~A/N I know, I'm not supposed to be doing this, however, let me explain. Tricky Raven had one final challenge and it's a romance and erotica ficathon. Erotica truly isn't my forte, so I was going to sit this one out and just admire the work of others. Various prompts were proposed for the taking. Wouldn't you know it, a certain picture caught my eye. It's a man on the couch with a woman in his lap. Hopefully, I'll have a banner soon to depict it more vividly but trust me, it was good. Imaginaryheartx proposed it with a couple of requests, Jacob/Bella and a college setting. My heart went all a flutter. I have a weakness for teacher Jake/student Bella. There are several of these but I'm not sure if one is complete so what the heck, I'm writing one the way I want it to go. It's a short tale, but more than a one shot so I decided to make it a short story.

Many canon conditions still exist but with several differences. This is my first attempt at writing a somewhat OOC Bella. She appears quite different from SM's Bella, but in my mind, under the surface, she's still very much the Bella, I'm used to working with.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Summary: Bella had proven to be a self-centered, spoiled teenage brat. Her mother couldn't take anymore, so she shipped her to Charlie to see if he could get her under control. Surprising things happened to Bella in Forks. She developed a soft spot for her dad so when he asked a favor of her, she conceded. She ended up smack dab in the middle of the most boring class of her existence. She never could concentrate or get it right. Her teacher was too damn distracting and Bella sought to gain control of her situation. Let the lessons begin, because for once, she had all the wrong answers.

The Learning Curve

Part 1

Bella slammed her book shut with the disappointing graded paper inside. Several pairs of eyes zeroed in on her disturbance. One set was his as usual. Why was he always singling her out? She leaned back, crossed her legs under the desk despite her skirt being too short. She folded her arms across her breasts and officially checked out the remainder of the class period. It made no difference whether she listened or not, the class was boring as hell and she wasn't catching on. Her professor sucked, obviously. She had A's in all her other courses without even trying.

Angela asked what was wrong on the way out. He was nearby so Bella was brutally honest when they passed his desk. "Same. I still hate this class."

She thought she could covertly glance over her shoulder and see his reaction but his dark gaze raked over her. He didn't seem the least bit upset about her critique. In fact, she was the one leaving class feeling like she'd just been told and he hadn't said a damn word.

"Ugh. I don't understand. C-. I worked hard on that stupid assignment."

"It's still passing."

"Maybe, but each thing he's handed back lately has been worse. I don't get it. I made an A on our first quiz."

Angela reminded her that first quiz was pretty easy rote learning and now they were into a lot of critical thinking areas.

"Exactly. Answers are subjective and he hates me for some reason, so no matter how I answer, he finds ways to say I'm wrong. Jesus, it's Native American studies. We all know what happened. They were here first, settlers muscled their way in and stole it all away. This isn't Shakespeare, up for other interpretations."

"I don't know, Bella. He makes you think. I really like him and it doesn't hurt that he's super hot."

Hot? Was Angela high? Bella easily pictured him in her mind. He was uniquely different than all the other teachers at PC but not hot. For one thing, he was too old and she wasn't into that nor was she into tall, brawny, dark and mysterious types either. She preferred her men a little easier to handle. Bella liked to be in control. She went against the grain and after a year of push/shove with her father, this was the last thing she needed.

Angela was a plethora of information, but Bella knew a bunch of this shit already because of Charlie. Her cousin worked in the registrars office so she reminded Bella how this was Mr. Black's first year teaching a college class. He'd spent one year dividing his time between two reservation schools after earning a master's at U-Dub and had also served as a TA for the very respected, very ancient Professor Littlesea. He was related to the Blacks somehow and suggested Jacob Black be his predecessor when he retired last summer. She couldn't believe the powers-that-be at the college actually went for it. It was an obvious case of nepotism. He had no business being an instructor at the college level. He was too young even though she'd just said he was too old in her mind and he was far too distracting with those looks which weren't hot, he was just a damn distraction. Fuck. Bella didn't even need this course. She could have chosen from an array of electives. Her daddy issues got the best of her and when her father suggested it this semester as a favor to him, she gave in too easily.

