Professor Richter's Rules

by Jessa York

  “I’ll be there, and we can cut out whenever you say, okay? Just say the word.”

  Her eyes held a sadness behind them that bothered me to the core. Leaning down, I kissed her. “I love you. It’ll be all right.” She kissed me back, locking her hands around the back of my neck.

  “I love you, too. Thank you for taking me. You can still back out, you know.”

  “Nope, not a chance.”

  Paige was right. They went all out on this party. Venue, band, decorations, food—everything was top notch. The invitees were all dressed to the nines.

  The only thing that wasn’t on par with the excitement of the evening was Paige’s attitude. Guarded didn’t quite describe it. More like awkwardly sad?

  She put on a smile that never really hit her eyes as people she knew came up to us. It hurt me to see her like this. “My abuela is over there. We should go say hi.”

  I couldn’t help my eyes wandering down to look at Paige’s ass as it swayed in front of me. The tight, red dress she had on fit like a second skin. When she’d walked around the corner and into the living room, my heart had skidded to a halt. She looked breathtaking.

  Now standing in front of an elderly woman, white hair, sitting uncomfortably in a wheelchair, Paige made our introductions. The woman only spoke Spanish, but her eyes scanned me from head to toe a few times. After Paige bent over double to hug her, the woman again spoke but this time in a hushed tone as she stared at me. Paige’s body shook with laughter.

  We left in search of appetizers and drinks. “That didn’t seem so bad,” I commented, stuffing a pastry the size of a quarter into my mouth.

  “The night is still young,” she said, picking up a glass of punch.

  “What did your grandma say to make you laugh?”

  Beginning to laugh so hard, she was in danger of spilling her drink. “Nothing.” She snorted, holding her stomach.

  When she settled down, I said, “Yeah, seems like nothing.” Unsuccessfully trying to hold in her laughter, she burst out in giggles again. “Never mind, I’ll get it out of you later.”

  “I’ll probably have forgotten by then.”

  Grabbing her hand, I pulled her close to my body. “I’ll see if I can jog your memory.” Just as our lips were about to touch, we were interrupted by someone clearing their throat.

  “Paige, my girl.” We turned our heads. A man in his forties stood there gawking at us.

  Letting go of me, Paige stepped over, giving him a short hug. “Hi, congratulations.”

  “Yes, it’s time for celebration. Our Marisol is fifteen years old now,” he said, holding Paige by her shoulders. “You look well. How’s your mother?”

  “She’s fine,” Paige said, her eyes wandering over to the dance floor.

  “Good, good. Same job?”

  “Yeah, she’s still with the same family. This is Jake. Jake, this is my father, Richard.”

  We shook hands, his grasp was strong as though we were in a competition. “Nice to meet you, Richard. This is a beautiful party.”

  “It should be for what I’m paying for it.” He patted me on the arm then laughed. Paige cringed as though she’d heard nails on a chalkboard. “You two have a good night. I’m needed elsewhere.” Then he strode off as though he had very important business to conduct.

  A few paces later, he turned around. “Paige don’t forget to say hi to Marisol and Karla.”

  “Of course. Can’t wait to see them.”

  Richard seemed happy with her answer, so he continued on his way. “You didn’t sound very convincing. Even to me,” I whispered in her ear.

  “I wasn’t trying to be,” she said, giving me a flat smile. “Let’s go sit.”

  The buffet supper was a thing of beauty. So many choices, our plates were full long before we even made it to the end. When we sat back down, I dove in. “What are these?” I asked, biting into a delicious sweet dough filled with raisins. I’d had to unwrap it from a green banana leaf.

  “Tamales. Mom makes those but she uses a mixture of dried fruit instead of just raisins,” she said, going back to pushing her food around on her plate. So far, everyone had seemed decent and her grandmother made her laugh like a crazy person. I couldn’t understand what the problem was.

  “You’ve had chicken and pork tamales at our house, too.” Paige leaned her head on her hand, elbow on the table—as though the weight on her shoulders was too much right then.

