on being cryptic. And it sure is working!
The girl had said he was the new professor for physiology, which was one of her courses. She would see this man in approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes. The young woman was nearly shaking with curiosity and excitement! Don’t get her wrong, Mr. Orland was a nice man, but he was never fit to be a teacher in such health conditions. He was all over the place whenever she saw him, looking out of his own head, mad, almost. She’s kind of glad he was discharged, at least he’s getting the help he needs.
Bev, now (however possible) is even more excited to get through the day. She walks with steady feet to the front desk of the library, checks out her books, and goes off to first period ‘ethics in nursing’, this ‘Doctor’ figure hanging freely in her mind.
…
The energy was starting to get too hard to contain.
For some reason, Beverly was so enthralled with her new professor all day, she was zoning out during her first two classes. She was envisioning so much that in merely two hours, she had his entire demeanor and appearance set in her head. Beverly, luckily, gave him quite low expectations, reluctant to her true wants. But if she followed her real instinct, she probably would’ve turned up disappointed, which is certainly something she doesn’t want. This man might be mysterious, however he shouldn’t be taking over all of her thoughts!
So now, standing in front of the door to his lecture, she would actually see him up close. Please don’t disappoint me, random new professor, she said to herself.
Hesitantly, Beverly opened the door and walked to her usual seat placed directly in the middle of the class. She took great effort to not look at the front of the class, almost afraid he would be there. Be that as it may, as usual, he wasn’t even there! What was she expecting? The professors always seem to walk in at the last minute, like they don’t even care. Whatever, she never should’ve--
“Good evening everyone! My apologies for arriving late, I needed another coffee.” He laughed lowly, holding up a metal travel mug, presumably with coffee filled to the brim.
There he was. There he was, in the flesh! And to be honest, he was everything she expected and more (going off looks alone, so far.) She would even go as far as saying he was attractive.
He had dark brown hair that was the same length all around, as if he cut it all off a long while ago and never cut it since. His skin was tan, but a natural kind of tan, leading her to believe he was from south-eastern Asia or something like that. He was also big. Like, 6’4 and probably super muscular kind. But if he was, she wouldn't be certain, since his dress shirt was too loose. Not that she cares anyways.
“So, where do I start? You can just call me ‘Doctor’, or professor, if you want, I don’t care. I’ll tell you my name eventually, perhaps. But until then, I’ll keep it a secret! Surprises are more fun if you don’t know what they are, hm?” The other students give him mixed reviews, some are looking in confusion, some almost smiling, and some look like they’re about to fall asleep. So really, nothing out of the ordinary. “Anyways, I’ll pick right up on where your old professor left off, which was--...” Blah, blah blah. The girl was right, he is just average. Though sometimes he cracks a joke, which makes her chuckle a little. That was nice, Mr. Orland was very strict, so she can appreciate the attempt to lighten the mood.
He went on with teaching until the class ended, to nobody’s surprise. Why did she think he would do anything different? With how often he had been on her mind all day, she seemed to be anticipating him to do something that Mr. Orland never would’ve done. At least do ‘new teacher’ stuff, like back in middle school? Icebreakers, get-to-know-your-new-mysterious-professor games! Anything that wasn’t just… this. Teaching. Ha! It’s funny how she thinks of him as more of a student than an actual teacher. Unfortunately, it is really the truth. She wants to get to know him, for some reason.
Why does he peak her interest so much? It’s bothering her. The fact that she’s done nothing but stare at him and think about him, when he’s right there in front of her. It makes her feel ridiculous. Like some dumb kid in love.
Except, she felt so compelled to talk to him when everybody arose from their seats. She was stuck. What would she even talk to him about? All this time to ponder, and she thought of nothing to tell this man. Beverly slowly stands up from her seat, just as the rest of the young nursing students are piling at the door to leave, pushing in the chair, stepping towards the Doctor who stands at the front of the room waving people goodbye. God, please let her improv skills be as good as when she last used them!
“Uhm, Doctor, was it?” She asks, as if she hadn’t remembered his name. She had, alright. All too well. The Doctor turned his head around to face her, smiling softly with white teeth.
“Yes! That’s me.” He laughed, offering her a handshake. She took it gleefully (but shaking it professionally, she can’t let her odd sense of joy slip.) “How did you enjoy the class, Ms…?”
“Marlin! Beverly Marlin. It’s good to meet you! I’ve heard about a new professor filling in for Mr. Orland. I didn’t know what to expect!” Liar. She knew exactly what to expect. She’s hoping he can’t see right through her. She’s never lied to such an extent before. “And I enjoyed the class as much as usual, which would be... a moderate amount.”
“What? You’re not a fan of learning about how organs work together? I’m almost insulted, Ms. Marlin!” She chuckles alongside him. Bad jokes always get the best of her. “No, I’m kidding. I’m just glad to have kids here at all! In my old university there were probably fifteen students in my class. Not too many aspiring nurses that year, I suppose.”
“Oh? Where did you work previously?” Beverly asked, now hit with real curiosity. This was the kind of stuff she was looking forward to hearing!
“Deep south, Georgia. Don’t know why I was ever there in the first place! Nothing for me in the country. I moved back up here because I have family in Mensfield, and I hated the burning sun all damn year. Turns out when you’re deprived of it, you really miss the snow!” The Doctor finishes, showing Beverly a friendly grin. Then, he checks the watch on his left wrist. She peeked at it a bit, and wow, she really had to leave. If she was here for a couple more minutes she could be late to her next class. Not that it mattered. Colleges don’t care if you show up to class or not, because it’s your money being spent on education, so it’s not their problem whether or not it’s wasted. But she cares, so she has to be leaving.
“That’s cool! I’d love to hear one of your tales of the deep south sometime, Doctor.” Bev jokes. “But unfortunately, I have to get to my next class. I hope I see you around, Doctor!” She walks backwards, waving goodbye and smiling.
“Likewise! Have a lovely day, Beverly.” He waves back, then turns around to take a seat at his desk.
Minutes later, Beverly is definitely late to her next class, she’s just too happy to tell. She’s practically skipping down the hall, humming a quaint little tune to herself as she goes. There’s no reason for her to be so ecstatic, really, though it just feels right to her. ‘The Doctor.’ A cryptic man he really is.