Am I An Asshole? Maybe

Perhaps it should be noted that my social psychology professor has a Ph.D. in social rejection.

I was waiting for my History professor (who I have developed a minor crush on, and have considered asking her if she's gay or bi, but always talk myself out of it) because I have been missing a lot of class thanks to the Stanford team being concerned that the stress of the semester is making me sick (and yet, missing lectures is their answer).

I notice my very thin and very pale social psychology professor is walking into her office. I walk over to her door, and ask her if she's busy, if we can talk for a moment.

"It would be better if we could talk in the afternoon, but you said you have class," she says.

I explain my class schedule again.

"So, go ahead."

I ask a couple of questions about the upcoming midterm, and then a question about the last chapter we covered. Finally, feeling like this question has to be answered, "Do you find my questions annoying?"

She's not looking at me when she answers that they're usually not on topic, and that she has to get through her lecture material, etc.

"I'm not saying this to make you feel uncomfortable, but--" I pause slightly. "Why don't you like me?"

She just stares at me with those big, brown eyes. I notice how large her eyes are. She is pretty in her own way. I wonder briefly if she might be gay or bi. Then, she starts to cry. "I don't know what I did to make you think that--that you would think that--I never thought that--I hardly know you--"

Oh, shit. "I'm sorry. Obviously, this is my mistake. This is about me, okay? This isn't about you."

She nods her head, but she is still trying to control her emotions. She's trying not to cry. "I don't want hard feelings on either side, okay?"

"Sure."

"Let's hug."

We hug.