  Leaning over, in a quiet voice, I said, “I like your mom’s better.” That only got me a small smile out of her. “Is this like your Quinceanera?” I asked, curious now about what hers was like.

  “Yeah, except minus the cake, band, friends, family, food, and fancy venue. Otherwise it’s practically identical.” She sat back in her chair, crossing her legs.

  “He give you money instead?” I asked, hoping maybe what I was thinking was wrong.

  A sad, sadistic laugh flew out of her mouth. “Not in this lifetime.”

  “Not even for college?”

  She threw her head back, laughing even harder. “Not even for a class trip to Washington.”

  The creep vibe I’d gotten from her dad was one hundred percent correct. Damn. The moron was playing favorites in a big way. This shindig easily cost five figures. “Jesus,” I said, dropping my fork on the table. Closing my eyes, I imagined what it must be like for Paige to be here right now.

  Her stepsister up on stage in a gown that would probably fund a semester of college or at least a decent car that she wouldn’t have to worry about breaking down. “How are you able to even sit here?” I thought about how I would act if I was in her place. For one thing, there was no way in Hell I’d be sitting quietly, watching this bullshit around me.

  “Honestly? Because you’re here.” Her eyes gazed up at me, filled to the brim with—defeat. Christ, that cut me somewhere deep, making me hurt in a place I never knew existed.

  My eyes shut again. This woman did me in. The world around us seemed to disappear. “Come here,” I said, putting my arm around her.

  “Jake, it’s fine,” she said, sticking her arm around my waist. “It’s always been like this.”

  Squeezing her closer to me, I said, “Doesn’t mean it’s right.” I wanted to hug Paige and somehow absorb all the hurt and pain she’d experienced.

  Her head shook. “True. But that’s the way it is.” Holding her close, we sat back and watched the festivities as our plates grew cold.

  “You go say your hellos and goodbyes. We’re leaving.” I kissed her temple, holding her hands, helping her up. I’d had about enough of this stupid party. No way was I making Paige sit here a minute longer than necessary.

  Worried eyes looked up at me. “You’ll stay beside me?”

  “Mmm hmm,” I said, giving her a quick kiss. “Make it quick.” This time she gave me a genuine smile, an expression of relief now replacing the sad, forlorn one.

  She led me over to where her stepsister was. We waited close to ten minutes until Paige could sneak us through the many people vying for attention from the guest of honor. “Marisol, congratulations,” Paige said, giving her a hug. “You look like a princess.”

  Then Paige turned to the woman standing beside Marisol. “Congratulations, everything is perfect.” She gave the woman who I assumed was her stepmother a barely existent hug.

  “Thank you, we’ve spent a whole year on the preparations. You know how it is.” Paige didn’t comment, looking back to me instead.

  “This is Jake.” She introduced us and I took my turn at offering my congratulations even though all I wanted to do was strangle them.

  “We’ll talk later, there’s so many people to see. Have a good time, though,” she said in the most uppity of voices, insinuating they had other more important people to talk to.

  “Unfortunately, we have to be going. But thanks so much for your hospitality,” I said, grasping Paige’s hand.

  Her stepmom glared at me. “Leave? We’ve barely begun the evening program,
” she said, aghast that we’d dare leave their expensive shindig.

  “It’s sad, I know. Something’s come up. Good luck and we hope everything goes well.” Then I led Paige out of that damn place.

  Once we got outside, Paige bent over, laughing her guts out. “Oh my gosh,” she said, unable to catch her breath. “Did you see the look on her face?”

  “The one that looked like she was constipated? Or the one that looked like she’d stepped in dog shit?”

  Paige howled, laughing, holding onto my arm as tears flowed down her face. “That was thee best thing ever.”

  I took a deep breath, relieved to see my Paige returning—the sad, disappointed Paige was gone. “She was pretty damn shocked that we’d leave before they were through rubbing your nose in everything.”

  Her arms circled my waist. “You’re the best.”

