Teacher's Pet

“Your mother wanted to hold onto the second set of keys, not because she was trying to spy on you, but because she liked to stop by sometimes and surprise you. The sort of surprise that you gave her just now was definitely NOT what she had in mind.”

“It’ll never happen again.”

“You’re right—it won’t. At least not in a place that I’m paying the rent on. You’re cut off,” he said. “I’m not going to support someone who is simply unable to tell right from wrong. This isn’t just some mistake, Tessa. This was a decision you made, and that you’ve probably been carrying out for quite some time now—is that correct? How long has this been going on for?”

“A little while,” I said.

“A little while. I don’t need to know exactly how long ‘a little while’ is, but it’s long enough. You’re on your own now. There’s nothing more I can say about that, other than you’ve embarrassed yourself, you’ve embarrassed our family.”

“That’s not what I was trying to do,” I said.

“It doesn’t matter whether that was your intention or not. That’s what happened. And you should frankly be ashamed of yourself, and this professor of yours should also be ashamed. I haven’t entirely ruled it out to go to the school with this, because he shouldn’t be holding a teaching position there if he’s going to use it to take advantage of students like this. It’s not right.”

“It wasn’t just him!” I said, suddenly more afraid for Leo than I was for myself. Even though I knew he said he didn’t care if he got fired from Benton or not, I didn’t want this to turn into some scandal that would be all over the internet. “It was me, too. He didn’t force me into doing anything. I wanted to. But it’s turned into something more than that, we actually really both like each other—”

“Oh for Christ’s sweet sake!” my father roared. “Will you listen to yourself? Have you gone insane? This is college, not a goddamn dating show! Am I paying 40 thousand dollars a year in tuition for you to be finding your soul mate? No, I’m paying for you to get a good education so you can do something worthy and productive with your life. And it sounds like all you’ve been doing is taking advantage of that! Well, no more, Tessa. NO MORE. If you want to spend your time goofing off and falling in love and whatever the hell else it is you’re doing, go right ahead, but it won’t be on my dime!”

He hung up.

I tried to take a deep breath but my whole chest felt tight, my father’s angry words still reverberating through my mind. I blinked, holding the tears back. I didn’t want to start crying like a little girl just because my father had just yelled at me. But there was a part of me that felt as if I’d just been transported back to childhood, like I was 7 years old again or something, and had just gotten into trouble.

I knew Lindsey wanted me to call her after we got off the phone, but instead, I texted and asked if she wanted to meet with me in an hour.

How’d it go? she wrote.

I’ll tell you when I see you, I wrote back. But let’s just say it wasn’t good.

We met up at the Haymarket and sat at a table in the corner, which was good because I didn’t want the whole place to be able to see me if I started to cry. I’d been trying to hold the tears back ever since I got off the phone, and I wasn’t sure how much longer I’d be able to do it.

“So I take it the news didn’t go over that well with your father?” she asked. “Did he freak out?”

“That would be putting it mildly. It went about as good as you’d expect it to,” I said. “He’s cutting me off. He’s so pissed. And I made the mistake of saying that Leo and I actually had feelings for each other. I think that was really the final straw for him. He’s acting like I’ve just been taking advantage of them this whole time and only going to college because I was hoping to meet a guy.”

Lindsey rolled her eyes. “Come on, Tessa. We both know that’s not true.”

“I know, but that’s the way he’s making this sound. And now I just feel completely screwed. I mean, I guess I always knew how much I depended on them, but I’m really realizing it now. I know how much of a spoiled brat I probably sound like.” And I was aware of that. If anyone could overhear us right now, they’d probably be rolling their eyes. Oh, the poor little girl was cut off from her parents and now doesn’t know how she’s going to make it. I knew plenty of my classmates didn’t have rich parents that were footing the bill for them, and they were managing. I didn’t want to feel so stressed out about this; I didn’t want to feel like it was the end of the world, even though there was a part of me that felt exactly like that.

“You don’t sound like a spoiled brat,” Lindsey said. “It’s not like you were demanding this stuff from them. They offered. You never took it for granted. And you never abused it.”

“That’s not how my father is making me feel about it. I just feel completely overwhelmed by everything. I feel like I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do.”

“First, you’re going to take a deep breath. Trust me—it’ll help.” I took a deep breath. Lindsey nodded. “Good,” she said. “And second, you’re going to know that everything is going to be okay.”

I didn’t know if everything was going to be okay, but it felt good to have someone else reassuring me that it would be. “I am

trying to believe that,” I said, “but I don’t know if it’s just what I’m telling myself to make me feel better and that in reality, I’m totally screwed.”

“You’re not the first person who has ever been suddenly cut off by their parents before,” she said. “And you definitely won’t be the last. It happens to plenty of people. It’s probably happening to someone right now, in fact. Things just have a way of working out.”

“I really want to believe that,” I said. “I mean, more than anything. But how am I going to pay rent? If I have to go out and get a job right now, there’s no way I’ll be able to work enough hours to be able to cover my rent, never mind the rest of the bills, if I’ve got my schoolwork to stay on top of. So it’s one or the other. I completely fucked this up.”

I put my head in my hands. I wasn’t trying to be dramatic—I just felt as though I’d been steamrolled with the reality of my situation and the consequences that had resulted because of my actions. But why had I gone to Leo in the first place about the extra credit? Because I knew my parents would cut me off if my grades weren’t up. So it didn’t seem to matter what I had done; this seemed like an inevitable conclusion.

“This is all because of a guy,” I said. “And I don’t even mean Leo. My grades started to slip in the first place because of Nick. I should just be celibate.”

Lindsey wrinkled her nose. “Now where’s the fun in that?”

“It might not be fun, but at least I wouldn’t be involved with all of this drama. If I didn’t get involved with Nick, I’d just be coasting along, doing my coursework, not worrying about any of this.”