Professor Oakley drives a black Silverado. He doesn't strike me as the type to drive a truck. But I hardly know anything about him.I sit still in the car and listen to the quiet jazz music playing softly in the background. My heart's a mess but it shouldn't be. Students are not supposed to be attracted to their professors. He's made so many passes at me, it's hard not to remember them all by name.Professor Oakley wasn't planning on having me ride in his car tonight. We didn't know we would run into each other. It was a meeting by chance. I'm not sure where Professor Oakley is planning on taking me, it either needs to be far away or we need to go to his house.The idea of going to Professor Oakley's house and being alone with him makes me want to panic. The way I feel right now is how I used to feel when I dated Spencer. In a word, Giddy. My phone buzzed earlier and I still haven't checked it. I check it now in the silence of the car. It's Spencer checking in on me to see how colleg
Did last night really happen? It's getting hard to distinguish fact from fiction. It's all a blur now. I wake up early and find an impatient Evie waiting for me at the end of my bed."What the hell happened last night? Where did you go? How did you get back here?" Evie taps her fingers on my desk with her bright nail polish.Now what am I supposed to do? I did text Dante that I wasn't feeling well. I could just roll with that story and be done with it."I got sick. I think some one spiked my drink and I got a ride home with a girl from my English class. It's fine. I text Dante. I feel bad about it. But my stomach was fire and you and Benjamin were enjoying each other's faces too much. I didn't want to bother you."I'm not a habitual liar or a pathological one, but lying to Evie is getting easier. I don't want to make a habit of lying to her, but until I know how I feel about Blake and if it's worth it my lips need to remain shut. He and I have an understanding about that.This is a ne
Professor Oakley has me grinning from ear to ear. If I'm not careful Evie will catch on. I never thought a college professor would notice the likes of me. But he has and now what do I do? Maybe if we agree to only see each other a few times a month then it would be easier to keep it a secret. Our texts to each other tell another story. We flirt a lot, and he wants to push it further.He wants me to go to his house this weekend around the same time as my next forced double date with Dante. Ugh. Dante still wants that study coffee date. I don't think Blake would appreciate me partnering up with another man who also has an attraction toward me. But I do need to study and his tests aren't exactly the easiest to master.So I guess I'm just going to have to partner up with Dante anyway and study. Dante isn't exactly the sexiest man on this campus. Not sure how to keep Evie out of my romance life. She's so nosy and at some point I'm sure she'll brownnose this out of me. Evie wants to be a jo
I bring my sketch book to my date. Dante doesn't have anything fancy planned. But still hanging out with him is better than being broken by Spencer or having my heart crushed by a tall blonde woman waltzing into my professor's office. I shouldn't even care who my teacher fraternizes with and yet I do."Is something wrong? You seem distracted?" Dante asks as he holds a pair of drum sticks in his hands and begins striking the table loudly. His drumming annoys the coffee shop staff enough they come over and tell him to put them away or he will need to leave."I am distracted. That darn history test. I won't pass. And I'm annoyed with Professor Oakley."Fuck that last part was not supposed to slip. My mouth has run away with me again."What did he do? Make us study? Maybe college isn't your thing."Maybe Dante is to preoccupied with his drumming to notice. I almost want to talk about history so I can be mad at Blake. We aren't dating, but why did he rub me in places no one else has. Am I
"Oh my God, Cora. Oh my God. Why didn't you tell me?" Evie says as she slurps her water loudly while returning from her run. I hate it when she exercises. My best friend smells like a rancid goat when she gets back from her morning runs. I don't understand why people run, it hurts my knees and makes my ankles ache."What are you talking about?" I really hope this isn't about Dante I'm not in the mood."Benjamin told me that you drew another sketch for Dante. And that Dante put it up on his wall. At this rate you both will be dating and your v-card issue will be solved."It's not Evie's fault that she doesn't know I find Dante unattractive. It's not her fault that I don't want to actually date him. I just keep him around just in case things with Professor Oakley don't work out. They probably won't because of that blonde woman, his Helen of Troy, will claim his heart."Yeah, it's great we are hanging out." That much is true. I do appreciate Dante as a friend, but I never plan to date h
Professor Oakley rescheduled the test. I skip anyway. I can't study after being called Stacey. I can't sit next to Dante and have him cheat off me, cause he thinks I know all the answers.I don't eat. I don't drink. How do I breathe again? Even that feels like a chore these days. It's time I do the only sensible thing there is left to do, I pack up my shit and prepare to leave my dorm room. Hopefully undetected by Evie. I need to go home for a few days and skipping classes for the rest of the week is worth it if it gets me away from him... Professor Blake Oakley.Evie comes into the room with the same flavor of coffee she drinks every fall. Pumpkin spice something from Biggby or Star Bucks."What are you doing? It's almost midterms. You can't just bail on me. Why is your suitcase packed? Did you fight with Dante? I can have Ben talk to him if you'd like. There are no guarantees of course that it will help. Here let me text, Ben."She gets out her large pink phone case and sets it in h
Coming home was a bad idea. When I told Jessica Evans, I lived nearby what I meant was an hour away. It's not an uncommon practice for college students to move an hour away. Close to home but far enough away that being an adult feels real. I'm not sure I will ever feel like a real adult with the way my mom takes care of me.When I texted her that something happened she jumped right into action. Mom's always had my back, even as a small child she would snuggle me so tightly to keep my innocence a little longer. But now as a young woman, we have an understanding that I will tell her something is wrong and she won't pry. I don't like people prying and interrogating me, Evie is still learning this with me. But not mom, mom's got me figured out like a science. Mom knows I will tell her eventually. I need a few days to process and then I come out of my shell like a sly little turtle emerging for the first time. Evie pokes the turtle in me with a stick, but not this time. This time she is b
I manage to sneak past Jessica Evans hall director apartment undetected. I have a feeling I will be hearing about her date and that she will rub Blake Oakley down all the dormitory women's throats.I don't want to be the jealous type. Being jealous is not a place anyone should be in. I don't even know where jealousy comes from or where it's origin story began. I imagine some Greek god concocted jealousy and now us mere mortals are forced to live with this consequence. Jealousy is born from chaos, chaos lives in the hearts of those who are in love. I can't say I'm in love with Blake Oakley. But I do admire him. I admire the way he still cares about his wife Stacy even though she's dead. I admire the way he cares about his students even if things don't work out between them in their personal lives.But it is time to grow up and move on. I've had my fling with Blake Oakley. And my mom doesn't need to know that he is my college professor. I wish I didn't lie to my mom about him being a m