“What do you mean?”
“You’ve been keeping this from me since February,” Kerry said. “Which means something is wrong. I can hear it in your voice.”
Yep. My sister knew me better than anyone else in the world.
“Her name is Lila Carrington. And… she’s kind of my Criminology Professor.”
Kerry immediately erupted in laughter. It was so loud that I had to pull my phone away from my ear.
“Are you done?” I asked thirty seconds later.
“Tell me everything,” she demanded.
“I have to go to work.”
“Your shift doesn’t start for another ten minutes, which is ten minutes you’re going to spend telling me every detail about this professor you’re sleeping with,” she argued. “Start from the beginning. If you leave anything out, I’ll know.”
Relieved that I was no longer hiding this from my sister, I explained the first day of class and how Jace had shown me his Tinder messages with Lila.
46
Lila
Professors didn’t get to choose when their final exams were held; they were scheduled by the department in order to space things out as best as possible for the students.
But that didn’t always work out conveniently for the professors.
Two of my classes had their final exams on Monday, and the other two—including my Criminology 101 class with Jace and Brock—were held on Friday. After grading the exams for my first two classes, I had to sit around with nothing to do until Friday.
I tried to find ways to fill the time. I drove thirty minutes to the mountains and went on a long hike. I binged episodes ofWest Wing.I even went to the gym.
But deep down, all I wanted to do was text three specific students of mine.
Somehow, I managed to keep my distance. I gave my exams on Friday, smiling to each student as they turned them in and left my class for good.
Jace was one of the first ones to finish. Brock was one of the last. I hoped that it was because he wanted to be thorough, and not because he was unprepared for the exam.
The nature of our relationship would change if I had to give him anything less than an A. That wasnota conversation I wanted to have with someone I was sleeping with.
I stayed late on Friday grading exams, but barely made a dent. Then I spent all day Saturday in my office before realizing I would need to come back on Sunday to finish up. It was my own fault for assigning written-word essays as part of my exam, but I firmly believed that was a better way to gauge a student’s proficiency than by multiple choice questions alone.
On Sunday afternoon, I left my office to get another cup of coffee. The building was practically deserted by this point; all the offices were empty, and the classrooms were locked up until the summer semester began in two weeks. In the future, I wondered if there was a way to get my exams scheduled earlier in the week so I wouldn’t be the last professor to leave for the semester.
On the way back to my office, I bumped into a familiar face. “Professor Galloway! I thought I was the only one still here grading papers.”
“I’m afraid you still are,” he said with a polite smile. “I only popped in to retrieve my favorite coffee mug.” He held up a mug that said:I <3 Criminology.
“Got any plans this summer?” I asked. Any excuse to delay going back to the remainder of my exams.
“My wife is taking me to Cancun for a week,” Galloway bragged. “She says that I desperately need to sit on a beach with a fruity drink and a good book. And, like with most things, she’s correct!”
“Got any good books in mind? I saw that Professor Chisolm recently published a new study on suburban misdemeanors.”
“Oh God, no!” Galloway laughed. “Nothing work related. I have an exciting political thriller I’m planning on using as an escapeuntil the summer semester begins. You really must find a way to balance your personal and professional life, Lila.”
I smiled at him. “Truer words were never spoken. Maybe I’ll find a nice mystery novel to read this summer.”
“I hope that you do.” Galloway’s smile tightened. “And I do hope your relationship with that handsome Army veteran deepens during the summer.”
