Saving Professor (Part 14)

Petra woke up early in the morning. She rolled over to look at the clock.
4:26 am.
She sighed and stared into the blackness.
She hadn’t been able to sleep; the thought of visiting Asher Alexander for the first time was nagging on her mind.
It was like the night before her first day at school.
In her picture albums at home she had found a picture of her standing in her boarding school uniform, with tears streaming down her cheeks and her eyes smudged with red.
She had only been going to kindergarten then.
That was different than what she was going to face now.
Petra turned over and stared up at the ceiling.
If she could go back to herself right before she started kindergarten, she would have told herself that there wasn’t anything to worry about, that she would love boarding school more than anything.
Then, a thought came to Petra. It was like her own voice from the future.
“Don’t be scared. There’s nothing to worry about.”
This thought assured Petra. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.

“Petra! You’re still asleep? I’ve already told you to get up three times! Now you only have ten minutes to get ready!” Professor stood in the doorway, already dressed and ready to go.
Petra sprung out of bed and immediately stumbled over Collier.
Collier moaned and grumbled as Petra regained balance and skittered out the room. She closed herself in the bathroom and brushed her teeth and washed her face in record time.
She threw on a blue polo khaki shorts, then flew back out the door and found Professor waiting.
“Let’s go,” he said. They rushed outside and jumped into the truck.
As he drove, Professor asked Petra, “Are you ready?”
Petra licked her lips. Was she? She shrugged.
“It’s fine. You’ll do great. Did you say bye to Collier?”
“Oh… no. I stumbled over him, though. But that’s not quite the same.”
“No, it’s not.”
The rest of the ride was in silence.
When they finally reached the office, Petra trailed behind Professor.
He threw open the front door, and she slid in behind him just as the door was beginning to swing shut. She gazed around the bland room. There was nothing in it at all. Gray concrete stared up at her from below her feet. The walls were an old cream hue, and a hint of a sawdust scent trailed around the room.
“Ah. Professor Stein. Collier. Welcome.”
Petra snapped around just in time to see a man coming out of a hole in the ground. His frazzled hair was a tone lighter than his sun-tanned skin. He was an unusual sight. Nevertheless, he was the average man.
When he reached the top run of the ladder he had been climbing up, he grunted and heaved himself up all the way. Then he walked straight towards Petra. She took a step back.
“Collier. You’re back. Ready for more work? You do remember what I taught you yesterday, don’t you?”
Petra nodded. She was safe—Collier had told her everything Alexander had said.
Alexander motioned with his hand for Petra to follow him. He brushed past Professor, without even giving him a second glance.
Before she started descending on the ladder, she took a look back at Professor and gave him a tight smile and a tiny wave.
Then she disappeared into the ground after Alexander.