“Log in and check. You should be able to request it through your portal.”
I’m still not ready to leave the comfy warmth of my bed. Luckily, Stella understands my puppy eyes and grabs my laptop for me.
“Thanks,” I murmur, as I pull up my web browser and log in. Except, every time I try and submit a request to change the class, an error message pops up. “Ugh!”
“What’s wrong?” Stella asks, leaning into my space to look at my screen. “Oh. That blows.”
“What do I do?” My earlier panic threatens an unwanted encore.
“Try your advisor?”
“That’s a good idea.”
I exit out of the portal and open my student email.
Professor Ellison,
I am emailing to request a meeting with you about my class schedule. I tried adjusting it via the portal, but keep running into an error message.
Thank you in advance,
Emmy Pierce
“There,” I say, feeling moderately better. “Now all we have to do is wait for him to reply.”
“And pray like hell he accommodates your request,” my roomie unhelpfully adds.
“That, too.” As I move to close my laptop, a whoosh sounds, alerting me to a new email. “He replied!”
“That was fast! What’s it say?”
“That he can see me tomorrow at noon!”
“You know what that means?”
“What?”
“No more panic until you know for sure there’s something to panic over. Okay?”
Slowly, I nod. “Yeah. Okay.”
Stella grins. “Good. Oh, and it also means you owe me a meal. I tried getting soup, but it looked inedible.”
I can’t help but laugh. “What sounds good?”
Her eyes flare wide. “Babe. I skipped lunch for you. I’d eat just about anything.”
“So, we should go back for the soup?”
“Okay, anything except that.”
“Let’s order a pizza?” I suggest.
“Only if we follow it up with ice cream and a chick flick.”
“Can do.”
The rest of the night is spent stuffing our faces and watching Sierra Burgess Is a Loser. It’s easily the best night I’ve had in a while.
But then sleep comes, and my past sinks its claws into me during my REM cycle.
“Stupid little bitch.” My former best friend Nichole glares at me with nothing but hatred in her cool blue eyes. “You’ll get what’s coming to you.”
While her cruel, venomous words sting, they’re nothing compared to the betrayal I felt when she took Rob’s side. The way she dropped me like I was nothing to her, after sixteen years of friendship... that almost hurt more than my own mother turning her back on me.
Laughter and jeers follow me down the hall, each one more cutting than the last.
“Ugh, watch out. Wouldn’t want to catch an STD.” Stacie, the cheer squad’s newly minted captain, takes an exaggerated step away from the center of the hallway.
Her boyfriend wraps a protective arm around her and glares at me, as if I can somehow taint his precious little girlfriend by proximity alone.
His best friend, however, has no qualms about getting close to me. “Hey, baby.” The meathead jock steps into my path, crowding me. “Twenty bucks and I’ll let you suck my dick.”
“She’s not worth it,” Aaron, my first love and the boy I thought I’d marry, scoffs. “Pussy’s like parking in a two-car garage. Shit was so loose, I felt like I was fucking a cup of water.”
Tears burn my eyes, and shame paints my cheeks. It doesn’t matter that we never even made it past second base. I’m now the school slut, and it’s everyone’s word against mine.
Unwilling to let them see my pain, I shoulder past them and walk away with my head held high. As soon as I turn the corner, I let the mask drop, breaking into a dead sprint toward the bathroom. Once I’m safely inside, I break, letting my tears fall as my heart breaks all over again.
* * *
The next morning dawns overcast and misty—perfectly somber to match my mood.
I wake up early enough to wash and dry my hair. I want to make a good impression on Professor Ellison, which I guess is kind of stupid after trying to flee his class yesterday. He probably thinks I’m some immature brat here on Daddy’s dime.
Still, I take the time to dress nicely, throwing on a simple cotton dress that straddles the line between professional and relaxed.
I make it through two hours of class—one of history and one of science.
Thankfully, they’re both easy days. We go over the syllabus in both classes, do a few ice breakers, and in science, we also tour the department.
I send up a small prayer of thanks, because God knows my mind is preoccupied.
All I can think of is meeting with Professor Ellison. If he’s not able to help me, I truly don’t know what I’ll do.
I’d like to say I’m strong enough to withstand whatever Sterling may have up his sleeve, but the truth is, I’m really just... not.
I only have minutes to make it to Professor Ellison’s office after my science class ends. My power walk turns to a full-on sprint when I realize I’m cutting it close, and I manage to make it to his office at twelve on the dot.