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Chapter 15: Calm Down!
[Depends.] William responded.
[I’m not your personal driver.]
Sarah hesitated and bit her lip as she stood outside the door. She felt guilty, but another part of her was thrilled to do something against everyone else’s wishes. It was what SHE wanted, for once.
Her ultimatum translated wonderfully even over text.
[Mr. Colton is my dad.]
Sarah rolled her eyes.
[I’m busy.]
She stared at the message for a long time before a toxic thought took over her. She would find out with one press of a button.
William didn’t respond right away. Sarah was on pins and needles for the rest of the time until she got home. No sooner had she set her bag down than her phone buzzed with an incoming text.
[I’ll pick you up at 10 AM.]
It was a boost of confidence. Her suspicions had been confirmed. With a smirk, Sarah replied.
Her fingers tingled from the burn of playing with fire.
- - - - -
“Wonder what has the professor’s panties in a twist,” a student commented in a hushed whisper.
Right in front of Sarah, Justin Smith sat with his group of lackeys. The group turned to her and Sarah felt her stomach grumble. She should have left the class to grab some lunch when she had the opportunity. The other students walked out without consequence.
“I’m changing the project,” the professor started with his hand firmly placed on his hips. Gasps and cries of outrage filled the room and echoed off the walls.
“What do you mean?” Wendy asked in a panic.
“I mean that your project summaries suck and there is no way I can submit them to the competition.” He moved on to explain exactly what he wanted the projects to look like.
“What the hell, Professor Jacobs?” Mary, a student, asked, her voice especially high and whiny as she stood up to protest. “We worked our asses off on those projects and the submission is in two weeks! No way can we come up with a new project and still—”
“Who is the professor for this class, Mary?” He interrupted venomously. He waited for an answer, and when Mary nodded her head, the professor went on. “Then sit down. In fact, you can sit outside the class for the next week. If I see you complain, don’t worry about coming back. You’ll be kicked out of class,” he growled. “Now, does anyone else have objections?”
Sarah shivered and stood up. She had never seen the professor launch into someone like that. The bell rang, signaling the end of the class. “Okay!” Sarah called out, having enough of the animosity. The professor’s eyes burned into hers as she pushed past the students and went to the front. “Go home, everyone,” she said to them over her shoulder. “We can discuss this tomorrow. Right now, it is best that we end the class as planned. Don’t forget to think about your projects.”
A collective exhale of breath circled the air. Sarah was not the professor, but she was the tutor in attendance.
“What are you doing, Miss Mitch?” Mr. Jacobs hissed under his breath.
She looked at him and gave a curt response. “Class is over and they have another one to attend. We can calm down and discuss this tomorrow before people start to ask questions.”
“I don’t need to calm down!” His voice rose and everyone froze mid-escape. “You are not in charge of this class, Sarah! Do I need to suspend you, too?” he growled in her face so angrily that Sarah recoiled.
Still, it made her blood boil. “I understand that you are upset I didn’t attend the interview you suggested, but there is no use taking that out on students. Especially ones who have powerful families backing them.” She tapped her finger on the table, making him focus on the issue at hand.
Jacobs took a calming breath. “We’ll finish this conversation later,” he said before walking away. “And keep your weekend free. You better be helping me with the paper,” he said before he walked out.
Sarah slumped, knowing that she had missed yet another chance of getting away.
- - - - -
“I can’t go to the interview with you,” Sarah blurted out as soon as the line connected.
“What?” The sound of laughter and the clinking of glass overpowered his words. Sarah squinted while trying to decipher where William could be in the middle of the week; all the women laughing in the background didn’t help his case either.
“I can’t meet you this weekend,” she repeated.
William exhaled deeply and Sarah recognized the sound of him licking his lips before he spoke. “Why not?” She could almost see whim swirling his glass of alcohol as he waited for her response.
“Because…” she hesitated. “I…” She didn’t want to tell him that she got into trouble again. She didn’t want him to be the knight in shining armor every time. “It’s complicated.” She could only imagine what his solution would be. It would bring more attention to her, and that was the last thing she wanted.
William snorted and then sighed deeply. “Whatever.”
Sarah blanched at his nonchalance. She thought he would at least try to probe more. In fact, Sarah was disappointed that he didn’t. So, naturally, she opened her mouth when she should have kept it shut and said the one thing she knew would get a rise out of him. “Whatever,” she mimicked. “It’s not like either of us was serious about it, anyway.”
There was a brief silence. “What the hell does that mean?” William’s voice sounded strained as if he was trying to reign in his temper.
Sarah rolled her eyes and tugged at her tangled hair. “It means...” she grimaced as she tugged painfully hard on her hair. “...exactly what it sounds like. I am not cryptic like you are when I talk. I say what I mean.”
He chuckled darkly. “That’s rich coming from you, really. Because honestly, Sarah? You never say anything at all.”
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