  My hands rubbed her back while she dug herself into me. “Only for you. Let’s go before I accidentally let the air out of your dad’s tires.”

  “I love you,” she said, her sparkling eyes filling with a different kind of tear now. My heart expanded so quickly I thought it was in danger of bursting.

  “Ditto, gorgeous.” Grasping her chin between my thumb and forefinger, I drew her face toward mine for a kiss. “So much.”

  31

  Paige

  “Did you study?” George said, sitting down with her coffee.

  My stomach felt sick enough as it was. Her reminding me that there was a test today made it worse. “I tried but nothing seems to stick.” It was true. I felt like a complete idiot. Jake had tried every which way to explain this last chapter to me and even still I’d mix stuff up.

  “Sugar, I know what you mean. I spent nearly the entire break studying. One night I even slept with my textbook under my pillow, hoping the information would seep into my brain while I slept.”

  I stared at her then started giggling. “You did not,” I said, poking her in the arm.

  She laughed so hard her coffee slopped on the desk. “Okay, you caught me,” she said, pulling a tissue out of her bag to wipe up her spill. “But teasing you is too much fun.”

  Jake arrived, a thick folder in one hand, his briefcase in the other. Simply having him walk past me caused my heart to speed up. “Please be nice to us, hot professor,” George whispered under her breath, testing her pencil on a piece of scrap paper. “And maybe Paige will be extra nice to you later,” she said under her breath.

  “George, you’re terrible,” I said, a half smile on my face.

  Whipping her hair up into a topknot, she grinned at me. “Fine, then I’ll be extra nice to him later.” She gave me a devious wink.

  Jake spoke for a minute, explaining the various parts of the exam as he walked up the aisles distributing them. Our hands touched as he handed me the stack for my row. “Thanks,” I said, wishing we could be at my kitchen table at home and this was just a practice exam.

  “Good luck, Miss Flores,” he said, a warm smile on his face. “You’ve got this.” Then he strode up to the next row as I nervously paged through the intimidating test.

  Beside me, George nearly growled as she flipped the exam sheets forcefully on her desk. She straightened herself in the chair, facing forward. This was going to suck.

  Jake was right, I did know the material. However, getting the correct results was an entirely different matter.

  Sixty minutes later he called time. I could have used another six hours to do a decent job. “He’s a bit of a sadist. What the heck was that last question about?” George looked over at me while she packed up her things.

  “I didn’t even get that far,” I told her, wanting to run out of here in the worst way.

  “Aww, don’t worry, sweetie. I’m sure you did all right on the other questions.” She reached her hand out to squeeze my shoulder. “You wanna grab a quick lunch with me? I don’t have long but I was too nervous to eat this morning so now I’m starving.”

  We had that in common. “I’d love to.”

  She stood up, slinging her leather bag over her shoulder. “Perfect. Together we can drown our sorrows in fries and gravy.”

  Jake

  Maybe I could give out extra points for correct spelling of her name and date at the top of the page? Damn, a fifty-seven wasn’t going to fly her over the passing mark. There weren’t that many more opportunities for Paige to get her grade up before the end of the term.

  Rarely did anyone’s standing improve after the final. Statistically speaking grades normally went down. A knock at my office door made me jerk my head up. “Come in,” I said, fully expecting it to be Paige snooping to see the results of her exam.

  “Professor Richter,” Dean Miller opened the door.

  Surprised by his arrival at my office—which had never happened before—I said, “Dean.” Rising from my chair, I reached my hand over to shake his. “Have a seat, please.”

  “Just coming in to check on Miss Flores’ progress,” he said, sitting down in the chair in front of me.

  Letting out a loud exhale, I said, “She’s not passing yet. Close. Much closer than before, though. I’m sure with a little more—”

  “I see,” he said then cleared his throat. “You know our deal, Professor Richter. For you to retain employment at our fine institution Miss Flores needs to pass. It doesn’t need to be pretty—anything over fifty will do.”

  Leaning back in my chair, I said, “I’m doing everything in my power, believe me.”

