He was seated at the desk and lifted his head when I knocked and opened the door. He was a man in his late thirties, and he must have been a new professor at the school because I wasn’t familiar with him.
“Hello,” he said, looking curious. “I have to say; I’m surprised to see you, Ben.”
I ignored that since it seemed the other professors had clued him in about me and my background. It didn’t matter, anyway.
“I was looking for Professor Kane,” I said. “Do you have any idea when she’ll be coming back?”
He frowned. “No, not really. All I heard was she was away for family reasons, but there was no news about when she’s coming back. I was put in charge of her classes for the rest of this semester. Can I help you with something?”
I flattened my lips and cursed silently. “Did she quit?”
He shook his head slowly. “I didn’t hear that, either, so I can't say for sure. I’m sorry, but I’ve given you all the information I have. If there’s something I can help you with, feel free to ask.”
“No, thank you,” I said and turned to leave without another word.
I strolled around aimlessly, musing to myself. I could always wait to see if she would come back. Maybe she’d even decide to talk to me on her own, but I was worried. What if she never did? She had shut me out of her life, and I wasn’t sure what to do to make it stop, to make her talk to me. I might have been young, but I wasn’t stupid, and I cared a lot about her. It was enough to surprise even myself.
“Where the hell did you go,” I muttered to myself, feeling agitated.
I found a bench outside and sat down. I pulled my phone out and unlocked the screen. I looked over our text messages. Every text I sent got a curt, short answer, before they trickled down to no replies at all. I thought about sending her another text, but I felt like I would go crazy if I got another one of those autoreplies, or no response at all. Instead, I opened my photo gallery.
There was one photo I had of her in my phone. I’d taken it one morning when I woke up with her in my arms. We were at her apartment, and I knew I had to leave early to get into my dorm room. There weren’t rules against sleeping elsewhere as long as we didn’t bring trouble into the school, but I used to think it would be a pain if my friends looked for me and didn’t find me.
She was lying curled up on her side; her dark hair spread over the pillow. I’d pushed some locks back from her face, and ended up waking her, so her dark brown eyes were staring drowsily up at me. Angela had insisted I delete the photo, but she was still sleepy, so I convinced her I did and she never brought it up again.
It was the only photo I had of her, and I regretted not having taken more, now.
“What are you doing?”
I locked my phone and looked up with a glare. Sandra was standing in front of me, and I hadn't noticed when she walked up to me.
“Can you please leave?” I sneered. “Whatever you want, you can get lost. I’m not in the mood.”
She snorted. “What the fuck have you been moping around for, anyway? I’ve been trying to talk to you for weeks, and you keep ignoring me!”
“You can always take the hint and make things easier on the both of us.”
“Ugh, don’t tell me you had a thing for that old woman,” she sneered. “She’s gone, so why can't you get over her and find someone closer to your own age? I thought we were fine before she seduced you out of nowhere. I bet she’s after your family’s money.”
I scowled. Before I could shout at her, though, I paused. Did she see the photo? She wasn’t acting all that surprised, though, if that was the case.
“What are you talking about?”
She folded her arms across her chest. “I overheard you talking to the substitute, and I followed you all the way here. You didn’t even notice, did you? Anyway, I know all about your dirty little secret, and I told that woman to keep away, or I would report her. At least she was smart enough to listen to me.”
I felt like I’d gotten punched in the chest and all the air flew out of my chest.
“You did what?” I asked, sounding choked.
She smirked. “You heard me. If all you wanted was a fuck, it’s not like I mind. Do you have any idea how long I waited before you asked me out, and how many different guys I turned down? I didn’t think it would take so long for you to make a move, and when I thought everything would be fine, you suddenly turned me down for her?” She sighed, shaking her head. “Anyway, I’ll forgive you and take you back if you apologize right now.”