“Today, students, we are going to be tempting fate.” Doc smiled devilishly as he spoke. “We are going to tempt fate into giving us anything we want. How does that sound? Uh-oh, I see skepticism on some faces.” His voice was filled with humor as he strolled among us pointing his finger at the doubters like me.

It wasn’t really that I doubted Doc; it was that I didn’t believe in fate—tempted or otherwise.

“Have you ever heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy? Can anyone give me an example?”

Participation is huge in Doc’s classes. But I never raise my hand. In his class, it just wasn’t the same as regurgitating a date in history or the answer to an equation. When you answered a question in Doc’s class, you almost always ended up revealing something about yourself you normally wouldn’t. So even though you’re seated in your little desk chair, it feels like you are up in front of the class giving an unprepared speech. Naked. It’s awful. Not recommended for the faint of heart.

“No one wants to start? Everyone’s ready to nap? Ah, the perils of the after-lunch period. Okay, let’s think about this. The basic premise is assumption, right? If you think you’re ugly, you will become ugly, right?”

In Doc’s class you have to pay attention. One minute the lecture may seem all touchy-feely, but then somehow he’s able to break things down and dissect fact from fiction until things start making logical sense. He makes you believe the unbelievable.

Like this theory he has about how our subconscious was superpowerful and how our internal drives could be set like a GPS toward any goal we had in mind. It was a bit out there, but the way he explained it made it seem more rational than my mom’s self-help affirmations and chakra cleansings. “If you think it, you can be it” and crap like that.

Now, as much as I adore Doc and hang on his every word, I have to admit I’m still a complete skeptic. So when he told us to list five things that we never would dream could happen to us this term, I was my typical cynical self.

1. Be on the front page of the Kismet Courier. Heh.

2. Sing in front of an audience. Without puking.

3. Become BFFs with a cheerleader. Again— without puking.

4. Fall for a high school guy. Um … yeah, don’t think so.

5. Find my father. A girl can dream, can’t she?

Just as I was tucking my paper into my notebook, he added, “And I want a copy.”

I sucked in a breath, realizing just how sarcastic my list was. I started to wad it up, but then he winked.