  “Obviously not enough,” he said, his words cutting and harsh. Standing, he began walking to the open door before he looked back at me. “Try harder, Professor. Your job depends on it.”

  As if I didn’t already know that. Staring at the doorway where he’d just left, Paige stepped into view. Oh no, she hadn’t heard us, had she? My stomach sunk to the floor. I decided to speak first. “Hi, I thought you might—”

  “You’ve been tutoring me, so you don’t lose your job?” Her face was blank, eyes unblinking.

  “It’s not what you think,” I said, jumping up as my chair rolled forcefully to hit the wall.

  “What I think is that you’ve been helping me, so you don’t lose your job. Not,” she said, raising her hand in the air. “Out of the kindness of your heart. All this time I thought you were being generous. But it was just to save your sorry ass.”

  Rounding my desk, I grabbed her hand. “No, look I—”

  Paige ripped her hand back. “Do not touch me.” She let out a harsh breath, nearly panting.

  My heart pounded in my chest. “Paige, you don’t understand.” My mind raced as I tried to think of what to say to stop the train wreck happening in front of me. She had to listen to me—hear my side of the story.

  “Yeah, I think I finally do.” Spinning on her heel, she darted out of my office.

  Damn it, what the hell was I supposed to do now? Paige was so pissed and hurt. It was my own fault. Rushing back to my desk, I found my keys and wallet then took off in hot pursuit of my very angry girlfriend.

  Me: Would you answer your phone? Please?

  Me: Paige, I love you. Answer your phone!

  It had been hours and still no reply from her by phone or text. I was mad at myself, mad at Paige, and mad at the dean for putting me in this situation in the first place.

  Who was I kidding? I was the one who’d gotten myself into this mess. If I’d just acted like a grown up in the first place, none of this ever would have happened. Writing horrible comments on her test and treating her like garbage in class were stupid things to do.

  Slapping my palms on the steering wheel, I cursed as loud as I could. The pain in my stomach grew. I could see the light on in her room and their car was home. She had to listen to me.

  Stepping out of the Jeep, I slammed the door behind me. Walking up the steps, I played what I was going to say to her over and over in my mind. Rapping my knuckles on the door, Maria answered almost instantly. “Jake,” she said, her mouth in a straight line as she stood in
the doorway.

  “Can I come in? I have to talk to Paige.” My voice cracked with emotion as I spoke.

  She looked at me with pity in her eyes. “That’s not a good idea. She needs—time.” Instead of moving back she edged forward.

  Rubbing my hands on my face, I took a second to regroup. “Look, it’s just a misunderstanding. If I could just speak with her I can clear this all up.”

  Maria barely shook her head from side to side. “Not right now, Jake.” The look of disappointment on her face gutted me. I felt the weight of her disapproval on my shoulders. Stepping back into the house, her head again shook before closing the door, leaving me standing alone in the dark.

  32

  Paige

  Hopefully these sunglasses would help hide my puffy eyes. I’d considered skipping classes today but the goody two-shoes in me just couldn’t go through with it. And no way was I going to get behind on my other classes that I was actually doing well in.

  Mom’s eyes darted to me as I shuffled into the kitchen. “Mija, you can’t walk around with sunglasses on all day.” She huffed, opening up the freezer. “Use this,” she said, handing me a bag of frozen peas as she removed my glasses.

  “Thanks, Mom,” I said, then turned to collapse in the kitchen chair.

  “Toast?”

  I nodded my head, switching the peas to my other eye. I held my head back hoping this would actually work to cure the swelling. If it did, maybe I’d try holding it on my poor, aching heart for a while.

  “He sat in his Jeep for two hours last night,” she said, her back turned to me. Her tone was matter-of-fact, but her meaning was clear.

  By he she meant Jake. And Mom didn’t need to tell me that because I’d kept a close watch on the big jerk until he finally left. Shrugging my shoulders, I planted my elbow on the table, leaning my heavy head into my hand.

  “Did you call him back?” she asked, slicing up an apple, still not gazing my way.