PROFESSOR SIN

AMARA POV

The morning started like every other, loud, annoying, and unfair.

I sat on the edge of my bed, arms wrapped tightly around my knees, staring at the sunlight bleeding through the curtains. I could already hear her laugh echoing down the hall. Nina. My perfect little sister.

The knock on my door came soft and slow, like always. I didn't answer. Of course, she didn't wait.

"Are you done sulking?" she asked, stepping in with her signature fake concern.

I didn't look up. "Get out."

She gasped. "I was just checking on you, Amara. You've been so moody lately."

I scoffed. "Yeah? Maybe if you and your crew didn't treat me like trash every day, I'd be a little happier."

Nina blinked, her lips trembling just slightly. "I didn't mean.."

I stood up. "Don't pretend with me. You laugh with them. You watch them mock me. And then you sit here and act like a saint."

Her voice rose in defense, "I just want peace in this house.."

"Then stop being a two-faced snake!" I snapped.

Right on cue, our mother appeared at the door, arms crossed, brows pinched with frustration. "What's going on in here?"

Nina turned, face crumpling, tears welling like magic. "She's always yelling at me. I try to be nice, but she's just so mean, Mom"

My mother's eyes shifted to me, colder than ever. "Amara. Again?"

My stomach sank. "She's lying. I didn't..."

"I'm tired of this, Amara," she cut in. "Always so bitter, always bullying your younger sister. What did she ever do to you?"

"I..." My throat burned. "Forget it."

I didn't wait for her to finish. I grabbed my bag and stormed out. I didn't care if I skipped breakfast or if my shoes didn't match. I just had to get out of that house.

As I walked toward the school, cars zoomed by, horns honking. The usual. Then I saw the sleek black Benz rolling past. The window slid down, revealing Nina smiling and waving at me like some damn beauty queen.

Their driver, Mike, nodded politely as she got into the car, her expensive perfume lingering in the air even from that far away. I looked down at my worn sneakers, my secondhand jeans. I was the older sister, but somehow, I was always in her shadow.

I swallowed the bitterness and forced my legs forward.

All that kept me going... was him.

Professor Black.

His name made something burn in me. I didn't know what it was..maybe obsession. Maybe madness. But I needed it. Smile creeping to my cheek with just the thought of him.

He made me feel seen.

So when I got to class and didn't see him, my whole body went cold.

"Where's Professor Black?" I asked a girl next to me.

She shrugged. "Some emergency. Class is canceled."

The words hit me like a punch. My throat tightened, heart pounding with disappointment and rage.

No. No. No.

He was the only good thing in my life.

I couldn't go back home. Not yet. Not with all this inside me. I needed to breathe, to escape, to feel something, anything but this emptiness.

By the time the sun went down, I was back in my tiny room, staring at myself in the mirror. My hands shook as I pulled out the dress I kept hidden in the back of my closet, short, black, tight. Something I'd never worn before.

I didn't care.

I wanted to feel alive tonight.

I smeared on red lipstick, curled my lashes, and left through the window like a thief. The street lights flickered above me as I headed toward the club I'd only ever passed by..Heat.

Inside, the music slammed into my chest like thunder. Lights flashed. Bodies moved. I was one of them now. I was part of something chaotic, wild, free.

I drank something sweet and burning. Then another. I lost count. The music became my heartbeat. I swayed, lifting my hands, closing my elyes. My tiny hips moved to the rhythm, and for the first time, I didn't feel small. I felt... powerful.

A hand slid around my waist. Some guy I didn't know pressed against me from behind, his breath hot near my ear.

I let it happen for a second.

But then

I felt it.

Him.

Before I even saw him, I knew.

The guy behind me was yanked away with force. I turned, breath hitching and there he was.

Professor Black.

No. Not Professor. Not here.

Here, he was something else. Bigger. Darker. Dangerous and most especially Smoking hot.

His hand wrapped around my wrist as he dragged me away from the dance floor, past the sweaty crowd, into a dimly lit corner behind a curtain.

I didn't speak.

Couldn't.

He stood over me, tall and furious, breathing hard. "What the hell are you doing here, Amara?"

My name on his lips made me tremble.

"I..." My voice was barely a whisper.

His eyes flicked down my body, over the clingy dress, my bare thighs, my trembling legs. His hand rose, slow, knuckles brushing the hem of my dress. I shivered.

He didn't touch me yet not really. But I felt him everywhere.

He leaned in, his face inches from mine. His breath hot on my cheek. "You have no idea what you're doing," he growled.

I tilted my head up to look at him....really look at him.

His eyes burned through me.

My lips parted. My legs unsteady.

There was a strange wet heat between them, I felt a drip down there.

What was this feeling?

My heart beat so loud, I was sure he could hear it.

Then I whispered it.

A name I didn't even realize I'd made up for him in my mind.

"PROFESSOR SIN ?"