“I’m not either of those.”
He shrugs. “You think you’re the first student to hook up with their professor? This is an age-old story. And there’s no other way this story ends.”
“Okay, everybody. That’s all for tonight.” The smile is harder to summon than usual as I shepherd my guppies toward the door.
“…picking up?” A familiar male voice enters my consciousness.
“Yeah, I’m picking up. Are you?” An even more familiar female voice has me looking up.
Kat’s dressed in a loose blazer and skirt, arms folded as she leans against the wall.
Next to her is Daniel.
“Ah, this one must be yours,” Kat says as Andy trots over to his dad, showing off some badass chassés.
“He’s the only boy,” says one of the girls solemnly.
Kat eyes up Andy. “So basically, you’re going to be a star.”
He giggles, but Daniel’s attention, his curiosity and appreciation, is locked on my friend.
“Which one’s yours?”
“That one.” She points at me and I cross to them, laughing.
“Daniel, this is my roommate Kat.”
“Roommate. As in…”
“At Russell. Yeah.”
I bite my cheek while I watch him process.
Kat, oblivious, grabs my arm. “Come on, get your ass changed. Jules and I are kidnapping you.”
“For what?” I demand, but she won’t say.
Five minutes later, we’re on the bus. “What’s with the hot mom’s PTA meeting getup?” I ask.
She pops a hip before she drops into a seat. “We had oral presentations today. I want to be a therapist, so I’m sure going to dress the part.”
“But you want to be a sex therapist.”
“Oh in that case, let me get my fishnets.”
She pulls me off at a bus stop and I trail her to our usual pub. It’s more than half full despite it being barely dinnertime.
“Hoes Over Brews: All Hoes, No Bros edition.”
Jules is waiting with a table and a gift bag.
“What’s this for?” I ask.
“To remind you how awesome you are. That we see you and we love you. You always look out for other people and now, we’re looking out for you.”
I reach for the pink tissue paper, tugging it out.
Inside the bag, my fingers land on soft fabric.
Lingerie? I pull it out, holding it up…
“It’s a sash,” Kat says. “The kind beauty queens have.”
“But it says #1 Roommate.”
“Zero propaganda. You’ve always been there for us. We want you to know we’re here for you, no matter what,” Jules says. “Now put it on.”
I drape the satin over my head, feeling like the biggest nerd ever.
I’ll also fight anyone in this bar who tries to take it from me.
This is what college is supposed to be about. People with different experiences coming together and learning from each other.
“Thank you,” I say and mean it.
“I know it’s been a rough semester, but we got you,” Kat emphasizes. “All we have to do is get through exams, then we have two whole weeks off on the other side.”
She’s right.
“Hey, what’s that?” I nod to a slip of paper sticking out of Jules’ bag.
“It’s a script for a new drama society production. Auditions are next week.”
It helps to catch up with them, to hear Jules talk about the play, and Kat laugh over experiments.
“I need you both to participate in my project as experimental subjects when we get back from the holidays.”
“You can’t cut into my brain,” Jules says evenly.
Kat grins. “All you have to do is show up at the lab for an hour. You get twenty bucks for your time. What do you say, Liv?”
I shift in my seat, slinging an arm over the back of my chair. “What are you testing?”
“Come on, friendship is thicker than blood.”
“I’m not sure that’s the saying. But okay.” My lips twitch.
I’m holding the team together by my fingernails. Sawyer’s in big trouble. But in another week, I’ll do the justification and have exams, then we all have winter break. Time for everyone to decompress.
I have to hang on until then.
Plus Sawyer and I haven’t had a chance to talk since his confession at the party.
“I’m over trying to get through the day without thinking of you.”
My heart feels like it’s going through a blender since he left.
By the time we leave the bar three hours later, I might not be feeling relaxed, but I’m resolved. I know I’ll figure this out, and my friends have my back.
We take the bus to campus, and I look up at the stars as we cross campus to our apartment.
When we head up the stairs and Kat fumbles for her keys for the door at home, my phone vibrates again.
But this time, it’s not Sawyer.
“What the hell…” I pull up.
“What is it?” Jules asks, padding over to me.
“An email from the Stars committee. Confirmation of our presentation tomorrow…” I trail off. “This must be a joke.”
“Ifrtwsnxtwik?” Kat says through a mouthful of toothpaste. She rolls her eyes and spits it out in the sink, returning a moment later. “I thought it was next week?”
“It is.” I read the email again, frantic.
There’s no reason they would’ve moved it. Except…
The department contact copied on the email isn’t Sawyer.
“Son of a bitch.”
26
Olivia
“Livvy honey?” Betty pulls up to the bench outside the dean’s office where I’ve been camped out since seven this morning, a bag and coffee in one hand and keys in the other. “What’s wrong?”
“I need to see the dean. I emailed him last night, but he didn’t respond.”
When he arrives half an hour later, I jump up off the bench. “There’s been a mistake. The Stars competition changed the date for our presentation to today.”
“Oh yes. I reached out to them and requested the change in timeline. Professor Redmond didn’t want the investigation to interfere with your work, and I’m inclined to agree.”
“But Professor Redmond isn’t here,” I emphasize. “We have no supervisor.”
“I’m taking over those duties until further notice.”
When I pictured presenting the justification, I was nervous. This is a big deal to our team, and sets the stage for whether we’re going to have a shot at actually winning.
But I always imagined it with Sawyer at my side.
Not only is he gone, but the man in his place wants us to fail.
The dean checks his watch. “I look forward to seeing you in the presentation immediately after lunch. If you need anything in the interim, don’t hesitate to let me know.”
The smile he pastes on makes me wretch.
I pull out my phone, fingers smashing against the keyboard.
Liv: We have an EMERGENCY. Meet me at the lab now. Skip class. I don’t care what it takes, just get there.