Ang told her to stop stressing and that she'd help if she could. Apparently, she had a solid B+ average. Bella needed to get out of there. It was her last class of the day and she was happy to have a weekend to regroup. She thought about her ups and downs since moving back to Forks as she drove the monotonous journey from PA which she made three days a week. Bella had planned all her years in high school to go to USC right after graduation. It sucked her dream had taken a u-turn when her mother found a new husband that happened to be all about respect and discipline. Phil and Bella clashed from the start. She and Renee had never operated with so much order. They were more like friends than mother and daughter. She even called her by her first name. She tried that with her father but he took an instant disliking to it and always corrected her. Dad it was.

Charlie wasn't so bad. She acted out quite a bit after being shipped off to live with him, but they had settled into a routine and she honestly sought his approval now even though he was the one to put his foot down and refuse to let her go off to school just yet. He wanted her to prove herself one more year. She wasn't sure what that even meant at first. Bella got excellent grades. She participated in extra-curricular activities, and she even kept a part-time job. However, her father quickly realized, she had issues with males and often made errors in judgment. Not only that, he was constantly on her about her irreverent attitude and disrespect for authority figures.

They struck a deal. Charlie would happily foot the bill to a big out-of-state school on one condition. He'd invested wisely all those years living as a single man with simple tastes, but... there was apparently a big but. Bella had to show growth and maturity this first year out of high school. No more getting caught underage drinking, sneaking off with boys and various other degrees of bad behavior like they'd been through her senior year of high school. He wasn't about to shell out all his savings to have her party non-stop and get into even more trouble when she was completely out from under any adult supervision. That's how an above average intelligent girl ended up at a tiny community college in Port Angeles. She was determined to prove her father wrong, but at the same time, she wanted to make him proud.

She knew he never asked for straight A's, just for hard work and determination. She had no idea why making lower grades in this elective infuriated her so much, but she needed to find a way to dig out of this hole.

Bella looked in her rearview mirror. He wasn't following today. Good, maybe the restraining order was finally getting the point across. The absolute worst mistake she made the year before was getting involved with that weirdo, Edward Cullen. It was probably the number one reason her father was ridiculously over-protective. He seemed perfect at first, but that illusion had ended after the first six weeks or so. Bella was no stranger to boyfriends, but Edward was different. She thought a gorgeous, rich, eccentric boyfriend was going to be exactly what she needed to make Washington livable, but instead, he turned into a possessive, domineering dud rather quickly. Jeez, even kissing him was a chore. She thought they'd have wild, romantic escapades but it was more like a lesson in frigidity. He had to be impotent. That was her conclusion and it was rather insensitive to breakup with someone that apparently had medical issues, but she was young and vibrant and not about to waste her time on that. He didn't take the shove off in stride. She couldn't go a step without Edward appearing out of nowhere. Neither Bella or Charlie could figure out how, but there was evidence he'd been in her room without permission which turned the creepometer to high. Eventually, they had no choice but to evoke Charlie's power. Edward was not allowed in 500 feet of her, but he pushed the order at times, so Bella was always on high alert when she was alone.

She drove into the driveway, immediately noticing Billy's truck. Of course, he was there for her home cooking and some type of sporting event on the flat screen. She didn't mind him too much, but Bella hardly spent times with the grown-ups. That would be lame. She had something thawing since the night before so dinner would be a quick and painless. She whisked past them and got started on a meal of meat and potatoes. She made herself a salad which she planned to carry to her room as soon as dropping off the men's plates in the living room.

Her father fussed at her. "Bells, you don't have to wait on us. You should have hollered it was ready. You do enough just by cooking all these delicious meals. Let me guess, you have big plans tonight since it's Friday?"

"No, not unless you count writing boring papers and studying, big plans. I might take a break and make a pan of brownies later if you're still here Mr. Black. Enjoy your game."

"Wait a second, thanks for dinner Bella and call me Billy. I keep telling you that. Charlie tells me, you're really doing great at Peninsula. I heard last semester you made a 4.0. This old man brags on you 24/7."

Bella shook her head at her father as to say, please stop. It was beyond embarrassing.

Billy continued. "Don't leave me in suspense. Is my son's class meeting your expectations?"

How could she answer that? Bella shrugged and decided to be truthful. "I really had no expectations for that class but he's proving to be quite the prick, no offense, but I need to go upstairs and start writing my Friday night away because nothing's ever good enough for the other Mr. Black."

