“Okay.” His cheek pulsed in anger. “I will expect a call from you, very soon, telling me she’s okay and there’s no problem here.” He stalked away out of the classroom, his posture stiff and muscles rigid. The door banged behind him.
I passed Tana my bottle of water from the desk so she could swill out her mouth.
“You okay?” I asked her.
She swilled out her mouth, spitting it into the can and I took the can from her hands and carried it to the door, leaving it just outside. The smell was like nothing I had ever smelled in my life.
“I saw your light was still on and I felt sick. I was just gonna rest here a minute.” She shook her head. “Fuck, Meredith, a student? You said you met him at the gym.”
“I did, and I had no idea he was a student until it was too late.”
“It’s wrong, Mer. You are years older than him. Not only is it against the college rules but it’s like you are taking advantage of a young student.”
“It’s not like that.” I bristled. “We are in love.”
She turned to me, her face all screwed up. “You are in love with a kid? What is his mother going to say about that do you think when she finds out? You will lose your job, your pride and your self-esteem. It will be lust. God, I bet he is a rampant ride. But when you take away the sex, Mer, what is left? He will want to sow his wild oats and you will want to have kids soon. It is what you always said to me. Kids no later than twenty-seven, you hoped, so you could have two by age thirty.”
I pulled up a chair at the side of her.
“It is not like that. I think he is my one.”
She snorted with laughter at that. “You have been together a month, and no doubt been fucking like rabbits. You are in lust, Meredith, not love.” She shook her head. “I cannot condone this, Mer. It is against the rules for a reason. You are in a position of authority over this student.”
“I don’t teach him. If anything he is teaching me!” I almost yelled. “I am finding out who I really am, what I want from a relationship.”
“It is coercion. Now I am going to be a mom I see things from a different side.”
I lost my temper at that remark. “Oh my God, you act like you are the first person ever to have a baby. You used to fuck anywhere you could for kicks but now you are going to be a mother you have gone all holier than thou.”
She stood up, hands on her hips. “I don’t recognize you right now, Meredith.”
I stared up at her, “Yeah, well I don’t know where Tana White went. She sure hasn’t been around for a while.”
“Tana White went when she got married and became Tana Geller and then got pregnant. I’m a grown up. You are the one acting like a spoiled brat of a child.” She stormed towards the door. “Anyway, you end it, or I report you. It’s as simple as that.”
“And if I don’t?” I challenged.
“Think about your boyfriend’s future if you tarnish his reputation and he is ejected from his course. How will that go down with his parents? Think they are going to welcome you with open arms then?”
She stormed out of the room. The minute she had gone I collapsed to the floor, tears falling and turning into wrenching great sobs.
What the hell was I going to do?
I text Garrett and lied.
Mer: Tana gone. She was shocked but is fine now.
Garrett: You need me to come back to the classroom?
Mer: No. I’m on my way home now. It has been a shock but I am fine.
Garrett: You sure? I will ditch the guys and come over?
Mer: No. Take your part in clean-up. I just want an early night after what happened.
Garrett: She upset you?
Mer: We shocked/upset each other but al