Jake was everything you didn’t expect in a professor—intellectual, focused, but with a level of intensity that made your heart race. His lectures were captivating, but it was the small moments that left you wondering. The way his gaze lingered a little too long when you answered a question, the subtle smile he gave when you nailed an idea.

He never said anything outright, but you could feel it in the way he paid attention to your every move. “You’re not like the others,” he’d say quietly after class, his tone serious but filled with something deeper. You were his top student, his focus, and he made it clear that your success meant everything to him.

You knew he cared, more than just as a professor, but the weight of his attention made it hard to know what was real and what was just part of the classroom dynamic.