The hallway seemed to spin, and I grabbed a nearby doorknob to steady myself. “I… what… how…”
“Relax,” Galloway said, lowering his voice to a whisper. “I don’t think anyone else has noticed, but I have a keen eye for these sorts of things. In fact, I had a semester-long affair when I first began teaching back in the nineties. He was a beautiful boy named Travis. Oh, it was so much fun, even though it fizzled out when the semester ended.”
It felt like my eyes were trying to bulge out of my head. “You had an affair… Travis? But…”
“But I’m married to a woman?” Galloway gave me a patient smile. “This was before I met Beth. College experimenting isn’t only for students!”
“Oh. Okay.” I still felt dizzy. It wasn’t comforting to know that my extra-curricular activities this semester had been noticed by one of my colleagues.
“I didn’t bring it up to scare you,” Galloway told me. “I merely wanted to impress upon you an important lesson.”
“That I shouldn’t be taking risks like that?” I asked.
“What? Of course not. I was going to say that life isshort, Lila! It’s so very short and precious. The most important thing you can do is try to find any measure of happiness wherever you can, and worry about the details later.”
“Even if it breaks the rules for faculty?”
“Especiallythen! But don’t tell anyone I said that.” He tapped the side of his nose to emphasize the secret we were now sharing. “Enjoy your summer, Professor Carrington.”
He walked away hummingKokomoby the Beach Boys, leaving me simultaneously confused and relieved.
Epilogue
Lila
I returned to my office and stared at the wall while thinking about what Professor Galloway had said. Eventually, I realized that my coffee had gotten cold, so I got a fresh cup before returning to my exams.
The last two exams to grade belonged to Jace and Brock. I had saved them for last because I wanted to devote an extra amount of attention to them, specifically to make sure I was grading them fairly without letting any of my biases slip through.
Fortunately, it was easy to remain objective because both of them nailed their finals.
I felt a swelling of pride. Not just for the two of them, but for Cam as well. With all the rubbing and grinding we had done this semester, I guess some actual classroom knowledge had rubbed off on them.
I spent the next half hour posting the grades online, then packed up all my belongings. I was only going to be gone for two weeks before the summer semester began, but there was still plenty of stuff I wanted to take home.
On the way out, I stopped by my Criminology 101 classroom. My faculty key opened the door, and I strode into the empty room with a sense of sadness.
I was going to be teaching more higher-level classes this summer and fall. Overall that was a great thing, but it meant I would be in smaller classrooms. This was the last time I would get to stand on this dais, facing a room with stadium seating. This roomfeltlike the place where grand lectures happened, where real learning took place and the future leaders of America were grown.
I took it all in, allowing the joy—and sadness—to wash over me one last time.
“We thought we’d find you here.”
I blinked and turned to see Jace standing in the doorway, leaning on the frame with his arms crossed. The sight of him filled me with warmth and comfort.
“Are you here to dispute your grade?” I asked.
“I’m not thrilled with my grade,” Brock said while shouldering past the other man.
“You got a ninety-six on the final exam!” I exclaimed.
“He thinks he deserves a hundred,” Cam said while walking inside. “Some people are never satisfied.”
“I just want to know how I could have earned those extra four points,” Brock said.
“We can talk about it literally any other time. I’m ready to get out of here,” I said.
“Are you?” Jace asked. “Because you were standing there for a while before I spoke up.”
