Campus Slut

Chapter 6

Sierra POV

The first thing I woke up to was the insistent buzzing of my phone, as my groggy eyes flew open already irritated.

"Who is this?" I muttered feeling the words dry out of my mouth as the screen unlocked.

Staring at me was a stream of messages from Professor Cross but only one catching my attention.

Professor Cross: If you refuse, I will file a report requesting a termination review of your scholarship for failing to meet the conditions of your placement.

I read it three times hoping that I misread and it was probably my sleepy eyes interpreting the text but after a few blinks the words still remained the same.

Seven months of hard work, all of it hanging by a thread because of one failed project?

No

This had to be a cruel joke.

"Is he insane?" I muttered angrily, my fingers tightening around the phone. "You have to be joking."

My head felt heavy as I reread the message, trying to understand how things had escalated to this point. Was Professor Cross actually threatening me?

I ignored the avalanche of notifications piling up beneath his messages already feeling an incoming headache. The last time my phone buzzed this much, strangers were congratulating me on getting into NorthVale University.

How did things get this bad?

"Who are you ranting at?"

Alexxia's voice cut through my haze. She was sitting on the edge of her bunk, watching me.

I knew I looked terrible, with my eyes swollen and my throat raw, and I couldn't meet her gaze, not after yesterday, when she had screamed at me over that video.

"Professor Cross insists on a resubmission of my project," I said eventually, my cracked voice coming out in a croak.

The silence that came after me answering was overwhelming as I tried not to meet her eyes fully aware that I wasn't sure I could handle another confrontation.

"Is that true?" She paused. "Or are you trying to find a way to seduce him?"

I looked up staring at her, completely taken aback. Her voice was ice, and my jaw went slack that my mind blanked out.

Alexxia had been my roommate and my friend since my first day at NorthVale University, and she had never once spoken to me like that. Not until now.

"H-h-how can you say that?" I managed, feeling my cheeks grow hot. I couldn't tell whether it was shame or anger making my face burn.

"You threw yourself at him, Sierra. You ruined your reputation, and apparently that still isn't enough for you?"

"Alexxia, please don't say that." My voice had a hint of desperation. "I have never crossed the boundaries between us. I would never—"

"Don't feed me that bullshit." Her face was reddening, the way it always did when she was angry, and I shrank back. "Do you know what yesterday was like for me?"

Her question startled me, but she was only getting started. "Finding out my roommate, the prestigious Scholastic Queen, was a campus slut? I was laughed at all day because of your stupid actions. I didn't expect that from you, of all people."

The word slut hit me like a jolt, hurting me more coming from her than it had from anyone else. I felt the colour drain from my face as I struggled to process what she just called me.

Her words settled heavily between us as I felt her hostile gaze on me.

"It was a freaking mistake!" I finally yelled, the tears already gathering in my eyes. "I didn't plan for any of this to happen!"

My voice broke, but I continued.

"I have been so messed up with everything going on. I don't even know how to deal with any of it anymore." I was rambling now, and I knew it but I couldn't stop.

"My failure broke something in me, Alexxia."

My voice dropped to a whisper as I stared at her, hoping she would understand that this was about more than the video or the grade. Her expression didn't soften. It only hardened, as if my breakdown disgusted her.

"Go and see the professor, then. I can't hold back a slut, so go if you want to ruin your life so badly."

She grabbed her bag and walked out, leaving me in a piercing silence.

I sat there until my breathing evened out. Her words kept replaying in my head: seduce, slut, ruin, the scaring realization dawning on me slowly.

Was that what everyone thought of me? Was that what he thought? Alexxia had been the one person I trusted to know me, and she had looked at me like she didn't know me anymore.

I wiped my face with my sleeve and splashed cold water on it at the sink. The girl in the mirror was puffy-eyed and pale. If I didn't go, Professor Cross would file his termination report, and I couldn't afford to lose my scholarship so I picked up my bag and went.

I stood outside his door for a long moment before I knocked, my fingers unsteady.

"Come in."

His voice sent a nervous shiver through me. Even now, after everything, my body pulse still reacted to him.

"Miss Riven." Professor Cross cold voice greeted me as he looked up from the papers on his desk

"Sit."

I took the chair he indicated and sat stiffly. "Y-yes, sir." My voice sounded drained. The room seemed to tilt slightly, but I forced myself to sit upright forcing myself to look strong in front of him.

"I assume you read my messages. The project will be resubmitted." He finally looked up.

"I went through your previous submission. Good framework, but three things were flagged and all three must be addressed."

I nodded, trying to hold onto every word.

"I want your revised methodology and a full statistical review on it l within the first few weeks." His eyes stayed on me. "Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir. The statistics—" I began, but the sentence slipped away from me.

His voice sounded farther off than it should have, and my hands had gone ice cold in my lap.

Without warning, I was back in the hallway slumped outside this very door, the paper crumpled in my fist, the letter F staring up at me. The memory hit so hard that my shoulders jerked.

Then the rest crowded in behind it: the lecture hall, the video, the word slut in Alexxia's mouth, the threat of losing everything I had fought for. The edges of the room began to darken, as if someone were slowly dimming the lights.

"Sierra." His voice was different now and almost gentle, and somehow it still sent a chill down my spine.

"Sierra, what's wrong?"

"I can't do this anymore," I whispered. "It's too much."

I tried to focus on his face, and for the first time since I walked in, the stern professor was gone. His pen had stopped moving and his brows were drawn together.

"Professor Cross," I said weakly.

"Sierra? Sierra!" His chair scraped back, and he was around the desk before I could blink, his hands reaching for me.

The last thing I felt was my head going light as I fell into his arms.