Chapter 12

Inside the building, Ethan came walking quickly, almost jogging to get closer to her.

“Hey! Ariel!” he called out.

She turned her head and gave him a quick smile. “Hi, Ethan. I'm almost late for my first class. I'll talk to you later, okay?”

He blinked his eyes, looking a little surprised. “Oh. Uh, sure. Yeah, see you later.”

As she continued walking away, he stood there watching her, looking completely puzzled. This wasn't the Ariel he was used to seeing. She seemed to be smiling more, blushing rather. It gave him a strange, uncomfortable feeling in his chest.

________

When Ariel entered Professor Julia's lecture hall, about half of the seats were already taken, and the time was just five minutes past the hour.

“Ms. Anthony,” Professor Julia's voice echoed through the room, sounding harsh and critical. “It seems you are late to my class once again.”

Ariel stopped walking for a moment, an apologetic look on her face. “I’m really sorry, Professor. It's only five minutes past the start time.”

“I don’t care, being late is being late.” Professor Julia said abruptly. “Please make an effort to be on time in the future.”

Ariel quietly found an empty seat and sat down. Not even ten minutes had passed into the lecture when Professor Julia's voice suddenly interrupted the lesson again.

“Ms. Anthony. I would appreciate it if you would not disturb the class by speaking during my lecture.”

Ariel blinked in surprise. “I was simply asking the person next to me if I could borrow a pen…”

“Do not talk back to me!” Professor Julia said sharply. “You will write a ten page assignment on how feminist ideas have developed in visual art, and you need to hand it in by tomorrow morning. If you don't, you will lose all the points you can get for participating in class this semester.”

Ariel's mouth opened slightly in shock. “What? That's…”

“Unfair?” Professor Julia asked in a cold tone. “Consider it a lesson about being on time and behaving properly in class.”

Ariel didn't say anything. She just nodded her head and looked down at the notebook in front of her.

Ariel could hear the girls sitting behind her whispering to each other, “serves her right.”

________

Back at her house, Ariel was focused on working on the assignment Professor Julia had given her when Daniel came into her room.

“Hey,” he said softly. “I heard that Professor Julia gave you a punishment today. Would you like some help with that paper?”

She looked up from her laptop, a surprised expression on her face. “You would do that?”

“Yeah, of course. As long as you tell me what you did to make her angry. You've never had any problems with professors before.”

She smiled gratefully. “Thank you, Daniel. That would be so helpful. As for Professor Julia, I really didn't do anything wrong. I was only five minutes late to class, and then I asked the person next to me if I could borrow a pen. After that, she accused me of interrupting her lecture.”

“It sounds like she might be upset about something else and was just taking her frustration out on you.” Daniel commented.

“Well, that's her issue, not mine. All I know is that I didn't do anything wrong.” Ariel replied.

They sat down together on her bed, and he turned her laptop so that he could see the screen.

“So... there are rumors going around,” he said in a casual tone.

She looked up at him, a questioning look in her eyes. “About what?”

“About you. And Professor Grayson. People are saying they saw you getting out of his car.”

Ariel sighed softly. “It wasn't like that at all. I was running late for class, and he offered me a ride. That's all there was to it.”

Ariel couldn’t tell her brother that she had passed out due to a fever and ended up spending the night in her professor’s apartment.

Daniel gave a small nod, but his eyes remained focused on the laptop screen. “Right. I mean, it would be a little strange anyway, dating a professor.”

Ariel became a little tense. “There is absolutely nothing going on between us. Seriously.”

“Okay,” he said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. “I understand.”

Daniel had always been a kind and caring brother to Ariel. But recently, there was something more in the way he looked at her. Something possessive.

__________

The following morning, Ariel made sure to arrive at the university early and placed her completed assignment into Professor Julia's designated submission tray. But just as she was about to knock on Professor Julia's office door, she heard the sound of voices coming from inside the room.

She stopped and listened. It was Luther's voice, and he sounded very angry.

“That was a completely unacceptable misuse of your authority, Julia,” he said, his voice low and tight with barely controlled anger. “Punishing Ariel for something as small as borrowing a pen? A ten-page paper due overnight? That's not teaching. That's personal hatred.”

“I have no idea what you're suggesting,” Julia replied, her voice calm and cold. “She was being disruptive in class. She was also late. I treat all of my students equally.”

“No, you don't,” Luther said sharply. “You single her out specifically. This had better be the last time you do something like this. I won't allow you to use her as someone to take your anger out on again.”

“Oh really? And why is that, Luther?” Julia's voice became louder. “Because she spent the night at your apartment yesterday? Because you drove her to the university the next morning?”

There was a moment of silence.

Ariel's heart began to beat rapidly in her chest.

“You need to be very careful about the implications of your words,” Luther said in a low, threatening tone. “Your jealousy is quite obvious.”

“Jealous? Of that little girl?” Julia scoffed.

“I don't know, Julia. You tell me.” Luther retorted.