Charlie sat his plate on the coffee table, jumped up and followed her to the stairs. "Bells..." he said under his breath. "You were out of line? Billy's proud of his son much like I'm proud of you. That was uncalled for. Apologize."

She didn't know why they were whispering. The room wasn't that big, surely Billy heard unless he was partially deaf. "I was just being honest. You told me months ago you wouldn't stand for lies. It's not Billy's fault his son is such a hardass at school. I said, 'no offense.'"

Charlie turned back to his friend. "I apologize, Bells is over-tired. She gets this way when she's stressed. I'm sure Jake is a fine instructor."

Billy was amused, "No problem, Chief. Bella calls it like she sees it. Her opinions won't go beyond these four walls. I'm sure my son will continue to challenge his students, he didn't start his career as a quest for popularity. Get to studying, young lady and don't worry about the brownies unless you really have a hankering for them later. I hear chocolate is brain food."

Bella worked on her paper but she also got curious on the Internet. The Quileutes had a website. She knew from Charlie, Billy was their chief, so maybe she could find something out about Jacob that might benefit her. She'd never come out and said that their fathers were best friends. In fact, she'd never made one personal comment to him in class. He had to have made the connection by her name. She hadn't seen him any of the occasions she'd been out to the reservation with her father or her friends. Although, Charlie pointed out Jacob was kind to her when she visited a few times as a young child. She barely had any memory of those visits which stopped when she was around six or seven.

Finally, with their painfully slow wi-fi connection some pictures loaded. Bella recognized Billy front and center with a large group of people. The older crowd of men and women were seated in a row while a hulking group of younger men were standing behind them. Freakish size ran rampant on the res apparently. Jacob was behind his father. There was one young woman in the picture next to him. She was exotic. Bella tried to study the photograph closer to see how much they were touching. That just might be his girlfriend, he probably went for those lean, mean athletic types. He sure looked different in casual clothes, younger but not any less menacing. The picture didn't give a description so it did her no good. She might hint around about that woman to her father. If she was connected to Jacob, Bella might have an idea.

She went down the list, the easiest most sensible thing to try first was to ask for extra credit. If that didn't work, she could try something a tad more sinister. He did gaze her way often and longer than she felt was necessary. Maybe she should up her game, dress to kill a little more, then she could use his wandering eye against him. It would be a cinch if he had a girlfriend because then she could make a threat. She'd never taken anything so far, but Bella had flirted a bit in high school with her old assistant principal and a couple of male teachers when it was to her benefit. Men were so easy, they all had one weakness. Mr. Black might look tough but she was pretty certain, he was as easy to manipulate as any other guy she'd ever come in contact with.

She wore more makeup, better perfume, a tighter sweater and a shorter skirt with fringed boots on Monday. She was fully prepared to lean over his desk to deliver her best effort, ten page paper for his class. Her plan was full proof until the unexpected happened. Now she was late and Bella was running across partially frozen walkways with the wind beating her down just to make it to the door. He would lock out late arrivals. She'd seen him do it.

The door was closing in front of her. "No, wait, please don't. I'm here."

He shook his head. "I gave you five minutes extra, Ms. Swam. You know the rule."

Bella picked up her pace. Of course, she tripped and was falling straight into him. The whole time she was screaming out her excuse. "I'm sorry, it wasn't my fault. He stopped me in the lot. Please, I have my paper."

Mr. Black firmly grabbed her by the arms to stop her forward motion. She looked up and saw a terrifying expression move over him. She was doomed, he was going to automatically drop her a letter grade for being late. If he locked her out of class, he'd consider the paper late. Instead, he said and did something completely out of the ordinary. He leaned further into her until they were almost in full contact. She felt his breath in her hair and a tingle swirled all throughout her. "He followed you to campus?"

"Yes, I mean, wait. How'd you know?"

"I know your father put a restraining order on your ex, our dads are close. Go inside, I'll be right back. I have to take care of something."

Mr. Black practically took off running to the stairwell. That was crazy, almost as nuts as Edward actually breaking the order and blocking her from getting out of her car a few minutes prior. She needed to call security and her dad, but her first concern after giving that psycho a piece of her mind was getting to class on time. She'd left campus to grab something to eat after her first stretch of classes. Bella figured she had plenty of time. She did it all the time actually and was never late. Now she was wondering how often Edward followed her during her breaks.

