“You’re just going to miss staring at him.”
The second girl laughed. “So what? He’s so dreamy. And besides, it wasn’t like I was going to act on it. I’m not a whore.”
I looked down at my hands. I had put James in a terrible position. I never should have flirted with him. But it always seemed like he wanted this as much as me. He even promised that he didn’t resent me. I still felt guilty though. Maybe I always would. He had come to teach here because he needed a fresh start. He was finally happy. Maybe I was messing everything up. He had finally gotten to be himself. Without his parents or his wife pressuring him. And now he was stuck again. I was preventing him from teaching.
Tyler had said he wanted me to be happy. Because he cared about me. I cared about James. I cared about James so much. Maybe I was being selfish by being with him. I should just disappear. The university might even let him teach again. The only requirement was that he had to stop seeing me. And for the investigation to come back clean.
But there wouldn’t have been an investigation if I had never been with James in the first place. If Isabella had never found out about me, then he’d still be a professor. He’d still be happy. I waited for the girls to leave before exiting the stall.
I couldn’t laugh this off. I couldn’t just dismiss what I had heard. It was true. Isn’t it? I quickly washed my hands and walked through the hall toward class. The professor was already talking when I opened the door. I had never been late for a class before. The door made a loud banging noise when it closed and everyone in the huge lecture hall seemed to turn and look at me.
“Penny Taylor!” the professor called from the front of the room.
Fuck, how does she know my name? There were 200 students in this class. Her knowing my name was not a good thing.
“How nice of you to join us.”
A bunch of students in the class snickered.
I found a seat near where I was standing, but when I went to go sit down, the girl put her backpack on the seat to block me.
Damn it!
“Psst, over here,” a boy said who was sitting several rows ahead of where I was standing. I didn’t want to sit next to a guy I didn’t know. But it seemed to be the only option.
“See me after class, Penny,” the professor said and turned back to the board as I sat down.
What the hell? People came late to class all the time. It shouldn’t have been a big deal at all. Was she going to give me a lecture about how I was a horrible person too? Well, I didn’t want to hear it. Part of me wanted to get up and leave the class right now, disrupting it for a second time.
“Geez, what did you do to set her off?” the boy next to me whispered.
“Right? People come late to this class all the time.”
“Do you think it has something to do with that thing with Professor Hunter?”
Of course he knew about that. Everyone knew about that. I shrugged and tried to pay attention to what the professor was saying.
“Hey, I’m not judging you. Hell, I actually owe you a thank you. I was getting a C in strategic management. And rumor has it that you just scored me an A.”
“Yeah. You’re welcome.” At least someone was happy with me. I wasn’t even sure I was happy with myself anymore.
“I’m Eli by the way. I’m in Sigma Pi with Tyler.” He stuck his hand out to me.
I shook his hand. “I’m Penny. But I guess you already know that.”
“Yeah, everyone knows who you are.”
He did look familiar. I had probably seen him at one of the Sigma Pi parties before. “Did Tyler tell you to look out for me or something?”
“He didn’t really put it like that. He just said he knew I didn’t know anyone in this class and neither did you.”
“Thanks for letting me sit next to you. I’m not sure anyone else was going to let me sit next to them.”
He smiled and turned back to look at the board.
***
I shoved my notebook into my backpack. “Thanks again for letting me sit with you, Eli.”
“Of course. What do you think Professor Thornton wants to talk to you about?”
“I have no idea.”
“I’m sure it’s nothing bad.”
“Hopefully. I guess I’ll see you Monday?”
He smiled. “Of course. But I guess I’ll actually see you this weekend at the Sigma Pi formal too.”
“Oh. No. I won’t be there.” Awkward.
“You’re not going with Tyler? I thought you two were like a thing?”
“No, we’re just friends. I think he’s going with Natalie.”
“Natalie? I’ve never heard him mention her.” Eli shrugged. “Weird. Well, I’ll catch you later, Penny. Good luck with Professor Thornton.”
“Thanks, Eli.” I’d have to text Tyler and thank him for looking out for me yet again. It was weird that one of his frat brothers didn’t even know about Natalie. I hoped he was still taking her to the formal.
I looked down at my cell phone and tried to ignore the murmurs as people walked by me. Still nothing from James. I hoped he was handling the news okay. When there were barely any people left in the room, I made my way down to the front of the classroom.
Professor Thornton didn’t look up from the papers on her desk. “Your grades are slipping.”
“I know. I was distracted. I’m working hard on catching back up.”
“If you think I’m going to go easy on you because of what’s going on, you’re wrong.”
“I don’t expect you to, Professor Thornton.”
She finally looked up at me. “I just want to make things very clear. If you’re getting perks in other classes because of your relationship…”
“I’m not.” What the hell?!
“Don’t come late to my class again, Penny.” She grabbed her satchel and stood up to leave.
“I was just trying to avoid having to listen to everyone talking about me before class. I was here early like I always am, I was just hiding in the bathroom. Where apparently, I couldn’t hide from what people were saying.”