He was silent for a long moment, then he smiled faintly. “Amelia, you’re a student. We can’t…”
He didn’t finish the sentence, but the meaning was clear. My heart sank. It wasn’t me. He had someone else.
“I understand,” I said coldly, turning away. Thankfully, the lecture was almost over. I excused myself to “go find Sarah” and quickly left.
As soon as I stepped out of the lecture hall, I ran into the girl from Professor Hayes’s office,
the one who’d been crying. She blocked my
path, her expression hostile.
“What’s your relationship with Adam?” she demanded.
I shrugged. “Gaming buddies, I guess.”
She frowned. “Gaming buddies?”
“We play video games together.”
“Stay away from him,” she said. “And stop
playing games with him.”
“Who are you to tell me that?” I asked.
She lifted her chin. “I’m his fiancée.”
Right. Girlfriend, fiancée, gaming buddy. This guy was a master of time management.
I didn’t have the energy to confront Professor
<
Hayes. I simply nodded. “Fine.”
When I got home, I transferred some money to
Professor Hayes’s Venmo account, calling it
compensation for carrying me and Ethan in Call
of Duty. Then, I deleted him from my contacts.
I spent the weekend moping around, not
wanting to play video games or work on my
thesis. Then, Ethan showed up at my door,
which was surprising, considering our recent
fight. He shuffled his feet and handed me an
envelope labeled “Apology Letter.”
“Sis, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize what I was doing
was wrong. Dad talked to me. I won’t do it
again.”
I nodded absently. “Good. Glad you learned
your lesson.”
“Sis, are you okay?”
1
“Sis, did you and Adam have a fight?”
“Sis, wanna play Call of Duty? I’ll carry you.”
He was starting to annoy me. I called Sarah and
suggested a girls‘ night out at a club.
At 10 pm, I showed up at the club, dressed to
kill.
Sarah greeted me at the door. “Remember
those basketball players I told you about? Prepare to be amazed. You’ll forget all about Professor Hayes by tomorrow morning.”
The club was dark and loud, filled with the smell of smoke and cheap alcohol. A group of very tall, athletic guys were waiting for us at our table. They all stood up and greeted us politely, “Hey, ladies!” Sarah must have prepped them. I gave her a grateful look. She knew me too well.
The guys were fun, and the music was great. A
few vodka cranberries later, I’d forgotten all
about Professor… what was his name again?
The crowd, the lights, the guys‘ abs…
everything was getting blurry. I stumbled
towards the restroom. Sarah called after me, “Amelia! You okay?”
I gave her a thumbs–up.
But as I turned the corner, I tripped and fell into someone’s arms. Strong arms wrapped around my waist. I blinked, looking up into Professor Hayes’s face. His breath tickled my ear.
I pushed against his chest. “Professor… what are you doing here?”
He held me tighter. “You’re drunk. I’m taking you home.”
I poked his chest with my finger. “Taking me home tonight, taking your girlfriend home
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tomorrow, taking your fiancée home the day after? You’re really good at taking people
home, aren’t you, Professor?”
He looked confused for a second, then scooped me up into his arms. “Do you talk nonsense when you’re drunk?”
“Nonsense? These are golden words, Professor. Pure poetry. I could write a dissertation on this
stuff.”
“Sure, poetry,” he said, carrying me out of the
club.
The world spun. I vaguely heard snippets of
conversation between Sarah and Professor
Hayes.
“I’ll take you both home.”
“Oh, no, Professor Hayes, I can get home
myself.”
>
2:41
“Should I call your advisor to pick you up?”
“…On second thought, I’ll take a ride.”
I woke up in a moving car.
“Hey, feeling better?”
I turned and saw Professor Hayes driving.
“How did you know I was at that club?”
“I just happened to be there.”
“…Right.”
I didn’t say anything, so he continued, “What
was that about a girlfriend and a fiancée?”
“Exactly what it sounds like,” I mumbled, still
sulking.
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He pulled over. “Did she say something to you?”
“Yeah.”
He sighed. “She’s my neighbor’s daughter. She’s a freshman in college. Our families joked about an arranged marriage when we were kids,
and she’s latched onto that idea. She calls
herself my fiancée, but it’s nothing like that.”
“Oh.” I looked out the window. “I don’t care if
you have a fiancée. I’m just your gaming buddy.
Go explain it to your girlfriend.”
Professor Hayes let out a long breath. “There’s
no other girlfriend. Are you misunderstanding
something?”
“Nope.” I rubbed my temples. “Why are we
stopping? Where are we?”
“We’re at your apartment.”
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<
“Oh. Thanks, Professor… I mean, Adam.”
87
I thanked him politely and got out of the car. He
followed me, giving me directions.
“Wrong way. Turn left.‘
“No, straight ahead.”
I really was drunk.