The class sat in silence for at least twenty minutes. It was weird, but Jacob came back eventually looking slightly disheveled. Surely, he didn't encounter Edward. Bella saw him take off, no way would her professor have been able to catch up to him the way that maniac drove. Maybe he had visited security on her behalf which was totally unnecessary, but kinda nice of him, she guessed. That still didn't explain his long absence or the way he looked. Bella had texted Charlie and he was pissed as hell. He was already in route to the Cullen's place with a deputy. She had no idea what was going to happen because of it. It did seem amusing to imagine pretty boy, Edward sitting in one of her father's jail cells. That would make her week and it was only Monday.

"My sincerest apologies. I had a personal emergency."

What? Personal? What a weird thing for him to say.

He told them where to turn in their syllabus and proceeded to start lecturing, mainly highlighting items that would appear on the mid-term next class period. She promised herself she'd do better and pay more attention, but she was so damned distracted, it was ridiculous. She tried to wrap her head around the way he looked realizing Edward had attempted to accost her. How the hell did he know that anyway? He had never disappeared from their class for two minutes and today he left them hanging for twenty. It made absolutely no sense and she was stupid to get so flustered. She needed to concentrate, dammit.

"Ms. Swan, can you please stay a minute. I need to speak with you." Angela looked shocked. She smirked and Bella rolled her eyes. All the other students filed out, grumbling about how hard this approaching exam was going to be.

Bella approached his desk. "Yes."

"I know this might seem a little unorthodox, but if he bothers you again, please contact me. My office number is in the syllabus, but here." He jotted down a phone number and slid it across his desk. Holy crap, her teacher just gave her his private cell number. She wasn't mistaken. He was into her. She couldn't get cocky or let on right away she was aware.

"Yeah, well, not sure why you'd need to know, but thanks. My dad has it covered."

"I know Charlie is very protective of you, but I go way back with the Cullens or at least my family does in a round about way. I will make certain he leaves you alone."

"Yeah... about that." She was clearly being sarcastic. "Dad is on the way to their house. Hopefully, Edward will spend the night in jail. He broke the order."

"Is this the first time?"

Bella made an excuse that she had someplace to be. Mr. Black was on a fishing expedition for some reason, but she wasn't ready to be caught. She changed the subject. "Thanks for alerting campus security but I could've done that after class. I hope you like my paper. I worked really hard on this one."

"I grade on content not like, but I'll give it the same consideration I always do."

"Well, needless to say, I wasn't happy with my last grade. I think you grade quite harsh if I'm being completely honest."

This was the longest she'd ever spoken with him. He casually leaned back in his chair and braced his head on his hands. "I somewhat understand that remark because I'm certain you're capable of so much more."

He looked apprehensive after saying that and Bella prided herself as an excellent judge of character. Something was going on with her professor. She highly doubted he was normally awkward with women, but that's the only way she could describe the way he interacted with her. If he gave her one more bad grade, she was going to be sure to exploit his weakness.

Late Thursday evening, Bella logged onto her school website. There was a chance her mid-term grades were posted to her blackboard but she might have to wait for class the next day.

"That hateful bastard," Bella shut the laptop quickly. She'd made a high C on the exam part, but he gave her a 65 on her paper. The two things averaged her midterm to a 70. She was not a C student, ever. It was going to be hard to bring that up where she wanted it and forget keeping her 4.0 by the end of the semester. There were even more papers coming up the second half of the semester. She wished Mr. Black could meet her English professor who constantly complimented her writing skills. He obviously couldn't spot excellent writing if it jumped up and bit him on the ass.

Things were getting ready to change. She hatched a fool-proof plan. Bella planned her proposal carefully which might turn into a full on seduction. She'd never carried anything that far, but there was something about Jacob Black that was pointing her in that direction. He liked her, not as a student obviously since he was treating her so poorly in the grade department, but she could not dismiss the looks which were more like leers. He also put out this strange protective vibe concerning Edward. She'd never had any guy act that way on her behalf. Truth be told, she enjoyed it, but she needed to stay the course. Bella had to gain the upper hand and she knew exactly how to go about it. He'd be putty in her hand and maybe, if she got lucky, Bella might have a little fun of her own in the process.

~Thanks for reading.

I appreciate any thoughts or feedback you might have. I've had some trouble lately writing my chapters and feeling motivated. New story starts are kinda my crack. I get a boost from them usually. :)