By the time I get home, it’s late in the afternoon, having gone to work for a while after my appointment with Liz. I haven’t seen Ruby all day and as I walk into the bedroom I share with her, I’m both happy to see her and weirdly nervous about all the shit I talked about today, almost as though Ruby will somehow be able to see it written all over my face.
“Hey,” I say, closing the door behind me.
Ruby looks up at me, her face a mix of worry and something that might be fear. It makes my heart race, a nervous energy coursing through my veins as I walk over to the bed, sit down beside her and reach for her hand.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
Ruby shrugs, her gaze falling to our joined hands. “Nothing.”
I reach over and slip my fingers under her chin, turning her toward me. “Bullshit,” I say softly. “Talk to me,” I add, my eyes widening a little in encouragement.
I watch as Ruby takes a long, deep breath in before slowly letting it out, her fingers tightening around mine as she shuffles so she’s facing me. “I heard some stuff while I was on campus today,” she starts.
“Fuck,” I mutter, sliding closer to her. “Babe, I’m—”
“No,” she says, cutting me off as her other hand moves to my cheek. “It wasn’t about you, it was…”
She trails off and again, I move closer, pulling her into my arms as I lean back against the headboard. “Please talk to me,” I say again. “Tell me what happened.”
Ruby looks up at me, her head resting on my shoulder as I wrap my arms around her. My heart pounds in my chest, my nerves on edge as I try to imagine what the fuck she could have possibly heard today.
“Someone approached me,” she starts and I can tell she’s nervous too, as though she’s afraid to tell me whatever it is that’s happened. “I…I wasn’t sure whether to believe her but…”
“But what?” I ask.
Ruby exhales hard. “But it seems like maybe I wasn’t the only one Professor Keller did stuff to.”
“What?”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Ruby
“Professor Keller is a stalker,” I tell Caleb, coldly, because at the end of the day, we all knew something wasn’t quite right. I guess I just never truly believed it would be taken this far and this poor girl who approached me and shared her story has no one supporting her. She’s been silenced by Professor Keller, by the police and even by students who have backed this asshole professor.
It couldn’t be more obvious what’s happening here. The manipulation and the power trip are out of control.
“What did she tell you?” Caleb asks, confusion and shock spilling from his words. “Did she go to the police? How do you think she knew you’d believe her?” He’s talking so fast, his brain processing everything this means for not just him but also this girl. “Did you get her name? A phone number?”
“Yes, I have her name and a number for her, but I’m not certain she wants anyone broadcasting what she went through out to the public.”
“Well, then why the hell did she tell you?” Caleb snaps and I understand his frustration, but what happened to me and how Caleb responded is different than what happened to this girl. She didn’t just have her privacy invaded by some creepy professor watching her through the blinds of her bedroom window.
It was so much worse.
“Caleb,” I say, pausing to let his name sink in and all that it implies. He needs to settle down and realize he isn’t the only one wrapped up in this mess now.
“Ruby,” he says, my name holding the same shaming bite as the way I said his. “Do you understand what this could do for my civil case? We need her statement. We need Ed to interview her, because if she can corroborate our story then we have someone else on our side. Do you understand this?”
His intensity can be felt in every part of my body and filling the room, but we need to approach this carefully. He sees this as his opportunity to clear his name and have someone else back him other than Sie, Reid and me.
“I do understand. I fully understand and of course I had this same reaction, but Caleb, she’s been through hell and back. I’m shocked she’s still going to school here.”
“You really need to start talking because all this cryptic shit isn’t helping.”
I take in a deep breath, and despite knowing she told me I could share her story with Caleb and our lawyer, it’s still hard to talk about. It hits so close to home and my thoughts are now consumed with what could’ve happened if Caleb hadn’t been here that night. How close was I to having the same thing happen? How long had Professor Keller been watching me? Long enough to take it to the next level?
He’d gotten away with it once before, but I doubt she was his first or his last and that’s the part that scares the hell out of me.
“He broke into her apartment and attacked her,” I finally spill. “He raped her, Caleb. Her name is Meagan Wade.”
“What?”
All I can do is nod in response. I don’t know what more to say. It’s enough, and I know Caleb is running through every thought I’ve already had. And I’m sure he’s also validating what he did to Professor Keller in our alleyway. If he isn’t, he should be.
“How? When?” Caleb now asks, the words coming out stuttered and ragged. “Ruby...” My name falls from his lips in a desperate plea and for a second I think he might cry. It’s hitting him now what could’ve happened if he hadn’t been home, if he hadn’t stepped in to protect me.
All this time he’s been living with the guilt that maybe he took things too far, that maybe he lost it and overreacted. Even the police, the legal system and the media outlets have portrayed him as crazy and combative.
“It happened during the summer session. Just a few months back and she went to the campus police, but they dismissed her. She then went to the Hawthorn police, but they did the same thing, telling her they talked to the campus police. They called her hysterical and obsessed with him.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? Why would they say that?” he asks, confused by it, but it’s about to make more sense in a few seconds.
“She was having an affair with him and she admitted that to the police. But she had broken it off with him and Professor Keller didn’t react well to that.”
“So because she at one time had consensual sex with him, she couldn’t possibly have been raped by him, huh?”
“Exactly. That’s what the police said. They even told her it was probably just rough sex and maybe she wasn’t used to that.” Saying it out loud makes me nauseous and my heart breaks for her. Her life has been totally fucked up and no one cares.
“We have to call Ed. We have to get him involved and not just because it will help my civil case. This girl needs our help, even more so than we need hers,” Caleb now insists and just when I didn’t think I could love him anymore, he manages to surprise me with how wonderful he is.
“Thank you,” I whisper, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him against me.
“I’m going to call Ed and fill him in. I’ll let you know what he says and if he needs anything,” Caleb tells me, kissing my forehead. “We’re going to make this right, Ruby. We’re going to stop this from happening again.”