Teacher's Pet

"But I could have helped you," Patrick lamented.

I shrugged off his hand. "I didn't ask for your help. That's not why I befriended you," I snapped.

The dean chuckled. "And here I thought I befriended you. I gotta say, that's the best thing I've heard all day. Thank you, Ford."

I didn't want to smile, but it broke through anyway. "Oh, to hell with it. What's the point in my fancy journalism degree and all my experience if I can't rattle a few cages?"

Patrick's eyes turned serious. "No. I'm not going to have you endangering your position at Landsman just to help me out. I got myself into this mess, and I'll figure a way out of it. Like you said, I've got Clarity to help me."

The mention of her name cemented my resolve. "Sorry, Patrick, but you wanted to be my friend, and now you're stuck with me. Besides, if I'm going to get fired anyway, I might as well do some good on my way out."

#

I left the dean in a much lighter mood and raced back towards campus. The fact that I had class soon was a far second to finding Clarity. Her father's news would spread fast all over campus, and I was sure she was going to hear about it from someone any second.

I charged towards the Language Department, where I knew Clarity was just finishing her required course. Landsman College required all students to master a foreign language, and she had become quite good at Spanish.

"Hola, Professor Bauer," a student called as I neared the building's front steps.

"Hi, Ben," I said as I slowed my pace.

"You looking for someone?" he asked.

I pressed two fingers to my throat and looked at my watch. "Nah, just trying to get my heart rate up before I'm stuck in another lecture," I said.

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The student laughed and went on his way just before Clarity emerged. Her red hair flared as she stepped into the sunshine, and then her emerald eyes clapped onto me.

"Clarity, wait," I said.

She took off at a fast clip across the lawn towards the library. I used the sidewalk in the same direction and hoped that it was not too obvious to the other students that I was chasing her.

Clarity dodged through the double doors of the library before could charge up the steps. I didn't dare call out in the echoing lobby. I pretended to glance into the research librarian's office on my way past, just in case anyone wondered why I was tearing through the library stacks.

Then I spun and followed her down the staircase. Her clattering footsteps disappeared before the basement floor, and I knew she was cutting through the archives. I sped back upstairs, through the periodicals, and into a second staircase. Back down on the half floor, I cursed the old library's maze like design. Finally, I had to run in order to catch Clarity.

She must have heard me coming because she jogged into another alcove where a hidden set of steps acted as an open fire escape. I ran after her and we both popped out into the arch-ceilinged reference room at the same time. Clarity rounded the long, low bookshelves and made one last dodge near the Oxford English Dictionary.

"Clarity, please, I need to talk to you. It has to do with your father," I hissed.

Clarity stopped cold. "My father? Is he okay? What happened?" She dug in her backpack for her cell phone and turned her back on me. "Why isn't he answering my call?"

"He's waiting for you to come home so he can tell you the truth, face to face," I said.

"Then why are you chasing me all over campus?" Clarity snapped. "I need to go home."

I held up both hands and stopped her. "I wanted you to hear it from me, before anyone stops you on campus," I said.

"Hear what?" Clarity cried.

I took a deep breath. "Your father has been suspended on charges of falsifying evidence in a plagiarism case," I told her.

Clarity's eyes took on a green fire. "I don't believe you. Why are you telling me this?"

"In light of our, um, discovery at Thanksgiving, I thought it best to let you know everything I heard."

Clarity narrowed her eyes. "Why would I believe you as a source? You don't have much credibility in my book."